Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 2, Episode 20 - Honor Among Thieves - full transcript

Let's go!

Excuse me, Agent?

I need to speak to Agent Prentiss
and one of her superiors.

She's in a briefing.

Yes. Well, it's extremely important.

Mother?

I found my father's car last night
when I took out the garbage.

The door was open and his bag was
on the ground, but he was gone.

- Gone?
- He's been kidnapped.

- Are you sure?
- Yes.

- Have you been to the police?
- They came directly to me.



As I think you can understand, Agent,

they don't easily trust the authorities.

There are protocols, Ambassador Prentiss.

The local police,
there's an FBI office in Baltimore.

Yes, but you do handle kidnapping
cases, don't you? The BAU?

I mean, it is your mandate.

Yes, when necessary.

Mrs. Chernus' brother, Natalya's uncle,

worked for me at the embassy
in the Ukraine.

Be that as it may, there are channels
these cases must go through,

and if our particular expertise
is required...

Please, we don't have time.

It's just not something that's up to us.

I told you they wouldn't help.



Officials are the same everywhere!

Please. It's already 8:15 in the morning.

The kidnappers left a note
demanding $100,000 be wired

to a bank account in Moscow by noon today.

That's less than four hours.

They say if we don't, they will send
another piece every six hours after.

Another piece?

That's my father's wedding ring.

Please help him.

An old Russian proverb reminds us

there can be no good without evil.

- Where are you taking that?
- We need to process it.

She wants his wedding ring.

Please, let us hold the cooler.
It will be here if you need it.

Agent, it's fine for now.
You can leave it.

Yes, sir.

This note's in Russian.
I need to know the exact text.

"Wire $100,000 to Nadka Bank,

"account number 155293846729
by tomorrow noon.

"If you don't...

"If you don't, you will receive
another body piece then

"and every six hours after."

- That's it exactly?
- Exactly.

I'll never forget it.

There's no personalization? No salutation?

It's not addressed to anyone,

and your father's name
isn't mentioned specifically?

- No.
- That's odd.

Most ransom notes are personalized.

It frightens the families to know that
they've been specifically chosen,

watched for a time.

It doesn't even say
not to call the police.

Russian expats don't have
the greatest experience

with their home government.
They tend not to trust officials.

Well, there's another reason
they aren't worried.

According to the note, they aren't
planning on contacting them again.

It's completely self-contained. They
expect their instructions to be followed.

We don't have $100,000.

They seem to think that you do.

Garcia, can you get any information
on the account?

I'm already checking.

The account number does seem
to correspond with that bank.

Can you get the account holder's name?

I have no idea how Russian banks
store their data,

how their servers are structured.

We'd have to call the bank directly.

No way.

There's no way a Russian bank is going

to give information on personal accounts.

Well, I could try to go
through the embassy in Moscow.

And say what?

The FBI is looking for information
on Russian citizens' bank accounts?

I mean, if we were lucky

we'd spend the next six years
drowning in red tape.

I can make some calls.

I may still have some friends
in the Eastern countries.

That would be a great help, Ambassador.

If you'll excuse me.

We don't have much time.
We need a division of labor.

Morgan, somebody needs
to go to the Chernus' house

in Baltimore in case
they are contacted again.

- You got it.
- I want to be there.

That's a good idea. Are you
fluent enough to stay with the mother

until we get a translator up here?

I'm passable.

Then Mrs. Chernus should stay with us.

I'll meet with Agent Cramer in Baltimore.

- Good.
- See if he has similar open cases.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

- We're landing already?
- Twenty-five minute flight.

I never knew 25 minutes
could feel so long.

Or that three hours could feel so short.

She doesn't look scared.

- She looks determined.
- She's a tough girl.

When we get to the house, take her inside.

Profile the rooms while you profile her.

- What am I looking for?
- Anything that helps.

Can I get you something,
Mrs. Chernus?

Water?

Thanks.

Your mother's got feelers out.
She's confident she can get results.

Well, if anybody can,
it's Ambassador Prentiss.

- How's she doing?
- How would you be?

Right.

Agent Cramer is meeting Gideon
and Reid at the Chernus house.

This is the translator.
I've already briefed her.

Will you introduce her to Mrs. Chernus?

Okay, right this way.

Thank God.
I'm really not very good at Russian.

Oh, uh, if it would be all right,
I would like to go help my mother.

All right. Keep me up-to-date.

Agent Gideon, long time no see.

Agent Cramer. You remember Dr. Reid?

- Absolutely.
- Been briefed on the case?

I didn't need to be.

I've been working these mutilation
kidnappings for over a year.

- Really?
- Yeah, and I've got zip.

No one cooperates.
Families don't, the witnesses don't.

Hell, even the victims aren't talking.

I must have a dozen guys walking
around with missing ring fingers.

Why?

- Because we're dealing with criminals.
- Obviously.

Not just the kidnappers, genius.
I'm talking about the victims, too.

These are Russian criminals
kidnapping other Russian criminals.

- Are you sure?
- It's the Russian mob.

I mean, these guys are bold, efficient.

There's no regard for leaving evidence.
And let me guess, in the note,

there's no warning
not to go to the police.

There's a clear assumption
that they won't.

So you think the Chernus family's
involved in organized crime?

These guys are ruthless, but they don't
normally kidnap civilians.

They target people they know have
money they snuck into the country.

Other mobsters. Other criminals.
They won't go to the police

because they have something
to hide themselves.

Only this family did come to us.

- And they don't have any money.
- Well, they all say that.

Get Garcia on the horn.

Your friendly neighborhood oracle
of all things knowable

and unknowable at your service.

Garcia, I need you to do a background
search on the entire Chernus family.

The victims?

Yeah, get us everything
you can find on them.

Financial records, employment,
immigration status.

We need that as soon as possible.

I know. I know. We're on the clock.

I will compile and reconnect forthwith,
Junior G-man. Oracle out.

Junior G-Man?

If the Chernuses are hiding anything,
Garcia will get it to us.

All right.

Why are they just standing around?

Natalya, that's the head
of the local office out there.

It wouldn't do us any good to go

running around without any information.

What kind of information do you need?

Well, sometimes that's
not clear until we actually find it.

Just the three of you living here?

I had two brothers, but they died of
diphtheria when we were children.

I'm sorry.

It was a long time ago.

Andrei was four, Sergei was six.
I was five.

That must have been terrible.

It was hard on my parents.

It was never really the same after.

How do you mean?

They never smiled again.
Neither of them. Ever.

Who's this?

That's my grandfather. He held a
party job in the former government.

When Communism fell, he was arrested.

- Arrested? He was a criminal?
- In the new Russia.

He died a year later in prison.

We were already here for three years
by then. We fled in 1998.

You fled?

We were smuggled out in delivery trucks.

My father never really believed

even with democracy
that Russia could ever change.

He was right.

What he didn't expect was that it
would allow criminals to follow.

They prey on us here.

In America, they can only hurt you
if you're afraid to ask for help.

Is that really true?

Most of the time.

I hope for my father's sake
this is one of those times.

What are you doing?
You'll kill him!

Then he dies.

So what?

Lyov... please.

The money.

I am going to love
cutting you to pieces...

old man!

We have no money.

Soon.

It's okay. They will send the money.

- We have no money.
- They will send it.

They always do.

This all involves the Russian Mafia.

It's really beefed up around here
the last 10 years or so.

It started off mainly in New York and
LA, but they send lieutenants from

the old country, pakhans they call them,

to open branch offices in other cities.

- Like Baltimore.
- Saint Louis, Chicago, Dallas.

The list goes on. They're mainly
offshoots of the Odessa Mafia,

and they're especially tough to crack
from a law enforcement standpoint.

I mean, besides being well-organized
with sophisticated technical equipment,

there's Vory v Zakone to contend with.

- The Thieves Code.
- Yeah.

- Eighteen principles they live by.
- It's like a Bible to these guys.

Stepping outside of it
means certain death.

We're not going to be turning
any of them informer anytime soon.

- Then we need a witness who'll talk.
- There's not much chance of that.

- Gideon?
- Wait here.

Mr. Gorban?
Your name's right here on the mailbox.

Mr. Gorban, please.

Who are you?

I'm with the FBI.

Please, sir, your neighbors
have had some trouble.

That has nothing to do with me.

- You all live in the same community.
- I mind my own business.

You've been watching us since we got here.

Mr. Gorban,

last night somebody grabbed
Mr. Chernus right off the street.

They would've had to have had
a vehicle to do it, a large vehicle.

A van. Did you see anything like that?
Something you could describe for me?

I saw nothing. Get off my porch.

Mr. Gorban? Mr. Gorban?

- Guess who?
- You know these guys?

Oh, yeah.

Arseny Lysowsky.

Agent Cramer, how are you?

What brings you out, Lysowsky?

I heard Chernuses had problems.

How did you hear that?

And you are?

The Chernuses said
they hadn't told anyone.

This is a small community. Word gets out.

Are you a friend of Gorban's?

Mr. Gorban wouldn't talk to me.

Would you like me to talk to him for you?

I can't promise something will come of it.

You! Where's my father?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy.

- Wait! Wait a minute! Wait a minute.
- He has my father!

Do you know he has your father?

He's responsible for all this.
Why everyone's afraid.

Him and his animals.

- I am only here to help.
- Help? You're a dog.

Natalya.

How exactly can you help them?

In any way they'd like me to.

As I said, this is a small community.
If one is in pain, we're all in pain.

Natalya.

You didn't have to bring outsiders.

Let me help you.

My family will never come to you for help.

Get away from my house!

You are not right, Natalya.

You have made the wrong decision.

What did he say?
Did he threaten you, Natalya?

Talk to us and we can do something
about it. What did he say?

He said I made the wrong decision.
I hope I didn't.

Time's up, old man.

But they still have more than two hours.

Give me the knife.

No... please...

Give it to me!

Just tell me. Why are you doing this?

Because the FBI has come into this.

Please...

Natalya?

Natalya?

You all right?

In two hours, if we don't send someone
money we don't have,

my father will be mutilated again,
so, no, I'm not really all right.

We're working on it.

You're working on it?
You're standing right here with me.

The rest of you are standing
in front of the house.

- What exactly are you doing?
- We collect details.

They're things that people
may not even realize,

but they help tell us
who we're looking for.

I look around. I see no family pictures
after your brothers died.

No pictures of you at all after that day.

You had to graduate high school here,
yeah?

There's nothing to commemorate it.
Anywhere.

You don't have a family room, so this
should be the center of your home,

but look at your furniture.

Sure, they may be old antiques,
but they look new.

They're hardly ever used.
Nobody sits here.

You have two chairs at your dining
table, but three people live here.

So obviously you don't eat together.

And your shoes, they may look
like Prada, but they're knockoffs.

Your bag, it's a fake designer bag.

I mean no disrespect, Natalya,

but you're trying to look
like something you aren't.

That tells me that you have no money,

and you just don't want anybody to know.

- Why do you need to know all this?
- It's what we call victimology,

and it's very important.

We need to know why these people
chose your family to victimize.

Do you have any information
on Lysowsky at your field office?

I have a lot about the organization,
less about him personally.

I'll get Garcia on it.

You have other
kidnapping mutilation case files?

Thin ones.

Two hours, 14 minutes.

Before you call Garcia,
give Morgan the keys to the Suburban.

We're going to Agent Cramer's office.

I'll give you
a crash course on everything

you need to know about these people.

How are you enjoying
your assignment to the BAU?

- Well, "enjoying" is an odd description.
- Is it?

Well, we deal with
some pretty horrible things.

I thought that was where you wanted to be?

It is. Definitely.

Then you do enjoy it.

All I'm saying is "enjoy" feels wrong.

All right. What would you call it?

Why do we have to
end up in an interrogation?

- Ambassador?
- Yes?

- Gregor Popovitch returning.
- Thank you.

- Gregor.
- Yes.

My daughter Em's in the room with me.

Ah, Little Emily.

You have some good news for me, I hope?

I'm afraid not. No one in the Russian
government is going to officially

give you permission to look into

the account holder information
in this bank.

Do they understand this is an emergency?

They were not impressed.

- I thank you for trying, Gregor.
- I wish I could have done more.

- Goodbye, Emily.
- Goodbye, sir.

I really thought he could do this.

I should head back to the office
and let them know.

Yeah. Please tell Agent Hotchner
I'm sorry.

Right.

- These tattoos are amazingly detailed.
- It's a form of communication.

Each tattoo has meaning, symbols.
It tells the other criminals

who the counterfeiters are,
the murderers, the armed robbers.

There's a guide
in that folder right there.

You said they were very organized.

A boss, called a pakhan or head thief
in law, controls four criminal cells.

Now, Lysowsky is the pakhan in this area.

A pakhan employs two under-bosses
to watch over the brigadiers.

You saw them today with Lysowsky.

What's that circle over there
to the right?

The obochek.

It's a pooled monetary fund
the groups use for bribes

and other types of support.

Where does that money come from?

Nobody really knows.

I'd guess it comes from any number
of sources above and below.

It really is just an open pool of cash
that any pakhan can use,

almost without question.

Excuse me. Cramer.

Penelope Garcia from Quantico.

- Put her through.
- What do you have, Garcia?

Okay, finding information on this man,
not as easy as you think.

Arseny Lysowsky born 1940 in Dolgoprudny.

Seems to be a lifelong criminal. I have
no employment records of him at all.

Married Katya Fulenko in 1960.
She died two years later.

He served 23 years
in four remote prisons in Perm.

That's a remote region
of the northern Ural Mountains

for those of you playing the home game.

He seems to be in America legally.

And I have searched every nook
and cranny of the Chernuses lives,

and I have found nothing
even remotely untoward.

They're law-abiding,
tax-paying American citizens.

- Thank you, Garcia. Vory v Zakone.
- The Thieves Code.

Breaking any of these tenets
is punishable by death.

"Forsake all relatives.
Mother, father, brother, sister.

"Not have a family of his own.
No wife, no children."

Family makes you vulnerable.

Lysowsky owns a restaurant
called Little Kiev,

though you're not going to find
too many civilians eating there.

But it doesn't say anything in here
about helping a non-thief.

No, sir.

Well, why would he offer
to help the Chernuses?

Well, the Chernuses are
probably fellow criminals.

Why do you kidnap the father,
then you offer to help get him back?

If I understand this man,
it just doesn't make any sense.

Where would he be right now?

Probably where he always is.
Little Kiev Restaurant.

- Anything?
- Her contacts fell through.

- Really?
- Apparently she's not infallible.

Is there something else?

No,

I just wish there was something more
we could be doing for this family.

- We still have over an hour.
- Yeah.

Are you hungry? I could make something.

Oh, no. No. Thanks, I'm fine.

I guess I'm like my mother.
When she's upset, she cooks.

Really?

Yeah, mine does, too.
I think that's just a mom thing.

- Where is your mother?
- Chicago. That's where I'm from.

I'm from Dolgoprudny.
Just north of Moscow.

- Are you expecting someone?
- No.

It's Uri. He lives down the street.

Go ahead.

- A man said to give this to you.
- What?

He said you needed it right away.

Get in the house. Get in the house.

Welcome to Little Kiev.

These tattoos are like books on their
skin. It gives their whole life story.

Well, these guys are nothing
if not dedicated.

This all the information
you have on additional kidnappings?

Like I said, no one cooperates.

Most of those pictures,
the guys with missing ring fingers,

we had to take them
from surveillance vehicles.

Even when we confronted them
and asked them

about the obviously fresh wounds,
none of them would talk.

Vory v Zakone.

So, they're all criminals?

They were kidnapped
and they aren't dead.

So they paid.

Uh-huh.

- Gideon.
- They didn't wait, man!

- What?
- They didn't wait until noon!

What are you talking about?

A kid just came to the door and he had...

They cut off Mr. Chernus' ear.

What the...
We've got more than an hour left.

They had the kid deliver it
in a box with a handwritten note.

And it says, "We now want $500,000,

"and you have until 1:00."

They raised the ransom. Why? Why?

Well, it also says,
"Say hello to the FBI."

- Okay.
- What do you want me to do?

Let Hotch know what happened.
Where's Natalya?

In the bathroom and she's hysterical.

Let her know we're going
to bring her father home.

- Are we?
- Yes.

- They didn't wait?
- They cut off his ear.

They increased the ransom
to half a million.

How much money do they think
the Chernuses have?

Agent Cramer, I'm going to have
to ask you to wait outside

- while we talk to Lysowsky.
- Why?

He knows you.
He deals with you on a regular basis.

You're someone he needs to save face with.
I don't want him posturing.

Natalya?

Listen, I know it feels like
it may be too late,

but Gideon thinks
we may be on to something.

Natalya?

Natalya?

Damn!

There is nothing for you here.

It's all right, Alexander.
Allow the gentlemen in.

Would you like something to eat?
This borscht is exquisite.

It's my mother's old country recipe.

Didn't you forsake all your relatives
when you swore the Thieves Code?

I didn't forsake her recipes. Borscht?

- No, thanks.
- I'd love a taste.

You know, you should take some home.
You will not regret.

We need to talk, Arseny.

We are on a first-name basis?

I still don't even know who you are.

I think I understand something about this.

You have a problem. Thank you.

I do?

That's why you came
to the Chernus' house this morning.

I went there to offer my help.

There's no reason I can see
for a man like you

to help a family like the Chernuses.

A man like me?

Four watchtowers and a convict
signifies a stay in prison.

Each one of those crosses represents
an individual sentence.

Twenty-three years in prison
in the Ural Mountains

doesn't breed a compassionate friend.

You think you know Russian prison life?

I know human behavior.

You haven't gotten where
you've gotten in this organization

by reaching out
to civilian families in need.

No, sir. You have a problem, Arseny.

Someone in your organization's
out of control.

You may know American behavior,
but you don't understand us.

Don't forget your borscht on the way out.

If anyone in Odessa learns you have
a maverick, you'll lose everything.

- Goodbye.
- They might even kill you.

I am in control! You know tattoos?

Mmm-hmm.

Then you'll know what this means.

You're a thief in law, the boss.

In my world, there is no such a thing
as a control problem.

There is controlled, and there is dead.

Mr. Lysowsky, you said you could help me?

- Don't you already have help?
- I made a mistake.

I talked to my father on the phone.
He is fine.

What?

Thank you for coming,
but I don't need your help.

Has something happened?

Yes, the kidnappers
didn't wait until noon.

They cut off Mr. Chernus' ear
and sent it to his daughter.

- Oh, God. Is he...
- No, we don't think so.

But they've given us a new deadline
and increased the ransom demand.

- You still think I enjoy all of this?
- Don't.

Are they still instructed to wire the
money to the same bank in Moscow?

Yes, I think so.

Something your computer expert said
this morning about if she understood

how Russian banks hold their data

she could get information
about account holders.

Right.

After you left, I called Gregor back.
He made some calls, gave me this.

He said she would understand it.

Natalya! Natalya, wait a minute!

Natalya!

What are we doing?
We're just going to let her go with him?

- What choice do we have, man?
- Oh, so what?

What, we get on a plane, we go home,
we pretend none of this happened?

We have a victim
who claims the crime never occurred.

No. We have a daughter of a victim
who claims the crime never occurred.

Well, if she says that she talks to him
and he's okay,

then what proof do we have
it even happened?

- The body parts.
- Where's the ear?

Natalya's got it.

- JJ?
- Yeah, Morgan.

Look in the cooler.

Mrs. Chernus,
I need to look inside the cooler.

- What?
- It's for Morgan.

Tell her, Ida, I'm not going to take
anything. I just need to look inside.

Thank you.

The finger's gone, too.

Natalya? Natalya?

She's not here,
and the garbage was never taken out.

What?

When Hotch first talked to us,
he said she noticed her father's car

in the driveway
when she took the garbage out.

- Right.
- The garbage can in the kitchen

is completely full. She never took it out.

She lied.

She could be halfway back
to Dolgo-wherever by now.

Dolgoprudny?

Yeah, that's the town
she's from in Russia.

- Isn't that where Lysowsky's from?
- Yeah.

- It's breadcrumbs.
- I'm sorry?

It's a set of address strings
and passwords. A path.

See? I'm jumping from site to site,
country to country, and each time

I get a cursor, I put in
the next address and password.

The equivalent of breadcrumbs
to Hansel and Gretel.

What is that?

Oh!

It's downloading the structure
of Nadka Bank's server to me.

Are you kidding?

Whoever gave
these instructions is really good.

So you can get
the account information now?

Well, if I can figure this out.

So, we have a daughter who lied about
how she discovered the crime,

none of the missing body parts to prove
that anything actually happened,

and a generic ransom note
that mentions no names.

So what are we saying?

- Natalya was a part of this.
- How did I not see this coming?

How could any of us, man?
She sought us out.

We were so blinded
by the fact that she trusted us,

we never considered not trusting her.

- I'm in.
- You're kidding.

It's a pretty archaic system
once the parameters are understood.

- Account number please.
- Okay.

"155293846729."

Voilà!

Whoa.

Why?

Why would she even bring us into this?

Yeah, what?

You're sure? Uh-huh. Okay, thanks, doll.

Garcia just got into the bank's system.

Somebody wired $500,000

- into the account 10 minutes ago.
- Who wired it?

She didn't say where it came from,

but the name on the account
is Lyov Fulenko.

She said that's Lysowsky's wife's
maiden name. Fulenko.

Why did she need to bring us into it?

Because she needed
to put pressure on the other victim.

Other victim?

Lyov!

Lyov! Money! $500,000, it's all here!

See, old man,
I told you they'd bring money!

We are finished!

Yes, Fyodor.

We are finished.

Mr. Gorban, I'm not going
to ask you anything official.

- I just have a simple question.
- I don't have anything to say.

You were kidnapped once, Mr. Gorban.

When the men kidnapped you,
who paid your ransom?

Mr. Gorban, your house, the way you're
dressed, you don't have any tattoos.

- You're not a criminal.
- No.

Well, how could your family
have paid a ransom for you?

It was Arseny Lysowsky, wasn't it?

Thanks, Mr. Gorban.

You paid the ransom already.

- You've paid all the ransoms.
- Sit.

Are they going to kill Mr. Chernus?

No.

Why are you paying these ransoms?
What's going on here?

I think I know.

The account is in the name of
Lyov Fulenko. Lyov is a man's name.

A son's name. Vory v Zakone.

"Never have a family of your own.
No wife. No children."

Lyov. Do you know what it means?

The lion.

- Time's up, old man.
- No!

Natalya?

When we started this a year ago, we
agreed there would be no witnesses.

We're going. Witnesses won't matter.

No, my love. That is sloppy.

If he tells my father who did this,
everything we've done will fall.

He'll hunt us down.

Let me say goodbye to him.

I'm sorry, Papa.

I couldn't do it anymore,

living in that house with my brothers

hanging over everything.

Then the sadness and the struggle.

You brought us here so we could
have things, and we have nothing!

We're nothing! I need more!

I'm going to go away.

I'm going to live my life happy.
I'm sorry.

I knew when the first man
was taken. I knew who had done it.

No one else would be so bold
and so stupid.

Tell me where Mr. Chernus is.

At first it didn't mean much. It was a
way of letting him earn his own money.

I could afford it. It came from the fund.

And no one questions the use of the fund.

- Where is he?
- What else could I do?

I couldn't admit that
I wasn't blessing the kidnappings.

I couldn't even admit that my son existed.

Chernus will be home in a few minutes.
You should be there.

He's going to need medical attention.
Go. Go.

What are you going to do?

Vory v Zakone.
We take care of our own troubles.

I'll wait outside.

Put the knife down, Lyov.

It is time to pay.

"Happy families are all alike.

"Every unhappy family
is unhappy in its own way."

Leo Tolstoy.

- We got him. Mr. Chernus is safe now.
- Oh, good.

- We couldn't have done it without you.
- Oh, well, I'm sure that isn't true.

Agent Hotchner wanted me
to say thank you for him.

Well, tell him I'm glad I could help.

Anyway, I thought you would
want to know how it all came out.

- It was nice to feel needed again.
- What... What did you say?

Well, I don't mean to be
overly dramatic...

But I am an ambassador
without an assignment.

You've been without assignments before.

Well, yeah, but never for this long,
and one does begin to wonder.

What? Did I say something wrong?

I don't think I've ever seen
you doubt yourself before.

Oh.

I doubt myself all the time, Emily.

It's just not showing it,
that's what being a diplomat's all about.

Would you like to go to dinner?

- My treat?
- Definitely.

Yeah. Yeah, I think I would.