Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 9, Episode 9 - Strange Fruit - full transcript

[soft music playing]

How's this?

Mmm...Yeah.

Isn't that good?

Yeah. That's it.

I swear to god,
I'm never running
another marathon again.

You know, if a mugger
was after me,

I wouldn't be able
to run away.

[explosion]

What was that?

Stay here.



Mike?

Mike.

Shh.

Hello?

[explosion]

Cheryl!

Call 911!

[indistinct chatter]

My husband and I
thought it was
a bomb or something.

Just a busted water main.

Ah. We're gonna have to
get into their yard, too.

Their cars aren't here,
but I'm sure

The johnsons would be fine
with you going back there.

I'll try their cells.



Are you sure you
shouldn't say anything?

People think we're
having an affair.

Can't we just say
we're on assignment?

No one can know.
What are you afraid of?

The stares,
the whispers.

Spence has been
asking me questions.

Rossi's been onto
us from day one.

Hello.

Good luck out there.

Thank you.

Where are you going?

I got your text.

But you need to read more
than just the first sentence.

The case is like 5 miles away.

What the hell happened?

Jj will fill you in.
It's--

It's crazy town.

Water and power company
was digging in the backyard,

Found the remains
of two bodies.

35 years and they're
upstanding citizens.

Husband's the block
captain, the wife's
on neighborhood watch.

There's no indication
of how long the bodies
have been here.

Forensics will tell us
how long they've
been down there.

The husband and son
work at the father's
construction company.

They're on their way
back home right now,

And mrs. Johnson's
inside the house.

I'm going
to go talk to her.

Wishing we were
publishers clearinghouse.

There he is.

Charles!

Charles,
tell these officers

That we don't know
anything about dead
bodies in our yard.

What are you talking about?

They think we're killers.

Can I help
you gentlemen?

Yes, sir,
I'm agent hotchner
with the fbi.

About what?
I need to talk to you.

Lyle?!

Lyle?

Lyle!

Lyle!
[barking]

Down off the wall!

Turn around slowly
and let me see your hands.

Please, don't shoot.

We just want to talk
to you, lyle.

I understand.
I didn't do nothing.

I just want to talk to you.

Rossi: "the universe
doesn't like secrets.

It conspires to reveal
the truth to lead you to it."

Lisa unger.

What's going on?
Whose bodies are those?

Ma'am, that's what
we're trying to find out.

And you think I have
anything to do with it?

I have to read
to the seniors

At the convalescent home
in an hour.

You're not gonna
make it today.

Why'd you have to
separate us?

We didn't kill those people.

Lyle only ran
because he was scared.

Scared of what?

Now they got the feds
showing up at normal
folks' home for no damn reason.

Lyle, I told you,
this is standard procedure.

That has nothing to do
with us, and as soon
as you figure that out,

I'm gonna sue you guys
for emotional distress.

I can tell from the pelvic
and hip measurements

That both victims
were female.

The hardening of
the sternum puts them both

In their early 30s
when they were killed.

What's your interrogation
strategy?

Well, we'll start
with distinguishing

Between the distress
of having the bodies

Found in their backyard

And the stress
of being brought here.

Ok, that's smart,
but how are you
gonna test that?

Put them under additional
stress and then
give them good news.

The innocent ones
will show some release
in their demeanor

They'll still be holding on
to some terrible secret.

Thank you.

Why don't we just
start at the beginning.

How long have you guys
lived in that house?

Uh...35 years.

It's a big home
for such a small family.

Have you ever had
any tenants?

No.

Just me and lyle
and charles.

It was a fixer-upper
for my husband.

He's a contractor.

He loves working
on the house.

So do I.
I do the same thing.

How many times have you
redone the kitchen?

At least 3 times.

Did the, uh, upstairs
bathrooms twice.

Did your family ever help
with the renovations?

My wife's a real
martha stewart.

She changed the curtains
in the bedroom 4 times,

Repaired her sewing room
at least, what, 8?

And how about the yard?

Uh, tina wanted to put
a pool back there,

But we, you know,
we wouldn't have
the time to use it.

I tried living on my own
for a little bit,
but it didn't work out.

And when was that?

7 years ago.

It was an sro.

Full of rejects
and roaches.

And that's why
you moved back home?

I like living
in a house better.

Is that a crime?

You like having a backyard?

Who wouldn't?

What do you do back there?

Smoke weed.

Hang out with
my gang, you know?

Do you take care
of the yard?

Oh, yes, sir.
I mow the lawn, sir.

Now, you want me
to mow your lawn, sir?

Have you been able
to determine approximate
time of death yet?

Well, the degree
of decomposition
and bone pitting

Suggests these women were
killed about 10 years ago.

Like I thought,
they were beaten to death,

But there is
one other thing.

They've established
that the bodies

Were two approximately
30-year-old women

Who were buried
10 years ago.

That makes them
lyle's age.

Do we have I.D.S?

Garcia, start working
on a list of
missing persons

And people who moved
out of the area
at the time.

Already typing.

The condition of the
pelvic bone suggests
mutilated genitalia.

If we can get
the names of the women

And establish lyle knew them,

Then it's game on.

Or game over.

Did you ever
have any parties
at the house, lyle?

No, sir.
I sure don't, sir.

A man your age
who's lived
in the same house

His whole life has never
had a get-together
or a party?

That's what I said, sir.

What about dates?

Oh, a little, sir.

Is that ok, sir?

I need all the names
of the women
that you dated

Who may have come
back to the house.

What if I don't want
to give them to you?

What are you gonna do?
You gonna make me...

Why do you feel
so powerless, lyle?

It would explain why
you took your power back

By mutilating your
victims' genitalia.

Mutilation?
What are you talking about?

I think you tortured them
and you buried them
in your backyard.

You're tripping.
Did you become enraged

Because they wouldn't
have sex with you?

Or did you kill them
because you couldn't
get it up?

You son of a bitch.

[shouting]

You son of a bitch!

That's enough.

Leave him.

We're getting started, lyle.

[slams table]

Lyle seemed pretty happy.

In the eighties he did,
but to be honest,

From 2000 on,
he's barely in here.

It's like he's
practically invisible.

Maybe his parents
suspected he was a killer

And subconsciously started
distancing themselves from lyle.

Isolation coupled with
homicidal ideation

Would have made him
even more reclusive.

Well, lyle looks good
for it.

He ran, got physical,

He's the same age
as his victims.

He has the strength
to carry out the crime.

And has access
to the yard.

You going to jump
back in there?

No, I think we should
let him sit.

Jj, let's pull
his school records,

Talk to neighbors, teachers,
anybody we can find.

I'm on it.

Ah, come on, there's
gotta be something.

A guy capable of
this kind of brutality

Has got to have
a pretty sketchy record.

Mm...Huh--creepy bingo.

Before lyle worked
for his dad,

He worked at a variety of
fast food establishments,

And he was either warned
or written up every month.

Ok, so he has an inability
to deal with authority.

Raising a kid like that
would have been hard.

I remember when I
gave birth to lyle.

My heart sank
whey they told me
I'd had a boy.

You wanted a girl.

This country is not
too kind to black boys.

Emmett till,

Oscar grant,

Trayvon martin.

So you were concerned
about lyle's safety.

Virginia's still the south,
agent rossi. I'm concerned
about a lot of things.

Has lyle ever given you
reason to fear him?

Are you suggesting
he's a monster?
A stereotype?

Well, from his work record
and our interview with your son,

It appears
he has a bad temper.

He could be hardheaded,

Get angry
over the smallest thing.

Can you give me
an example?

He'd snap for
no reason at all.

Would he get physical?

Did he ever hit you
or threaten you?

One time, he--

He threw a tv
at my head.

It wasn't at her head,

It--it was near her head.

Well, how did your son's anger
get out of control?

It was one incident.
It doesn't mean anything.

Well, did this happen
during his adolescence?
How was he in school?

Well, he'd raise his hand
and the teacher wouldn't
call on him, you know?

He'd ask a girl out,
she'd laugh.

And what would he do
when things got like that?

Well, he'd sit in his
room alone and sulk.

Well, maybe he was depressed.

Black people don't have
time to be depressed.

Did he ever try therapy?

Or medication?

Charles is against it.

Why?

You think slaves
had prozac?

No. They got out
there, they worked.

So if your son
has mental issues,

You think he should
just push through them.

You're damn right.

If lyle isn't
hanging sheetrock,

I have that boy
out there from 6 a.M.
To 9 p.M. Every day.

He hasn't had the time
or the energy

To kill anybody.
I made sure of that.

He's picking his cuticles
and rubbing his hands
incessantly,

So garcia found out
lyle had a sealed
juvie record.

Turns out he kicked
his neighbor's dog
to death.

[cell phone rings]

What have you got?

We just got
the dna results back

Her name is mary ann beck.
She went missing 10 years ago.

She's also a high school
classmate of lyle's.

All right, tear his room apart.
If lyle's got secrets, we need
to know what they are.

But he's so antagonistic
and he's not even
trying to cover.

He's intentionally trying
to push your buttons.

All right. Let's go get
a couple of earwigs

We need to determine
whether he knows mary ann beck.

If you're gonna
put me in jail,
just put me in jail.

I wasn't gonna
put you in jail.

We just needed
to ask you
a few more questions.

So...

Do you like blondes
or brunettes, lyle?

I don't know.

You know, people think
blondes have more fun,

But sometimes,
not so much.

You know her, lyle?

Never seen the girl.

She was in your senior class.

Yeah, and she also lived
a couple blocks from
the burger place you worked.

A lot of people
live near there.

Yeah, but not people
who look like her.

That long blond hair,

Pretty smile,

Sparkling eyes.

She's not my type.

I think you dated her

And her dad got mad.

What are you talking about?

We dug her up
from your yard.

You're lying!

She's not dead!

No, lyle, you're lying.
I'm gonna ask you again.

Did you know mary ann beck?

No.

Lyle would have kept
his secrets close to him,

Easy for him
to have access to.

Probably
while he was in bed.

This...

We should get this
to forensics.

Look at this.
Mary ann beck.

He lied.

Hmm. It was filled
in 1991.

Let me see.

It's testosterone.
My uncle
used to take this.

Lyle could have been
using it to bulk up.

If he was still
taking it 10 years ago,

It could have pushed him
over the edge

And caused him to beat
mary ann to death.

You're full of crap, lyle.

We found testosterone
in your bedroom

And pictures
of you and mary ann.

And when she wanted
to break up with you,
you couldn't take it.

Oh, please,
that's--that's
not what happened.

And you took the pills
why? 'cause you couldn't
get it up,

Is that what happened?
No, you don't understand--

You hit her and then
the rage took over.

No, I didn't. No!
And you beat her!

You beat her till
she stopped moving.

And then you buried her.
And every day
you look out that window,

You know what you did.

Stop saying that!

You beat this girl
and you killed her.

You did.

Fine! I did it!

[lyle sobbing]

Dr. Reid.

What's up?

We got another one.

This one looks like a male.

So let's
get this straight.

The first person
you killed
was mary ann beck.

That was
10 years ago.

And you killed
the second woman

10 years ago as well,

But you don't remember
her name.

That's what I said.

We just found
another body, lyle.

Ask him if the third victim
was male or female?

And at that time,
did you kill a man
or a woman?

A guy.

So you beat him

And mutilated
his genitals?

Do you want me
to draw you a picture?

Because we don't
believe you, lyle.

I did it.
I told you.

The females were killed
10 years ago,

But the man we dug up
out of your backyard

Was killed 35 years ago.

You would have been 5.

So what?

You may have seen
the kill, lyle,

Or even heard it,

But you didn't do it.

You didn't do any of this.

[door opens]

Where's my son?

He's not coming.

He couldn't have
confessed to any
damn murder.

I want to see him.

Do you remember
the central park
jogger case?

Yeah. The whole country
remembers that.

You remember how law enforcement
got those kids to confess

To something they didn't do?

Well, we train law enforcement
now to identify and prevent

False confessions.

We found a body
near your shed,

Belonging to a man
who was killed 35 years ago.

Now, your son lyle
was just a toddler then,

And your wife doesn't
pick up anything heavier
than a gardening hoe,

And the personal nature
of these crimes tells us

There was just one offender.

You.

And only you.

So, how do you want
to play this, charles?

You want to tell me
what happened?

Nothing happened.

Unless you figure out
something happened.

Charles doesn't sleep here.

I know, because
he sleeps back here.

The guy's nostalgic.

Clearly high school
was important to him.

What's odd is that
he has trophies

All the way
up to 11th grade,

And then nothing
in his senior year.

Hmm.

Look at this.

He's taking testosterone,
just like his son.

It could be for age related
loss of vitality,

Wanting a boost
in his libido.

You know. Lyle's bottle
was from 1991 and there
are only a few pills taken.

Lyle could have been
taking them from his father.

Mr. Johnson's
more likely the one
with the chronic issue.

Why was your husband
taking testosterone,
mrs. Johnson?

Was it for sexual reasons?
You and charles sleep
in separate rooms.

You don't know
what we do.

He snores. And why
are you asking me?

So you are sexually active?

That's none
of your business.

Do you know if he was
seeing someone else?

[sighs]

You ought to be ashamed.

And sexually mutilated,
and then buried
in your backyard.

We didn't do nothin'.

We didn't do nothing.

We didn't do nothin'.

[sobbing]

You notice the phrasing?

No, it sounds like
she reacting to something
that someone else did.

This could be about
retaliation.

That would explain
charles' obsession
with the past.

Did you like growing up
in virginia?

I didn't know any different.

What did your parents do?

[sighs]
my mother was the help

And my father
was the butler.

But there were
good times, right?

We found negro league
memorabilia in your house.

You're a josh gibson fan.

Yeah. "a home run a day,

Boost in my pay."

Yeah, I like
satchel paige myself.

Um, "don't look back.
Something might be
gaining on you."

He also said,

"the only change
is that baseball

"has turned paige
from a second-class citizen

To a second-class immortal."

What did you think
when the leagues
finally integrated?

I was happy, of course.

When you found out
that your son was
dating a white girl?

I told lyle
to get rid of these.

So you did know
about them.

Is that why
you killed her?

You didn't want
to see your son
dating a white girl?

You don't know me.

You killed
lyle's girlfriend

And buried her
in your backyard.

I did not.

I think we're gonna
be here a while, charles.

I'm getting hungry.

You?

How are those missing
persons reports going?
Any I.D. On the other woman?

We need to see
if we can connect her
to those two victims.

Yes, sir.

Why did you mutilate
mary ann's genitalia?

I didn't mutilate anything.

And you cut
the other girl, too.

Sexual punishment
across gender lines

Is pretty different.

I think that
somewhere down the line,

A man and a woman
each made you question
your sexuality.

You despise both sexes.

If that were the case,

I wouldn't be living
with my son and my wife.

Well, that's just
part of your facade.

Those people
in your backyard

Are victims
of your rage.

Rage? What do you know
about a black man's rage?

You know nothing.

Come on, lyle.

You gotta
help me out here.

Please, just leave my dad
out of this, ok?

Nothing can justify
what he did
to those women,

Why are you covering
for him, lyle?

He killed and mutilated
your girlfriend.

No. I did that.

You said she wasn't
your girlfriend.

She was.

[crying]

She was, you know.

And got an I.D. On the man
found near the shed.

Good. I'll have garcia
find out who he is.

Well...

We identified
the guy in your yard.

Uh, james moses.

You know a james moses,
charles?

Only moses I know
parted the red sea.

Well, james moses was friends
with mary ann beck's father

Karl beck.
Do you know karl beck?

I told you I don't know
any becks.

Well, these two guys
belonged to a little group

Called the cleanse.

You ever hear of
the cleanse, charles?

Sounds like one of those
new age diets.

No, they were a klan chapter
in your town

When did you graduate
high school? '63, '64,
something like that?

Maybe.
What about it?

Well, they were pretty
active back then.

You see the picture
I'm painting?

It's a little abstract.

I think you killed
james moses 35 years ago.

And you wanted to kill
karl beck as well,
but he was already dead.

So when your son started
dating his daughter
years later,

You killed her instead.

What do you think
about that, charles?

I think, uh...

You're fishing.

And I hate fish.

How's he doing?

I think he's making
progress.

I'm surprised none of them
have lawyered up yet.

Tina and lyle haven't
because they know
they're innocent.

He thinks he can
talk his way out of it.

Tell me about your run-ins
with the klan, charles.

I never ran.

Well, did they stop you
at a traffic light

Or approach you
in a bar?

I know what it was like
back then.

Oh, you know
what it was like?

The guy who saved my life
in vietnam was black,

As was my second wife.

Brown sugar.

I'll be damned.

I bet you phone-banked
for obama.

No, I was too busy
putting guys like you away.

Where you from, dave?

Long island.

Your I-talian
from long island

Can be as cold-blooded
as a...A klansman

From virginia.

You ever used
the n-word, dave?

I'm sure I did.

The same guys
who called me wop and dago.

Everyone I knew back then
used that language. So what?

Maybe one day
some black people sit
in the front of the bus

In floral park and you
start throwing some punches.

We've already found
3 bodies, charles.

Maybe some colored folks
sit next to you

At stango's
back in the day,

And, you know,
you get pissed off,

You start throwing
punches at 'em.

You're evading, charles,

And that suggests guilt.

Oh. You go by that logic,

You ain't too innocent
your damn self.

There was this one time.

Here we go.

I was in the ninth grade,

And there was this black kid
on the baseball team with me.

I knew it.

Break out the peanuts.

He was the runt
and I was the second-smallest.

You get the picture?

Well, one day the other guys
get mad because
he's playing with us...

And they force me
to shove him into a locker

And keep him there overnight.

Did you do it?

If not, they would have
done it to me.

Call him names?

We called him every name
in the book.

Uh-huh.

And then they made me
pee on him in the locker.

You peed on him?

They made me.

[laughing]

I didn't think
it was funny at the time.

Oh, it's funny.
It is funny, all right.

[laughing]

I can't believe I did that.

Oh, I believe it.
I believe it.

And you know what's
funnier than that?

Is you think
after telling me that,

That I'm going to talk
to you.

You know what you can do

With your black wife

And your black friend?

You can kiss
my black ass.

Hotch, we found
a fourth body buried
under charles' shed.

The m.E. Said based upon
decomposition levels,

It looks like this guy
could have been killed

Around the same time
james moses was.

I will.
All right, keep us posted.

So that makes two man
from way back

And two women from
10 years ago.

I've searched the members
of james moses'

And I found a mike mills who
was killed in a car accident

Quite some time before now.

He had a daughter
rachel mills,

And she was reported
as missing 10 years ago.

In a neighboring town.
And I just pulled
her dental records.

Which are a match
to the other victim
in the backyard.

When did her father die?

From the car accident?
20 years ago.

Morgan: So first charles
kills the two men,

Then years later his son
coincidentally starts
dating mary ann beck

When he found out
her father was dead,
he killed mary ann instead,

Then he did the same thing
to mike mills' daughter.

That confirms
your theory
about a vendetta.

Let's find out
if these men knew charles.

None of them
are in his yearbook.

Garcia, check other
schools in the area.

Vegetarian hot dog
with sauerkraut and pickles.

Karl beck, mike mills,
and james moses all went
to a.J. Burroughs high school,

Just two towns over
from where charles
went to school.

Garcia, check with
their families and see
if there was any sort of

Altercation or feud between
charles and these men.

None of the men's parents
are still living,

And none of them
have any brothers or sisters.

What about half-siblings?
Ok. Ok.

Shazam! Karl beck
had a half-sister,
audrey collins.

Morgan: Garcia, check and see
if she's still in the area.

Oh. Audrey collins died
from cancer 35 years ago,

Exactly 4 weeks before
the disappearance
of james moses.

Which confirms our theory
that charles had two triggers--

Audrey's death,
and 25 years later,

Garcia, find out everything
you can about audrey collins.

She's the key to the case.

You don't have to
explain, man.

No, you don't understand.

A locker?

Really? You took a leak
on the guy?

I was working him, derek.

But I'd like you to do
something for me.

Ohh...

Ok.

Send the black guy in.

Huh. I was wondering

When they were gonna
play that card.

Attention all fbi employees,

Will the one negro
in the building

Please get to the sixth floor.

You finished?

But then again...

You're not fully black.

Are you?

Well, that's ok.

They say even
one drop counts.

I want to ask you
some questions.

No.

You tell that I-talian
from long island

To get his ass
back in here.

This ain't a locker.

You can't just stuff me
in here.

Lyle may have seen
something
when he was little,

But neither he nor his
mother knew this charles.

I'm going back in there.

Hey, so, uh, I just spoke
to audrey's stepsister.

There was an incident.

Audrey wrote a letter.

Ah, there you are.

Thought you picked up
your marbles and went home,

Hiding under the bed
in shame.

What would I be ashamed of?
It happened
when I was a kid.

I'm different now.

People don't change.

Oh, I've changed.

Audrey collins changed.

"dear charles,
this is audrey collins.

Years ago I told a lie
and destroyed you."

You can't prove a thing.

Audrey collins went
to school with you, charles.

She wrote you a letter
on her death bed,

Admitting she told a lie.

What was she lying about,
charles?

I don't know.

It caused 6 klansmen
to snatch you off
the street that night.

She said you raped her,
didn't she?

No, you would just
humiliate them
and cut them up.

That's not what I did.

You're lying.

No. No. She lied.

Then what did she
lie about, charles?

She was fooling around
with a white guy

On the football team,
and, um...

When she came home
past her curfew...

She said that I raped her.

What did they do to you
that night?

There he is.

That's him.

Get him!

[brakes squeal]

[all shouting]

No!

[shouting]

[charles screaming]

Get him up there.

[shouting]

Aah!

Come on!

They grabbed me...

Dragged me out
into a field.

Let me go! Help!

Get out of there!
Get down!

[indistinct shouting]

You laid your
hands on my sister!

I'll lay my hands
on you!

Come on!
I didn't do anything!

[shouting]

Stop!

We got a tree for you, boy.

You're gonna fly tonight.

No!

[gasping] no...

No!

No! No!

No!

Please!

[screaming]

[screaming]

Hung me from a tree.

Cut me.

Where did they cut you?

Where do you think?

And that's why you take
testosterone.

They castrated you.

I wanted a big family.

You killed all those
people for revenge.

No, I killed out of hate.

Hate grew in me
that night.

And hate vowed
to pay them all back.

And audrey's letter
triggered this.

She ruined my life,
she writes me a letter?

And that's why
you mutilated your victims.

They were lucky.

They were already dead.

What about the lives
you destroyed?

Your son's. Your wife's.

I didn't do that. Audrey.

All audrey had to do

Was tell the truth
at the time.

Not everyone
has the guts

Have you told lyle
that he's not
your biological son?

No. And you better not!

Please.

What difference
does it make?

You've already
ruined his life.

He saw you murder
someone at 5.

You killed
his girlfriend.

You didn't have to
pass along your genes.

You passed along
your rage.

Is that what you
really wanted to do?

No.

Then make it right,
charles.

Audrey said that
6 guys dragged you
into the woods.

We've only found
4 bodies.

You give me
your full confession

And I'll keep
your secret.

Mm.

Billie holiday:
southern trees

they're a strange brood

blood on the leaves

and blood at the root

black bodies swinging

in the summer breeze

strange fruit hanging

from the poplar trees

Come on, rossi,
shove him in there.

Show him how we do it.

pastoral scene
of the gallant south

here is a strange

and bitter

crop