Life (2007–2009): Season 2, Episode 19 - 5 Quarts - full transcript

Hard to believe something so
small could cause so much pain.

It only hurts when it's
where it's not supposed to be.

And where's that bullet
supposed to be next?

I could've killed you
if i wanted to.

- Didn't hit anything vital.
- Same here.

So are we done
shooting each other?

Yeah, i think so.

I need you
to do something for me.

- My partner.
- Detective reese.

She's on loan
to you fbi guys.

Some kind of
organized crime task force?



- And you want me to do what?
- Find out what kind some kind is.

Why would you
want to know that?

I think then i'll know
where this is supposed to be.

I got it.

The coroner's transpo guy
was making a delivery when he found him.

"Jonah grant.
Assistant coroner."

Lots of people
get killed at work.

He just happened to work here.

Blunt force trauma.
Perfect circle wound.

Some kind of hammer, maybe?

Weird, though.
Not a lot of blood.

There's something
wrong with him.

- Yeah, he's dead.
- Something else.

He looks... deader.



- Deader?
- More dead.

- Extra dead.
- Well...

he's got another wound here.

- Looks like, uh...
- Where a shunt went in.

- Shunt?
- Shunt.

A device used to introduce
or extract fluids from a body.

- And you are...?
- Tom santos, assistant coroner.

I'm going to have to ask you to
wait outside with one of the officers.

Extract fluids? Like blood?

Yes, very good. Blood's a fluid.

It appears the wound
to the head killed jonah.

But he was rapidly exsanguinated
directly there after.

Exsanguinated.

His blood was taken?

From the looks of him,

i'd say jonah was drained
just about dry.

Extra dead.

Well, i guess we'll
have to make two reports.

Homicide, and...

robbery.

Someone stole his blood.

why would someone
take his blood?

Do you know how they do it?

His heart would've stopped,
so there'd be no pressure.

You'd need an external pump
to get

the pressure back up to
exsanguinate him.

Is the pump something
you'd have in here?

Yeah,
but it's usually broken.

I had to use
a bike pump last week.

Maybe you
want to take a break.

We were short-handed before,

losing grant
means i'm down a coroner.

I have to do his work
and my work.

And we're at a hiring freeze.

The county won't
let me hire a replacement.

Do not touch... touch that.

Candle wax?

Maybe from someone's
birthday cake.

You eat cake in here?

We're like any office.

Just because we deal
with corpses

doesn't mean we're not fun.

We are fun.

Why was doctor grant
in the morgue?

I don't know; checking on
bodies, finishing up paperwork.

Anyone else have access
to the crypt?

Everybody.

There's no lock on the crypts.

There's no locks on most doors.

What about
surveillance cameras?

You can't have cameras
in a coroner's office,

except in designated rooms.

To protect the dead's privacy.

Do you know how many people
i've had to fire

for taking cell phone shots?

Did doctor grant
have any enemies?

He was a coroner's coroner.

He liked the dead
more than the living.

He still went out in the field,
even though he didn't have to.

Where were you last night?

Sleeping.

Now you'll excuse me,
i've been doing paperwork

for two years.

I don't want to slip.

Why would they
take his blood?

Quo kept working
while we talked to her

about grant's death.

A lot of people use work
as a painkiller.

Me, i use painkillers for pain.

And you use work for work?

You're very certain,
aren't you?

Of what?

Of everything.

No, just the things
i'm certain of.

You sure about that?

They took his blood?

Holy hannah.

It is ripe in here.

It's supposed
to be 30 degrees,

but with the doors
opening and closing, it's 38.

Stuff goes bad faster.

Like meat in your fridge.

Like meat.

That's all we are really.

Hey, how're we doing
on that autopsy?

I'm lining up
the ventura county coroner,

but it's gonna take a few days.

We can't use any of
the coroners from this office

because they're all suspects.

How exactly does the nose
smell things anyway?

You don't want to know.

Why?

You just don't.

No circular objects.

Whatever the killer used
isn't here.

People doing time.

Court ordered community service.

Dui's, unruly conduct,
first-time arrests.

Junior offenders.

Maybe someone stepped up.

There's no eating in the lab.

I can still smell it
out here.

That's just the particles
lodged in your nose.

Particles?

Particles of what?

Are they always here?

If we're here, they're here.

Hoping to get a shot
of some od'd rock star.

Let's keep a lid on this.

Anybody asks, grant fell
and hit his head.

Every murder case we do
goes through this office.

Goth?

What?

Your scene.

My scene?

Is... is it goth?
It is, isn't it?

I don't have a scene.

We all have a scene.

Yeah, what's yours?

It's complicated.

Like a puzzle with
a missing piece, you know?

No, i don't.

It's dark, right?

Goth...it's dark?

"Fiera schwartz, arrested
for drunk and disorderly

"outside a club
called 'bleak.'"

that a goth club?

Yeah, drunk and disorderly.

So now you think
i killed that death doc.

I'm just asking questions.

Where were you last night
between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m.?

that was the middle
of the night, i was asleep.

Where were you?

Working on your puzzle?

You got a mouth on you.

Thanks.

Guess i don't have
to be drunk to be disorderly.

Court ordered
community service...

next time i'm asking for jail.

Eh, you're not having fun?

The coroners, the transpo
guys hit on me all the time.

With dead people around,
it's gross.

Did doctor grant
ever hit on you?

No, he just yelled at me.

What a jerk.

If you find the guy
who killed him,

thank him for me.

Hey, what were you drinking?

When you were
drunk and disorderly.

Bloody marys.

You will know when i know.

Okay, that's all i can tell you.

You having a party?

Yes, we are.

And you're just
in time for the pinata.

So why don't
you go get a stick,

and then hit me
over the head with it.

You seem a little stressed.

Maybe you wanna try this
breathing exercise i know.

It's... it's pretty easy.

Detectives?

That's right.

With cases handled
by the morgue.

Two for two,
detective seever.

As of my last cup of coffee...

which was my eighth
cup of coffee...

the chief instructed me
to instruct

every one of my detectives,

that every one
of their current and past

cases may be thrown into doubt.

That's a legal term.

It means "screwed."

Maybe you want to sit down.

I am sitting down.

We took statements from
all the employees.

Alibis?

Time of death
was four in the morning...

most people were asleep.

Those miscreants on the lawn?

No one with a serious record.

Alibis?

Still four in the morning.

Grant dies, the cases
they're working on

get thrown out of court.

So what was grant
working on now?

You really know
a breathing exercise?

Yeah.

Just breathe.

Said it was easy.

The case grant was currently
working on is errol brand.

Celebrity chef.

He's got those restaurants
and that show.

Brand new kitchen.

When do you have time
to watch tv?

In the morning before work
while i'm on the rowing machine.

In the morning?

Actually,
it's closer to four am,

so i guess everyone
isn't asleep.

You know, brand also has
one gunshot wound

to the back of his head.

But no exit wound.

Small caliber.

How small?

It doesn't say.
I'm not familiar with this case.

It was doctor grant's.

May i?

She's a very fast reader.

Entry wound, no exit wound,

no bullet recovered.

No bullet?

Someone shoots the chef,
then digs the bullet out.

Didn't work out?

No.

Turns out i'm not fbi material.

Well that's too bad,

i know you wanted this
to help you move up.

Yeah.

Well, i got somewhere i belong.

So when you coming back?

In a few days.

There's just a few things
i need to finish up.

There still room
for me in your car?

Right behind the wheel.

Birthday cakes, condoms...

i guess they are fun.

Crews gets close
to your father, he disappears.

Crews gets close to rayborn,
he disappears.

Maybe it's just coincidence.

Maybe they aren't connected.

Everything's connected.

Excuse me?

Nothing.

Well, maybe it's nothing,
and then all this goes away.

Crews trusts you?

Then let him tell you the truth.

You're doing the right thing.

What's that?

Your job, detective reese.

Errol brand, celebrity chef,
had that show,

those restaurants, and a gunshot
wound to the back of the head.

He also had something else...

an investor named jimmy ellison.

Did mr. Ellison invest in
anything other than errol brand?

Mr. Ellison
invests in gambling.

He was the biggest bookie
in the county.

All that gambling money
sure does buy a nice place.

We're looking
for jimmy ellison.

Hector, who turned off
my music?!

I already talked
to you cops about errol.

I didn't do it.

You got no proof i did,
you gotta leave me be.

We're not
here about errol brand.

We're here about jonah grant.

Who the hell is that?

The coroner.

The coroner?

We're here
about something else, too.

Yeah, what would that be?
Blood.

So why don't you show us
what you got behind your back?

ed,
mr. Jimmy just stays back there,

drinking his wine, listening
to opera, cutting meat.

That's all he does?

Sometimes.

Sometimes he cries.

How you doing, jimmy?

You wanted to shoot me.

You cops just can't wait
to shoot someone.

Actually, 97% of
all cops never use their gun.

Except on the range.

You talk like a lawyer.

You'll have to cut that out
if you wanna be mayor.

She wants to be mayor?

15-year plan.

You'll just be going up
for parole.

What's with the meat, jimmy?

Sitting back here getting drunk,

cutting all this meat.

Errol died back here, right?

What's with
all this meat, jimmy?

Errol had
a way of cutting meat.

So tender.

Melt in your mouth.

Never taste meat like that again

well if you miss it so much,
you shouldn't have shot him.

Where's the bullet, jimmy.

Did you get the coroner
to dig it out for you?

And then you killed the coroner.

I don't know
what you're saying.

Where's the coroner's blood?

I don't know
what you're saying.

Errol gets shot
in the freezer,

staggers back out
into the kitchen,

and dies right here.

Where's the bullet, jimmy?

That is my cleaver.

This is my meat.

This is my place!

Take your cuffs
and get out of here.

Hector, turn my music back on.

Loud!

He was cutting meat?

And crying.

Ellison gets
that bullet back,

he's gonna get rid of it.

But why take
the coroner's blood?

He was cutting meat
and crying.

Anything interesting
in there?

Well, yeah, there is.

A tabloid shot,
much closer to the ground.

There's something in here

that's not in the police photos.

Under his right hand, see?

A puddle of something
on the floor.

Blood?

No.

Look at the police photos,

there's no blood on his hand.

Who took that picture?

Uh, kathy white.

This is mine.

How'd you get past the cops?

I got a pretty smile.

How'd you find
the killing?

Did you use a police scanner?

Well, you can get
those online,

but i've always
had this weird ability

to know when people
are gonna die.

Really?

Yeah.

Ever since i was a little girl.

Am i gonna die?

I mean soon?

What's the possible upside
of asking a question like that?

You really want to know?

Yeah, yeah.
I really want to know.

No...not you.

Not soon.

But somebody very close
to you is gonna die.

Soon.

Your photo of the dead chef...

we need to see
the digital file it came from.

Why so close to the ground?

That's where we all end up
when we're dead.

So i like to get
right down in there.

Can you enlarge this section?

You were
at the morgue yesterday.

I'm at the morgue a lot.

You didn't happen to know
that doctor grant was gonna die?

No.

But those morgue boys
are so covered in death,

it's hard to tell.

Is it true
someone took his blood?

There.

Slide that over.

It's a clear liquid.

What is that?

They swabbed the chef's hand,

nothing.

No substance on it at all.

So it's a clear liquid...

that leaves no trace,
that we like to call...

water.

It evaporated by the time
they got to the morgue,

so it would
not have been noticed.

So he got shot in there,
stumbled out,

and scoop a handful of water?

He reaches down for this...

someone comes up
behind him...

shoots him in the head.

What?

Hand me that melon,
would you?

He reaches down, stands up,

and...

the chef stumbles out.

He reaches back,
pulls it out...

falls, dies,

icicle's melt by the time
anyone gets there,

puts the puddle under his hand.

And no bullet in his head.

So who took
the coroner's blood?

I want to thank you
for coming back.

I was wrong.

What i did last time.

Uh, ask me anything you want,

any way you want.

Let me just ask you
one question, though.

Your eyes are very red.

You're not on drugs.

I'm not prying,
this is a legal matter.

I'm on parole...

no, i am not on drugs.

Now what do you remember
about your parents?

Why are your eyes so red?

Has she been...crying?

You know, i saw a lot
of crying in prison, ann.

A lot.

I know what it looks like.
You have been crying.

No, i have not been crying.

I think you have.

I'm just tired.

Those are not tired eyes.

They are,
the baby keeps me up.

The baby?

Your baby?

I'm a grandfather?

Doesn't your husband help you?

About what kathy white said
about someone close to me,

it didn't have to be you.

There are
a lot of people close to me.

You just, you know, happened
to be standing close to me...

at the time.

There actually aren't a lot
of people close to me.

I guess there should be more.

I've been away.

Complaints,
filed against jonah grant.

27 of them.

Complaints filed by...

grant's been dead for
two days and you just discover

i filed all those
complaints against him.

Geniuses.

Well, maybe now you can tell
us why you hated doctor grant.

He wasn't my dream slab mate.

Slab mate?

We used to have our own labs,
now we have to double up.

Budget cuts?

Yeah, like you know.

Cops get everything.

Helicopters, guns.

We have to buy
our own toilet paper.

Cheap, scratchy.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah, tell my ass
you're sorry, ma'am.

Oh, that
must've been grant's.

Typical.

Is this what
you complained about?

No.

I complained about
grant's practical jokes.

Practical jokes?

Yeah, brilliant stuff.

Fingers in my coffee mug,
cranial cap saucers,

hiding my pen
down an esophagus.

I filed numerous
complaints against him

for creating
a hostile workplace.

Doctor quo did nothing.

Why not?

Grant did all her work
for her.

They were "buds."
They're all "buds" around here.

Confederacy of dunces.

Doctor quo knew that you
and grant didn't get along?

Oh, yes.

She said i was the one
being unreasonable.

Well, you see
how that worked out.

She ignored the problem,

and grant got himself
murdered in the office.

Chickens coming home to roost.

You seem almost happy
about that.

I won't pretend
to mourn doctor grant.

You know, he used
to kick me out of the lab?

He said i "harshed his buzz."

And you went?

I had to.

He had seniority.

Your statement
said that you were home

when grant was killed.

It was 4:00 a.m.
Where were you?

Which equipment is yours,

and which was doctor grant's?

My equipment is the
newer-looking, well-maintained,

clean equipment,
engraved with a small "s".

Doctor grant's
is everything else.

Could any of these tools
leave a perfect circle wound?

That would be a bone mallet.

Do you have a bone mallet?

I do; it's usually here.

But grant was
always moving my things.

So you don't
have a bone mallet.

No. I have one.

I just don't know where it is.

Circular head.

And engraved
with a small "s".

Recognize this?

It's mine.

Why does lapd
always ask questions

they know the answers to?

Why do you think we do it?

Because
you're stupid and lazy.

You take something obvious,

and then you flail around
until a d.a. Pays attention.

The coroner's office does
a perfectly acceptable job.

If there's a way to blow a case,

the lapd will find it.

We found your prints
on this mallet.

Well, you would.
It's my mallet.

And grant's skin and blood.

Which i forgot to wash off.

I assure you, had i killed him,
i would've made time.

I'm very good at prioritizing.

You complained.
Nothing was done.

That made me angry.

Not stupid.

Angry people
don't think clearly.

They grab
the first thing they can

and smash it
into someone's skull.

I'm quite aware of that.

I've overseen
a few murder cases

including, by the way,
many that your squad handled.

How clearly are you thinking?

Are you threatening us?

I don't know.
Am i?

Convict me, and i will

personally put 200 guilty
killers back on the street.

And why on earth would
i take that man's blood?

Do you even know what
five quarts of blood looks like?

Ten pints.

Five quarts.

Fruit punch.

Don't think there's
any fruit in it, though.

Are you gonna drink that?

I wanted to see
what it looked like.

Am i supposed
to understand that?

No.

I mean yes, but...no.

What did you find out
about reese?

About the organized crime
task force?

There isn't any.

There's no current cooperation

between the fbi and lapd at all.

I've seen
surveillance video of reese,

going in and out of the
building, so i know she's there.

But there's no records she's
there on official business.

Officially,
reese isn't there at all.

You gonna
drink those here, honey,

or should i get them to go?

All it is
is stupid office politics.

I didn't even think it mattered.

I need santos.
I have bodies piling up.

I didn't even have time
for lunch.

He accused you
of incompetence.

Santos thinks
everyone's incompetent.

I'm making too much money.
I'm trying to screw him.

Did you ever work in an office?

Do you think santos
killed grant?

I haven't had much time
to think about it.

Why don't you take the time
and think about it now?

Please.

If this job
teaches you anything,

anyone's capable of murder.

I find that kind of sad.

With grant dead...

santos is senior coroner
with a pay bump.

I guess that's motive, huh?

You have
some new equipment here.

It must be expensive,
this stuff.

I'm sure it is.

Purchasing the equipment
was doctor grant's job.

But there's a budget crisis.

So if you've
got no money coming in,

how'd you buy this equipment?

As i said,
it was doctor grant's job.

We need to see his records.

It's a lot...
five quarts.

Ten pints, 160 ounces.

You can't drink it
all at once.

I mean, not in blood.
In fruit punch.

It's a lot.

There is no record in here
of any money coming in

or the purchase of new
equipment.

But there is
no equipment out there,

so how did grant pay for it?

"We'll be seeing you."

How will they be seeing us?

Should i leave the room?

No, no, come over here.

Will i be laying down too?

No.

Pretend i'm dead.

Should i pretend to be sad?

No.

Pretend i'm dead.
Pretend you're a coroner.

What do you do?

Does your phone
have a camera now?

Yeah, five megapixels.

Is that a lot?

It's mega.
So yes, it is.

Hold on.

That's where we all end up
when we die.

So she likes to get down there.

That's what kathy white said.

Oh, god!
I'm...

sorry... i'm... i'll come back.

They're all low angle
and close to the ground.

Like the position
a coroner would be in

when examining a body.

Maybe kathy white didn't need
to be on the scene to get these.

Maybe she wasn't the one
taking these pictures.

Maybe she was buying them.

We can check your financials.

My what?

Your bank account,
credit cards...

you can just do that?

We can just do that.

We're the police.
She's a lawyer, too.

Is it gonna show payments
from you for those photos?

Because looking
at these photos of yours

up here on these walls,
they're really stunning.

But the photos in the paper,
not your best work.

Not your work at all, right?

Look, you don't need
to check my financials, okay?

I paid grant
to take those pictures.

It's competitive out there.

He needed the money,
and i needed the pictures.

Where were you
when he was killed?

It was four
in the morning, i was...

asleep?

Why would i kill him?

He needed the money,
and i needed the pictures.

Just... just out of curiosity,

what would i be worth dead?

Six figures.

Six figures?

But not anytime soon?

No, not anytime soon.

So, he left you?

For a dog walker.

Ann, what's a dog walker?

She walks dogs.

She walks dogs.

For a living?

And he doesn't
help with the baby?

He doesn't want
to see the baby.

He doesn't want
to see the baby?

He doesn't want to see me.

He doesn't want to see you?

Ann, what's the baby's name?

Ted.

You can go home
when you solve it.

I am not reopening those cases.

Can i ask you something?

Is it about prison?

Fruit?

Zen?

No, it's about tidwell.

Is it true
he's dating your partner?

Well, that would be
against regs.

Yeah, it would be.

You know what else
is against regs?

Vodka in the lab.

And condoms in the stairwell.

That lab needs money.

What else were they selling?

You know
what that adds up to?

I have a pretty good idea.

Fiera schwartz?

Party in a morgue?

I guess your scene
is pretty dark after all.

Are you shane banks?
Jesus!

You scared the hell out of me.

I think you might be
in the wrong truck, pops.

First of all, it's grandpops.

And you know who i am?

I'm the grandpops
you didn't want to meet.

My scene is just money.

They all paid a lot
to be in here; $250 each.

To dance with the dead?

It makes them feel
more alive.

Them?
Not you, fiera?

You're just about the money.

Grant ever catch you doing this?

Grant catch me?

Grant knew.

You give grant a cut?

30%.

That's a big cut.

He knew he had me.

This is the only place in town

where you can dance
with the dead.

Who else knew?

Santos.
Quo.

They all knew?

Are there any rules anymore?

No smoking.

That was the rule...
no smoking.

That woman, quo,
was real strict about it.

You know, didn't
want a fire, i guess.

But candles were okay?

Huh.

Yeah, they were.

Debbie quo, always eating.

Debbie quo
doesn't allow smoking.

Prenatal vitamins
charged on your credit card.

How far along?

Four months.

The father, it's grant?

Debbie, don't you think
this is something

you should've told us about?

I wanted to, i just couldn't.

Why couldn't you?

I'd lose my health insurance.

If it got out in the office
that i'd had an affair,

they'd fire me,
it'd go on my record...

no one would hire me
in the system.

I need my insurance.

We need my insurance.

Jonah would want me
to have it now.

Debbie, you told us he liked
the dead more than the living.

Until he met me.

He loved death until he met me.

I guess he was
just in bad relationships.

Until he met you.

The first time
jonah and i kissed,

he said...

"lips are just a valve,
but yours are sweet."

Jonah thought my valve
was sweet.

You took money
for those parties.

To pay for equipment.

And from the photographer.

You ever think
about opening up a gift shop?

We have a gift shop...

we never took any money
from the photographer.

Kathy white was paying
for photos

that grant took for her.

We never took any money
from a photographer.

What was grant
doing with the money

that photographer gave him?

According to quo,
he wasn't sharing it.

But there's nothing
in grant's financials

that show him getting
any kind of money at all.

And there was no cash found

when his house and car
were searched, so.

Maybe we're looking
at the wrong financials.

Maybe we should be looking

at the photographer's
financials.

You mean the ones she told us
not to bother looking at?

Just a valve.

Lips.

He said hers were sweet.

Kathy white's financials.

Nothing.

There's no evidence here
that kathy white

gave any money to grant at all.

So if she
wasn't paying him...

why was he taking
those photos?

There's something else.

Kathy white has two apartments
in that building.

One that we
talked to her in, 314,

and another one.

319.

Must be right down the hall.

Got the pass key
from the manager.

Did he say
why she has two apartments?

Said she used it for storage.

Shunts.

A device used to introduce
or extract fluids from the body.

Five quarts.

Quo said grant
was in bad relationships.

I guess this is one of them.

He loved death
until he met quo.

Kathy white loves death, too.

I thought
you could make life.

You can't make life.

You can't.

You can't make life.

grant didn't want
to have a baby with you?

He didn't want to be
with anyone until he met her.

But he still took that
chef picture for you, kathy.

Didn't he?

He said it was his last.

He said we were over.

He said he was making
a life with that other woman.

So i took him.

All five quarts.

Detective...

take my picture.

She was right next to me.

What she said about someone
close to me was gonna die,

she was standing right
next to me.

You all right?

I was in that 97%.

I never fired my gun,
except on the range.

Objects are not deceiving.
They are deception.

What we see...

what we hear...

all that our senses
present to us

is a fiction.

No more real...

than a dream.

You can only know...
that which we believe.

That which we believe.

That is all we have.

You ready?

You ready?

Yeah.

But not for this.

Uh, i don't understand.

I go back to my partner.

I go back working for the lapd.

Not for you.

I thought
you wanted the truth.

I know that.

I understand.

Good for you.

You know...

there is an operation
we're running right now

down in san diego...
border stuff.

You want in?

Yeah.

Okay, yeah.

They'll take you down
to the san diego field office,

get you set up.

You boys out of san diego?