Southland s01e04 Episode Script
Sally in the Alley
Dead unidentified fema victims in Los Angeles are often called "Sally in the Alley.
" Our detectives wanted to give is one a name.
I took my boys out to lunch the other day, right? And, uh, Petey starts horsing around, juggling meatballs up in the air.
My little guy hates toe upstaged by his brother, so he takes these peas and starts shoving them up his nose.
So, now it's official.
The Moretta boys are banned from Denny's for life.
Hey.
What's the matter with you? Nothing.
No? So, when are you going to get Tammy pregnant? No! No.
We are not ready.
Tammy? Yeah.
Shwas isew , e ssbl It costs around $2,000.
You serious? Yeah.
It's an expensive hobby, man.
She's really good.
Yeah? It's kind of more than a hobby.
Really? Yeah.
Wow.
'Cause I've heard you say that before.
e pott's wel? Come on.
Oh, I know, I know, but her photography's really first-rate.
She's got a great eye.
Don't know where we're going to get the money.
Yeah, I hear that.
Moretta.
Whoa, calm down, Pop.
Look, she probably just stopped off at a friend's house after school.
you give me a call, all right? Just calm down.
All right.
Everything all right? Yeah, man, yeah.
It's just my sister.
She keeps driving my parents crazy.
They never know where she's going or who she's going with.
It's what teenagers do, remember? Yeah.
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
Sit down before you take a tumble.
Forget it.
He's going to fall.
They never fall.
See? Hey, would you put him back wherever he came from? Hey! Photos and SID are here, but the coroner's backed up.
They don't know when they're going to get here.
The shield? She's naked.
She OD'd? No, no.
r fingernails are broken in half.
She got a rope around her neck.
Clean-looking.
Not from the hood.
You print her? Machine's not working.
She's the coner's problem no That cld take days.
Just take a couple headshots.
Maybe Vice can ID her.
Mrs.
Vargas called it in, and she lives across the alley in 3B.
She thought she was just a drunk sleeping it off, but when she didn't move for 18 hours, she actually realized something was wrong.
All right.
Like a naked girl laying in an alley isn't enough of a tip-off.
Hey, can you blame her? She didn't want to miss her novelas.
Before s cled itn, she id s saw some ds, ages ten, 11, fooling around in the alley, taking pictures with their cell phones Ten year old didn't do this.
Yeah.
Bangers? No.
They'd just shoot her.
This guy's a professional.
He tried to, uh, minimize the trace evidence.
He knew by the time mebody called it in, the scene would be contaminated.
It's a defense attorney's dream.
Well, maybe we can get lucky.
Get a hit off the nail scrapings.
You know, om the rope, we'll be able to tell what the guy's into.
If it's nylon, it's boating.
If it's polyester, shipping.
Polypropylene, fishing.
You know, some rope is sensitive to the cold.
Another deteriorates under UV light, so It's my Sex Crime days.
I take back all the crap I said about you.
Thank you.
I'll calHomide.
k them to give us a hand.
All right.
Okay.
So, how am I doing so far? Excuse me? I'm hoping I pass this lunch test.
I can take you on a real date.
Oh.
's not that.
I st.
I like to take things slow.
Noover him, huh? We've all been there.
So, what do you do? I work for the city.
In what capacity? I'm an advocate for the community.
Advocate? Is that like a social worker or? You could say that.
I got to tell you, Lydia, I'm really enjoying this.
Oh, really? Good.
So, where do you live? I live with my mother.
That's sweet.
I mean, you don't hear that often these days.
Yeah.
I was in a long relationship, and when we broke up, my mom, she was having health issues, so I moved in with her.
How is she doing now? Good.
So good, she's selling her house and moving to Paris.
Paris? That's pretty impressive.
xxx Uh I'm sorry, but I have to leave.
I'm needed back at the office.
Well, we haven't even had dessert yet.
Mm I don't have much of a sweet tooth.
Lydia.
Can I call you again? Oh.
Yeah.
Give me a call.
Okay.
All right.
Writing can be orwhelming.
Okay? So I want you to fight like hell the urge to tell people what you're working on.
'Cause I-I promise you, even the people closest to you- your-your boyfriend, your-your husband, ur-your mother- they are going to say things to deflate you and dissipate your energy.
You need to have faith in yourselves faith in your voice and faith in your ability.
Any questions so far? Sure, yeah.
I know her face.
She works Highland.
She was stripped clean and dumped in South Central.
No clothes, no ID.
I think her street name is Cherry.
Yeah, I' seen her around.
Well, we'll show these around and see what we can come up with.
All right.
Russel I've en trying to reach you for over an hour.
I was busy.
Answer the damn phone, Russell.
You know we're on call.
Sounds like your date didn't go so well.
Meet me at the coroner's office.
Gangs needs our help on a homicide.
Here she is.
She must have fought like hell.
Hi.
I'm Detective Adams.
I need to identify a murder victim.
She was dumped in an alley witho ID and no clothes.
Take a number.
Won't take long.
I just need you to get the prints, so we can get the ball rolling.
Prts are done at the scene.
But the machine was out of commission.
Why is that my problem? Can't you just do us this favor, please? I make one exception, and the floodgates open.
I'm sorry.
I've been burned too many times before.
Yeah, but this isn't about you.
This is about ving a poor girl a name.
She was dumped in the allelike bag of trash.
She deserves better than that.
So, what do you think? Should we reinterview the old la tt w the body in the alley? No.
It looks like Kenny covered all the bases.
Got a pretty good description of the kids.
Kenny's been on the ball lately, hasn't he? I'm going to check with Juv.
Let them run it through their database.
Yo.
Miller time.
Okay.
Oh.
Who's up next? Not me.
I got the last report.
I'm primy, so I get a pass.
Mrs.
Miller.
How are you today? Fine.
Good.
Please have a seat.
Thank you.
So, uh, what can I do for you? I'm here to make a police report.
My daughter is missing.
And what's your daughter's name? Princess.
Her age? Just turned 19.
She's my by.
My only girl.
When was the last time y saw your daughter, Mrs.
Miller? January 7, 1992 Guys, come here and take a look at these idiots.
Come.
Can you hold on one second, please? So, I was checking Facebook, MySpace, right? Bingo.
YouTube.
Geez.
We know those kids- they hang with Grape Street.
These little mutts have the balls to put this on the Web.
Bragging rights.
Can you pause that? Yeah.
Look at that.
Bastards couldn't eneave the freakin' cross on her neck.
Had toake at, 2.
Let's go pay those baby bangers a visit.
You must be trippin, cuz, why would I me wh that? I got my own ho's.
"Ho's"? He's got ho's.
You're just out of diapers, kid.
Sorry, my man, I got witnesses that put you there, say you were all over her ass.
No way.
I do some crazy, but I ain't no animal.
Well, unless you start talking, you're going away for murder.
Yeah, right, you don't got nothing on me.
Where'd you get the cross? My momz.
Call your momz, tell her to start praying.
Richter! How you doing, boy? He's doing good.
Yeah? Richter, sit.
good.
Speak.
Lie down.
??? Gon.
Lie down It's okay.
Good boy.
Good.
Play dead.
Reminds me of my ex-wife in bed.
Tammi.
Sammy! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A woman wants to hire Richter to search her son's room for drugs, and she's gonna pay me $200! Can you believe it? I'm gonna pass out flyers around the neighboood, maybe even advertise the Web.
Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Why not? What I was gonna put the money toward the Hasselbrand.
I am working.
Come on.
Any lead on our girl yet? Showed her picture on the street but came up empty.
Thought Gangs caught the case.
Yeah, but it looks like it's not gang-related.
Good luck.
We're gonna need it.
Thanks.
All right.
We're just gonna have to wait for the prints.
Well, you can wait- I'm working this case.
Why are you so bitchy? A dead girl's body is waiting to be buried, and everybody seems to be passing the buck.
Lydia, you cannot take this so personally.
When's the last time you had some fun, huh? Hold up, you ain't sticking on me.
Sit down! Sit down.
I'm tired of it.
tired of it, okay? You got the dead girl's cross around your neck, you've got your face plastered all over the Internet.
You're going in, case closed- proceshim, Nate.
Easyeasy, you n't got to do me like I'm doing you the same way that you did the girl! Hold up! It ain't even like that! Just having some fun throwing a few rocks and stuff.
That's fun to you? Huh? Take the cross off your neck.
Take the cross off your neck I got this! Take the cross off! Look, all right? I took the cross! But I swear to you, man, I didn't kill her.
Some old white dude was driving around- he dumped her there.
What kind of car was he driving? Old white dude van- you know, with the curtains in the windows.
He circled the block a few times.
Where are we headed? The women's shelter in Hollywood.
Most of the girls make a pit stop there along the way.
I was thinking maybe we could show her picture around and see what we come up with.
OkayCo.
I know, Pop, but you and Mom can't handle this on your own.
I need to know these things.
You have an address? All right, I'll see you in a minute.
What's up? My sister Mercedes ill n't home.
I need to take a ride over there, calm my folks down.
I got lucky- one of the regulars knew her.
Her name is Nicole Nelson.
Let's go back to the office ando a record check.
No, no, you were great.
Yeahno, I'm gonna work on my story right Yeah, the one I told you about.
Okay, I got to go.
I'm working on Sally in the Alley.
That homicide in South Central.
Okay, bye.
Wrap that up.
There's been a shooting on Hollywood and Highland.
Everyone goes.
Code 2.
Right now.
Well, we're working on this homicide, though.
It can wait.
Yeah, but we just I.
D.
'd the victim.
We were on our way to make the notification.
You know what, Detective? She'll still be dead in five hours.
Oh! What is this, the, uh, policeman's ball? Hey, guys.
How you doing? How you doing, man? All right, we'll see you in a second.
This is kooky, nuts.
This is ridiculous.
You believe this? There's more cops out here than the North Hollywood shootout.
Some meth head tries to rip off Mr.
Schmitt from Stuttgart.
Mr.
Schmitt says no, puts up a fight, gets shot in the thigh.
Nein.
That's "no" in German.
They could've had two black-and-whites and two detectives to handle this.
Look at her- I'll bet she's up there telling the mayor that the last time a tourist got shot was that Japanese lady in 1981.
Yeah, that guy who shot his wife downtown on the bridge- they just arrested him.
I mean, it only took 20 years.
You know what they say, you, uh, you can run all you want, but if you kill a tourist, you're going to jail tired, you know? I got a case for you for that homicide blog.
Where you been, woman? They shut us down two months ago, said they ran out of funds.
The community's in an uproar- they don't know what's going on, they don't know where to commemorate their kid - they want the blog up now.
I guess more people have computers now than read the papers, though.
That's weird.
The whole world got itself wired up.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Well, we got to canvass.
All right.
See you, Tony.
Yeah, see you later.
All right, who saw anything? Um, once I release him, please do not enter the room, okay? Okay.
Okay.
Whatever, um, whatever he whatever he finds, I'll bring out to you, okay? All right, boy.
Ye, your thing.
Got something in there? No? Oh.
Oh.
What do you got in here? Oh, my gosh.
There? There? Sit! Sit! Richter! Okay, Richter, sit! Um, um Richter! Richter! , lease! Release, Richter! Sit! Richter! Hey, um, What the hell are you doing? William, could you just wait outside for a second? We'll be we'll be through.
Okay? No! Who the hell are you? Oh, my God, he bit him! Oh, my God! dog bit me! Bill, what have youone?! What have I done? I'm bleeding and I have playoffs tomorrow.
All right, all right.
I'm really sorry, but he's just doing what he's trained to do.
You shouldn't have done that.
Look wt he's doi toy AiJords.
I'll buy you another pair.
They're not the same; they're special edition.
Exse me.
Yeah.
That's why he was going so crazy.
I ll be disposing of this.
So, what do you know about this guy? His name is Edwin.
I don't know where he lives, but I have his phone number.
How old is this kid? He's 18.
Geez, Pop she's 15 years old.
What the hell were you thinking? rcedesas minof her own.
You we the same at her age Why didn't you tell me? Yohave eugheadhes withork,he ks.
Yeah, but, Pop, I could've stepped in.
I could've done something, set her straight or something.
Hey, Edwin.
It's Mercedes' brother.
Put my sister on the phone.
Well, where the hell is she? ¿Sabes que? Cuedate alli.
Porque vengo por ti.
Hey, Geez! hey, hey, calm down.
You were young once, remember? You still have your connection at the phone company? Sure.
Can we call that in? Absolutely.
Pay this chulo a visit.
Just be sure and mention the fact Are we done here or are we waiting for the National Guard? They probably went to get a bite to eat.
She's in school, man.
You think this thinks about that? School tomorrow.
She has homework due.
You all right, baby? What happened? What do you mean he bit someone? Who? Who?! I told you not to do that.
We are not insured for that.
We could be sued now.
Are you nuts, Tammi? Tammi? Mrs.
Nelson.
I apologizfo ving to call you earli.
We ually do this in person, but we had a situation.
m soorry for your loss.
But may we come in and talk to you about your daughter? He don't know it yet.
Is my mom dead? Uh, you mind if I turn this off here? Yeah, she is.
I'm really, really sorry.
she was a whore.
She was your mom.
Look I know you're always gonna remember this night, how awful it is.
But you can build good memories, too.
You know? You got to do that.
You got to focus on that.
Try to remember the nice things about her.
You know what I'm talking about? All right, listen, you ever want to talk about this, whenever that is- two days from now, a week, couple months wean do th.
All right? We can do that.
Okay? Okay.
Your sister has a boyfriend.
What is the big deal? That's what teenagers do, right? I hate competing withhose things.
Uh, we caught a homicide earlier in South Central.
We need to put a rush on the fingernail scrapings and the rape kit.
Who do I need to speak with to expedite this? You're speaking to him.
We got a backlog of We got to process the ones closest to the statute of limitations.
These rape kits have been sitting here for ten years.
Sorry to say.
Yeah, well, tell that to the victim.
Whoa, ease up, Lyd.
Each one of these rape kits represents a rapist who could still be out there.
I hear you.
I got two girls.
But we're shorthanded.
We we promised funding to outsource it.
Never came through.
This is so wrong.
Yeah? Um, I'm sorry to leave.
Uh, this just really isn't a good time right now.
Okay.
Bye.
Who was that? The guy I had brunch with.
Yeah? Brunch? That's safe.
So did he make the cut? You gonna see him again? Come on, Lyd.
No one ever gets a second chance with you.
Sorry, Russell, I'm just really not in the mood to date right now.
Well, what do you want me to do? Put on little outfit, go out, get drunk, stagger to my car, get raped and end up here for ten years waiting for somebody to do something about it? Jeez, Lyd.
Take it easy.
I got it.
ay.
I didn't know you still had that.
Uh, yeah.
Your mom gave that to you, right? My dad.
When you graduated college? Uh-huh.
So what are you doing? Typing a letter or something? No, I'm gonna write.
You are so competitive.
Can we not do this right now? But seriously, I write, so now you have to write? Can't we just both write? You and every other cop.
Everyone thinks they're a writer.
You know what, Dina? u' not exactly Dosevsky, all right? You're screwing that teacher, aren't you? No.
ENID Lydia, I'm heating up something for you.
Thanks, Mom.
Got great taste.
That's for sure.
He didt grow them, Mom.
Well, they're special.
He didn't just call Fine, I'll marry him.
I hope you brought home an appetite and not just that foul mood.
I'm sorry.
It's just, this case at work.
This girl was murdered, and it's like nobody gives a damn but me.
I made veal blanquette.
Fancy.
We, you know, I want to be able to cook for real Parisians, hold my head up high.
The hell were you thinking? I'm sorry.
I was just so excited about the money.
I- I don't want you to have to worry anymore.
You can't start a business without insurance.
Especially with a messed-up animal.
He bit someone now we're liable.
That's not my fault! You never told me about the insurance! I told you not to do it.
Period! I'm at work, I'm in the middle of a case, you show up, I have to stop what I'm doing- which is freakin' important, by the way- and explain it to you? I'm sorry, Sammy! I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry! What am I gonna do with you? ease, mmy.
I'm sorry.
Please.
Really, it's okay.
When I didn't hear from you, I figured something was up.
It's Mercedes.
She never came home from school.
I was driving around for hours looking for her.
She's been giving my parents a hard time lately.
Hanging out with the wrong crowd.
They don't deserve that.
Oh, my God.
Your poor parents.
at Iot to do is figu out the st way to handle ts.
No, we have to figure it out.
You're not in this alone, you know? I know.
Well, we better do it fast,??? Number one, I want you to apologize to Cathleen.
Apologize for what? You left a high priority scene without being relieved from duty, you were mocking the investigation, which was Code 2.
Mocking it how? You told Cathleen you thought the National Guard was arriving? I'm sorry.
I was frustrated to be pulled off a case.
Why isn't anybody doing anything about the backlog of DNA? And not a singlerticle has been written? Lydia, we are not discussing this now.
I didn't know I was part of the cleanup.
Cleanup? Listen, I don't spin anything.
Everything gets reported.
Yes, sometimes it's a balancing act.
There's What kind of case were you pulled off of? Girl in South Central strangled and dumped in an alley.
Mm.
Nothing you'd be concerned with.
Okay, what is it exactly that you don't like about me, huh? I don't like the fact that if this girl was found in an alley in Brentwood this would be front page news.
That's I don't like that there's a backlog of rape DNA of I don't like the skirts you wear.
I don't like your hairstyle.
I don't like that every time a man is within 15 feet of you, you push out your chest, and your voice gets all kittenish.
Enough! Excuse me.
Okay.
Can I go now? Go.
This is Detective Adams.
Detective Adams.
Detective Adams, they said you had another one like my daughter.
I'm sorry? Another dead girl like my daughter Princess.
When did you daughter die? January 7, 1992 Let-let me talk to you some more about your daughter.
She's just 19 My only girl.
Have a seat inside here.
You said her name was Princess? Yes, ma'am.
Okay.
Look, don't worry, Pop, all right? I'm not going to do anything crazy, I promis Just give me the address.
Thanks.
We got to go, man.
Sorry.
What? What?! What the hell is going on? Mercedes never came home last night.
My father got an address from one of her friends.
You've been dragging my ass all over the place for two days.
What the hell is going on, Nate? Mercedes isn't my sister.
She's my daughter.
Right after I enlisted, I found out my girlfriend was pregnant.
We were all set to put the kid up for adoption, but my parents jumped in the middle of things.
They refused to let their first grandchild be raised by a stranger.
Does Mercedes know? No.
I don't know, maybe.
Maybe that's why she's acting out like this.
You okay? I guess now isn't the best time to ask permission to open a cold case.
Detective Clarke.
Yeah, what is it? Oh, wow.
That's great news.
I wasn't expecting that.
Go ahead.
Uh-huh.
Thanks a lot.
Hey, Lydia, guess what? Your new friend down at the lab just got a DNA hit off the fingernail scrapings.
He did that for us? He did it for you.
He said if his girls ever needed a detective, he'd want you handling the case.
Well, who's our guy? Lester Brown.
He's a registered sex offender.
I'll do a record check.
And I'll check with parole and get an address.
And then we're going to need an arrest warrant.
Where's Mercedes? I don't know.
You lying to me? No, man.
Is she here? No.
No? I'm going to find out for myself, you got that? Hey, we're cops, you idiot! Stupid.
Mercedes here? No, man.
You know her? I haven't seen her.
I don't want any problems out of you.
Mercedes.
¿Que estas haciendo? ¿Quien es este? Cuitate! Dejame sola, mentiroso! Get in the car.
I'm taking you home.
Get away from me.
Get in the car.
You think I wouldn't find out?! Why you drinking, huh? Why you drinking? You think I'm stupid?! Get in the car! Don't you run away from me! Get your hands off me, you! He's trying to mess with me! Kick his! Get the back! Get her out of here, Moretta.
Back off! Mercedes, calm down.
Back off! All of you, back the off! You lied to me about everything my whole life! I'm sorry about that.
I hate Don't touch me! Don't you touch me! Just get in the car, please.
I trusted you with everything! I trusted you with everything! What are you doing hanging out with these people? You lied to me my whole life! I'm sorry about that.
My whole life! I'm sorry about that.
How do you expect me to feel about that?! I'm here because I love you, okay? Why are you doing this? You know what? Get in the car.
No.
Get in the car.
We'll talk about this later.
No.
We're going to talk about this later.
Get in the car.
No.
Lester Brown.
He's on the move! Hands up! Stay right there! Hold it! The dog! Get him.
He, heel! Put your arms out to the side.
Give me your left arm.
Roll over on your right.
Sit up.
Lester Brown, you're under arrest for murder.
I think this could be the same guy.
Someone saw a white van pick Princess up.
He could have buried her out there.
So he'a serial killer? Maybe.
Could be.
Maybe? Could be? Look, white van, Both victims prostitutes in Hollywood.
That's all you got? Look, man, we're working the case.
What do you want me to do? Write about it.
Two victims, 20 years apart, white van.
Nothing's changed.
You know what this guy told me? He said he dumped her in South Central because he thought nobody would notice.
You know, it's not a bad idea.
Nobody cared then, nobody cares now, yadda-yadda.
Exactly.
I could get the case reopened.
I'll think about it.
Well, it would help.
Hmm, and we got to do something about that backlog of rape DNA.
I'm working on it.
It's kind of a big story, Lyd.
It's going to make a lot of people look bad.
Too bad.
I'm working on it.
Work faster.
Come on, I'll give you a ride.
I need to talk to you.
Well, I don't want to talk to you.
I needed my birth certificate to get a learner's permit.
But every time I would ask Pops, he would change the subject.
I didn't want you to find out this way.
When? On your death bed? Look, I was young.
I couldn't give you the home that you deserved.
Mom and Pops, they could give that to you.
What about my mother? Why didn't she take me? Because your mother fell into the wrong group of people.
Okay? She got into drugs.
She got into alcohol.
Do you still talk to her? No, mija, I don't.
By the time I came home from the army, she she moved away.
Do I look like her? Sure do.
A lot.
You're beautiful.
Just the way she was.
I want to find her.
Okay.
We can try.
For real? For real.
This is the best camera in the world.
The world? Cartier-Bresson thought so.
Alright.
Put $500 on this one, $600 on that one, the rest on that one.
You know what? Switch the last two.
In the world? Good morning, Mrs.
Miller.
Oh, are you here about my Princess? Yeah.
I thought you might like to see this.
My eyes don't see so good anymore.
Come on in.
Let me get my glasses.
It's about your daughter.
What happened to her.
I might be able to get the case reopened, and this publicity might help.
Why'd you do that for us? My only girl.
I think that, uh, she would have wanted you to have that.
My grammy said you caught the guy.
Yeah, we did.
That's good, right? Definitely.
See, I was surprised to get your call.
I had just about given up on you.
I'm sorry.
I reallyanted toake up for that last time.
Don't worry about it.
I'll tell you, though.
It's a great choice.
Yeah, it's my mother's recommendation.
Did she move to Paris yet? Mm.
Soon.
I have something to tell you.
I'm a cop.
Geez.
I didn't see that one coming.
Cop.
So, you you enjoy your job? I love it.
I really love it.
And I had a good week.
Hmm.
" Our detectives wanted to give is one a name.
I took my boys out to lunch the other day, right? And, uh, Petey starts horsing around, juggling meatballs up in the air.
My little guy hates toe upstaged by his brother, so he takes these peas and starts shoving them up his nose.
So, now it's official.
The Moretta boys are banned from Denny's for life.
Hey.
What's the matter with you? Nothing.
No? So, when are you going to get Tammy pregnant? No! No.
We are not ready.
Tammy? Yeah.
Shwas isew , e ssbl It costs around $2,000.
You serious? Yeah.
It's an expensive hobby, man.
She's really good.
Yeah? It's kind of more than a hobby.
Really? Yeah.
Wow.
'Cause I've heard you say that before.
e pott's wel? Come on.
Oh, I know, I know, but her photography's really first-rate.
She's got a great eye.
Don't know where we're going to get the money.
Yeah, I hear that.
Moretta.
Whoa, calm down, Pop.
Look, she probably just stopped off at a friend's house after school.
you give me a call, all right? Just calm down.
All right.
Everything all right? Yeah, man, yeah.
It's just my sister.
She keeps driving my parents crazy.
They never know where she's going or who she's going with.
It's what teenagers do, remember? Yeah.
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
Sit down before you take a tumble.
Forget it.
He's going to fall.
They never fall.
See? Hey, would you put him back wherever he came from? Hey! Photos and SID are here, but the coroner's backed up.
They don't know when they're going to get here.
The shield? She's naked.
She OD'd? No, no.
r fingernails are broken in half.
She got a rope around her neck.
Clean-looking.
Not from the hood.
You print her? Machine's not working.
She's the coner's problem no That cld take days.
Just take a couple headshots.
Maybe Vice can ID her.
Mrs.
Vargas called it in, and she lives across the alley in 3B.
She thought she was just a drunk sleeping it off, but when she didn't move for 18 hours, she actually realized something was wrong.
All right.
Like a naked girl laying in an alley isn't enough of a tip-off.
Hey, can you blame her? She didn't want to miss her novelas.
Before s cled itn, she id s saw some ds, ages ten, 11, fooling around in the alley, taking pictures with their cell phones Ten year old didn't do this.
Yeah.
Bangers? No.
They'd just shoot her.
This guy's a professional.
He tried to, uh, minimize the trace evidence.
He knew by the time mebody called it in, the scene would be contaminated.
It's a defense attorney's dream.
Well, maybe we can get lucky.
Get a hit off the nail scrapings.
You know, om the rope, we'll be able to tell what the guy's into.
If it's nylon, it's boating.
If it's polyester, shipping.
Polypropylene, fishing.
You know, some rope is sensitive to the cold.
Another deteriorates under UV light, so It's my Sex Crime days.
I take back all the crap I said about you.
Thank you.
I'll calHomide.
k them to give us a hand.
All right.
Okay.
So, how am I doing so far? Excuse me? I'm hoping I pass this lunch test.
I can take you on a real date.
Oh.
's not that.
I st.
I like to take things slow.
Noover him, huh? We've all been there.
So, what do you do? I work for the city.
In what capacity? I'm an advocate for the community.
Advocate? Is that like a social worker or? You could say that.
I got to tell you, Lydia, I'm really enjoying this.
Oh, really? Good.
So, where do you live? I live with my mother.
That's sweet.
I mean, you don't hear that often these days.
Yeah.
I was in a long relationship, and when we broke up, my mom, she was having health issues, so I moved in with her.
How is she doing now? Good.
So good, she's selling her house and moving to Paris.
Paris? That's pretty impressive.
xxx Uh I'm sorry, but I have to leave.
I'm needed back at the office.
Well, we haven't even had dessert yet.
Mm I don't have much of a sweet tooth.
Lydia.
Can I call you again? Oh.
Yeah.
Give me a call.
Okay.
All right.
Writing can be orwhelming.
Okay? So I want you to fight like hell the urge to tell people what you're working on.
'Cause I-I promise you, even the people closest to you- your-your boyfriend, your-your husband, ur-your mother- they are going to say things to deflate you and dissipate your energy.
You need to have faith in yourselves faith in your voice and faith in your ability.
Any questions so far? Sure, yeah.
I know her face.
She works Highland.
She was stripped clean and dumped in South Central.
No clothes, no ID.
I think her street name is Cherry.
Yeah, I' seen her around.
Well, we'll show these around and see what we can come up with.
All right.
Russel I've en trying to reach you for over an hour.
I was busy.
Answer the damn phone, Russell.
You know we're on call.
Sounds like your date didn't go so well.
Meet me at the coroner's office.
Gangs needs our help on a homicide.
Here she is.
She must have fought like hell.
Hi.
I'm Detective Adams.
I need to identify a murder victim.
She was dumped in an alley witho ID and no clothes.
Take a number.
Won't take long.
I just need you to get the prints, so we can get the ball rolling.
Prts are done at the scene.
But the machine was out of commission.
Why is that my problem? Can't you just do us this favor, please? I make one exception, and the floodgates open.
I'm sorry.
I've been burned too many times before.
Yeah, but this isn't about you.
This is about ving a poor girl a name.
She was dumped in the allelike bag of trash.
She deserves better than that.
So, what do you think? Should we reinterview the old la tt w the body in the alley? No.
It looks like Kenny covered all the bases.
Got a pretty good description of the kids.
Kenny's been on the ball lately, hasn't he? I'm going to check with Juv.
Let them run it through their database.
Yo.
Miller time.
Okay.
Oh.
Who's up next? Not me.
I got the last report.
I'm primy, so I get a pass.
Mrs.
Miller.
How are you today? Fine.
Good.
Please have a seat.
Thank you.
So, uh, what can I do for you? I'm here to make a police report.
My daughter is missing.
And what's your daughter's name? Princess.
Her age? Just turned 19.
She's my by.
My only girl.
When was the last time y saw your daughter, Mrs.
Miller? January 7, 1992 Guys, come here and take a look at these idiots.
Come.
Can you hold on one second, please? So, I was checking Facebook, MySpace, right? Bingo.
YouTube.
Geez.
We know those kids- they hang with Grape Street.
These little mutts have the balls to put this on the Web.
Bragging rights.
Can you pause that? Yeah.
Look at that.
Bastards couldn't eneave the freakin' cross on her neck.
Had toake at, 2.
Let's go pay those baby bangers a visit.
You must be trippin, cuz, why would I me wh that? I got my own ho's.
"Ho's"? He's got ho's.
You're just out of diapers, kid.
Sorry, my man, I got witnesses that put you there, say you were all over her ass.
No way.
I do some crazy, but I ain't no animal.
Well, unless you start talking, you're going away for murder.
Yeah, right, you don't got nothing on me.
Where'd you get the cross? My momz.
Call your momz, tell her to start praying.
Richter! How you doing, boy? He's doing good.
Yeah? Richter, sit.
good.
Speak.
Lie down.
??? Gon.
Lie down It's okay.
Good boy.
Good.
Play dead.
Reminds me of my ex-wife in bed.
Tammi.
Sammy! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A woman wants to hire Richter to search her son's room for drugs, and she's gonna pay me $200! Can you believe it? I'm gonna pass out flyers around the neighboood, maybe even advertise the Web.
Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Why not? What I was gonna put the money toward the Hasselbrand.
I am working.
Come on.
Any lead on our girl yet? Showed her picture on the street but came up empty.
Thought Gangs caught the case.
Yeah, but it looks like it's not gang-related.
Good luck.
We're gonna need it.
Thanks.
All right.
We're just gonna have to wait for the prints.
Well, you can wait- I'm working this case.
Why are you so bitchy? A dead girl's body is waiting to be buried, and everybody seems to be passing the buck.
Lydia, you cannot take this so personally.
When's the last time you had some fun, huh? Hold up, you ain't sticking on me.
Sit down! Sit down.
I'm tired of it.
tired of it, okay? You got the dead girl's cross around your neck, you've got your face plastered all over the Internet.
You're going in, case closed- proceshim, Nate.
Easyeasy, you n't got to do me like I'm doing you the same way that you did the girl! Hold up! It ain't even like that! Just having some fun throwing a few rocks and stuff.
That's fun to you? Huh? Take the cross off your neck.
Take the cross off your neck I got this! Take the cross off! Look, all right? I took the cross! But I swear to you, man, I didn't kill her.
Some old white dude was driving around- he dumped her there.
What kind of car was he driving? Old white dude van- you know, with the curtains in the windows.
He circled the block a few times.
Where are we headed? The women's shelter in Hollywood.
Most of the girls make a pit stop there along the way.
I was thinking maybe we could show her picture around and see what we come up with.
OkayCo.
I know, Pop, but you and Mom can't handle this on your own.
I need to know these things.
You have an address? All right, I'll see you in a minute.
What's up? My sister Mercedes ill n't home.
I need to take a ride over there, calm my folks down.
I got lucky- one of the regulars knew her.
Her name is Nicole Nelson.
Let's go back to the office ando a record check.
No, no, you were great.
Yeahno, I'm gonna work on my story right Yeah, the one I told you about.
Okay, I got to go.
I'm working on Sally in the Alley.
That homicide in South Central.
Okay, bye.
Wrap that up.
There's been a shooting on Hollywood and Highland.
Everyone goes.
Code 2.
Right now.
Well, we're working on this homicide, though.
It can wait.
Yeah, but we just I.
D.
'd the victim.
We were on our way to make the notification.
You know what, Detective? She'll still be dead in five hours.
Oh! What is this, the, uh, policeman's ball? Hey, guys.
How you doing? How you doing, man? All right, we'll see you in a second.
This is kooky, nuts.
This is ridiculous.
You believe this? There's more cops out here than the North Hollywood shootout.
Some meth head tries to rip off Mr.
Schmitt from Stuttgart.
Mr.
Schmitt says no, puts up a fight, gets shot in the thigh.
Nein.
That's "no" in German.
They could've had two black-and-whites and two detectives to handle this.
Look at her- I'll bet she's up there telling the mayor that the last time a tourist got shot was that Japanese lady in 1981.
Yeah, that guy who shot his wife downtown on the bridge- they just arrested him.
I mean, it only took 20 years.
You know what they say, you, uh, you can run all you want, but if you kill a tourist, you're going to jail tired, you know? I got a case for you for that homicide blog.
Where you been, woman? They shut us down two months ago, said they ran out of funds.
The community's in an uproar- they don't know what's going on, they don't know where to commemorate their kid - they want the blog up now.
I guess more people have computers now than read the papers, though.
That's weird.
The whole world got itself wired up.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Well, we got to canvass.
All right.
See you, Tony.
Yeah, see you later.
All right, who saw anything? Um, once I release him, please do not enter the room, okay? Okay.
Okay.
Whatever, um, whatever he whatever he finds, I'll bring out to you, okay? All right, boy.
Ye, your thing.
Got something in there? No? Oh.
Oh.
What do you got in here? Oh, my gosh.
There? There? Sit! Sit! Richter! Okay, Richter, sit! Um, um Richter! Richter! , lease! Release, Richter! Sit! Richter! Hey, um, What the hell are you doing? William, could you just wait outside for a second? We'll be we'll be through.
Okay? No! Who the hell are you? Oh, my God, he bit him! Oh, my God! dog bit me! Bill, what have youone?! What have I done? I'm bleeding and I have playoffs tomorrow.
All right, all right.
I'm really sorry, but he's just doing what he's trained to do.
You shouldn't have done that.
Look wt he's doi toy AiJords.
I'll buy you another pair.
They're not the same; they're special edition.
Exse me.
Yeah.
That's why he was going so crazy.
I ll be disposing of this.
So, what do you know about this guy? His name is Edwin.
I don't know where he lives, but I have his phone number.
How old is this kid? He's 18.
Geez, Pop she's 15 years old.
What the hell were you thinking? rcedesas minof her own.
You we the same at her age Why didn't you tell me? Yohave eugheadhes withork,he ks.
Yeah, but, Pop, I could've stepped in.
I could've done something, set her straight or something.
Hey, Edwin.
It's Mercedes' brother.
Put my sister on the phone.
Well, where the hell is she? ¿Sabes que? Cuedate alli.
Porque vengo por ti.
Hey, Geez! hey, hey, calm down.
You were young once, remember? You still have your connection at the phone company? Sure.
Can we call that in? Absolutely.
Pay this chulo a visit.
Just be sure and mention the fact Are we done here or are we waiting for the National Guard? They probably went to get a bite to eat.
She's in school, man.
You think this thinks about that? School tomorrow.
She has homework due.
You all right, baby? What happened? What do you mean he bit someone? Who? Who?! I told you not to do that.
We are not insured for that.
We could be sued now.
Are you nuts, Tammi? Tammi? Mrs.
Nelson.
I apologizfo ving to call you earli.
We ually do this in person, but we had a situation.
m soorry for your loss.
But may we come in and talk to you about your daughter? He don't know it yet.
Is my mom dead? Uh, you mind if I turn this off here? Yeah, she is.
I'm really, really sorry.
she was a whore.
She was your mom.
Look I know you're always gonna remember this night, how awful it is.
But you can build good memories, too.
You know? You got to do that.
You got to focus on that.
Try to remember the nice things about her.
You know what I'm talking about? All right, listen, you ever want to talk about this, whenever that is- two days from now, a week, couple months wean do th.
All right? We can do that.
Okay? Okay.
Your sister has a boyfriend.
What is the big deal? That's what teenagers do, right? I hate competing withhose things.
Uh, we caught a homicide earlier in South Central.
We need to put a rush on the fingernail scrapings and the rape kit.
Who do I need to speak with to expedite this? You're speaking to him.
We got a backlog of We got to process the ones closest to the statute of limitations.
These rape kits have been sitting here for ten years.
Sorry to say.
Yeah, well, tell that to the victim.
Whoa, ease up, Lyd.
Each one of these rape kits represents a rapist who could still be out there.
I hear you.
I got two girls.
But we're shorthanded.
We we promised funding to outsource it.
Never came through.
This is so wrong.
Yeah? Um, I'm sorry to leave.
Uh, this just really isn't a good time right now.
Okay.
Bye.
Who was that? The guy I had brunch with.
Yeah? Brunch? That's safe.
So did he make the cut? You gonna see him again? Come on, Lyd.
No one ever gets a second chance with you.
Sorry, Russell, I'm just really not in the mood to date right now.
Well, what do you want me to do? Put on little outfit, go out, get drunk, stagger to my car, get raped and end up here for ten years waiting for somebody to do something about it? Jeez, Lyd.
Take it easy.
I got it.
ay.
I didn't know you still had that.
Uh, yeah.
Your mom gave that to you, right? My dad.
When you graduated college? Uh-huh.
So what are you doing? Typing a letter or something? No, I'm gonna write.
You are so competitive.
Can we not do this right now? But seriously, I write, so now you have to write? Can't we just both write? You and every other cop.
Everyone thinks they're a writer.
You know what, Dina? u' not exactly Dosevsky, all right? You're screwing that teacher, aren't you? No.
ENID Lydia, I'm heating up something for you.
Thanks, Mom.
Got great taste.
That's for sure.
He didt grow them, Mom.
Well, they're special.
He didn't just call Fine, I'll marry him.
I hope you brought home an appetite and not just that foul mood.
I'm sorry.
It's just, this case at work.
This girl was murdered, and it's like nobody gives a damn but me.
I made veal blanquette.
Fancy.
We, you know, I want to be able to cook for real Parisians, hold my head up high.
The hell were you thinking? I'm sorry.
I was just so excited about the money.
I- I don't want you to have to worry anymore.
You can't start a business without insurance.
Especially with a messed-up animal.
He bit someone now we're liable.
That's not my fault! You never told me about the insurance! I told you not to do it.
Period! I'm at work, I'm in the middle of a case, you show up, I have to stop what I'm doing- which is freakin' important, by the way- and explain it to you? I'm sorry, Sammy! I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry! What am I gonna do with you? ease, mmy.
I'm sorry.
Please.
Really, it's okay.
When I didn't hear from you, I figured something was up.
It's Mercedes.
She never came home from school.
I was driving around for hours looking for her.
She's been giving my parents a hard time lately.
Hanging out with the wrong crowd.
They don't deserve that.
Oh, my God.
Your poor parents.
at Iot to do is figu out the st way to handle ts.
No, we have to figure it out.
You're not in this alone, you know? I know.
Well, we better do it fast,??? Number one, I want you to apologize to Cathleen.
Apologize for what? You left a high priority scene without being relieved from duty, you were mocking the investigation, which was Code 2.
Mocking it how? You told Cathleen you thought the National Guard was arriving? I'm sorry.
I was frustrated to be pulled off a case.
Why isn't anybody doing anything about the backlog of DNA? And not a singlerticle has been written? Lydia, we are not discussing this now.
I didn't know I was part of the cleanup.
Cleanup? Listen, I don't spin anything.
Everything gets reported.
Yes, sometimes it's a balancing act.
There's What kind of case were you pulled off of? Girl in South Central strangled and dumped in an alley.
Mm.
Nothing you'd be concerned with.
Okay, what is it exactly that you don't like about me, huh? I don't like the fact that if this girl was found in an alley in Brentwood this would be front page news.
That's I don't like that there's a backlog of rape DNA of I don't like the skirts you wear.
I don't like your hairstyle.
I don't like that every time a man is within 15 feet of you, you push out your chest, and your voice gets all kittenish.
Enough! Excuse me.
Okay.
Can I go now? Go.
This is Detective Adams.
Detective Adams.
Detective Adams, they said you had another one like my daughter.
I'm sorry? Another dead girl like my daughter Princess.
When did you daughter die? January 7, 1992 Let-let me talk to you some more about your daughter.
She's just 19 My only girl.
Have a seat inside here.
You said her name was Princess? Yes, ma'am.
Okay.
Look, don't worry, Pop, all right? I'm not going to do anything crazy, I promis Just give me the address.
Thanks.
We got to go, man.
Sorry.
What? What?! What the hell is going on? Mercedes never came home last night.
My father got an address from one of her friends.
You've been dragging my ass all over the place for two days.
What the hell is going on, Nate? Mercedes isn't my sister.
She's my daughter.
Right after I enlisted, I found out my girlfriend was pregnant.
We were all set to put the kid up for adoption, but my parents jumped in the middle of things.
They refused to let their first grandchild be raised by a stranger.
Does Mercedes know? No.
I don't know, maybe.
Maybe that's why she's acting out like this.
You okay? I guess now isn't the best time to ask permission to open a cold case.
Detective Clarke.
Yeah, what is it? Oh, wow.
That's great news.
I wasn't expecting that.
Go ahead.
Uh-huh.
Thanks a lot.
Hey, Lydia, guess what? Your new friend down at the lab just got a DNA hit off the fingernail scrapings.
He did that for us? He did it for you.
He said if his girls ever needed a detective, he'd want you handling the case.
Well, who's our guy? Lester Brown.
He's a registered sex offender.
I'll do a record check.
And I'll check with parole and get an address.
And then we're going to need an arrest warrant.
Where's Mercedes? I don't know.
You lying to me? No, man.
Is she here? No.
No? I'm going to find out for myself, you got that? Hey, we're cops, you idiot! Stupid.
Mercedes here? No, man.
You know her? I haven't seen her.
I don't want any problems out of you.
Mercedes.
¿Que estas haciendo? ¿Quien es este? Cuitate! Dejame sola, mentiroso! Get in the car.
I'm taking you home.
Get away from me.
Get in the car.
You think I wouldn't find out?! Why you drinking, huh? Why you drinking? You think I'm stupid?! Get in the car! Don't you run away from me! Get your hands off me, you! He's trying to mess with me! Kick his! Get the back! Get her out of here, Moretta.
Back off! Mercedes, calm down.
Back off! All of you, back the off! You lied to me about everything my whole life! I'm sorry about that.
I hate Don't touch me! Don't you touch me! Just get in the car, please.
I trusted you with everything! I trusted you with everything! What are you doing hanging out with these people? You lied to me my whole life! I'm sorry about that.
My whole life! I'm sorry about that.
How do you expect me to feel about that?! I'm here because I love you, okay? Why are you doing this? You know what? Get in the car.
No.
Get in the car.
We'll talk about this later.
No.
We're going to talk about this later.
Get in the car.
No.
Lester Brown.
He's on the move! Hands up! Stay right there! Hold it! The dog! Get him.
He, heel! Put your arms out to the side.
Give me your left arm.
Roll over on your right.
Sit up.
Lester Brown, you're under arrest for murder.
I think this could be the same guy.
Someone saw a white van pick Princess up.
He could have buried her out there.
So he'a serial killer? Maybe.
Could be.
Maybe? Could be? Look, white van, Both victims prostitutes in Hollywood.
That's all you got? Look, man, we're working the case.
What do you want me to do? Write about it.
Two victims, 20 years apart, white van.
Nothing's changed.
You know what this guy told me? He said he dumped her in South Central because he thought nobody would notice.
You know, it's not a bad idea.
Nobody cared then, nobody cares now, yadda-yadda.
Exactly.
I could get the case reopened.
I'll think about it.
Well, it would help.
Hmm, and we got to do something about that backlog of rape DNA.
I'm working on it.
It's kind of a big story, Lyd.
It's going to make a lot of people look bad.
Too bad.
I'm working on it.
Work faster.
Come on, I'll give you a ride.
I need to talk to you.
Well, I don't want to talk to you.
I needed my birth certificate to get a learner's permit.
But every time I would ask Pops, he would change the subject.
I didn't want you to find out this way.
When? On your death bed? Look, I was young.
I couldn't give you the home that you deserved.
Mom and Pops, they could give that to you.
What about my mother? Why didn't she take me? Because your mother fell into the wrong group of people.
Okay? She got into drugs.
She got into alcohol.
Do you still talk to her? No, mija, I don't.
By the time I came home from the army, she she moved away.
Do I look like her? Sure do.
A lot.
You're beautiful.
Just the way she was.
I want to find her.
Okay.
We can try.
For real? For real.
This is the best camera in the world.
The world? Cartier-Bresson thought so.
Alright.
Put $500 on this one, $600 on that one, the rest on that one.
You know what? Switch the last two.
In the world? Good morning, Mrs.
Miller.
Oh, are you here about my Princess? Yeah.
I thought you might like to see this.
My eyes don't see so good anymore.
Come on in.
Let me get my glasses.
It's about your daughter.
What happened to her.
I might be able to get the case reopened, and this publicity might help.
Why'd you do that for us? My only girl.
I think that, uh, she would have wanted you to have that.
My grammy said you caught the guy.
Yeah, we did.
That's good, right? Definitely.
See, I was surprised to get your call.
I had just about given up on you.
I'm sorry.
I reallyanted toake up for that last time.
Don't worry about it.
I'll tell you, though.
It's a great choice.
Yeah, it's my mother's recommendation.
Did she move to Paris yet? Mm.
Soon.
I have something to tell you.
I'm a cop.
Geez.
I didn't see that one coming.
Cop.
So, you you enjoy your job? I love it.
I really love it.
And I had a good week.
Hmm.