Body of Proof (2011–2013): Season 1, Episode 7 - All in the Family - full transcript

(glass breaking)

(man grunting)

(blade ringing)

( ominous theme playing)

I grew up not far from here.

Really?

I took you for more of an
Upper Darby kind of guy.

The whole neighborhood
backs up to the Wissahickon.

That park was my refuge.

From what?

Oh, ballet, pajama
parties, Scott Baio.



Three sisters. Ho, ho.

You had it rough. I survived.

(chattering)

I didn't even know
what time it was.

You were on your lunch break.

What time did you
get back to the house?

He's in here.

MAN: Yeah. WOMAN: No, not yet.

What do we know, detective?

Well, no sign of forced entry.

He let the killer in. My
guess is this was personal.

I meant about him.

Ed Russell. His wife, Jen,
found the body, called 911.

They were both home
in the middle of the day?



MORRIS: He's a stay-at-home
dad. Makes custom furniture.

She works as an accountant.

Says she came home
at lunch to feed the baby.

Did you find the weapon yet?

Not yet.

He's got defensive
wounds on both of his hands.

Tan line on his wrist.
Probably from a watch.

A beat up Timex. Stainless
steel, according to his wife.

Oh, maybe our
killer took a souvenir.

She touch anything
besides the body?

Just the phone. And the baby.

Why? Did she tell
you anything else?

Yeah. Son, Michael, age 15.

He's at football practice.
Doesn't know anything yet.

I'll go tell him.
Please don't do that.

Why not?

His father's dead.

He should hear it from
his mother, not a cop.

All right.

I'll leave that part out.

MAN: Megan, we don't
know where your mother is,

so I'm just going to tell you.

Your father's dead.

Can I help you?

Yeah, I'm looking for Dr. Hunt.

You have an appointment?
You her secretary?

Uh, no. I'm her boss. Oh. Heh.

Sorry.

Todd Fleming. I'm
her ex-husband. Heh.

Good luck with that. With what?

No one's Megan's boss.

Todd? What's wrong?

Is Lacey okay? Oh, hey.
Yeah, no, Lacey's fine.

What are you doing here?

Always nice to
see you too, Megs.

She's all yours.

I'm here because I have a
case going to trial on Monday

and I need a forensic
anthropologist.

I'm not a forensic
anthropologist.

I'm aware of that.

That's why I'm here to see
Dr. Murphey and not you.

Fine.

But I do, uh... But I do need
a favor from you. I have a...

I've got this huge
mountain of prep work to do

and I was wondering if you
could take Lacey on until tomorrow.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah? Yeah.

She's at a slumber
party tonight.

You can pick her up at
11:00 tomorrow morning.

Here's the address.

Got it. No problem.

Yeah? You sure? Todd.

I'm just saying.
Eleven o'clock, okay?

Thank you.

Four stab wounds to the
chest, uh, one to the stomach.

Contusions on the
chest and the arm.

Both look recent.

And, ah, there's something
in the stomach wound.

Looks like coffee grounds.

It's from an ulcer.

The brown color is
caused by the blood mixing

with the stomach's acid.

The motion of the murder
weapon brought it to the surface.

He's got ulcers from biting
the inside of his cheeks

and he's been bruxing too.

This guy was stressed
about something.

Ethan, hand me the
manganese solution, will you?

What are you doing?

Using manganese sulfate
to test for hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide interacts
with the blood's catalase enzyme.

I saw that same reaction on
the floor of the crime scene.

Hydrogen peroxide as in,
like... Household cleaners.

Wait, you're leaving?

Don't do anything
more till I get back.

Did your husband
have any enemies?

Not that I know of.

Everybody loved Ed.

We were doing so good.

And then this.

Where's my son?
Why isn't he here yet?

My partner went to pick him up.

They'll be here shortly.

Excuse me.

Dr. Hunt, hi.

She told you that she
didn't touch anything

but Ed's body, the baby
and the phone, right?

Right.

She's lying.

( dramatic theme playing)

( dramatic theme playing)

You told the police
that you checked to see

whether your husband was
dead and then called 911.

Yes.

We found traces of hydrogen
peroxide on your husband's face

and also in the blood
on the kitchen floor.

Dr. Hunt thinks whoever
killed your husband

cleaned up after he was dead.

And you think I did it?

MIKE: I don't understand
what I'm doing here.

If someone broke
in, where is my dad?

Your mom will fill you in.

I'm just here to
give you a ride.

What position do you play?

Bench warmer.

Asthma.

Hardly ever acts up,

but they still sit me
most of the time.

Never made it off the
practice squad myself.

It sucks.

I love to play, though.

I'm in a touch
league on weekends.

We got a game tomorrow.

Parents ever come
to see you play?

Yeah, right.

Dad's too busy with the baby

and Mom never leaves the office.

But your mom comes home
every day to feed the baby, right?

News to me. But whatever.

The whole world revolves
around Sophie now.

JEN: Why would I hurt
him? Everything was great.

Well, I can pretty
much guarantee

all was not well
with your husband.

Your husband had a bleeding
ulcer and ulcerated gums.

What was he so stressed about?

Money. A new baby.

Do you have any
idea how difficult it is

to work and raise a
family at the same time?

But we were making
it work, together.

Mike. What's going on, Mom?

Where's Dad? Oh, Mike.

Your father's dead.

(crying)

I am so sorry to keep
you waiting this long.

Kate Murphey. Todd Fleming.

Not a problem at all. The
office is never far away.

So Megan's ex-husband, huh?

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

I'm quite the
curiosity, aren't I?

I looked at the
file you sent over.

Manny Santos. Yeah.

Not your typical
McKinney and White client.

Yeah, I'm taking
the case pro bono.

It's good for the soul. Really?

I thought pro bono work was
a bar association requirement.

Kind of like your
consulting fee.

Heh, heh. I'm not sure

how I feel about
vouching for somebody

accused of felony carjacking.

No, no. It was a
joyride gone bad.

Look, Manny is a good
kid. He just messed up.

The problem is the prosecution
wants to try him as an adult

which could mean
serious jail time.

He doesn't have
a birth certificate?

No, he's illegal. Ah.

His mom died two years ago,

so he's been living
with his uncle...

Also illegal, got it. So you
need me to verify Manny's age.

All right, why don't you
bring him in on Monday.

Actually, the trial's
at 9 that morning.

How's tomorrow?

(scoffs)

Lacey, hi. It's me.

Oh. Hi.

Uh, I saw your father today.

Yeah. He told me you're
picking me up tomorrow.

You are, right? Uh, yeah.

Are you okay with
that? Yeah, sure.

Because, you know, the
last time we saw each other,

you said I was pushing too hard.

You're just taking us
to our riding lesson.

I'm what? Yeah,
me, Betsy and Sarah.

Before Yearbook Club.
Dad didn't tell you?

No, but, um, that's okay.

I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.

I know that look.
Actually, so do I. Heh.

I just got off the
phone with Lacey.

I thought I was spending
the whole day with her. Alone.

Uh...

No.

You're providing transportation
for your child and her friends.

It's called parenthood. And
if that's too much to ask...

No, no, no.

I look forward to
meeting her friends.

Okay, good.

Goodbye, Dr. Murphey. Goodbye.

So correct me if I'm wrong,
but aren't you working tomorrow?

Got it covered.

It appears Ed was
an excellent father.

Yet you still think his
wife could have done this?

The stabs to the left
ventricle is what killed him.

The rest were
postmortem. So Bud's right.

This was personal.

The wounds are 6
and a half inches deep,

cut by a unique blade.

The surfaces were
punctured at entry, not cut.

Both sides were serrated.

What kind of knife is
completely serrated?

Ed made furniture, didn't he?

I walked in, and,
uh, it was quiet.

And I went to go
check on Sophie.

And that's when...

And, uh, what did you do next?

I, uh... I knelt
down next to him.

And he wasn't breathing.

And then I called
911, but I knew...

Your son seemed
a little surprised

that you'd come home for lunch.

It's just that Ed said

that he was having
problems with the baby.

So he called and I came.

So you come home
for lunch often?

As often as I can.

It hasn't exactly been
easy with the baby.

And Mike? How's he been?

You know boys.

They're not exactly baby
crazy. MORRIS: Mm.

JEN: But he's a great kid.

And he's really gonna
have to step up now.

All right, Jen. Thanks.

Mrs. Russell.

So she stabs him, he goes down.

And then she stabs him a few
more times for good measure.

Okay. So now it's a mess.

And...

Voilà, she grabs one
of these to clean up.

And calls 911
before she's finished?

Why clean up if you're
gonna leave the body?

Murder's not a clearheaded act.

Mm-mm. No.

She knew exactly
what she was doing.

Maybe she was
covering for someone.

( dramatic theme playing)

What do you got?
This can't be Jen's print.

MORRIS: No, but
it could be her son's.

MORRIS: Mrs. Russell,
answer our questions.

We know you cleaned
up your son's footprints.

Why did you think
he killed his father?

Ed had contusions from a recent
fight. Was that with your son?

We confirmed that he
skipped school yesterday.

Mrs. Russell, please,
just tell us where Mike is.

I don't know.

Am I under arrest?

Sit on her till you
hear from me.

She could be wrong,
you know. How's that?

Yeah, she cleaned up footprints
she thought were her son's.

What if she was wrong?
But what if she wasn't?

We gotta talk to Mike.

Good luck finding him.

(chattering)

Wow.

This is some way to grieve.

What do you expect me to
do? Sit at home with my mom?

Yeah, as a matter of fact.

Unless you got something
to feel guilty about.

Anything you want to tell me?

I checked with your principal.

You neglected to mention
you cut school yesterday.

I went to meet someone.

Who? A girl.

She have a name? Carla.

Carla. That's it? Carla?

Look, I don't know
her last name.

Ha-ha-ha.

We met online. I was going
to meet her for real yesterday.

Where'd you go? I didn't.

Chickened out. I went
to an arcade instead.

Look. Don't lie to me, kid.

Your father and you had a
fight the day before he died.

What'd he do? Ground you?

Yeah. So? Maybe you snapped,

went into the garage, grabbed
one of his tools, stabbed him.

I didn't kill my dad.

Well, who did? Carla?

No. I...

I don't know. I...

Wait, there's this guy. Jake.

Sometimes he gets...

My dad hires him to help
him with his furniture stuff.

He might have done
it. And let me guess.

This Jake, you don't know
his last name either, do you?

Hey, any word from
Bud on the son?

PETER: The kid gave him a tip.

He and Sam are on their
way to Bargain Outlet,

looking for a day laborer
who worked with Ed.

Good.

Good? I'm just...

I'm having a hard
time trying to imagine

what would drive
him to kill his father.

Neglect?

He was a stay-at-home dad.

And from what I
can tell, a good one.

To his baby girl, but
maybe not so much to Mike.

I mean, sometimes kids get
lost in the shuffle, you know?

I know we're missing something.

What is that?

My mom taught me that
the key to carpool is snacks.

Pretzels, chocolate, gum.

(groans)

I want Lacey to like me,
not have her teeth fall out.

You'll thank me later on. Mm-hm.

Shouldn't you be going soon?

Oh, damn it.

What...?

How many sisters? Three.

Bring the bag.

(sighs)

So we're just supposed
to believe this kid?

Mike's mom's clammed up.

We have no physical
evidence saying it's him.

Okay, so now what?

You hate your kitchen. What?

Look, you can hate your
kitchen, or I can hate my kitchen.

Like that's gonna work.

MAN: We work together all
the time, man. It's no big deal.

Me and my brother,
we can do that.

BAKER: Hey, fellas.

I hate my kitchen.

Who's gonna help
me fall in love again?

( dramatic theme playing)

Hey!

(grunting)

Come on.

Goddamn.

Nice watch.

It was a gift. Agh!

Worth killing for?
Come on, come on.

I don't believe it.

Hi.

Hello, I'm Lacey's
mom. Nice to meet you.

Hello. Hi.

Hi. You're late. And working.

Uh, I'm sorry.

Okay. Who are you?

I'm Peter. I work with your
mom. On dead people?

Well, that's right.

As a matter of fact, there
was a guy killed yesterday

named Ed Russell,

and we're trying to
find out who did it.

And, uh, you could
give your mom a break.

Okay. So who wants a Tastykake?

Ed gave me the watch as payment.

He was short on cash.

So why'd you run away?

Who knows what you're
trying to put on me.

You mean like,
uh, burglary? Theft?

Trafficking in stolen
property? I read your rap sheet.

Things have a way of going
missing when you're around.

I didn't take anything
from Ed. BAKER: Really?

Because we found his
rasp in your tool chest.

It's the same length as the
one Ed was murdered with.

Now, we're about to send this

to the lab to
test for his blood.

Unless you wanna
save us some time.

Ed was my friend.

He knew I had some
trouble in the past.

He cut me a break. I
swear to you, I didn't kill him.

Hi. Todd Fleming.

I'm here to see... Morning.

Dr. Murphey. Hi.

Howdy. This is my
client, Manny Santos.

Hello, Manny. Hello.

Well, establishing an exact
age scientifically is problematic.

I mean nutrition, genetics,

childhood trauma can
all influence growth.

We can run an
epiphyseal plate evaluation,

but just by eye, I can tell you

his subcutaneous adipose
tissue appears pre-pubescent,

as does his lack of facial
hair and muscle definition.

Of course there is an easy
way to determine puberty.

You want me to do what?

Check the stage of development
on his you-know-whats.

This is way beyond
my job description.

I need this determination
as soon as possible.

Then you check
his you-know-whats.

You're a doctor. I don't
see him letting me do it.

(speaking in Spanish)

Are you sure you don't want
one? The girls loved them.

Yeah. They loved you.

I thought you were
with your daughter today.

So did I. We heard
that you might have

the murder weapon. Mm-hm.

Looks like a fit. Yeah.

Except Forensics
didn't find any blood.

Hold on.

There's something in
the subcutaneous tissue.

Ah. Ethan? Yeah?

MEGAN: Hmm.

PETER: They look like...

Fish scales.

ETHAN: They didn't come from Ed,

so they must be transfer
from the killer, right?

Well, I've heard of
guys using a rasp

to take off fish scales.

Maybe he works in a
supermarket, a restaurant...

Pet store. Okay,
maybe not a pet store.

Guys, they're not fish scales.

They're flakes of human skin.

(phone rings) Skin.

Lacey.

I think you'll be
fine on your own.

Get me an H and E stain
and call me with the results.

So how was riding class?

Okay.

How's your case going? My what?

Ed Russell. Peter told us. Heh.

Uh, the police think it
was the teenage son.

What do you think?

I hate to think that any child

could hate their
parent that much.

(phone ringing)

Go ahead, Ethan.
ETHAN (on speaker): Okay.

I've got the stain.
What am I looking for?

Mild regular
epidermal acanthosis

with overlying hypogranulosis.

ETHAN: Okay, check.

And check.

And check.

Do you see any plugging
of the follicular orifices?

ETHAN: Um, hold on. Just, uh...

Yes. Yes, I do. Um...

But it's not eczema.
There's no inflammation.

It's ichthyosis. It's a
hereditary disease.

Uh, you're gonna have to
run the DNA to confirm it,

but tell Bud whoever killed
Ed Russell has peeling skin.

Like the aftermath of a sunburn.

Okay, I'll let him
know right now.

Okay, I just gotta tell
you. That was awesome.

Oh, my gosh. Ha, ha.

(girls laughing)

Okay, drop them.

ETHAN: Guess who
diagnosed some ichthyosis.

I don't want to know. Ethan.

Seriously. Don't tell me.

Shut up and get over here.

Hi.

What do you make of this?

You're gonna need a full
body x-ray. You can put it down.

MORRIS: Roll up your sleeves.

Don't you need a warrant? No.

We caught you
with the guy's watch.

You're worried about a warrant?

Ed's killer had a skin
condition called ichthyosis.

Now, roll up your sleeves

or the warrant I get will
be for a cavity search.

Have a nice day.

That's it? Yep.

Get him out of here.

OFFICER: Let's go.

OFFICER: To your
right, down the hall.

Any other symptoms
come with this condition?

Sweating, the only way
the body releases heat.

Some breathing problems,
congestion, asthma.

Asthma?

Yeah, why?

JEN: I don't know where Mike is.

He didn't come home
after his football game?

I'm starting to worry.

That's why we got this
warrant to search Mike's room.

PETER: Mike has
ichthyosis, doesn't he?

What does that have
to do with anything?

Yesterday, at
the police station,

you couldn't look
him in the eye.

Because you were
looking at his feet

to see if he had blood on them.

Sam.

Please. Just stop.

I know this must be
impossible for you.

PETER: Mrs. Russell,
what happened?

Why were they fighting?

JEN: Ed wanted to take Mike's
computer and Mike was so angry.

I just can't believe

that he would do
something so horrible.

( mysterious theme playing)

NEAL: Okay.

Here are all the posts
between Mike and Carla.

Looks like they
met on this site.

Just a lot of
getting-to-know-you stuff

at first, but then
Carla wants specifics.

School, grade,
hair color, birthday.

Pretty soon Mike's just
pouring out his heart.

"He's on my ass all the
time. Can't do anything right.

Wants to take my computer away."

Which would mean
goodbye, Carla. Hello, motive.

They've been talking
about getting together

and running away.

So Ed finds out,
tries to stop him,

and that's the final
straw. Mike kills him.

And winds up missing his
rendezvous with Carla. Look.

Sent today. "Hey, sorry
I missed you yesterday.

Are you still here?
I'm ready to run."

They're meeting at 3 p.m.
today at Felicia's Coffee.

MORRIS: Way to go, Neal.

I ask you for a
epiphyseal plate evaluation

and you do a full
set of body x-rays?

Take a guess why.

Dr. Hunt starting
to rub off on you?

No.

Well, yes, actually.

Take a look.

( tense theme playing)

Todd, what happens if
Manny is ruled a minor?

Typically, six months in juvie.

But I'll be pushing for his
immediate release on probation.

And then back home.
Yeah, that's the idea. Why?

You can see from
these growth plates,

his leg bones haven't even
begun to fuse like an adult's.

He's definitely a minor.

But he can't go back home.

I saw cigarette burns on
his abdomen and upper legs.

The x-rays show
recently-healed broken ribs

and a fractured humerus.

It's all happened
within the two years

since he's been
living with his uncle.

It's consistent with
physical abuse.

We're not sending a
kid back to his abuser.

Wait. Hold on a second.

Are you saying
you won't testify?

You want him to go
to jail? Of course not.

What we're saying is
figure something out.

(mellow pop music playing)

Any sign of Carla?
MORRIS: Put that away.

You can never trust a
woman's online profile.

Really?

How would you know?

Is there sugar in here? No.

I asked for sugar. You're
lucky you got a coffee.

You mind?

WAITRESS: May I help you?

Can I just get a
coffee? I'd like it sweet.

WAITRESS: Yeah, sure. Yeah.

What are you guys doing
here? I think you know, Mike.

BAKER: So you got in a fight with
your father the night before he died.

He wanted to take
your computer away.

Doesn't mean I killed him.

This will, Mike.

BAKER: Plus, we knew you were
planning to run away with Carla.

And how do you explain this?

What am I sticking around
for? My mom's got a new baby.

My dad's dead.

Nobody cares about me.

It's a shame.

Ed Russell works his whole
life to provide for his family.

This is his reward?

I'll never have kids.

I'll let you know when
I confirm the DNA.

Heard you caught the killer.

A 15-year-old stabs
his father to death

because he threatens to
take away his computer?

And it eludes you, doesn't it?

Yeah. Then figure out why.

I thought we didn't
care about the why.

Dr. Hunt, Ethan is
calling for you in the lab.

Well, that was quite
something you did today.

Full body x-rays and an
independent radiology report?

That's at least a thousand
dollars off the books.

He's a lawyer. I figured
we'd stick him for it.

(laughing)

What's this?

Don't tell anybody
I gave it to you.

You'll ruin my rep.

You wanted to see me? Yeah.

So I ran Mike's DNA against
the flakes we found on Ed.

It's a match, but it's
only a partial one.

So either the test failed,

or the flakes are
from Ed somehow.

Except Ed didn't
have ichthyosis.

So how did his son
get it if it's hereditary?

Find Peter, tell him
what you told me.

What did I tell you?

That Ed wasn't Mike's father.

Of course.

PETER: What did you
dig up on Jen Russell?

Her real name is Jennifer Burke.

We ran her name wide and
tracked her back to Arizona,

where, 15 years ago, she
filed domestic abuse charges

against one Tim Scanlan.

Looks like she took
off with baby Mike

and changed her name
when she married Ed.

Detectives. We've got Scanlan.

Son of a...

He was in the coffee shop.

BAKER: Sitting right behind you.

Which makes him Carla.

I tracked back the IP address

of their first communication
about a year ago.

Goes to this halfway
house in Flagstaff.

That's where Scanlan
had just gotten out of prison

on an attempted murder charge.

NEAL: He's been on
every networking site since,

posing as Carla,

looking for a 15-year-old boy,

same description as
Mike. Where's Mike now?

He's still in custody.

What about Jen?

( suspenseful theme playing)

(Sophie crying)

Jen?

JEN: Go away.

I tried calling. I
need to talk to you.

Ed wasn't Mike's
biological father, was he?

Please leave me alone.

I think that his real
father killed your husband.

Look, wait.

Do you hear what I'm saying?

Mike's innocent.

Just tell me that I'm right
and the police will release him.

You're wrong. And I have
nothing else to say to you.

MEGAN: Jen.

( dramatic theme playing)

( ominous theme playing)

Jen?

Jen?

Are you okay?

Mrs. Russell?

( tense theme playing)

(Sophie cooing)

(whimpering)

(sirens wailing in distance)

(muffled yelling)

BAKER: Philadelphia P.D.

They're out back. Go, go.

PETER: No. MORRIS: Scanlon.

He's over here.

Let's go. Scanlan.

Philly P.D., Scanlan.
Show me your hands.

Scanlan, let her
go. Get up, get up.

Scanlan, show me
your hands. Let her go.

It's over, Scanlan.

This bitch took my
son away from me.

He'll never be your son again.
I'm gonna break your neck.

(yelling)

Come on, show me your
hands. Show me your hands.

Show me your hands.

Cover me, Sam. BAKER: I got you.

You're under arrest for
the murder of Ed Russell.

Call an ambulance.

What happened with
Tim was a lifetime ago.

It never occurred to
me that he'd found us.

And why target Ed? He didn't.

He wanted Mike.

MEGAN: His plan was to
lure Mike away from the house,

and then tell him he
was his real father.

But Mike was a no-show.

So Tim came here to the house.

Ed was working when he arrived.

Tim probably knew enough

about your family
to talk his way in.

TIM: Good-looking kid.

MEGAN: I'm guessing that it was
the photos that made him snap.

(grunting)

MEGAN: You came
home, saw the footprints

and assumed they were Mike's.

How could you have ever
known that they were his father's?

( mellow theme playing)

MAN: Hang in there, kid.

Your mom will be here soon.

What's this? It's
a children's home.

One of my colleagues
is on the board.

Manny will need a sponsor.

A business professional who
will give him a part-time job.

You want me to hire him?

Just put him to work a
couple of hours a week.

I don't know if my
firm will go for this.

Come on, it's great PR.

And it's not too bad
for the soul, either.

(chuckles)

Yeah.

See you in court, Dr. Murphey.

( mellow pop music playing)

Been awfully quiet today.

I was mad at you for
all those times before

when you didn't show
up because of work.

But today you did.

So was it the son who did it?

Um, no. It was somebody else.

Did you catch him?

Uh, with a lot of help.

My friends think
you're cool, you know.

They do? Really?

It's kind of weird. Yeah. Heh.

I know what it feels like

to be forgotten.

And I'm sorry that I made
you feel that way again.

You have every reason
in the world to doubt me.

I just hope

that you never
doubt that I love you.

Maybe you can do carpool
again next Saturday?

I'd like that.

But no snacks.

(laughing)

( mellow theme playing)