Elementary (2012–…): Season 5, Episode 17 - The Ballad of Lady Frances - full transcript

WATSON:
Previously on Elementary...

HOLMES: Shinwell's still engaged
with SBK.

WATSON: He still wants
to bring SBK down,

so he asked me to connect him with
someone from the Bronx gang squad.

Detective Guzman.

I know Joan is expecting
a call back from me

about her friend, Stonewall?
Shinwell.

I thought he was all
dialed in with SBK.

So Shinwell and
Detective Guzman met today.

He's gonna register him
as a C.I.

I have a proposal.

I offer that we train you
to be an informant.

We can teach you the
skills you will require

to survive that undertaking.

(gunshot)

(screams)

Where's the lady Frances?

- What?
- It's a simple question.

What did you do with her?

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

That's a bad way to start.

Please...
(gunshot)

(crying out)

This thing I'm doing
is called a “six-pack.”

Elbows, knees, ankles.

When I run out of those,
I'll improvise.

Please, this is a mistake!

You've got the wrong guy!

No. We know you took her.

You're keeping her
somewhere,

and the gentleman
you took her from

would like her back.

(gunshot, pained cry)

(gunshot, pained cry
over headphones)

GUNMAN: So, I'll ask again.

Where... is... Frances?

MAN: Please,
please don't kill me.

GUNMAN: Why not?
She wasn't yours to take.

Now you're facing
the consequences.

(gunshot, pained screaming)

(grunting)

♪ ♪

(timer beeps)

(exhales)

I still don't see
the point of all this.

You know I know
how to box,

you know I know
how to play chess.

This isn't chess
or boxing.

It's chess boxing.
It's its own sport.

Admittedly, it's not
as popular here

as it is in other countries.

And this is supposed to
help me be a C.I. how?

The critical skill when
alternating rounds

of chess and boxing is
not a mastery of either.

It is the ability to quickly
shift one's mental state.

Adrenaline clouds
higher cognitive function

and, conversely,
deep concentration

slows reflexes.

So imagine you've infiltrated
a target's office,

and you're in the middle of
trying to decode their passwords

and you're discovered and you
have to defend yourself.

Or you're running
to evade capture,

and you have to calm
yourself and pick a lock.

Think you got me mixed up
with James Bond.

Remind me, which one
of us wants to topple

an organized-crime
syndicate from the inside?

(cell phone chimes)

Unfortunately,
we're going to have to

continue this another time.

So you're just gonna leave,
just like that?

As I said, shift quickly.
Duty calls.

GREGSON: BulletPoint's still
in the pilot phase.

City's trying it out
in a handful of neighborhoods.

HOLMES: Sensors triangulate
the gunshot to within 20 feet,

and then notify the department
within moments.

GREGSON: An hour and a half ago,
it picked up multiple shots

from this corner.

It also recorded the voice
of the shooter.

He was torturing
someone for info.

Wanted to know where
the guy had taken

a woman named Frances.

Taken as in kidnapped?

I'm not sure.
That's why I called.

So, if there's
a woman in danger,

we would have to find the
shooter as quickly as possible.

Was the victim taken to
the hospital or the morgue?

GREGSON:
That's just the thing.

Neither.
According to BulletPoint,

the shooting occurred right
here, but when our guys arrived

at the scene,
there was no blood,

no slugs, no body.

CSU says these cracks are fresh,

and that's about
all we got.

So you think perhaps
the shooting

took place
inside the car?

That would explain
the complete lack of evidence.

Well, the audio is
all we got, so yes,

that would fit with that theory.

So we have a shooting to solve,

and a woman's life potentially
hanging in the balance.

And our crime scene has
literally driven away.

♪ Elementary 5x17 ♪
The Ballad of Lady Frances
Original Air Date on March 19, 2017

== sync, corrected by elderman ==
@elder_man

♪ ♪

GUNMAN (on recording):
You're keeping her somewhere,

and the gentleman
you took her from

would like her back.

(gunshots, pained cries)

GUNMAN: So, I'll ask again.

Where... is... Frances?

MAN: Please,
please don't kill me.

GUNMAN: Why not?
She wasn't yours to take.

Now you're facing
the consequences.

(gunshot, pained scream)

GUNMAN: Last chance.
MAN: Please, no!

(gunshot, running footsteps)

(car door shuts,
tires screech)

(vehicles driving off)

Do we know if he's dead?

Do we know who he is,
or who Frances is?

It's still early
in the investigation.

We're asking
the same questions.

We've got people
canvassing the neighborhood,

checking the local hospitals,

seeing if anyone was
reported missing.

But given what
we just heard,

it's hard to imagine
that the victim survived.

Any chance you sent the police
to the wrong street?

The system's been tested
a hundred times, Michael.

And the mayor's office has the
stats, so you know it works.

Emily Gray, Councilman
Slessinger's chief of staff.

HOLMES: I can vouch
that the shooting

took place where
BulletPoint said it did.

I found a shell casing a little
further down the block.

It likely fell from the vehicle
that drove the crime scene away.

Its odor confirmed that
it had been fired recently,

and its caliber matched
the system's analysis.

I'd like to ask more about
how the system works,

what it records and when.

Our sensors listen for gunshots.

Once one is detected,
then it begins recording

all the audio
for an agreed period of time.

That arrangement
with the city is

ten seconds before
the first gunshot

until 30 seconds
after the last one.

How does the system know
to record

ten seconds
before the gunshots?

Are you saying
that this thing is

bugging the city 24/7?

Yeah.

Sort of.

Kind of like your phone,
or any device

that's voice-activated
by saying “Siri” or “Alexa.”

They're all listening
all the time,

because they need to hear
when we need them,

but they don't start
paying attention

until we do.

It kind of works
the same way here,

where instead of “Siri,”
the signal is gunfire,

and by “paying attention,”
it means saving the audio.

The data that
Cosmo's referring to

goes into a buffer.

So if there are no incidents,

then it just gets deleted
without anyone ever hearing it.

And this is all done under the
strict oversight of the city.

Well, that's okay, then,
'cause governments never abuse

the surveillance of their
citizenry, do they?

I would like copies
of your data, all of it,

for my own analysis.

Whatever you need.

(whispering indistinctly)

WATSON: It's a little odd
having city hall

looking over our shoulders.

Well, get used to it
on this one,

it's a mayoral election year,

and Miss Gray's boss,
Councilman Slessinger,

wants the job.

He's running on a platform

that His Honor isn't
strong on law and order.

Making initiatives like
BulletPoint cannon fodder.

If the headline
turns out to be

“BulletPoint rescued
a battered woman,”

everyone's gonna race
to take credit.

And if it fails, they'll all
want someone to blame.

That said, none of it's

your problem.

I'll play umbrella
and catch whatever's falling.

You two just work the case.
(cell phone rings)

Hello?

GUZMAN: Hey.
I catch you at a bad time?

No. What's up?

Just wanted to let you
and your partner know

it doesn't look like
Shinwell's cover was blown.

Right now we're thinking
the drive-by was

retaliation for some
SBK action.

Wait, what drive-by?

Are you saying Shinwell
was shot?

(door closes)

WATSON:
Why didn't you tell us?

There was nothing to tell.

Nothing to tell?
You were shot at.

You do get that
I'm in a gang, right?

Well, that doesn't matter.

Guzman said you were gonna
talk to us about it, so talk.

It happened last night after
me and Sherlock left the gym.

Just a block from here.

This car rolls up,

the driver took a few shots,
and he sped off.

Did you see what
he looked like?

No, I was too busy getting
my ass down a stoop.

Green Chevy,

maybe ten years old.
That's all I know.

Leave it alone.

We can't just
do nothing.

Yeah, we can.
And that's my point.

A few days ago,
some boys from SBK,

they hit Los Espectros.

We figure Los Espectros
hit back.

The streets are quiet
ever since then,

so we just gonna leave it alone.

I'll be fine.

I promise, Doc.

Whoa.
Excuse me.

Uh, what's all that about?

Shh.

(truck engine struggles,
turns over)

(truck drives away)

Sorry, now you can speak.

You were listening
to their truck?

In BulletPoint's audio,

the assailants, plural,

can be heard arriving
in one vehicle.

A sports car
or a small coupé.

After torturing and probably
killing their victim,

two vehicles depart

and the second one's
much larger-- a truck.

So the truck was
driven there earlier

by the victim,
and then he was ambushed.

So between the sports
car and the truck,

our mobile crime scene is
probably the truck.

I also heard a good deal
of metal rattling.

A ladder on the rear frame,
tools in the back.

I suspect that our victim was
a manual laborer of some sort.

I've passed that on to Marcus
and he's checking to see

if any such trucks
have been reported missing.

In the meantime, I've been
summoning a variety of workers

to see if I can narrow the field

by the sounds I hear
when they come and go.

Wait, you had work
done while I was out?

No. I've been
a very fickle decorator.

I have, uh, ordered
and then declined

a new carpet,
crown molding, new bathtub.

You're just in time to pick out some new
wallpaper for your bedroom.

You know, since you're
gonna return it anyway,

just surprise me.

How's Shinwell?
Fine.

But he and Guzman are less
concerned about this drive-by

than I'd like them to be.

They think it's just
gang business as usual,

and that we should
just leave it alone.

To be fair,

the perpetrator did shoot
like a duck, drive like a duck,

and Shinwell rarely hangs out
with anyone other than ducks.

So, you think they're right?
We should just leave it alone?

No, but I do agree

there's little point in trying
to identifying the shooter.

He mentioned that the car
was a mid-2000s green Chevy.

So I thought I'd at
least look into that.

(phone ringing)

Speaking of mystery vehicles.
Marcus?

BELL:
You called it.

Contracting company in Astoria

reported
a stolen truck this morning.

They said a drywaller
had it out on a job yesterday,

and never came back.
Guy's name is Darren Azoff.

(Azoff screaming on recording)

GUNMAN: Where's the lady Frances?
AZOFF: What?

GUNMAN: It's a simple question.
What did you do with her?

AZOFF: I don't know
what you're talking about!

What do you think, Mrs. Azoff?

Does that sound
like your husband?

Yeah. That's him.

You say there's
a chance he's alive?

A slim one, yeah.

Do you know who Frances is?

Darren was cheating on me.

I've known about it
for months.

When he didn't come home
last night,

I figured he ran off
with his girlfriend.

Is her name is Frances?

I couldn't tell you
anything about her.

It's not like Darren
was bringing her around.

But you want to know

who that man

was asking him about?

She'd be my best guess.

Say you're right. It's possible
the man on the tape

was working
for some old flame of hers.

He made it sound like Darren
was keeping her someplace.

Do you have any idea
where that might be?

I'm sorry. No.

Hi, um, did you husband
leave this behind?

Yeah. I yelled at him
about that the other day.

He's always tracking
stuff from work

into the house,
ruining my towels.

Right, yeah. This is,
this is PVC solvent cement.

It dissolves the surfaces
of PVC pipes to form a weld.

Now, Mr. Azoff is a drywaller.

He'd have no reason
to use PVC cement.

Also, I looked around the
apartment, and there's

no recent work of this
type been done here.

Maybe it's from work he did
at a place he's got Frances.

BELL: I'll check
with Con Ed

and the cable company,
see if he has any accounts

in his name

for another residence.

(sniffles)

(exhales)

My name's not Frances.

It's Marjorie.

And I know
what you're thinking, but no.

Darren wasn't hiding
some other woman

named Frances from me.

He loved me.

You had a break-in recently,

sometime in the
last couple of days?

There's a window been
forced open in the back,

and the scratches on
the wood are still fresh.

I haven't noticed
anything missing.

Do you mind
if we take a look around?

You got a warrant?

BELL:
No, but remember,

Darren might still be alive.
If he is, he needs help.

If there's something inside
that could help us help him,

you really want us to waste
time getting a warrant?

(door closes)

I can see how you couldn't tell
there was a break-in.

This is drywall dust.

These are drips of paint.
They don't match the walls.

BELL: Gonna take a wild
guess here and say Darren

was stealing valuables
from his drywall jobs.

Probably fencing them, too,

which is why he could
afford a second home.

You sure nothing's missing?

I was telling the truth,
I honestly don't know.

I do.

This looks like research
that Azoff was doing

on one of the items
I assume he stole.

He took a photograph
of it in this room,

presumably to help him sell
it, but it's not here now.

We've been working
under a misconception,

that the Lady Frances
was a woman, but it's not.

It's a stolen
vintage guitar.

Worth around $5 million.

GREGSON:
So Azoff was shot over a guitar?

HOLMES:
Uh, not just any guitar.

According to Azoff's research,

the guitar
once belonged to someone

named Eric Clapton.
Have you heard of him?

Yeah. We've heard of him.

Still. Five million bucks?

Apparently, she's
the perfect storm

of provenance,
quality and legend.

She's a 1957 Carfax Desperado,

a year and make which
has already become

known the “Stradivarius
of electric guitars”.

They fetch up to a million dollars on the
collector's market,

and that's without
the celebrity pedigree.

If you add to
that the fact

that apparently
it went missing

during Mr. Clapton's
1971 tour...

Then you've got a piece of
rock history worth killing over.

And we're sure
our shooter's the one

who took it
from Azoff's girlfriend's house?

Detectives canvassed the block.
A neighbor reported

seeing a man leave the house
with a guitar

less than an hour
after Azoff's shooting.

“Sure” might be
overstating it,

but the timeline fits.

Will this development
be made public?

I'm asking because the mayor
will want to express his relief

that Frances
isn't a woman in danger.

EMILY: Yeah, at which point
he'll blame BulletPoint

for creating confusion,

and suggest we scrap
the whole thing.

I didn't say that.

Is he going to be adding
that we're all still

looking forward to a win here?
Obviously, yes.

GREGSON: So, can I
put you both down

as “still wanting
to catch the killer”?

Because we're taking a vote.

Sorry.

Please.

Thanks to BulletPoint's audio,
we know that the shooter

was in the employ of the last
person to possess the guitar.

Now, whoever he is,
he never publicized having it.

He might have derived his
pleasure from it privately,

but people like that,
they rarely keep

their prizes
completely secret.

So if we can identify him,
obviously, we'll then have

Azoff's shooter.

Okay, so.

We'll let you know

if anything shakes out.
EMILY: Thank you.

Miss Gray.

Yes?

Your boss,
Councilman Slessinger.

- Do you mind giving him a message?
- Okay.

He's been making the cops
his punching bag

in a lot of
his speeches.

Now, we're smart,
we get politics.

But there's got to be a way

for him to stump

about cutting crime

without making it sound like

we can't do
our jobs.

Captain, it's campaign talk.

I know.

But I'd still like you
to remind him: if he wins,

he's gonna have to work with us.

I'd like that
to go well.

Wouldn't you?

I'll tell him we spoke.

Yeah, if we're done?

Detective Guzman.

Hey. I've been trying
to get in touch your partner.

I keep getting her voice mail.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, she's engaged
in a private conversation

with an expert in vintage
guitars at the moment.

'Course she is.

Can I be of assistance?

Well, I was in the neighborhood,

and I thought
she'd like to see this.

Ballistics came back on a slug

C.S.U. pulled out of a wall
after Shinwell's drive-by.

And it was a match
for bullets collected

from an unsolved
murder case 12 years ago.

Name of the victim
was Jameel Clark.

Mid-level SBK guy.

And this was before Shinwell
got put away,

so it's a good chance
they knew each other.

Have you shared any of this
with him?

No. And I'm not gonna.

A gun used to kill one banger
12 years ago surfaces now,

and is used to shoot at another?

That sounds personal.

And you don't want
to risk him taking matters

into his own hands
until we've, uh,

got a better sense
of what we're dealing with.

That's right. I'll keep digging,

and if, um, anything comes up,
I'll let you know.

How do you know this
isn't the Lady Frances?

Besides me not having a heart
attack every time I drop it?

(sighs)

You know, '57 Desperados,

they may all look alike to you,

but each one has a... a
different piece of wood,

a different stain.

There's a history
to every nick and scratch.

Collectors, they'll pay for
the feel of that history.

Even my beater,
that's worth about... 600 thou.

I am not holding
a $600,000 guitar right now.

Not holding it
like you mean it, no.

So what
do you think?

You think
that's the real Lady Frances?

Unless it's the best forgery
I've ever seen...

Yep.

It's her.

Do you have any idea
what happened to her

after she disappeared?
You said on the phone

that you saw her
in person once?

Yeah. In 2006,

I went to the Bitter End to
check out this guy Joshua Chris,

some Stevie Ray wannabe.

He walked out playing Frances.

I mean, I stared at her
for over an hour.

(playing unplugged
electric guitar)

I tried to track down the kid
after the show,

I-I mean, I even
e-mailed him.

He never got back to me.

Mm, Joshua Chris,

he lives in L.A.,
he retired from music in 2010.

But we think Frances was stolen
from someone here in New York.

Someone who had drywall work
done recently.

You don't think Chris would've
sold it to someone else, do you?

I don't know. You could call
his old producer, Herman Wolf.

Now, there's a relic
from another time.

But he'd probably know
more than anyone else.

I don't think
I'm gonna have to ask him.

Because he's the one who had it.

Jameel and Shinwell,
they were tight.

Like, inseparable.

But I haven't heard Shin's name
since I was a kid.

He got jumped by some
other gang back then,

and they shot him
a bunch of times,

then he got sent
to Great Meadows.

Yep, that's true,

but he's out now and he's
getting shot at again.

Most recently,

with the same weapon used
to kill your brother.

What?

An attempt was made
on his life last night

and the bullets were a match
for the ones used

at your mother's apartment
12 years ago.

You think it's the same guy?

I think the crimes
are connected.

Now, in this file, it says that,

at the time of Jameel's murder,
you were asleep in your bedroom,

gunfire woke you up, but
you didn't see anything.

Yeah. That's right.

Well, I-I was wondering if
you could remember anything

that's not in this file,
you know?

Whether you heard
more than one voice,

whether you heard
any snippets of conversation,

the killers, did they linger
or did they leave straightaway?

Sorry.

I was ten,

and scared.

I stayed in my room
until it was over.

I didn't hear a thing.

What?

Well, I'm familiar
with those projects

where you and your family lived.

Those apartments are too
small not to hear anything.

I think you're withholding
something from me.

Something to keep you
from finding the person

that killed my brother?

You tell me.

Yeah, go to hell.
Look,

if the killer strikes again,
do you want Shinwell's death

on your conscience?

Say I did know something,
why would I tell you?

I've seen what happened
to people that talk,

and I got my sister and
my moms to think about.

Yeah, Shin was Jameel's friend.

But he's a banger.

He chose that life, I didn't.

I got to get to class.

(phone rings)

Hello?

What do you guys want from me?

And what makes you think
I had the Lady Frances?

You lent it to Joshua Chris

when you were courting him
to sign with you.

Oh.

Where did you get that
cock-and-bull story from?

Joshua Chris.
(chuckles)

He might've been willing to
keep your secret back then,

but I got the sense
from the call with him

that things did not
end well between you.

They didn't.

And that's obviously
why he's lying.

BELL: Mr. Wolf, we spoke
with the contractor

who built this studio,

and he confirmed Darren Azoff
did the drywall.

And the hallway you
just walked us through,

with all your
gold records,

there's a pretty prominent
empty guitar hook

hanging on the wall.

How old are you, kid?

Excuse me?

I've been dealing
with scarier people

since before
you were born.

And I got
good lawyers.

Why you trying to intimidate me?

Let's say you could
prove that Azoff

took Frances from me,

That still doesn't
tie me to the murder.

And no court will
ever punish me...

(gunshot, Azoff screams
on recording)

GUNMAN:
This thing I'm doing

is called a “six-pack.”

Elbows, knees,

ankles.

When I run out of those,

I'll improvise.

AZOFF:
Please!

This is a mistake!

You got the wrong guy!

GUNMAN:
No.

We know you took her.

You're keeping her somewhere.

And the gentleman you took her
from would like her back.

(two gunshots)

(button clicks, recording stops)

(through intercom):
It's got a good beat.

I think the jury's
gonna dance to it.

Mr. Wolf, you want us to
prove you were the last one

to own Frances?
No problem.

You had her,

Darren Azoff
took her,

and then he died
an agonizing death.

The people are gonna
want someone to pay.

Wouldn't you rather
it be someone else?

Okay, let's say,

hypothetically,
I hired someone

to find Lady Frances.

Not to kill anyone.

What kind of maniac
is gonna do that?

BELL:
Hypothetically?

You put us in touch with him,

I'm sure the D.A.
would be very grateful.

So where's the guitar now?
My guy hasn't

been able to find it.

Wait, are you saying that

he didn't take it
from Azoff's house?

Wasn't there when he got there.

It could take me... a while

to get ahold of him.

(through intercom): Well, let's hope you
reach him before he kills again.

COSMO:
She is a beauty, isn't she?

♪ ♪

Look, I-I get why you're mad.

But just see it from
where I'm standing.

I-I wasn't planning
on stealing her.

The shots came in...

and I heard the shooter
say “the Lady Frances.”

I knew what it was.

Poor guy who got shot, he said
the address where they had it,

and I saw on the screen
where they were--

I was a lot closer.

So I just deleted
the part of the audio

where they said the address
and then I got to her first.

Look at her.

She's worth millions.

I wasn't planning on selling
her, but we could.

And w-we could split it.

What do you think?

(grunting)

(guitar cracks)

SLESSINGER: The good people
of New York will sleep easier

in their beds tonight,
knowing that Darren Azoff's

vicious assassin has been caught
thanks to BulletPoint...

(knocks on glass)

...a program the mayor
and the police department

have fought at every turn.

Whereas, if I am elected mayor,

I will keep pushing
for programs just...

Clearly your request that
the councilman tone down

his rhetoric fell
on deaf ears.

Doesn't bode well for his
relationship with the force

if he's elected.

Guys like him come and go.

We'll just keep
doing our jobs.

Speaking of,

that vicious assassin

Slessinger's taking
credit for catching,

they're setting him
up in Interview One.

GREGSON:
Reese Vennek?

I'm Captain Gregson,
this is Ms. Watson,

Mr. Holmes.

I assume you've already
gathered that Herman Wolf

gave you up for the
murder of Darren Azoff.

I had a sense.

Well, what you
might not know

is that we've also matched
your prints to a partial

that we lifted off a
shell casing at the scene.

And we have an audio recording
of everything you said and did.

Yeah, right.

You explained “six-packing”
to Azoff

as you were shooting him.

It's a long story, you'll have
plenty of time to hear it.

GREGSON: Our point is, you
don't say another word in here,

that's fine,
we have everything we need.

You're going away
for a long time.

Still, the D.A. always
prefers confessions,

and you do have
some leverage

to make things
go easier.

Such as?

We know you had an accomplice,
we'll want his name.

We'll also want to know
what you did with Azoff's body.

This obviously isn't your first
professional work, Mr. Vennek.

Would I be right in thinking
that your incarceration

might worry some of
your previous employers?

So now would be

a very good time to think about

avoiding general population.

My helper's name was D'Agostino.

Mr. Azoff...

is at the bottom
of Jamaica Bay.

I bleached down his truck

and had it dismantled
at a chop shop.

I'll give you
their address, too.

It's just business.

Didn't sound like it
when you were killing Azoff.

Hmm.

Some customers

ask you to go easy,

others want you to make it hard.

So Wolf did instruct you
to kill Azoff?

With expletives. Why?

What'd he say?

That he only hired you
to bring back the Lady Frances.

(soft chuckle)
That's funny.

Seeing as how my résumé

doesn't include
much in the way of

guitar retrieval.

I'll be sure to include
Mr. Wolf's exact wording.

I want to be
clear, though.

I'm only confessing
to the murder

of Azoff.

The second man
was dead

when I got there.

What second man?

(indistinct radio chatter)

Cosmo Dellis.

This is the tech at BulletPoint
who first heard the shooting.

How the hell did
he get the guitar?

We didn't hear all
the audio that he heard.

WATSON:
Wolf's hit man,

Vennek, told
us that Azoff

gave him the location of
the guitar before he died.

That wasn't on the audio
that we all heard.

So Cosmo must have
deleted that part

before sending
it to the police,

then he stole the guitar
before Vennek could get to it.

Okay.

Then how did Vennek get here?

He reached out
to music stores

and guitar
enthusiasts.

Cosmo bought an authentic
case for a '57 Desperado

from a vintage
guitar shop.

So word got
back to Vennek.

But Vennek claimed by
the time he got here,

Cosmo was dead and the
Lady Frances was gone.

So who else knew
that Cosmo had the guitar?

We could start by
visiting the shop

where Cosmo
bought the case.

It's where Vennek
found out he had it;

maybe someone
else did, too.

CSU TECH:
Found something.

Well, I don't think a trip
to the guitar shop's

going to be be necessary.

This is part of the pick guard
of a 1957 Carfax Desperado.

So unless two
million-dollar guitars

found their way
into Cosmo's orbit,

we're looking at what's left
of the Lady Frances.

Killer was smart
enough to clean up,

but they missed this bit.

That's blood.

You don't think the guitar
was the murder weapon?

I do.

Short of being set
afire on stage,

he's died the most rock-and-roll
death imaginable.

But if the killer
destroyed the Lady Frances

by killing Cosmo
with her...

Then he obviously didn't
kill him for it.

Then why?

Oh, don't bother setting up,
I'm not gonna stay.

I need to ask you
a couple of questions.

Let me guess.

You and the doc didn't let
the drive-by go like I asked.

We did not.

And?

Well, ballistics
matched the weapon

to the same one used to kill
a friend of yours 12 years ago.

Jameel Clark.

What?

Detective Guzman,
he didn't want to tell you.

He thought you might tip
to the culprit's identity

and go after him yourself.

Now, I've decided to risk it.

Can you point us
in anyone's direction?

No, I got nothing.

Apparently, you and Jameel
were quite close.

Did you share
an enemy back then?

'Cause that might be
the person we're looking for.

He killed Jameel in 2005.

He wanted to kill you as well,
but you went to prison.

Now that you're out, he's just
picking up where he left off.

A few weeks before
Jameel got shot,

we went down to Atlantic City,
met up with some dudes he knew.

The first night we
needed some money,

so we held up a liquor store.

The owner killed
one of the dudes,

and that dude's brother

blamed me and Jameel,

said he was gonna kill us,

so we got our asses
out of there.

We came home and we didn't think
nothing else of it.

And then Jameel got killed.

- What?
- Nothing.

So, the man who
threatened you--

I mean, surely you considered
him a suspect when Jameel died.

Thought crossed my mind,
but I didn't get his name.

I didn't think
he got ours, either.

I mean, me and
Jameel was in SBK,

I figured what happened
was because of that.

A rival banger got his address

and that was that.

And you're quite certain

you can't identify the person
from Atlantic City?

No. Sorry.

You paid for the time?

Yeah, I did.

If you're not gonna use it,

I'm-a find somebody who will.

Tell the doc I said hi.

You think I killed Cosmo?

Right now we just want to know
where you were last night.

Home with my husband all night.

Can anyone besides
your husband verify that?

No.

Why are you asking?

Well, right now BulletPoint
is just a pilot program.

We spoke to the mayor's office
and found out

that you've got some
stiff competition.

They're also looking
at a company called ShotSpotter,

and there are other similar
technologies out there as well.

BELL: Whoever wins
the contract to go citywide

will make
about $30 million a year.

It's a lot of motive to make an
embarrassing situation go away.

Like when one of your techs
exploits the system

to steal a $5 million guitar.

Will you come with me?

Dave, these people are
from the police department.

I'm gonna show them
what we found.

So, what are we looking at?

Evidence of fraud.

When Cosmo didn't
show up today,

I had another tech
cover his station.

She found that
he had installed

editing software
on his computer.

Our techs aren't allowed to put
anything on their computers.

That's what
he must've used

to delete parts
of Azoff's shooting.

MAKRIS:
The thing is

that the software
wasn't a recent addition.

It had been on
there for months,

and he didn't use it
to just delete things.

What do you mean?

We've been digging

into what he was
doing all day,

and it turns out that he
was creating fake incidents.

He was splicing prerecorded
gunshots into the feed

in order to make it look like
they triggered the system.

He was sending the police
on wild goose chases.

You're saying all
these incidents

are reports of shots fired
that the cops went out on

that never happened?

MAKRIS:
Yeah.

It's all in the report.

I'm mortified.

This is addressed
to the deputy commissioner

for Information Technology.

That's the bureau in charge
of the contract, right?

MAKRIS: We were just sending
that over when you got here.

I know it's gonna kill the bid,
but I was a cop.

I'm doing the right thing.

Why would I kill Cosmo to
cover up that he stole a guitar,

and then turn around and admit
to an even worse scandal?

You're right.
You wouldn't.

But I have
a bigger question.

Why would he add those gunshots?

Why would anyone?

(gunshots)

(gunshots continue)

Could you turn that off, please?

Oh, good. You're up.
(gunshots stop)

Oh. I take it those
are the gunshots

that Cosmo edited into
BulletPoint's feed.

Gunshot, actually. Singular.

The recording that
Cosmo used for his deceit,

I noticed that it was,
in fact, a single recording

of a single gunshot fired
from a .45 caliber pistol.

He just copied it
over and over again.

Spread out amongst
the actual gunshots

that BulletPoint captured,

the preponderance
of a single caliber

didn't raise any eyebrows.

Okay, does that
help us understand

why he created fake incidents
or who killed him?

No, not in the slightest.

It's just a detail
that I observed

while I was up
all night working

and thinking
about another matter.

What is it?

Well, there's been a development

in Shinwell's near-shooting.

Like what?

Like I've identified
a culprit.

That's great.
Did you tell Guzman?

No, not yet.

Before I involve the police--
or you, even--

I want to be sure
of a few things.

Whatever you need.
Yeah.

My audio-ballistics
analysis aside,

I did solve
Cosmo Dellis' murder.

It's all in there
and up there.

You'll have to meet
Marcus and the captain

at the precinct without me,
however.

They're expecting
the killer in an hour.

Appreciate you coming to see us

instead of the other way around,
Councilman.

I know it's
a busy time for you.

Please. You're helping me out
by keeping me in the loop.

GREGSON: This is
Detective Marcus Bell,

our consultant, Joan Watson.

They've been working
the Azoff case from the start.

SLESSINGER:
Is that it?

The famous guitar I've been
hearing so much about?

No, but it is a '57 Desperado,
same model and year.

But you already knew
that wasn't the Lady Frances

because you destroyed it

when you used it
to kill Cosmo Dellis.

Excuse me?

Is this a joke?

Captain, I get you're sore

about me throwing haymakers
at the department, but...

What makes me sore,
Councilman,

is elected officials
committing fraud,

and then trying
to cover it up with murder.

BELL:
For months, Cosmo Dellis

had been creating fake
gunfire incidents,

which BulletPoint would
then report to the police.

The incidents
would be investigated,

but ultimately they'd
be classified unsolved.

At first, we could not figure
out why someone would do this,

but then my partner
discovered a pattern.

See, those dots are

all fake gunshot reports
that Cosmo created.

They're also all inside the two
crime-ravaged neighborhoods

that you've specifically been
campaigning to clean up.

BELL:
We also confirmed that

you knew Cosmo, you did
since he was a little kid.

His father's one of your
biggest contributors.

So, you placed
Cosmo at BulletPoint

to do your hacking
and audio editing,

so that when the NYPD's

unreported gun violence
stats come out,

those two neighborhoods would
look like the Wild West.

WATSON: Suddenly,
your law and order campaign

seems much more urgent
and then the votes roll in.

So, it's not just fraud and
murder you're accusing me of.

I'm also rigging the election?

We think your initial interest
in Darren Azoff's murder

was purely political,

but then it turned out he was
killed over a stolen guitar,

and you knew that Cosmo
had caught the incident,

and you knew
he was a guitar nut.

You put two
and two together.

BELL: You also knew that
there was a manhunt underway

to find whoever had the
guitar before a hit man did.

You couldn't let Cosmo live
to enter police custody

because he could give you
up as leverage in a deal.

So, you went to his place.

You got rid of him
and the Lady Frances

at the same time.

Well, I hope this little fiction
of yours keeps you warm

when I'm mayor and
you're all out on your asses.

Do you mind showing us
your hands, Councilman?

What?

Cosmo's wasn't the only blood
we found at the scene.

We figured, someone
beats a guy to death

with an electric guitar,
they're gonna cut their hands.

GREGSON:
Councilman Slessinger,

this is a warrant for your DNA.

I told you I got
nothing to say to you.

So shut up and listen.

You'd probably lie, anyway.

I've been lied to
quite enough of late.

So, after you and I talked,

I asked Shinwell what he and
your brother might have done

to inspire someone
to want to kill them both.

And he told me this story
about a man who was killed

robbing a liquor store,
about how that man's sibling

then came gunning for the
fellow robbers who he blamed.

I don't know anything
about that.

Well, I believe that you don't,
but the problem is

I know about it.
Now, all of those details

were borrowed from an incident
which took place in 2012.

It made the headlines because

both the liquor store owner
and the surviving robber

were both charged with murder
at the same time.

Now, I believe that
Shinwell knew about it

because he and the robber,
they were inmates together

at Great Meadow.

I-I spent the best
part of last night

trying to work out
why Shinwell wouldn't want me

to identify the person
that tried to kill him.

But then I remembered.

You withheld information
from me, as well.

So, what does that prove?
Doesn't prove anything,

but it did cause me to revisit
Shinwell's description

of the car driven
by the person who shot at him.

It was a Chevy, about
ten years old, green.

Your sister has a 2006
Chevy Aveo, aqua green.

You have access
to it. I checked.

I was wrong, looking
for one person

who shot at both your
brother and Shinwell.

You shot at Shinwell

'cause 12 years ago,

he murdered your brother.

Tell me I'm wrong.

== sync, corrected by elderman ==
@elder_man