Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. (2018) s01e05 Episode Script
The Art of War
1 PREVIOUSLY, ON "UNSOLVED": Show me your hands! Shooter was Detective Frank Lyga, undercover narco working out of Hollywood division.
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
What the hell was the fight all about? It was something about a chain.
Who do we have something on? Corey Edwards.
We get him to talk, maybe he tells us Keefe was involved, maybe he just knows something, period.
Corey Edwards, you're under arrest for conspiracy to transport cocaine.
The rule is black and white.
It's an automatic suspension.
I get it.
This is about the Biggie case.
What? Come on, I'm finding connections.
Dirty cops, Death Row.
They just don't want me to find out the answers.
I'm here to see Tupac Shakur.
- Name, please? - Ayanna Jackson.
They raped me! [SOBBING.]
Shakur! You're under arrest.
Give me your hands.
Yo, Cease, what you doing here? Hey, yo, Biggie recording up here! Come through! Don't move, bitch! Everybody get down! [DRAMATIC MUSICAL TONE.]
[SOMBER MUSIC.]
Hello? Hell going on? Mr.
Shakur.
I'm Dr.
Osgood.
I'm the lead surgeon at Bellevue Hospital.
You're here because you suffered multiple injuries.
Took a few hits to the head, the outer surface of your left hand, your groin, and your thigh, where a bullet landed, severing the profundus femoral artery.
You are a very lucky man.
A few inches either way, and you'd be dead.
But my dick still works.
Yes, it will, along with the rest of you.
[FADING.]
Okay, our next stop is exploratory surgery.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Elliot? Wotan? You know what to do.
No press, no groupies.
Anybody else claiming to know my son If they aren't our people or from Pac's circle, they're not allowed.
That's you, Ma? [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
Hey, baby.
[MUTTERING.]
When Watani get here? Oh, shit.
Them dudes from the Quad came looking for me, didn't they? We gotta go.
Where're my pants? - No, relax.
- Relax? Them dudes just tried to blast me.
I ain't safe.
Who's getting through me? Through us? We got you, son.
What about court in the morning? We can reschedule.
Hell, no.
I need to be there.
They ain't getting me on these bullshit charges.
Court can wait.
[FALTERING VOCALIZATIONS.]
[SIGHS.]
[DESOLATE MUSIC.]
I can't believe they shot me.
Any idea who did it? [PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
Damn, punk.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for Tupac Shakur.
Last door on the right.
Thank you.
[PEOPLE SHOUTING.]
Out of the way.
Please, please.
Back up, sir.
- Move.
- guilty or not? Tupac Shakur has been convicted and sentenced to a maximum of 4 1/2 years in prison for sexually abusing a fan.
A state judge in New York condemned the 23-year-old rapper for his, quote, "arrogant abuse of the victim" and crimes he said had escalated as Shakur's career progressed.
[MOURNFUL RAP MUSIC.]
Protective custody? Gen pop's a zoo.
But they showing me love.
Not all of them.
Come on, man.
I can hold my own out there.
Above my pay grade.
About time you came and took them shackles off me.
I wouldn't get too comfortable, Corey.
You are facing some hefty time behind bars, my friend.
I already told you all back in the day, and I'm telling you the same thing now.
I don't know shit about who shot Pac and Big.
Weren't you in Vegas when Tupac was shot? Yeah, I was around.
With Keefe? Some say he was there.
Some say he wasn't.
But we know that you've been running with the Southside Crips for years.
Running with them? Nah.
We just stay on the same block.
That's it.
Look, I knew people like you growing up, Corey.
One toe in, nine toes out.
You wanted to bang, but your balls never dropped, so you just hung out on the sidelines.
You're more of a groupie.
Nah.
Nah, I got my own shit going.
I'm a boxing promoter, you feel me? How about your baby girl, man? [EERIE MUSIC.]
What about her? I got a daughter the same age.
Ain't nothing better in this world than her running into my arms after a long day of bullshit.
The precious time that we spend, that's just us paying it forward, 'cause when the roles are reversed and you get older, who you think's gonna take care of you? Mm, daughters need their daddies.
Listen, if you can help us with the Biggie Smalls murder, we can help you in any way possible.
And if I don't? Then you're not gonna see your little girl till she's in college.
Okay.
Okay? Okay.
I guess I'm just gonna have to take my chances at getting my case reduced.
What? I ain't no snitch.
How'd it go with Corey? Ah, he bet on himself.
Seems to be a common trend in the world of gangsters.
Gangster-adjacent, in his case.
So Justine, what are we doing in a storage unit? Not just any storage unit.
Russell Poole's storage unit.
Tyndall called, said Poole stopped paying his bill a few months back.
Before it's turned over to auction, he wanted us to look into his old case files, see if there are any links to Biggie and Tupac.
More files.
Lucky us.
Poole used to coach baseball? Yeah, it's news to me.
Look at that.
He was good, too.
Coach of the Year.
You know, I could've helped with Corey.
I worked Compton for years.
I I got a shorthand with those guys.
The Crip Whisperer.
Bloods, too.
Show of hands if you know who coined my nickname.
DJ Quik.
Blondie cut no slack Honky police that want to be black [LAUGHS.]
Right.
It's a great mix tape.
[LAUGHS.]
Found some stuff on Keefe D on the Southside Crips from Orlando Anderson's funeral.
Yeah, I remember this.
The note from Dorrough is awesome.
Orlando's best friend, right? Compton legend.
Pull up And drop the Chevy low to the street Grab the heat off the seat The realest you'll ever meet Right there.
Hell, yeah, that's him.
[RAP MUSIC.]
You got my money, Carrots? Got these nuts, you bitch-ass Corrough's doing a triple life bit in Pelican Bay.
Wait, triple life for two murders? Uh, three.
By law, Orlando's murder was part of that drive-by.
Sounds like self-defense to me, but what in the hell do I know? Plight of the black man.
We should talk to Dorrough.
I agree.
Orlando Anderson was his ace.
Dorrough might have had an inside track to Pac and Biggie.
But we need more, something tangible.
All right, lets' grab these files, get 'em back to the office, and see what they get us.
He lives! Happy New Year, Rus.
Great to have you back.
Oh, it's great to be back.
Eh? New tie? That it is.
It's a Christmas gift from my kids.
According to my son, green symbolizes growth - and harmony.
- Mm.
My takeaway from my ten-day sabbatical uh, is that it is time to be a team player and to adhere to protocol.
Hm.
Well, hey, me personally, I I thought your suspension was a little overblown.
That's in the past.
What's done is done.
New year, new me.
Well, new day, new con.
Except this time, it's one of ours.
Rafael "Ray" Perez.
Dave Mack's old partner? Yeah, department's building a case against him.
All-hands-on-deck type thing.
Us, IA, Legal Affairs, Are we looking as an accomplice to the bank robbery? Oh, we're off the bank.
Property division called.
Somebody's been stealing coke out of evidence.
Sticky fingers in question: Perez.
Russ, I cannot stress this enough.
Our only focus is Perez.
I understand.
Miller's into the David Mack of it all, specifically that Amir Muhammed tip you gifted him.
- Great.
- Okay.
Oh, hey.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
Hey.
So, Miller is, uh, pretty busy, huh? Some FBI informant keeps calling for him.
Must be desperate.
That's the fourth message this morning.
Should I forward to you? Um No need.
Our evidence system is based on trust.
Been that way for years.
Few weeks ago, 6 1/2 pounds of cocaine was checked out for a court hearing, and never returned, so I hit an officer named Joel Perez with an overdue property notice.
Upon further review, we learned that Joel Perez never checked it out.
It was a different guy, some rude and arrogant son of a bitch.
Mr.
Rude and Arrogant? Ha.
Yeah, that's him.
- His name's Ray Perez.
- Hm.
It's a it's a pretty simple ruse.
You need to find a mark with the same last name.
You take the dope out, uh, but then you never return it.
Hey, could I take a look at your evidence log? Yeah, have at it.
There's other reports of dope being stolen.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
And these names you have circled are those, uh - Are those related to those thefts? - Yeah.
[DISQUIETING MUSIC.]
That name ring a bell? [SIGHS.]
Detective Lyga.
Brian Tyndall.
You already know Detective Poole.
- I do.
- Hey.
You vetted my case with honesty and integrity, man.
Can't thank you enough for that solid.
Just doing my part.
- Ha.
- So let me guess.
I'm here because of the stolen dope.
[LAUGHS.]
Yeah, you are, but hey, don't stop there.
Anything else you got, we're all ears.
Well, you were there.
You know what this is really about.
I do? Oh, yeah.
Kevin Gaines? Bingo.
A month after I'm clear of the shooting, my coke stolen and replaced with Bisquick.
- Bisquick? - Yeah.
Perez fisted me with that one.
Ah, that's his way of looking out for Gaines.
You saying that Gaines and Perez are friends? Gaines, Perez, David Mack.
Mack and Perez were super tight.
Worked undercover back in the day.
Mack saved Perez's life.
Killed a man.
Since then, they've been in lockstep.
- Anything else? - No.
This is very helpful.
Thank you, Detective.
Appreciate your time.
- Yeah, man.
- Thanks for your time.
Thank you.
You got our back.
Go ahead, Rus.
Get it out.
Nope, nope.
I know what you're thinking.
Nah, that brain of yours is humming.
Dirty cops, the link between David Mack and Death Row You're wondering if it all ties back to Biggie Smalls.
Not yet.
Not till we get the full scope of Perez.
Really? Really.
New year, new you.
It's hard to understand the mark of a sorry man The weight of his hunger, pain, sharp as razor blades [VOICES OVERLAPPING.]
[DISQUIETING MUSIC.]
[YELLS.]
[KNOCKING.]
You got a visitor.
You look like shit.
[LAUGHS.]
I miss you, too.
It'll get better.
What, in here? It's nothing.
I'm talking about the weed detox.
First you can't sleep, then you depressed.
Then come the dreams, all vivid and euphoric, but the worst is the anger, the little emotional dregs that come out of nowhere.
How many times have you screamed for no reason? I used to be in one of these cages.
Pregnant with you.
My little soldier.
Yeah? Well, I wasn't a soldier that night.
Niggas do what they did to Ayanna Jackson.
I was slipping for not watching them as close as I should.
When all that shit went down, I should've defended her.
Then, the nigga I thought I was cool with [SCOFFS.]
It don't matter.
[SOFT RAP MUSIC.]
[KNOCKING.]
- Cease-a-leo! 'Sup, duke? - 'Sup, yo? Hey, your tour bus on the way.
You ready? No doubt.
Shit gonna be crazy.
- Yeah, the kid's blowing up! - You too.
Watch when I get back.
We gon' mix your album.
That shit is bananas.
But, yo, when I'm gone, I need you to look after my moms.
BK Love cool and all, but cats are still grimy.
I'm in an elevator, bleeding, body numb, and the doors open and there's Big just staring at me.
Staring at me, like, "Damn, you still alive?" And you think he knows who did it? Well, Big from Brooklyn, so he gotta know.
Shit.
If he ain't telling me, than yeah, he did it.
Straight up.
Like your man Pac? What about him? Street's talking, Big.
You know, he's saying you the reason his ass got lit up.
At Quad? I ain't had shit to do with that.
Was upstairs, putting in work.
Yeah, I know that, but he don't know that.
No, not Pac.
That's my man.
He know me better than that.
Look, man, I got love for him, too, but I'm not putting this shit out there.
He is.
Shh.
That nigga's bugging.
From the gate, ain't nothing but love between us.
Mad love.
I even went to the hospital when the nigga got hit up.
Still can't believe niggas got at him like that.
You put yourself out there like that, you get got.
Word up.
" In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
" Who said that? Sun Tzu.
"Art of War.
" You ain't up on it? Nah.
You need to be.
What are you reading these days? I got "The Bluest Eye" on my bed, but I ain't crack it open yet.
I'm halfway through "If Beale Street Could Talk.
" Homie James Baldwin.
That's my shit.
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
I'll mail it to you.
Or maybe you can get it out the library here.
Look, you know what books mean to us.
That's our thing.
Knowledge of self, social empowerment, the key to unlocking these bars.
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC.]
You have an exceptional mind, son, imaginative, intuitive, but in here, they want to control your thoughts.
They want to put an off switch in your head.
Don't let these four walls do that to you.
[BREATHES DEEPLY.]
Come on, we've been here forever.
What is Perez doing? Beats me.
It's a nice truck, though.
God.
Ford Expedition.
Top of the line.
Wife owns a BMW.
Not to mention the lovely home in Ladera Heights and the child that they need to provide for.
The fancy trips with David Mack.
All on $58K a year.
[LAUGHS.]
Some accountant, right? The coke he stole You don't think You don't think he's dumb enough to try to sell it himself, do you? - Well, he stole it, Rus.
- Mm-hm.
From a room full of cops.
You do the math.
What's the deal with you and Grace? We're fine.
[LAUGHS.]
What I saw this morning's far from fine.
We just decided that maybe uh, it's better if we remain friends.
Ah.
Translation: you decided.
I gotta make things right with my wife at some point.
Oh.
Well, speaking of wives, that ain't Perez's.
I got something on Dorrough.
The car wash guy? Early parole? Not even Jesus can help him with that one.
Says there that his father's doing life in Corcoran.
Maybe we transfer him to his pop's prison, curry a little favor.
Mm, favor's a lifetime of conjugals, not a reunion on Maury Povich.
Dorrough had a lot of love for his old man - Boom.
- But there's also a version we don't use the old man at all.
It's the biggest chip we got.
Might as well double down.
Why risk it, if I can get us what we want? By doing what? By doing what I would have done, had I been there for the Trevon Lane interview.
Corey Edwards, too.
Dorrough owes me.
If anybody can flip him, it's me.
Oh, shit! Blondie! [LAUGHS.]
Man, I heard y'all was here because of Pac and Biggie.
We are.
Just trying to get a sense of Hey, homie, I don't know you like that, but Blondie, that's my dude.
Let him ask the question.
Man, it's been a million, Blondie! I know! I know! Seems like yesterday you and Orlando were trying to ambush me.
Oh, shit, that's right.
Look, me and Lando We was just trying to earn our stripes for the OG.
We almost got your ass.
Stupid of me.
Gave you two a pass that night.
Didn't press charges.
I remember.
That was big.
Nah, not really.
Juvenile paperwork's a pain in the ass, anyway.
[LAUGHS.]
So, um Biggie and Tupac, of it all You know what we're up against.
Cold cases, nobody's talking.
It's tough out there.
Your ties to Southside, Keefe D in particular, still carry some weight.
Anything you got for us would be huge.
Well, I got some shit for you.
But what y'all got for me? [LAUGHS.]
Got got for you? Uh, I don't know.
Maybe that free pass we just mentioned from back in the day? Look, Blondie, we cool and all, but the dirt y'all trying to get from me ain't cheap.
I got I still gotta eat.
[SIGHS.]
Your dad's in Corcoran, right? [REFLECTIVE MUSIC.]
We can transfer you there.
Give you a chance to spend the rest of your life with him.
Good shit.
Suge had Biggie killed.
[NONPLUSSED LAUGHTER.]
Wha Uh, that's hardly a groundbreaking tip.
Come on.
They need more.
I need more, Mike.
You tell us how Suge did it.
He was in jail.
Doesn't matter.
Man, if Suge wants you touched, he can get you touched.
Who did the touching? Southside.
Suge and his boys turned to Keefe.
I was at the meeting.
Suge and Keefe D.
It's a combo package on the murder of Biggie.
It's ridiculous.
Is it? Suge and them slobs beat the brakes off of Lando back in Vegas.
Next thing I know, Lando's testifying on behalf of Suge? Come on, homie.
You know this street shit ain't nothing but a big-ass game of chess.
Everybody got a price.
Even Keefe.
Why would Keefe help Suge, and who was at that meeting? Look, that's all I got for y'all right now.
- What? - I need to know y'all ain't on that bullshit.
Put the transfer in, and I'll get you the rest.
[SPACEY MUSIC.]
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
- Big J.
- Mm-hm.
- Come holla at me.
- What's cracking, homie? Hey, I just got off the phone with some of the execs over at Interscope.
Pac got them white folks stressed.
About what? He got the number one album on the charts.
They're printing money.
Yeah, but "Me Against the World" ain't gonna carry for four years.
We need to sign him to Death Row.
Hell yeah.
We already got Snoop, Dre, Tha Dogg Pound.
We get Pac, that's some heat for your ass.
Real shit.
We need to take this hip-hop thing to the next level, and then we focus on the movie game.
Don't forget about merchandising.
We need action figures, homie.
Little black doll, all swole up, prison numbers on the shirt, Glocks and AKs as weapons.
- That shit would be cold.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Hey, Pac can get us there.
- Mm.
And you know what the dope part is? He need us.
Mm.
Only question is, who gonna bail him out? Let me get on that.
What's up, pooch? What's up? Come holla at me.
[EXHALES.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
I take it, uh, Miller never made it back yesterday, huh? For, like, five minutes, then raced back out.
[WHISPERING.]
Hey.
You okay? What do you mean? Oh.
Oh, you mean because we had a nice thing that you all of a sudden shut down and went back to your wife just so you could show the LAPD you're a good little boy.
Yeah.
I'm okay.
[DESOLATE SYNTH MUSIC.]
And while I was under investigation for illegal weapons possession, you know, money was getting a little funny, and Okay, okay.
Well, what could you possibly want with RHD? You're an FBI informant.
Yeah, I was, uh, I was hopeful you could talk to the arresting officer, maybe get in front of him before the charges are filed and sent to the DA.
I'll see what I can do.
Wrightway Security.
Uh.
You ever work for Suge? Yeah.
From time to time.
What exactly do you have on, uh, Death Row? There's a lot of cops there.
Yeah, I've heard all that.
Do you have anything else? What about David Mack and Rafael Perez? You ever see them at Death Row? Yeah, here and there.
[DESOLATE MUSIC.]
Holiday parties, video shoots, award shows.
Really? Really.
Hey, hey, hey.
Got a name on Perez's tamale.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
Veronica Quesada.
Ran the plates on her car.
Belongs to her brother, Carlos Romero.
- Mm-hm.
- They both live here.
Romero has two outstanding felony warrants for get this Sales of cocaine.
- And he has not been arrested? - No.
- Perez is protecting him.
- Yes.
Most likely, he's using him for distribution.
Yes.
I talked to Kevin Hackie.
- Who's that? - Miller's FBI informant.
Hm? Rus New year, new you? The hell happened to that? The tip was about Death Row Records.
Miller's purview was only Biggie Smalls.
- Who cares? - It's not Perez.
Hackie said that Perez and Mack have been seen at Death Row functions.
Doesn't mean they work for Suge.
- Then why were they there? - Russ, my head's in the Perez case.
Are you with me or not? I-I am.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[DISCONCERTING MUSIC.]
Hey, there she goes.
Okay, here's the deal.
You're gonna tail Perez.
I'm gonna sit on the apartment till Romero arrives, okay? Okay.
Dane-ster! - Dad! - Sorry, man.
How'd it go today? - Three for three.
- What? Yeah, one ball and a couple of doubles.
Knock some of them out of there? Agh! Now I'm really bummed that I wasn't here, man.
I'm sorry.
Oh, no, it's all good.
There's still a few games left, right? Where's your mom? Uh, she's talking to the new batting coach, Mr.
Reardon.
He's a good dude.
Hey, is it okay if I go get some pizza with a couple of my teammates? - Yeah, do your thing.
- All good? Yeah, I'll see you later.
I'm proud of you.
[CELL PHONE BUZZES.]
Dupers.
This one's gonna be hard to hear, Greg.
Well, spit it out.
Nobody wants to do a deal with Dorrough.
Well, we put the transfer in motion and let him do the rest.
How hard can that be? He's doing life.
Everybody thinks he might be trying to play us.
I gotta say, I think he might be, too.
Based on what? W-we gotta hear him out, man.
Pelican Bay just confirmed a reporter went to go see him, and there's a tape of him talking to his cousin, basically telling him to go along with his story.
It doesn't mean he's lying for sure, but But it doesn't look good.
Can't risk him trying to play both sides of the investigation.
Get one shot at this.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right, thanks.
[HAUNTING MUSIC.]
Hey, you.
Hey.
If I'd have known you were going to be here, I wouldn't have brought my car.
I heard Dane had himself a day.
Oh, yeah, you should've seen it.
He was locked in.
Head down, top arm bent, eyes right on the ball.
Were you Vin Scully? Coach Reardon preaches details.
- Hm.
- He's been great for Dane.
It's one game.
Yeah, but before he started, Dane was stuck in this terrible batting slump, so Reardon took him back to the fundamentals, back to the things that reinvigorated his passion.
Baseball is his first love.
He never lost his passion for that.
It used to be his first love.
Football's taken over.
Oh, bullshit.
Okay, I'm the one that's here.
I know what I see.
I'm sorry.
Same here.
What did we get ourselves into, Daryn? The guys in the white SUV, Trevon, Corey, Dorrough We've done all this legwork and we've got exactly dick to show for it.
It's a marathon.
We knew that.
Well, at some point, the brass will want some kind of return on their investment.
- And they'll get it.
- Get what? Then it's time to flip the script.
I landed on something.
What? You could've started with that.
After Pac was killed, shit went down in Compton.
Bloods and Crips got after each other.
I know.
Total bloodbath, eight days straight.
Then you know about the over 300 guns that were seized.
And none of them have been tested.
- That's right.
- Why not? There's no money.
Compton's broke.
Lot of open cases could be tied to those guns.
Like Tupac and Biggie.
Some of the guns were Glocks and 9-millimeters, same as used in the murders.
Wait, are we saying what I think we're saying? What, that Jim Black's about to earn his paycheck? Yeah, it seems that way.
[BLUES MUSIC.]
How's it going? Still no matches.
So what's your process? Recover the casing, then I make a digital image of the unique impression produced by the gun's firing pin.
That's it? Oh, no, that's not it.
There's more.
There's plenty more.
Usually, people just tune out after the first ten seconds, so There's room enough for more than one gun nerd, Black.
Knew we had a connection.
A lot of history in this stash.
You know, Pac, a Blood by proxy, shot on a Saturday.
By Monday, Darnell Brim, a Crip, sprayed in retaliation.
Luckily for Darnell, he survived, but the next day, two Pirus are shot in front of North Bradfield Avenue.
Then the first fatality.
Bobby Finch.
Yeah.
He had ties to Southside, but he was no Crip.
Both sides just kept trading bullets for the rest of the week.
The only thing that came out of this: agony, bloodshed, and a whole lot of yellow tape.
Hey, we got something.
So check this out.
I compared the firing pin patterns from shell casings recovered in various crime scenes, and there's a high probability that this casing from that .
40-caliber Glock matches one connected to the Tupac murder.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Ay yo, you good? I know you? People talking, P.
About what? You ain't hear? Hear about what? Biggie just dropped some new heat.
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
Called that joint "Who Shot Ya?" Shit he says is crazy.
"Recognize my face/ So there won't be no mistake.
" It's gotta be you, right? I mean, who else would he put on blast like that? If it was me, that movie would've ended differently.
If I jacked you, you'd be dead.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
- Calm down! - Hey, man, he started it! Fuck you, nigga.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
Suspect is in pocket.
Initiate the warrant.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Whoa whoa whoa, hey.
Hey, hey, my bad.
We cool.
- LAPD! - Police warrant! LAPD! Get 'em up.
Move your hands.
Down on the ground.
Check that back room.
- LAPD.
- We have a warrant to search the premises.
On what grounds? On the grounds that Carlos has two felony outstanding warrants for sales of cocaine.
- Kitchen! - Clear! Bedroom! Check this out.
You don't say.
Ah, Carlos' pay and owe sheets with the initials "R.
P.
" in it.
Doesn't stand for "Rafael Perez," does it? Get him out of here.
Let's you and I talk.
Yeah, I'm sitting on Perez's house.
SWAT is en route.
Anything suspicious, you alert them.
Do not go rogue twice today.
Okay? Of course.
[SIGHS.]
[SUSPICIOUS MUSIC.]
This is 4-King-63.
I need an air unit for immediate backup.
Copy, 4-King-63.
Stand by.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Ray Perez? Detective Russell Poole, Robbery-Homicide.
Just need to ask you a few questions.
Put your hands where I can see them.
Get out of the car, Ray! Get out of the car now! [ENGINE SHUTS OFF.]
Put your hands behind your head.
[DOG GROWLS.]
Ah, shit, he's huge.
They said it was a baby pit bull.
Meaning it eats babies.
You know the deal.
Sucks for you, partner.
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[DOG GROWLS.]
You shitting me? Our gun was found in a pit bull's mouth? In the backyard of Corey Edward's girlfriend's parents' house.
So Corey had the gun that killed Tupac.
Do we like him for this? Pssh, Corey probably never even held a gun, much less shot one, so no.
It had to be a plant job.
Somebody dropped that gun in the yard back in '98.
But the gun is still tied to Southside, right? Oh, it's definitely tied to Southside.
There's one fairly significant caveat, though, guys, which is that in any criminal case, the digital impression of a shell is not necessarily admissible, so in order to seal a conviction, we need the actual casing from both the test firing and the crime scene.
We have the one, man.
Pssh, Vegas has the other one.
We get a match on that one, too, we can definitely lean on Corey, maybe get him to flip on Keefe.
So a Vegas trip is on the docket? Yeah, it's looking like that, but first, we're gonna celebrate.
- ALL: Ooh! - We are gonna celebrate.
Good work, everybody.
Perez, the coke We might be onto something, Rus.
That something being? Let's see where it leads, okay? The skinny on Perez: he's slippery.
And he's he's articulate, very sure of himself.
He's a total chameleon.
Guy could sell an umbrella to a fish.
Yeah, well, this isn't the first time we've come across this.
He's one of us, Rus.
That's a different prism.
Good point.
Now, we gotta be smart with this guy, 'cause he's gonna make us work for everything.
[SIGHS.]
Mr.
Perez Um you understand why you're here, right? No need for small talk, Detective.
I'm about to make this real easy for you.
How so? I want full immunity.
[SCOFFS.]
Full immunity? In exchange for what? [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
I'm gonna tell you everything.
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
Big Suge.
What's up with it, Pac? Hear that shit Big drop? Yeah, that "Who Shot Ya?" When I heard it, I was like, "Damn, they just gonna" go at the homie like that? Big lost his gotdamn mind.
He used to sleep on my couch, dead-ass broke.
When he needed money, who you think would lay some? Me.
Not his moms, Not Puff dancing ass, me.
He reached out to you? Pssh, nah, but Puff did.
You should see the bullshit letter he wrote me.
What'd he say? Just talking about how Quad wasn't them, and how the only reason why Big ain't come to see me is 'cause he got a record.
What, a prison record? Shit, me too, but I still brought my black ass down here.
That's 'cause you a real-ass G.
You ain't got time for the mind games.
We leave that for the kids.
That's some Bad Boy shit.
Some bitch shit.
So what you saying? Psh.
I'm saying I'm riding with y'all.
A'ight, so let's get shit popping.
The judge granted my appeal, but I ain't got the bail yet.
Eh, $1.
4 million.
That ain't shit.
I do that shit in my sleep.
Yeah, I know.
The question is, what you want to do about it? "When the enemy is relaxed, "make him toil.
"When they're full, starve them.
When settled, make them move.
" [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
It's time to go to war with Bad Boy.
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
What the hell was the fight all about? It was something about a chain.
Who do we have something on? Corey Edwards.
We get him to talk, maybe he tells us Keefe was involved, maybe he just knows something, period.
Corey Edwards, you're under arrest for conspiracy to transport cocaine.
The rule is black and white.
It's an automatic suspension.
I get it.
This is about the Biggie case.
What? Come on, I'm finding connections.
Dirty cops, Death Row.
They just don't want me to find out the answers.
I'm here to see Tupac Shakur.
- Name, please? - Ayanna Jackson.
They raped me! [SOBBING.]
Shakur! You're under arrest.
Give me your hands.
Yo, Cease, what you doing here? Hey, yo, Biggie recording up here! Come through! Don't move, bitch! Everybody get down! [DRAMATIC MUSICAL TONE.]
[SOMBER MUSIC.]
Hello? Hell going on? Mr.
Shakur.
I'm Dr.
Osgood.
I'm the lead surgeon at Bellevue Hospital.
You're here because you suffered multiple injuries.
Took a few hits to the head, the outer surface of your left hand, your groin, and your thigh, where a bullet landed, severing the profundus femoral artery.
You are a very lucky man.
A few inches either way, and you'd be dead.
But my dick still works.
Yes, it will, along with the rest of you.
[FADING.]
Okay, our next stop is exploratory surgery.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Elliot? Wotan? You know what to do.
No press, no groupies.
Anybody else claiming to know my son If they aren't our people or from Pac's circle, they're not allowed.
That's you, Ma? [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
Hey, baby.
[MUTTERING.]
When Watani get here? Oh, shit.
Them dudes from the Quad came looking for me, didn't they? We gotta go.
Where're my pants? - No, relax.
- Relax? Them dudes just tried to blast me.
I ain't safe.
Who's getting through me? Through us? We got you, son.
What about court in the morning? We can reschedule.
Hell, no.
I need to be there.
They ain't getting me on these bullshit charges.
Court can wait.
[FALTERING VOCALIZATIONS.]
[SIGHS.]
[DESOLATE MUSIC.]
I can't believe they shot me.
Any idea who did it? [PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
Damn, punk.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for Tupac Shakur.
Last door on the right.
Thank you.
[PEOPLE SHOUTING.]
Out of the way.
Please, please.
Back up, sir.
- Move.
- guilty or not? Tupac Shakur has been convicted and sentenced to a maximum of 4 1/2 years in prison for sexually abusing a fan.
A state judge in New York condemned the 23-year-old rapper for his, quote, "arrogant abuse of the victim" and crimes he said had escalated as Shakur's career progressed.
[MOURNFUL RAP MUSIC.]
Protective custody? Gen pop's a zoo.
But they showing me love.
Not all of them.
Come on, man.
I can hold my own out there.
Above my pay grade.
About time you came and took them shackles off me.
I wouldn't get too comfortable, Corey.
You are facing some hefty time behind bars, my friend.
I already told you all back in the day, and I'm telling you the same thing now.
I don't know shit about who shot Pac and Big.
Weren't you in Vegas when Tupac was shot? Yeah, I was around.
With Keefe? Some say he was there.
Some say he wasn't.
But we know that you've been running with the Southside Crips for years.
Running with them? Nah.
We just stay on the same block.
That's it.
Look, I knew people like you growing up, Corey.
One toe in, nine toes out.
You wanted to bang, but your balls never dropped, so you just hung out on the sidelines.
You're more of a groupie.
Nah.
Nah, I got my own shit going.
I'm a boxing promoter, you feel me? How about your baby girl, man? [EERIE MUSIC.]
What about her? I got a daughter the same age.
Ain't nothing better in this world than her running into my arms after a long day of bullshit.
The precious time that we spend, that's just us paying it forward, 'cause when the roles are reversed and you get older, who you think's gonna take care of you? Mm, daughters need their daddies.
Listen, if you can help us with the Biggie Smalls murder, we can help you in any way possible.
And if I don't? Then you're not gonna see your little girl till she's in college.
Okay.
Okay? Okay.
I guess I'm just gonna have to take my chances at getting my case reduced.
What? I ain't no snitch.
How'd it go with Corey? Ah, he bet on himself.
Seems to be a common trend in the world of gangsters.
Gangster-adjacent, in his case.
So Justine, what are we doing in a storage unit? Not just any storage unit.
Russell Poole's storage unit.
Tyndall called, said Poole stopped paying his bill a few months back.
Before it's turned over to auction, he wanted us to look into his old case files, see if there are any links to Biggie and Tupac.
More files.
Lucky us.
Poole used to coach baseball? Yeah, it's news to me.
Look at that.
He was good, too.
Coach of the Year.
You know, I could've helped with Corey.
I worked Compton for years.
I I got a shorthand with those guys.
The Crip Whisperer.
Bloods, too.
Show of hands if you know who coined my nickname.
DJ Quik.
Blondie cut no slack Honky police that want to be black [LAUGHS.]
Right.
It's a great mix tape.
[LAUGHS.]
Found some stuff on Keefe D on the Southside Crips from Orlando Anderson's funeral.
Yeah, I remember this.
The note from Dorrough is awesome.
Orlando's best friend, right? Compton legend.
Pull up And drop the Chevy low to the street Grab the heat off the seat The realest you'll ever meet Right there.
Hell, yeah, that's him.
[RAP MUSIC.]
You got my money, Carrots? Got these nuts, you bitch-ass Corrough's doing a triple life bit in Pelican Bay.
Wait, triple life for two murders? Uh, three.
By law, Orlando's murder was part of that drive-by.
Sounds like self-defense to me, but what in the hell do I know? Plight of the black man.
We should talk to Dorrough.
I agree.
Orlando Anderson was his ace.
Dorrough might have had an inside track to Pac and Biggie.
But we need more, something tangible.
All right, lets' grab these files, get 'em back to the office, and see what they get us.
He lives! Happy New Year, Rus.
Great to have you back.
Oh, it's great to be back.
Eh? New tie? That it is.
It's a Christmas gift from my kids.
According to my son, green symbolizes growth - and harmony.
- Mm.
My takeaway from my ten-day sabbatical uh, is that it is time to be a team player and to adhere to protocol.
Hm.
Well, hey, me personally, I I thought your suspension was a little overblown.
That's in the past.
What's done is done.
New year, new me.
Well, new day, new con.
Except this time, it's one of ours.
Rafael "Ray" Perez.
Dave Mack's old partner? Yeah, department's building a case against him.
All-hands-on-deck type thing.
Us, IA, Legal Affairs, Are we looking as an accomplice to the bank robbery? Oh, we're off the bank.
Property division called.
Somebody's been stealing coke out of evidence.
Sticky fingers in question: Perez.
Russ, I cannot stress this enough.
Our only focus is Perez.
I understand.
Miller's into the David Mack of it all, specifically that Amir Muhammed tip you gifted him.
- Great.
- Okay.
Oh, hey.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
Hey.
So, Miller is, uh, pretty busy, huh? Some FBI informant keeps calling for him.
Must be desperate.
That's the fourth message this morning.
Should I forward to you? Um No need.
Our evidence system is based on trust.
Been that way for years.
Few weeks ago, 6 1/2 pounds of cocaine was checked out for a court hearing, and never returned, so I hit an officer named Joel Perez with an overdue property notice.
Upon further review, we learned that Joel Perez never checked it out.
It was a different guy, some rude and arrogant son of a bitch.
Mr.
Rude and Arrogant? Ha.
Yeah, that's him.
- His name's Ray Perez.
- Hm.
It's a it's a pretty simple ruse.
You need to find a mark with the same last name.
You take the dope out, uh, but then you never return it.
Hey, could I take a look at your evidence log? Yeah, have at it.
There's other reports of dope being stolen.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
And these names you have circled are those, uh - Are those related to those thefts? - Yeah.
[DISQUIETING MUSIC.]
That name ring a bell? [SIGHS.]
Detective Lyga.
Brian Tyndall.
You already know Detective Poole.
- I do.
- Hey.
You vetted my case with honesty and integrity, man.
Can't thank you enough for that solid.
Just doing my part.
- Ha.
- So let me guess.
I'm here because of the stolen dope.
[LAUGHS.]
Yeah, you are, but hey, don't stop there.
Anything else you got, we're all ears.
Well, you were there.
You know what this is really about.
I do? Oh, yeah.
Kevin Gaines? Bingo.
A month after I'm clear of the shooting, my coke stolen and replaced with Bisquick.
- Bisquick? - Yeah.
Perez fisted me with that one.
Ah, that's his way of looking out for Gaines.
You saying that Gaines and Perez are friends? Gaines, Perez, David Mack.
Mack and Perez were super tight.
Worked undercover back in the day.
Mack saved Perez's life.
Killed a man.
Since then, they've been in lockstep.
- Anything else? - No.
This is very helpful.
Thank you, Detective.
Appreciate your time.
- Yeah, man.
- Thanks for your time.
Thank you.
You got our back.
Go ahead, Rus.
Get it out.
Nope, nope.
I know what you're thinking.
Nah, that brain of yours is humming.
Dirty cops, the link between David Mack and Death Row You're wondering if it all ties back to Biggie Smalls.
Not yet.
Not till we get the full scope of Perez.
Really? Really.
New year, new you.
It's hard to understand the mark of a sorry man The weight of his hunger, pain, sharp as razor blades [VOICES OVERLAPPING.]
[DISQUIETING MUSIC.]
[YELLS.]
[KNOCKING.]
You got a visitor.
You look like shit.
[LAUGHS.]
I miss you, too.
It'll get better.
What, in here? It's nothing.
I'm talking about the weed detox.
First you can't sleep, then you depressed.
Then come the dreams, all vivid and euphoric, but the worst is the anger, the little emotional dregs that come out of nowhere.
How many times have you screamed for no reason? I used to be in one of these cages.
Pregnant with you.
My little soldier.
Yeah? Well, I wasn't a soldier that night.
Niggas do what they did to Ayanna Jackson.
I was slipping for not watching them as close as I should.
When all that shit went down, I should've defended her.
Then, the nigga I thought I was cool with [SCOFFS.]
It don't matter.
[SOFT RAP MUSIC.]
[KNOCKING.]
- Cease-a-leo! 'Sup, duke? - 'Sup, yo? Hey, your tour bus on the way.
You ready? No doubt.
Shit gonna be crazy.
- Yeah, the kid's blowing up! - You too.
Watch when I get back.
We gon' mix your album.
That shit is bananas.
But, yo, when I'm gone, I need you to look after my moms.
BK Love cool and all, but cats are still grimy.
I'm in an elevator, bleeding, body numb, and the doors open and there's Big just staring at me.
Staring at me, like, "Damn, you still alive?" And you think he knows who did it? Well, Big from Brooklyn, so he gotta know.
Shit.
If he ain't telling me, than yeah, he did it.
Straight up.
Like your man Pac? What about him? Street's talking, Big.
You know, he's saying you the reason his ass got lit up.
At Quad? I ain't had shit to do with that.
Was upstairs, putting in work.
Yeah, I know that, but he don't know that.
No, not Pac.
That's my man.
He know me better than that.
Look, man, I got love for him, too, but I'm not putting this shit out there.
He is.
Shh.
That nigga's bugging.
From the gate, ain't nothing but love between us.
Mad love.
I even went to the hospital when the nigga got hit up.
Still can't believe niggas got at him like that.
You put yourself out there like that, you get got.
Word up.
" In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
" Who said that? Sun Tzu.
"Art of War.
" You ain't up on it? Nah.
You need to be.
What are you reading these days? I got "The Bluest Eye" on my bed, but I ain't crack it open yet.
I'm halfway through "If Beale Street Could Talk.
" Homie James Baldwin.
That's my shit.
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
I'll mail it to you.
Or maybe you can get it out the library here.
Look, you know what books mean to us.
That's our thing.
Knowledge of self, social empowerment, the key to unlocking these bars.
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC.]
You have an exceptional mind, son, imaginative, intuitive, but in here, they want to control your thoughts.
They want to put an off switch in your head.
Don't let these four walls do that to you.
[BREATHES DEEPLY.]
Come on, we've been here forever.
What is Perez doing? Beats me.
It's a nice truck, though.
God.
Ford Expedition.
Top of the line.
Wife owns a BMW.
Not to mention the lovely home in Ladera Heights and the child that they need to provide for.
The fancy trips with David Mack.
All on $58K a year.
[LAUGHS.]
Some accountant, right? The coke he stole You don't think You don't think he's dumb enough to try to sell it himself, do you? - Well, he stole it, Rus.
- Mm-hm.
From a room full of cops.
You do the math.
What's the deal with you and Grace? We're fine.
[LAUGHS.]
What I saw this morning's far from fine.
We just decided that maybe uh, it's better if we remain friends.
Ah.
Translation: you decided.
I gotta make things right with my wife at some point.
Oh.
Well, speaking of wives, that ain't Perez's.
I got something on Dorrough.
The car wash guy? Early parole? Not even Jesus can help him with that one.
Says there that his father's doing life in Corcoran.
Maybe we transfer him to his pop's prison, curry a little favor.
Mm, favor's a lifetime of conjugals, not a reunion on Maury Povich.
Dorrough had a lot of love for his old man - Boom.
- But there's also a version we don't use the old man at all.
It's the biggest chip we got.
Might as well double down.
Why risk it, if I can get us what we want? By doing what? By doing what I would have done, had I been there for the Trevon Lane interview.
Corey Edwards, too.
Dorrough owes me.
If anybody can flip him, it's me.
Oh, shit! Blondie! [LAUGHS.]
Man, I heard y'all was here because of Pac and Biggie.
We are.
Just trying to get a sense of Hey, homie, I don't know you like that, but Blondie, that's my dude.
Let him ask the question.
Man, it's been a million, Blondie! I know! I know! Seems like yesterday you and Orlando were trying to ambush me.
Oh, shit, that's right.
Look, me and Lando We was just trying to earn our stripes for the OG.
We almost got your ass.
Stupid of me.
Gave you two a pass that night.
Didn't press charges.
I remember.
That was big.
Nah, not really.
Juvenile paperwork's a pain in the ass, anyway.
[LAUGHS.]
So, um Biggie and Tupac, of it all You know what we're up against.
Cold cases, nobody's talking.
It's tough out there.
Your ties to Southside, Keefe D in particular, still carry some weight.
Anything you got for us would be huge.
Well, I got some shit for you.
But what y'all got for me? [LAUGHS.]
Got got for you? Uh, I don't know.
Maybe that free pass we just mentioned from back in the day? Look, Blondie, we cool and all, but the dirt y'all trying to get from me ain't cheap.
I got I still gotta eat.
[SIGHS.]
Your dad's in Corcoran, right? [REFLECTIVE MUSIC.]
We can transfer you there.
Give you a chance to spend the rest of your life with him.
Good shit.
Suge had Biggie killed.
[NONPLUSSED LAUGHTER.]
Wha Uh, that's hardly a groundbreaking tip.
Come on.
They need more.
I need more, Mike.
You tell us how Suge did it.
He was in jail.
Doesn't matter.
Man, if Suge wants you touched, he can get you touched.
Who did the touching? Southside.
Suge and his boys turned to Keefe.
I was at the meeting.
Suge and Keefe D.
It's a combo package on the murder of Biggie.
It's ridiculous.
Is it? Suge and them slobs beat the brakes off of Lando back in Vegas.
Next thing I know, Lando's testifying on behalf of Suge? Come on, homie.
You know this street shit ain't nothing but a big-ass game of chess.
Everybody got a price.
Even Keefe.
Why would Keefe help Suge, and who was at that meeting? Look, that's all I got for y'all right now.
- What? - I need to know y'all ain't on that bullshit.
Put the transfer in, and I'll get you the rest.
[SPACEY MUSIC.]
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
- Big J.
- Mm-hm.
- Come holla at me.
- What's cracking, homie? Hey, I just got off the phone with some of the execs over at Interscope.
Pac got them white folks stressed.
About what? He got the number one album on the charts.
They're printing money.
Yeah, but "Me Against the World" ain't gonna carry for four years.
We need to sign him to Death Row.
Hell yeah.
We already got Snoop, Dre, Tha Dogg Pound.
We get Pac, that's some heat for your ass.
Real shit.
We need to take this hip-hop thing to the next level, and then we focus on the movie game.
Don't forget about merchandising.
We need action figures, homie.
Little black doll, all swole up, prison numbers on the shirt, Glocks and AKs as weapons.
- That shit would be cold.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Hey, Pac can get us there.
- Mm.
And you know what the dope part is? He need us.
Mm.
Only question is, who gonna bail him out? Let me get on that.
What's up, pooch? What's up? Come holla at me.
[EXHALES.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
I take it, uh, Miller never made it back yesterday, huh? For, like, five minutes, then raced back out.
[WHISPERING.]
Hey.
You okay? What do you mean? Oh.
Oh, you mean because we had a nice thing that you all of a sudden shut down and went back to your wife just so you could show the LAPD you're a good little boy.
Yeah.
I'm okay.
[DESOLATE SYNTH MUSIC.]
And while I was under investigation for illegal weapons possession, you know, money was getting a little funny, and Okay, okay.
Well, what could you possibly want with RHD? You're an FBI informant.
Yeah, I was, uh, I was hopeful you could talk to the arresting officer, maybe get in front of him before the charges are filed and sent to the DA.
I'll see what I can do.
Wrightway Security.
Uh.
You ever work for Suge? Yeah.
From time to time.
What exactly do you have on, uh, Death Row? There's a lot of cops there.
Yeah, I've heard all that.
Do you have anything else? What about David Mack and Rafael Perez? You ever see them at Death Row? Yeah, here and there.
[DESOLATE MUSIC.]
Holiday parties, video shoots, award shows.
Really? Really.
Hey, hey, hey.
Got a name on Perez's tamale.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
Veronica Quesada.
Ran the plates on her car.
Belongs to her brother, Carlos Romero.
- Mm-hm.
- They both live here.
Romero has two outstanding felony warrants for get this Sales of cocaine.
- And he has not been arrested? - No.
- Perez is protecting him.
- Yes.
Most likely, he's using him for distribution.
Yes.
I talked to Kevin Hackie.
- Who's that? - Miller's FBI informant.
Hm? Rus New year, new you? The hell happened to that? The tip was about Death Row Records.
Miller's purview was only Biggie Smalls.
- Who cares? - It's not Perez.
Hackie said that Perez and Mack have been seen at Death Row functions.
Doesn't mean they work for Suge.
- Then why were they there? - Russ, my head's in the Perez case.
Are you with me or not? I-I am.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[DISCONCERTING MUSIC.]
Hey, there she goes.
Okay, here's the deal.
You're gonna tail Perez.
I'm gonna sit on the apartment till Romero arrives, okay? Okay.
Dane-ster! - Dad! - Sorry, man.
How'd it go today? - Three for three.
- What? Yeah, one ball and a couple of doubles.
Knock some of them out of there? Agh! Now I'm really bummed that I wasn't here, man.
I'm sorry.
Oh, no, it's all good.
There's still a few games left, right? Where's your mom? Uh, she's talking to the new batting coach, Mr.
Reardon.
He's a good dude.
Hey, is it okay if I go get some pizza with a couple of my teammates? - Yeah, do your thing.
- All good? Yeah, I'll see you later.
I'm proud of you.
[CELL PHONE BUZZES.]
Dupers.
This one's gonna be hard to hear, Greg.
Well, spit it out.
Nobody wants to do a deal with Dorrough.
Well, we put the transfer in motion and let him do the rest.
How hard can that be? He's doing life.
Everybody thinks he might be trying to play us.
I gotta say, I think he might be, too.
Based on what? W-we gotta hear him out, man.
Pelican Bay just confirmed a reporter went to go see him, and there's a tape of him talking to his cousin, basically telling him to go along with his story.
It doesn't mean he's lying for sure, but But it doesn't look good.
Can't risk him trying to play both sides of the investigation.
Get one shot at this.
Yeah.
Yeah, all right, thanks.
[HAUNTING MUSIC.]
Hey, you.
Hey.
If I'd have known you were going to be here, I wouldn't have brought my car.
I heard Dane had himself a day.
Oh, yeah, you should've seen it.
He was locked in.
Head down, top arm bent, eyes right on the ball.
Were you Vin Scully? Coach Reardon preaches details.
- Hm.
- He's been great for Dane.
It's one game.
Yeah, but before he started, Dane was stuck in this terrible batting slump, so Reardon took him back to the fundamentals, back to the things that reinvigorated his passion.
Baseball is his first love.
He never lost his passion for that.
It used to be his first love.
Football's taken over.
Oh, bullshit.
Okay, I'm the one that's here.
I know what I see.
I'm sorry.
Same here.
What did we get ourselves into, Daryn? The guys in the white SUV, Trevon, Corey, Dorrough We've done all this legwork and we've got exactly dick to show for it.
It's a marathon.
We knew that.
Well, at some point, the brass will want some kind of return on their investment.
- And they'll get it.
- Get what? Then it's time to flip the script.
I landed on something.
What? You could've started with that.
After Pac was killed, shit went down in Compton.
Bloods and Crips got after each other.
I know.
Total bloodbath, eight days straight.
Then you know about the over 300 guns that were seized.
And none of them have been tested.
- That's right.
- Why not? There's no money.
Compton's broke.
Lot of open cases could be tied to those guns.
Like Tupac and Biggie.
Some of the guns were Glocks and 9-millimeters, same as used in the murders.
Wait, are we saying what I think we're saying? What, that Jim Black's about to earn his paycheck? Yeah, it seems that way.
[BLUES MUSIC.]
How's it going? Still no matches.
So what's your process? Recover the casing, then I make a digital image of the unique impression produced by the gun's firing pin.
That's it? Oh, no, that's not it.
There's more.
There's plenty more.
Usually, people just tune out after the first ten seconds, so There's room enough for more than one gun nerd, Black.
Knew we had a connection.
A lot of history in this stash.
You know, Pac, a Blood by proxy, shot on a Saturday.
By Monday, Darnell Brim, a Crip, sprayed in retaliation.
Luckily for Darnell, he survived, but the next day, two Pirus are shot in front of North Bradfield Avenue.
Then the first fatality.
Bobby Finch.
Yeah.
He had ties to Southside, but he was no Crip.
Both sides just kept trading bullets for the rest of the week.
The only thing that came out of this: agony, bloodshed, and a whole lot of yellow tape.
Hey, we got something.
So check this out.
I compared the firing pin patterns from shell casings recovered in various crime scenes, and there's a high probability that this casing from that .
40-caliber Glock matches one connected to the Tupac murder.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Ay yo, you good? I know you? People talking, P.
About what? You ain't hear? Hear about what? Biggie just dropped some new heat.
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
Called that joint "Who Shot Ya?" Shit he says is crazy.
"Recognize my face/ So there won't be no mistake.
" It's gotta be you, right? I mean, who else would he put on blast like that? If it was me, that movie would've ended differently.
If I jacked you, you'd be dead.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
- Calm down! - Hey, man, he started it! Fuck you, nigga.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[OMINOUS MUSIC.]
Suspect is in pocket.
Initiate the warrant.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Whoa whoa whoa, hey.
Hey, hey, my bad.
We cool.
- LAPD! - Police warrant! LAPD! Get 'em up.
Move your hands.
Down on the ground.
Check that back room.
- LAPD.
- We have a warrant to search the premises.
On what grounds? On the grounds that Carlos has two felony outstanding warrants for sales of cocaine.
- Kitchen! - Clear! Bedroom! Check this out.
You don't say.
Ah, Carlos' pay and owe sheets with the initials "R.
P.
" in it.
Doesn't stand for "Rafael Perez," does it? Get him out of here.
Let's you and I talk.
Yeah, I'm sitting on Perez's house.
SWAT is en route.
Anything suspicious, you alert them.
Do not go rogue twice today.
Okay? Of course.
[SIGHS.]
[SUSPICIOUS MUSIC.]
This is 4-King-63.
I need an air unit for immediate backup.
Copy, 4-King-63.
Stand by.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Ray Perez? Detective Russell Poole, Robbery-Homicide.
Just need to ask you a few questions.
Put your hands where I can see them.
Get out of the car, Ray! Get out of the car now! [ENGINE SHUTS OFF.]
Put your hands behind your head.
[DOG GROWLS.]
Ah, shit, he's huge.
They said it was a baby pit bull.
Meaning it eats babies.
You know the deal.
Sucks for you, partner.
[FOREBODING MUSIC.]
[DOG GROWLS.]
You shitting me? Our gun was found in a pit bull's mouth? In the backyard of Corey Edward's girlfriend's parents' house.
So Corey had the gun that killed Tupac.
Do we like him for this? Pssh, Corey probably never even held a gun, much less shot one, so no.
It had to be a plant job.
Somebody dropped that gun in the yard back in '98.
But the gun is still tied to Southside, right? Oh, it's definitely tied to Southside.
There's one fairly significant caveat, though, guys, which is that in any criminal case, the digital impression of a shell is not necessarily admissible, so in order to seal a conviction, we need the actual casing from both the test firing and the crime scene.
We have the one, man.
Pssh, Vegas has the other one.
We get a match on that one, too, we can definitely lean on Corey, maybe get him to flip on Keefe.
So a Vegas trip is on the docket? Yeah, it's looking like that, but first, we're gonna celebrate.
- ALL: Ooh! - We are gonna celebrate.
Good work, everybody.
Perez, the coke We might be onto something, Rus.
That something being? Let's see where it leads, okay? The skinny on Perez: he's slippery.
And he's he's articulate, very sure of himself.
He's a total chameleon.
Guy could sell an umbrella to a fish.
Yeah, well, this isn't the first time we've come across this.
He's one of us, Rus.
That's a different prism.
Good point.
Now, we gotta be smart with this guy, 'cause he's gonna make us work for everything.
[SIGHS.]
Mr.
Perez Um you understand why you're here, right? No need for small talk, Detective.
I'm about to make this real easy for you.
How so? I want full immunity.
[SCOFFS.]
Full immunity? In exchange for what? [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
I'm gonna tell you everything.
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]
Big Suge.
What's up with it, Pac? Hear that shit Big drop? Yeah, that "Who Shot Ya?" When I heard it, I was like, "Damn, they just gonna" go at the homie like that? Big lost his gotdamn mind.
He used to sleep on my couch, dead-ass broke.
When he needed money, who you think would lay some? Me.
Not his moms, Not Puff dancing ass, me.
He reached out to you? Pssh, nah, but Puff did.
You should see the bullshit letter he wrote me.
What'd he say? Just talking about how Quad wasn't them, and how the only reason why Big ain't come to see me is 'cause he got a record.
What, a prison record? Shit, me too, but I still brought my black ass down here.
That's 'cause you a real-ass G.
You ain't got time for the mind games.
We leave that for the kids.
That's some Bad Boy shit.
Some bitch shit.
So what you saying? Psh.
I'm saying I'm riding with y'all.
A'ight, so let's get shit popping.
The judge granted my appeal, but I ain't got the bail yet.
Eh, $1.
4 million.
That ain't shit.
I do that shit in my sleep.
Yeah, I know.
The question is, what you want to do about it? "When the enemy is relaxed, "make him toil.
"When they're full, starve them.
When settled, make them move.
" [FOREBODING MUSIC.]
It's time to go to war with Bad Boy.
[PERCUSSIVE MUSIC.]