CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015): Season 15, Episode 15 - Hero to Zero - full transcript

(dog barks in distance,
bottle clattering)

(siren wails in distance)

(liquid sloshing)

(bottle clattering)

(man chuckling evilly)

(man gasps)

Hey, old man, what the hell
are you doing in my alley?

This... this isn't your alley.

- (gasps) -What, you trying
to tell me that it's yours?

Why are you doing this?

THUG 2: I'm just trying
to have some fun.



Ain't you having fun?

(others laughing)

(grunting)

Please, just let me be, please.

Is that the best you got?

(cries out)

(grunts, sobs)

(whimpers)

- MAN: Leave him alone!
- Huh?

Who's there?

Get that damn light
out of my eyes.

MAN:
You want to pick on someone?

Why don't you pick
on someone who can fight back?

I said turn off that damn light.



Forget it, man.

Forget it.

Who the hell are you?

I'm a guy who's sick of you

trashing this neighborhood.

THUG: Well, if you're gonna
do something about it,

why don't you hurry up
and do it?

(crackling)

- Let's go.
- Come here.

(whimpering)

(indistinct shouting)

- (siren wails)
- Thank you.

- Morning.
- MITCHELL: Morning.

STOKES:
What's going on, Mitch?

MITCHELL:
One of the owners

who backs on the alley

was taking out trash
this morning.

He made the find.

Oof.

(distant siren blaring)

Somebody worked him over
pretty good.

Judging by his knuckles,

I'd say he got a few shots in.

SIDLE:
Ugh.

Ground is sticky over here,

probably thanks
to this Dumpster.

But it's given us
a lot of shoe impressions.

Looking at the number,
I'd say more than one assailant.

Well, Mitch did say
there was a gang

terrorizing
the neighborhood lately.

Mostly vandalism and burglaries,

but maybe they stepped up
their game to murder.

Nice get-up.

Is that a cape?

That's a costume of some sort.

And, of course, no costume
would be complete

without a mask.

SIDLE:
Maybe he's one of those

sidewalk characters
over on the Strip.

They dress up like superheroes
and panhandle for money.

Yeah, and was walking home
and just got jumped?

- Sara.
- Mmm?

One of my guys

found this in a doorway
up the street.

No I.D.

Looks like
it's been rifled through.

Got some street clothes...
and a sketch pad.

Uh...

- Nick?
- STOKES: Yeah.

Take a look at these.

STOKES:
Comic drawings of a superhero.

That's this superhero.

Battling a gang.

It's a little weirdly prophetic,
isn't it?

Like he knew he was gonna
come up against these guys.

Like he knew the future.

Too bad for him,

the hero only wins
in comic books.

# Who... are you? #

# Who, who, who, who? #

# Who... are you? #

# Who, who, who, who? #

# I really wanna know #

# Who... are you? #

- # Oh-oh-oh #
- # Who... #

# Come on, tell me who are you,
you, you #

# Are you! #

(siren blaring)

Hey, uh, quite a collection
of lifts.

SIDLE: Yeah, looks like
at least five or six

different individuals,
plus the victim.

STOKES:
And a bare foot?

- What's with that?
- I don't know, but he was

definitely part
of the mix somehow.

What do you got?

I think these are
the victim's superpowers.

One stun gun, spent,
no charge left,

and a pepper spray...

(rattling)

...also empty.

PHILLIPS:
Hey, Nick. Got a minute?

What's up, Super Dave?

Well, I'm gonna
say time of death

was between midnight
and 3:00 a.m.

Multiple bruises and contusions.

Several lacerations.

I can't hazard a guess to say

which ultimately
killed him, though.

Find any I. D?

No. Nothing.

Leave it to a superhero
to keep his identity a mystery.

MAN:
Can I get my cart, please?

MAN:
Can I get my cart?

OFFICER:
I said be patient, okay?

- Please.
- (siren wails)

Mmm. Mmm.

Mmm. Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.

How's your sandwich, Roger?

Good. Yeah, thanks.

You said size 11.

They're not entirely new.

They're from our lost-and-found,
but they're something.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

They're, uh... not entirely
free, though, either.

I need to know what happened
in the alley last night.

You were there, weren't you?

Some guy...

who looked like Batman...

...he saved me.

How did he save you, exactly?

I was, uh, rummaging.

Uh, all of a sudden,

I'm surrounded
by these, um... villains.

And they start shoving
and hitting me.

What did these villains
look like?

Never saw them.

They-they covered their faces.

But they wanted to hurt me.

Badly.

That's when the guy
in the mask appeared,

in a ball of light.

I see.

What happened next?

I don't... I don't know.

I left. I took off.

You didn't see their faces.

You didn't see what happened.

Did you see anything at all

that-that might help us?

Find the villains, I mean.

A truck.

A red pickup.

Um, parked in the alley.

RUSSELL:
How's it going?

Any luck?

Some.

I was able to identify
two of the boots

that made these impressions.

Unfortunately,

they're all common work boots,

sold at dozens of retailers
and online, but...

we may have some luck
in a different way.

Take a close look.

RUSSELL: There are granules
stuck in the gel.

Almost like... coffee grounds.

Sara said that the ground

around the crime scene was...
was sticky.

Maybe the tackiness
pulled whatever this is

off of this guy's shoes.

Not just his.
Almost all of these

have the exact same trace
on them.

I already pulled

a sample and gave it
to Hodges for analysis.

Hey, Russell,
you should, uh, see this.

It's, uh, security footage

from a pawnshop on Wallace.

Just a few blocks
from the murder.

Wow, they don't waste any time.

That's from
a little after 11:00.

Only an hour or so
before the murder.

Looks like this gang
had a busy night.

FINLAY: The owner already
started cleaning up inside,

so I told him not to touch
anything until we're finished.

SANDERS:
Well, according to Akers,

this is the second time
these guys have hit this place.

They did the same thing
to a beauty supply store

a block down
a couple nights ago.

So they're targeting
the same area.

- (garbled radio transmission)
- Got to be local.

Maybe a gang of
neighborhood kids out wilding?

Wilding... now killing.

Got any shoe impressions?

SANDERS:
Working on it.

FINLAY:
What is that powder?

SANDERS:
Oh, the, uh, display

has fluorescent lights.

And the inside of the tubes

is coated
with this phosphor powder.

When the tube breaks,
the powder gets everywhere.

FINLAY:
Any point in, uh...

- dusting for prints?
- Not sure.

Video was pretty grainy,

but it looked like
they were wearing gloves.

Besides, they took almost
everything they touched.

Maybe we don't need any prints.

I got blood.

"I wear a mask.

"And that mask,
it's not to hide who I am,

but to create what I am."

I give up.
Are-are you quoting Sun Tzu?

Uh, no, no, no.
A different warrior.

Batman. Volume one, number 624.

What are you doing?

Oh, I'm just trying
to see your feet.

The last Batman fan I met was
shoeless and lives in an alley.

You know, I never pegged you
for a comic book nerd.

My early teens, every dime I had
went to comic books.

I guess I just don't get it.

You know, my childhood,
fantasy was never my escape.

I lost myself
in science and numbers.

That's all I needed, I guess.

Well, you liked things
that were...

clear and proven,
right or wrong.

- Black or white.
- Maybe.

This is the closest that I have
come to the comic book world,

and it's ample enough.

HODGES:
Do you realize

how long walnuts have been
around as a food source?

Archaeologists
in Southern France found

evidence
of roasted walnut shells

dating back
to the Neolithic period.

That's 8,000 years ago.

- (shell cracks)
- Wow.

I did not know that.
Thank you very much.

And you're telling us
this because?

HODGES:
Well, because

the trace evidence
collected at the scene,

the granules
on the suspects' shoes...

it's ground walnut shell.

Now, it's not as exotic
as it sounds.

It's commonly used
as reptile bedding,

if you raise reptiles.
They're also used

as exfoliants
in soaps and scrubs.

So, it's common stuff.

Not gonna help us
very much now, right?

Not necessarily.

Our samples are unique in that
they are unusually charred.

They also contain a trace
of calcium hypochlorite.

I'm still working
to determine why.

Good, good. Go. Work.

(Finlay clears her throat)

- Hey.
- (both grunting)

- Come... come on.
- RUSSELL: Oh, Lord.

I need a revolving door
around here.

Results from the blood
Finlay found at the pawnshop.

Uh, DNA was male.
No direct match in CODIS.

But there was
a familial match to this guy.

RUSSELL: Martin Preach,
three-striker currently residing

- at Ely State Prison.
- ANDREWS: I did some checking.

Mr. Preach has at least one kid.

A 19-year-old son named Trey.

Couple of petty offenses
of his own.

Could be the blood donor.

Was one of his petty
offenses his hair?

Wait a second.

Uh, look at the victim's
comic book drawings.

The gang
that the superhero is fighting.

One of them has a purple Mohawk.

Pow.

Like father, like son,
I guess, right, Trey?

It's not much of a surprise.

Your dad wasn't exactly around

during your
formative years, was he?

I got a family I can count on,
so that's all that matters.

Yeah, you got your boys, right?
Your-your gang?

It's one for all.

- You know?
- Well, I hate to break up

the little party here, Trey,

but you guys are in it
pretty deep this time.

SIDLE:
You left your DNA on the window

at the pawnshop last night.

As we're sitting here,

our guy is outside matching it

to the sample
that you gave in the hall.

STOKES:
You ain't a juvie no more, man,

and this is far
from your first offense, so...

I suggest you smarten up.

SIDLE: DA is gonna want
your whole crew.

All of them, all right?

You give us the names
and a serious statement,

and this murder does not
have to be all on you.

Hold on. What murder?

The guy you beat to death

in the alley
off Grant last night.

That murder.

I don't know nothing about that.

You don't know nothing
about this?

Wait a minute.

This dude?

He's the one that's dead?

I've seen this freak around.

He wears a mask
or something, right?

- Uh-huh.
- Yeah, I see him sometimes

when I cruise at night.

Sad damn freak.

But I didn't kill him, though.

I didn't touch him.

Just heard from Nick.

Trey Preach and his purple hair

deny any involvement
with the murder.

No shocker, I guess.

No, shocker would have been
if he didn't deny it.

Well, no problem holding him.

The guy's a lock for the
smash-and-grab at the pawnshop.

The problem is,

that may be the only thing
that he's a lock for.

What do you mean?

So, the shoe prints
from the pawnshop

don't match the shoe prints
from the alley.

You sure about that?

BRODY:
Unless these guys went home

and changed shoes
in between crimes,

we're looking
at different gangs.

Two gangs working
the same neighborhood?

And what about
the comic book drawings?

No, no, no.
There-there can't be

that many guys out there
with purple Mohawks.

Don't we know somebody that...

that saw the gang
in the alley?

The homeless guy, Roger.

But he said he didn't remember
seeing any faces.

That's what he said,
but let-let's find him.

Show him a picture
of Trey and his purple hair.

Maybe he saw more
than he realized.

Maybe he decided it was

too high-crime an area,
and picked up

- and moved out. - You know what?
I'm gonna go back

to the other side,
have one more look.

Then we should check
the alley north of Grant.

Okay.

(distant clinking)

(thudding)

Roger?

We just want to talk to you.
Hey!

- Hey, who's there?
- (door opening)

- (clinking)
- Hey!

Hey! What the hell?

Who are you?

Hey! Okay,
I'm with the LVPD Crime Lab.

I need you to step back.
Just stay back.

(gun cocks)

Unless you're faster
than a speeding bullet,

you better do what she said.

BRODY:
Why were you in the alley?

We got every right to be there.
We haven't done anything wrong.

All right, for starters, how
about you take off your masks?

Unless you have something
to hide.

We're not hiding anything.
We're just protecting ourselves.

Anonymity is vital to our work,
to what we do.

Which is what exactly?

We fight crime.

We patrol the streets at night.

We do whatever we got to do
to make it tougher

on the pimps
and the drug dealers

and whatever other criminals
we find.

BRODY: Okay, we're on
the same side here.

The guy who was beaten
in this alley last night...

judging from his costume,

I'm guessing
he was a friend of yours?

Dominion was beaten? By who?

Where is he?

He's dead.

You didn't know?

How did it happen?

SANDERS: Well, we're working
to figure it out.

And it would help
if you could tell us...

when was the last time
you saw him?

Dominion didn't show up
for patrol last night, so...

when he didn't show up
again tonight,

we decided
to go looking for him, and

that's when we saw you two
entering the alley.

What was Dominion's real name?

Your friend is lying
in a morgue.

An unclaimed John Doe
with a toe tag.

Tell us his name so we can
at least notify his family.

Brad Jeffries.

All Brad ever wanted
to do was help people.

I know it sounds trite, but...

ever since he was ten,
right after his father died,

he became obsessed with...

fairness.

He insisted
that everything had to be fair.

That's when he got lost
in the comic book world

and this online role-playing.

How long had he been doing this?

Dressing up and going on, uh,
patrol with his friends?

The real-life
superhero movement?

Th-That's what they call it.

Uh, they've been doing it
for probably ten months now.

Did he ever mention any problems
or run-ins they might have had?

Any enemies they could've made?

He would've known better
than to talk to us about it.

It would only worry me
that much more,

and it only aggravated Seth.

You weren't a fan
of what he was doing?

I was afraid of exactly this.

I mean, I-I warned him
I don't know how many times

that they were playing
a dangerous game.

It's not comic book land
out there.

It's the real world.
People have guns and knives.

He said it was his calling.

That it gave meaning
to his life.

(crying):
How can you argue with that?

No, I understand. Um...

his two partners...
Tina and Scott...

how-how well do you know them?

Well.

They're here all the time.

They hang out in the basement.

They were his best friends.

They would never
have anything to do

with his death,
if that's what you're thinking.

So, Brad's mom
doesn't have a problem

with you guys setting up
in her basement?

TINA:
I mean, Brad was the one

who brought the three of us
together.

You know? Like, inspired us.

He got me believing I could
actually make a difference.

And change the world.

- You know?
- But why like this?

The masks, costumes?

Well, we have our reasons.

For me...

I was a victim once.

Just a 17-year-old girl,
riding the bus late at night.

Yeah, I was never a victim.

But I was into some pretty
dark stuff in the past.

Hurt people.

What I do now,
it's my way to pay it back.

It's my redemption.

But you're not police officers.

You don't have police training.

You don't have the power
to even arrest anybody.

What you're doing
is borderline unlawful.

You know that, right?

So, what do we do?
We-we leave it up to the cops?

- Is that it?
- Well, there's an idea, yeah.

Cops go where the money is...
the casinos, the tourists.

We aren't exactly a priority.

So, that's why we do what we do.

Come here
and take a look at this.

Tell me about the gang
this superhero's fighting.

SCOTT: Yeah, we call them
the Disciples.

They've been running wild around
this area for about a month now.

They're sort of our nemesis.

TINA:
The drawing was Brad's version

of what would happen
if he found them.

These are the rest
of Brad's drawings over here?

Yeah.

What's this one about?

Just some guy
we ran into one night. Why?

Witnesses saw a red pickup truck
last night

around the time
Brad was murdered.

What can you tell me about it?

TINA: Guy was arguing with
a hooker, and shoved her down.

So we intervened.

When he tried to bail,

Brad smashed the fender
of his truck.

- Know anything about the driver?
- No.

Have you seen him before

- or since then?
- No. Just that night.

Okay. That's it?

Yeah, that's it.

- Hey.
- Hey!

You know, I had no idea this was
actually a thing... this whole

real-life superhero movement.

More than just our trio,
you mean?

Way more. I have found

hundreds of people
across the country

who like to dress
in superhero costumes

and go out
in their neighborhoods...

mostly, it seems,
with altruistic motives.

I'm all for making a difference,
but the whole

dress-up part just seems so...

What's the word I'm looking for?

HODGES:
Hello, ladies.

I bring news
on our walnut shells.

Now, you remember
that I said they were unique?

You said they were charred,
right?

And also that they'd been
exposed to calcium hypochlorite.

And all that just might equal...

Sundip Pool Supply.

Might equal how?

Turns out ground walnut shell

is also used by sandblasters
to clean pool tile.

They spray it instead of sand

because the shells
don't scratch the tile.

And how does that get us
to this Sundip place?

The charring
and the chemical trace.

Sundip Pool Supply had a huge
fire about three weeks ago.

It's the only logical source
I can think of

that matches
our specific samples.

Thanks, Hodges.
I'll check it out.

Hey, Doc.

Long day for you.

Long and busy with some
very interesting findings,

particularly in the case
of your victim.

Really? What have you got?

Well, as you can see
in his injuries here,

there's a lot of bruising
and swelling,

as well as areas of bleeding.

All of this is consistent
with a nonlethal beating.

Nonlethal?
And yet, he's dead.

Thanks to a single blow

that landed just here
at the base of the skull.

The victim was struck once
with significant force,

effectively transecting
the brain stem

in the area
of the medulla oblongata.

Okay, so maybe
during the beating,

one of the suspects
gets carried away,

hits the victim
in the base of the skull

and kills him.

But herein lies the conundrum.

All this bruising and swelling
you see took time.

At least 60 minutes
for the body to respond

to injuries of this degree.

The brain stem injury,
however, was instantly fatal.

Instantly?

Like switching off a light.

So the blow that killed him

was delivered 60 minutes
after the beating.

RUSSELL:
That means that

Brad Jeffries was beaten up

and left in the alley
for at least an hour.

According to Doc,
probably unconscious.

So somebody had to come back,

maybe a gang member
or someone entirely different,

hit him in the back of the head,
and killed him.

Does Doc have any thoughts
about the murder weapon?

Said it could be something
like a-a baseball bat or a club.

But here you can see
these bands on his neck.

Wait a second.

Nick just came back
with some more...

comic book drawings
from our superheroes.

Check out the weapon
in that hero's hands.

SANDERS:
It's a club with metal bands.

RUSSELL:
Right, so maybe

our victim was killed
with his own weapon.

SANDERS: Well, there was
nothing like this recovered

at the crime scene, so
the killer must have taken it.

All right, so he either
still has it or he ditched it.

There are a lot of Dumpsters
in those alleys.

Let's get LVPD to check
the area completely, okay?

Hey. Looks like
that ground walnut shell trace

might have paid off.

Thanks to Hodges,
I went and checked out

this place called
Sundip Pool Supply.

Their place is all fenced
and boarded up,

but I got a security guard
to let me in.

There was charred walnut shell,
just like ours,

all over the place.

So our gang must've been there

at some point
before they went to the alley.

Guard said that the only people
working there right now

are the demolition crew.

Company name is
Agrerro Demo and Hauling.

They are in there every day,
and this is the kicker.

The crew's foreman,
Tony Agrerro...

he drives a red pickup truck.

STOKES:
Okay, boys.

This is the guy
we're looking for right here,

Tony Agrerro.

- We sure he's here?
- Well, he better be.

That's his red pickup truck
right there.

Let's go.

- (dog barking)
- Yeah.

There's the dent right there.

Hey, Nick, ground walnut shells,
same as on the boots

from the alley.

(rhythmic beeping)

Do you hear that?

(rhythmic beeping continues)

It's still warm.

He's got to be around here.

Keys are still in the ignition.

Oh, Nick.

(beeping stops)

Lot of blood.

STOKES:
Whoa.

Mitchell, over here.

Well, we found him.

Looks like somebody
had an accident.

If this was an accident,
I'm Superman.

(indistinct, distant chatter)

- Hey, Nick?
- STOKES: Yeah?

There are tool marks
on one of these pulleys.

Looks like somebody
intentionally

jammed the winch cable.

Yeah, they probably knew
the victim would crawl

into the gap to fix it.

Yeah, and then once he was
in there, pulled the lever,

and squish.

Victim has a couple
nasty bruises on his face.

Yeah, yeah, I saw those.

Looks like he got
into a fistfight.

How old do you think
those bruises are, David?

PHILLIPS:
Recent.

I don't know...
24, 48 hours, maybe?

That times out perfectly
for the brawl in the alley,

so maybe our dead superhero
really did get some licks in

- before they took him down.
- FINLAY: All right, so we've got

a red pickup truck,

walnut shells,
we have bruises now,

so Tony Agrerro here was
definitely a part of the gang

that beat up Brad Jeffries.

Yeah, I think so,
and then used his coworkers

- as the rest of the crew.
- Well, that'll give us

the alley gang,
but it's not gonna tell us

who actually went back
to commit the murder.

Guys, there are some interesting
scratches on this truck.

- (camera shutter clicking)
- Are they fresh?

They didn't have time to rust.

Weren't the other
two superheroes...

were they wearing
spiked armbands?

- Who, Scott and Tina?
- Yeah.

- Yeah, they were.
- So, uh, maybe they did this.

Case of revenge.

- Time of death, David?
- I'm gonna put T.O.D.

At around midnight
last night, more or less.

Midnight.

You know, that's not too long

after I talked
to those two knuckleheads

about that red pickup truck.

(grunts)

You lied, Tina.

You and Scott.

Huh? What...
What are you talking about?

Last night,
when CSI Stokes was here,

he told you about a red pickup

that had been spotted
near where Brad was killed.

- Yeah. So what? - So when
he asked you about the driver,

you said that you didn't know
anything, but you did know.

You knew the driver
was Tony Agrerro.

His name's right on the side
of the truck.

Okay, so maybe we didn't
tell CSl... what, Stokes?...

everything, but, you know,

obviously, you found
your way to Tony Agrerro.

Not before you got to him first.

Wait. Got to him first?
What do you mean?

Tony Agrerro is dead, Tina,
and we found evidence

that at least one of you
was there.

What? Wait. No.

That's not what we're about.

Okay? Th-The real-life

superhero movement is about...

asserting a positive influence.

It's about...

improving the neighborhood.

You want to improve
your neighborhood?

Go help in a shelter.

Get involved with at-risk kids.

The game that you are playing
is dangerous, and now

two people are dead
because of it.

Where were you last night
around midnight?

I was here, with Brad's mom.

We stayed up all night talking.

I mean, Brad meant
everything to her.

All right, she's devastated.

I couldn't just leave her.

What about Scott?

Was he with you?

No. Uh... I have...

I have no idea where Scott was.

You need to tell me
where to find Scott, Tina.

No games this time.

RUSSELL:
What am I looking at here?

Tony Agrerro's
trash-hauling crew.

And shoe impressions confirm
what we already figured:

They're also his gang
from the alley.

LVPD rounded them up.

Morgan and I offered a deal
to the first one to talk.

We got four takers.

- Their stories line up?
- All of them told the same tale.

Agreed to beating up
Brad Jeffries in the alley.

(sighs)
Anybody say why?

Because their boss told them to.

Right. Agrerro had
that score to settle

with the-the superheroes

over the hooker
and the damage to his truck.

Somehow they knew Jeffries
would be walking home from work.

They also knew that he
couldn't resist playing hero.

So the tussle with
the homeless guy was just a lure

to get Jeffries into the alley.

And Jeffries took the bait.

But... they left him alive
after the beating.

They were all big
on pressing that point.

Right. Well, we knew that.

I mean, he was alive
for at least an hour later,

until one or maybe more of them
came back and killed him.

Question is, who and why?

Well, here's a thought.

According to all of them,

Agrerro's mask came off
during the fight...

- (grunting)
- Come on!

(indistinct chatter)

- How does it feel to be a hero?
- (grunting)

SANDERS:
... and Jeffries recognized him.

Well, there's a motive for you.

After the beating,
everybody leaves,

Tony starts thinking,

- Tony starts worrying.
- Exactly.

He knows that
if the victim I.D.'s him,

he could face serious
prison time on the assault.

RUSSELL: So an hour later,
everybody's gone.

Agrerro goes back to the alley
and kills Jeffries.

(grunts)

And then Agrerro
is killed by the...

the superhero out of revenge.

BRODY:
Only problem is...

(sighs) Tony Agrerro never went
back to the alley.

You sure about that?

After beating up Jeffries, they
all went to nurse their wounds

at a local dive bar.

I talked to the bartender.

Swears all five of them
stayed there until close.

Agrerro ran a tab,
and he never left.

SANDERS:
Well, if that's true,

then none of them
could have killed Brad Jeffries.

STOKES:
Scott...

I've been checking on you.

You have quite a rap sheet.
Congratulations.

Almost every charge in here

involves you beating
the crap out of somebody.

That's before I had a cause.

You know?

Something to believe in.

This superhero thing?

- Yeah. - You want to know
what I think about that?

I think the mask and the cape
are just an excuse

for you to go out
and pound heads.

You've always been a thug,
only now you do it in a cape.

And you tell yourself it's okay

because your victims
are bad guys.

(softly):
No, man.

You got me all wrong,
I'm telling you.

Tony Agrerro deserved to die,
am I right?

He killed your best friend,

so you did what any
noble superhero would do...

you avenged
your best friend's death.

Only this time, Scott...

that's not being a hero
right there, man.

That's being a vigilante.

I... I don't know what
you're talking about, man.

I didn't have anything
to do with that.

You weren't there last night?

- You weren't at the yard?
- No. Nowhere near it.

Then explain how scratches
ended up on a truck

that perfectly match

those badass
superhero bracelets of yours.

Then maybe you can explain to me

how Tony Agrerro's blood
ended up on your boot.

All right, I... I was there.

But he was dead
when I found him.

I didn't have anything
to do with this, I swear.

So you were lying before, but
you're telling me the truth now?

I went looking for him.

All right? The place was dark.

I heard a truck engine running.

I went to go check it out.

When I got there,
he was laying there, dead.

I reached in to check his pulse.

That's probably how my arm band
scratched the truck.

Scott,
if you're gonna lie to me,

at least get
your facts straight. Okay?

The keys were in the truck.
The engine wasn't running.

(sighs)

You want to try again?

No.

What I want is a lawyer.

Now.

Hey. How's it going in there?

It's not. He lawyered up.

- Wow, that was fast.
- Nick got him to admit

to being at the scene
at the time of the murder.

It seemed like he was
on the brink of confessing,

and then he just got smart.

You know, the stupid thing is,

if this was about avenging
the death of his friend,

he killed the wrong guy.

What do you mean?

Tony Agrerro and his crew

alibied out for the murder
in the alley.

Morgan put them

in a neighborhood bar
at the time.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Then who killed
our dead superhero?

That is still the question.

Hey. One of our officers
just brought this in.

Matches the description of
the weapon you're looking for.

- Where'd he find it?
- The guy was

threatening some tourist
with it, outside the Palermo.

I guess they wouldn't

acknowledge him as the one,
true Batman.

(grunting)

Hi, Roger.

(door closes)

Do you remember me?

You gave me my shoes.

I need you to tell me

about that club
that you were carrying.

The club is the source.

The club gives me power.

I am invincible with the club!

Where did you get the club?

I found it.

You found it where?
In the alley?

- The one that we were in
the other night? - No.

A different place.
Uh, in a Dumpster.

Roger, that club belonged
to someone.

The man that saved you.

You said he looked like Batman,
you remember?

I think that you were there,
in the alley,

after the fight, after the man

with the cape
and the mask was hurt.

That's where you found
the club, isn't it?

No. I told you.
The club is mine.

What happened, Roger?

- Did he wake up?
- (groans)

- Did he startle you, scare you?
- (grunts)

Is that why you hit him?

Roger, I need to know
exactly what happened.

The truth.

The club's not his.

The club is mine!

I found it.

In a Dumpster.

I don't know which one.

There are so many.

Give me something, then.

So I can check your story.

A golden star.

What do you mean, a golden star?

That's it.

A golden star.

- Russell.
- Yeah.

I think we just went from
one unsolved murder back to two.

I just read Doc Robbins'
autopsy report on Tony Agrerro.

Now, the cause of death,
that's not a surprise...

that dude was crushed.

It's the time of death
that's a little off.

What do you mean, a little off?

According to Dave,
it was around midnight,

but according to Doc,
it was much earlier.

Maybe as much
as 18 hours earlier.

- Whoa.
- Which means our

other superhero, Scott Hunt...

he doesn't work as the killer.
He alibis out.

So he was telling the truth
when he said

he got to the yard
and Agrerro was already dead.

How could David have been
so far off with his estimate?

I don't think it was his fault.
It was that truck engine.

It really was running.

Killer must've left it
that way after the murder.

But that engine would've kept
that dead body warm, though.

Throwing off
David's calculations

when he did the liver stick.

Okay, so new time of death.

That would put Agrerro's murder

just a little bit
after Brad Jeffries was killed

in the alley, right?

Probably first thing
in the morning.

So what do you think?

Maybe we have two bodies
but just one killer.

And zero idea who it is.

I have good news
on our murder weapon,

particularly if you're a fan
of Ethiopian cuisine.

There was butter on the club,

infused with a host
of exotic spices:

Fenugreek, cumin,

coriander, turmeric, cardamom,
cinnamon and nutmeg.

A concoction
more simply known as tesmi,

common in Ethiopian cooking.

I did a quick check

and found an Ethiopian
restaurant just five blocks

from the alley
where the victim was found.

(siren wailing in distance)

Well, there's our golden star.

STOKES:
So maybe old Roger was

- telling the truth
about the club. - Yeah.

STOKES:
It's empty.

Well, if the killer
dumped the club in there,

he figured
he'd never see it again,

'cause it'd be hauled away
with the trash,

along with any piece of evidence

that might've been
along with it.

Oh, Nick.

Look at that.

(Stokes laughs softly)

Say "cheese."

RUSSELL:
Clearly, this is you, Seth,

ditching the murder weapon only
minutes after Brad was killed.

We also have your phone records,
yours and Agrerro's.

Looks like you
and he spoke several times,

before and right after
Brad was beaten in the alley.

Seth, you need
to talk to us, man.

Y-You know what the jury's
gonna think when they see this?

They're gonna think
you're a monster.

You're not a monster.

I was just trying
to teach him a lesson.

23 years old,

living at home,
dressing up in a costume.

I-I thought I could scare him,
make him stop.

By having Tony Agrerro
and his guys beat him up?

You had warned him that...

it was dangerous out there, and
this was gonna make your point.

- It wasn't even that planned.
- Oh.

I-I met Agrerro by chance
at a neighborhood bar.

I was bitching
to the bartender about Brad

and his friends,
the-the whole superhero thing.

And Agrerro overheard me.

He came over, pissed off.

Because Brad dented his truck.

And-and now he expected me
to pay the repairs.

Said I owed him 700 bucks.

I-I joked that I'd give him

$1,000 if he
and his guys would...

rough Brad up.

- So it was a joke.
- I mean, at first.

After a few drinks, it started
to sound like a good idea.

Let's talk about
how we got here, okay?

H-How did this night happen?

Tony called and said that he
had done like we talked about,

that they-they beat him up.

And I waited
for Brad to come home,

e-expecting him
to call it quits.

But an hour passed,

he didn't show up,
so I went out looking for him.

- I found him in that alley...
- Brad?

... knocked out.
He was just coming to.

Brad!

Seth.

What are you doing here?

Your mom is worried.
I came looking for you.

This is exactly
what I warned you about.

Come on, Brad.
L-Let's go home.

But to be honest,
I felt bad for him.

I mean, not my kid,
but-but I still cared.

But I messed up.
I-I guess I said something

about him being jumped
by a gang.

How did you know that it was
a gang that beat me up?

I didn't... I didn't

- say anything about a gang.
- Brad, come on.

You've been talking
about a gang for weeks now.

You've never come looking
for me.

And now you know exactly
where to find me?

You son of a bitch.

You did this, didn't you?

You set me up.

Okay, come on, Brad.
Calm down...

No, don't touch me!

I will get home on my own.

And when I do,
I'm telling her what you did,

and your ass is gonna be
out of our house for good.

No, no. You can't do that.

Screw you, Seth.

She's better off without you.

(grunts)

It was just an impulse,

a stupid mistake.

The club was in my hand...

Seth, we get it.

You're not a killer.

No, I'm really not.

Yeah, but...

wh-why don't you tell me
about Tony?

Tell me how that happened, Seth.

I went to pay Tony
the next morning.

He must've heard
about Brad being dead.

He thought
that he could blackmail me.

So when he was on a call, I...

jammed the winch cable
on his truck.

I knew he'd have
to crawl in there to fix it.

It was just a matter
of throwing a lever.

RUSSELL:
Okay.

So... first killing
was an impulse.

Second killing was about money.

Why don't you tell us again
how you're not a killer, Seth?

(distant siren blaring)

There you are.

Good work on this one,
by the way.

Thanks. It was, uh,
good work all around.

Got a little, uh...
a little something for you here.

- What's this?
- Take a look.

Oh. (chuckles)

- Comic books.
- Yep.

I went through my collection.

I put together a little
"greatest hits" bag for you.

I also plain-wrapped it
so I wouldn't

blow your cover around here.

- My cover?
- Yeah. You know,

as the hard science,
numbers person

who has no time for fantasy.

I actually don't have time
for fantasy.

See, that's wrong.

Everybody needs
a little fantasy.

It's a lot of pressure,
you know?

What if I don't like them?

Don't tell me.

SIDLE:
Hey, Russell.

Thank you.

Yeah. You're welcome.