The Closer (2005–2012): Season 3, Episode 11 - Lovers Leap - full transcript

(POLICE SIREN WAILING)

(SIREN CONTINUES)

All right, come on. Come on!
Keep coming. Keep coming.

Come on!

Plenty of room. Plenty of room.

Let's go. Come on.
Come on. Come on.

Come on. Come on. Plenty
of room. Plenty of room.

Whoa, whoa!

That's good.

Chief, are you sure
you've recovered enough

from your surgery
to be doing this?



I have a note from the doctor,
Sergeant. You can read it if you'd like.

Thank you.

Yoo-hoo!

Morning, everybody.

Where's our victim?

A traffic chopper
pilot spotted the car

6:00 this morning, dialed 911.

Fire and Rescue rappelled down the
hill, found the body, female, early 40s.

Declared dead on the
scene. Called a patrol car.

- SANCHEZ: Most of our vic is over there.
- Most of her?

Coyotes came by the
body during the night, Chief.

Yuck.

So it's a traffic accident.
And we're here because?

The victim's ID was found in the
car. Her name is Marguerite Scott,



and she worked for the
Department of Homeland Security.

PROVENZA: Fire and
Rescue guys brought this up.

Car was a rental. Victim
picked it up five days ago at LAX.

Paid extra for a hybrid.

Our accident investigators saw no
signs of a collision, no skid marks.

It seems like she
accelerated right off the cliff.

If she's from DC, she might've
been lost. Didn't see the turn.

FLYNN: Or she did it on purpose.

PROVENZA: A woman so
concerned about the planet

that she rents a
hybrid to kill herself in?

I don't know. Maybe she saw a
tree down there she wanted to hug.

(DETECTIVES LAUGHING)

Detective Daniels, could
you please get in touch

with someone from
Homeland Security?

Ask them what Ms. Scott
might've been doing here?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Thank you.

Pardon me, sir.

I'm Deputy Chief Brenda
Johnson of the LAPD

and I need to examine
the scene of the accident,

but I'm just recovering
from abdominal surgery.

So I was wondering if you
could pretty please give me a lift?

Let's go.

Chief, you are not
physically ready for this.

I need to see the body.

We don't have training
on those harnesses.

We're not supposed to use them.

You're not doing it, Sergeant.

Take the rest of the crew and
climb down, and I'll meet you there.

- Ready whenever you are.
- Okay. All right. Now, wait, wait, wait.

I have a duty! Okay, wait!

Damn it! Chief!

Let's go.

Watch your step, guys.

- You're not coming?
- I don't hike.

Hard to tell which injuries are from
the crash and which from the coyotes.

Looks like they
didn't touch her face.

Thank you. Let's
take a look at the car.

We didn't find a
handbag or a cell phone.

Detective Sanchez is still doing a
search of the perimeter of the crash site.

Now, she was from
out of town, Chief,

so she may have been using the
GPS system that comes with the car.

Assuming the
motherboard's still intact,

we can download all the data, see
what addresses she was punching in.

(GROANS)

I see a valet ticket down there.

Let's check her hotel
room, drag her room phone

and try and find her cell,
see who she was talking to.

Lieutenant Flynn, if you could
grab that valet ticket, please?

Lieutenant Tao, as soon as
Buzz has what he needs here,

please have this car
towed to the print shed.

And Sergeant Gabriel, let's see if you
can take the body to the morgue, please?

See if we can determine
the exact cause of death.

BUZZ: Oh... Chief?

- Detective Sanchez, you find anything?
- Found a toe, Chief. Bagged it.

- Chief, listen...
- Let's hand it off to Sergeant Gabriel here.

- Have him take it to the morgue.
- Chief... Chief, listen.

- Yes, Buzz? What is it?
- You're standing in poison oak.

Hey. Are you okay?

Perfect. Perfect.

Well, I just need to take these
painkillers that the doctor gave me,

but I cannot seem to find them.

So was Maggie Scott's
death an accident or what?

Oh, we don't know yet.

She is a Department of
Homeland Security employee.

And Detective Daniels says
that she was here on business,

but they won't tell us why
or what she was doing.

She was an accountant.
And she was auditing us.

You called her Maggie.

Yeah. She was a friend.

Listen, I'd appreciate it if you
kept me very closely advised

about what happened to her.

Sure, sure.

And no worries about
overtime on this one.

- I'll cover it somehow.
- Okay.

- Thank you.
- Sure.

Impossible.

Homeland Security gave us a grant
for new communications equipment

so police and fire could
communicate during a crisis.

Maggie... Marguerite
Scott was sent by DHS

to keep tabs on how we
were spending their money.

Part of LAPD's
financial troubles.

For every dollar
the feds give us,

we spend $2 trying to
prove we're not wasting it.

Well, there's your motive,
Chief. Everybody hates an auditor.

Maggie's husband
is on his way to LA.

But our friends at DHS
were more eager to talk

about Maggie's missing
cell phone and laptop,

both of which are encrypted
and contain classified information.

Which is why I can't
get a phone dump.

- What did we find in Maggie's hotel room?
- FLYNN: No sign of forced entry.

And although she never
used the phone in her room,

we couldn't find a cell phone anywhere.
We did, however, find a laptop charger.

We pulled the navigation
system out of Maggie's car, Chief.

The screen is shot. But we got the
addresses she typed into her GPS.

The first one is from her hotel

and the second is 150
North Los Angeles Street.

- She was in our building. This week.
- Yes.

Most likely to see Jim
Hanson in Fiscal Operations.

TAO: And there's the
Italian restaurant downtown.

We called. She dined
there two nights ago. Alone.

The next address is a business
in North Hollywood. Civil Audio.

Which supplied the radios we
purchased with the DHS grant money.

This last address
is interesting.

Elysian Park Drive,

which is precisely where
Maggie Scott's car went off the cliff.

And it's only five blocks
from LAPD's Academy Road.

FLYNN: Yeah, but why would she
wanna know how to get to that exact spot?

I mean, there wasn't
even a house there.

Maybe she had a boyfriend
that no one knew about.

I mean, a lot of couples
go up there to, you know,

check out the view.

Well, she was a little long in
the tooth to be necking in her car.

(PHONE RINGING)

Priority Homicide,
Provenza. Yeah.

Hey, look. She's a federal employee
working for Homeland Security.

And she's married.

So maybe she didn't want anybody
at the hotel to see who she was with.

That was Gabriel, Chief. They're
ready for you at the morgue.

BRENDA: Wonderful.

Okay, Lieutenant Tao?

I would like to talk
to... No, thank you.

This Jim Hanson from the
Fiscal Operations Department.

All right.

Thank you.

So, Chief, you really think Maggie's
death had anything to do with us?

I don't know, Commander,
but whoever was meeting her

at Lover's Lane wasn't
just interested in Maggie.

They wanted her computer, too.

Carry on, everybody.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Can it wait? I'm
sitting on a wiretap.

It won't take long.

I have a dead employee from the
Department of Homeland Security

by the name of Marguerite Scott

and I need you to get a dump
on her encrypted cell phone.

Why don't you just download it?

It's missing.

Along with her
laptop, also encrypted.

I don't know if I should
check on this for you.

Oh, if I have to hear one more time about
how your friends are making fun of you

- for doing me favors...
- It's not that.

I'm recovering from
surgery! Please!

There are new rules in
place. If you get us involved...

Look, I can't have
chocolate anymore.

Do you understand that? Do you?

Please just make the call.

- Hi.
- MAN: Hi.

Okay, Brenda.

Marguerite Scott.
I'll make the call.

Great suit.

Did you get it at Fred Segal?

Yeah. Yeah, I did. I know this
girl there. She gets me a discount.

Love that place. I live just
around the corner from there.

Sorry. That took so long.

- What have you learned?
- It's a little complicated.

Your vic survived the
crash and was well enough

to climb out of the car and
crawl her way up the hill.

Crawl?

You sure she wasn't
thrown out of the car?

No. These are seatbelt bruises,

which means she was definitely
strapped in at impact. And then look.

At the dirt under her nails.

The abrasions on her knees and
elbows. She crawled up that hill.

The real question is how
she was able to climb at all

when she expired instantly
from massive trauma to the head.

- But that didn't happen during the crash.
- No.

I found a splinter in her head,

indicating someone struck her
with a branch or a large stick.

And the final blow might
have come from a rock.

After she drove off the cliff.

Not her best day.

Two last things. Notice anything
unusual about your vics’ face?

Don't make me guess.

Coyotes always feed on
the body's soft tissue first.

My guess is they left her face
alone because of the seasoning.

Excuse me?

Someone doused your
vic with pepper spray.

Which might explain why she
drove off the cliff in the first place.

Maggie Scott is dead?

I'm afraid so, Mr. Hanson.
I'm so sorry about that.

Oh, my God.

The LAPD was put through
this exhausting audit for nothing?

Sorry to see you're so
broken up over Maggie's death.

No, no! Yeah, I'm sorry, all right?
But the woman was a time waster.

Look, this section manages a
billion-dollar annual budget, all right?

Two percent of that
comes from the DHS,

yet I spent 80% of my time
justifying expenses to Maggie.

The woman was in my office every
other month for almost two years!

You have no idea how
much extra work she created.

During Maggie's
last visit out here,

she also stopped at a
place called Civil Audio.

Do you have any idea
what she was looking for?

Civil Audio.

This month, it was Civil Audio.
I have no idea what it was.

Last month it was... I
don't even remember,

but the point is it
doesn't matter anymore.

Why is that?

Well, because the way the
federal government operates,

it'll be ages before they send
anybody to pick up where she left off,

if they even bother at all.

Well, maybe we shouldn't
wait for the federal government.

Maybe you should let my
detective take a look at your books.

Fine. I'll make sure you
get everything you need.

Mr. Hanson, do you know if
Maggie was seeing anyone

romantically while she was here?

Did she have a boyfriend?

Or maybe she was having
an affair of some kind?

She didn't discuss her
personal life with me.

And I am not the type
of guy to spread rumors.

So if you'll excuse me, it's gonna take
me a minute to put your paperwork through.

You know what, though? I
will offer one opinion, ma'am.

Maybe you should let me spend
more time helping you fight crime,

and not fighting accountants.

That's just a thought.

JOE: Watch your step.
You'll take a nasty fall here.

I'm so sorry to bother you
on a Saturday, Mr. White.

But according to our files, your
company provides the LAPD

and Fire Department with
first responder communications.

Civil Audio's not my
company. I'm just a CFO.

Been there since a little after
9/11. Before that, I was on the job.

LAPD?

Yes, ma'am. Fifteen years.
Tactical Technology Unit.

So Civil Audio's a good fit. Better
pay and no one ever shoots at me.

Sorry about the mess. Over
budget. Stupid contractor.

Air conditioner's out.
Had to cancel the pool.

Now I have two kids who are
gonna be very disappointed

when they come back
from summer camp.

- Oh, well, that's just tragic.
- Right this way.

BRENDA: Thank you.
GABRIEL: Thank you.

(EXCLAIMS) It is hot.

Mr. White, can you tell me

what Maggie Scott was doing
in your office earlier this week?

Auditors are like
police officers.

They don't tell you what they're
looking for until they find it.

She wanted all our billing records
to LAPD, so I gave them to her. Why?

- Is old Maggie giving you a hard time?
- In a manner of speaking.

Her car went over a cliff last night
and we found her this morning. Dead.

SUSAN: Hey, I'm
going for takeout. Oh!

Is something wrong?

Well, yes and no.

Remember that crazy
woman I told you about?

The one from Homeland Security?

- The horrible accountant lady?
- She died last night.

That's too bad. Gosh.

- Well.
- Just get me whatever you're having.

Thanks.

Sorry to interrupt.

GABRIEL: I gotta tell you, the outpouring
of sadness for this woman so far...

It's touching.

Obviously, I feel bad
about what happened.

I mean, it's terrible.

But just the idea of going
through another audit with Maggie...

She's brutal. Just
talk to your people.

- Ask Jim Hanson.
- I'm sorry. Did you say another audit?

- Starting Monday morning.
- Jim Hanson didn't mention that.

Not that it was gonna be
much different from the last one.

Maggie was investigating the way
the LAPD paid us for almost two years.

Poor Jimmy. And his
wife just left him, too.

(LAUGHING)

Look,

I appreciated
Maggie's tenacity. I did.

But I just hope whoever takes
her place will be a little less rabid.

Well, Hanson said with Maggie's
death, there wouldn't be another audit.

Oh, that's wishful thinking.

DHS might not get to it
right away, but they'll be back.

Hey, if we're done,

I got about three times as
many people here as usual.

You know, you threaten to fire them
and suddenly they can't finish fast enough.

If there's anything I can
do, just let me know. Okay?

Thank you, sir.
Thank you so much.

- Thank you.
- My pleasure.

How long before you start feeling
the symptoms of poison oak?

Probably not until
tonight sometime.

- I told you not to go down there.
- Oh, I know, I know.

Come on.

- Chief.
- Yes.

No luck getting access to
Maggie Scott's encrypted phone.

Oh, I'm sure we'll be hearing
from the FBI any minute now.

The victim's husband, Ken?

He just flew in from
Washington. He's in your office.

Oh, and Maggie Scott's
rental car company called.

Their accident investigators wanna know
when they can get a look at their hybrid.

And what'd you tell them?

What I always tell them. "Sure,
no problem." Then I hung up.

The car's still
in the print shed.

Well, we hang on to Maggie's car
until we know what happened to Maggie.

And I want that steering
wheel tested for pepper spray.

(WHINING)

How am I gonna tell that man
that his wife was eaten by coyotes?

(SIGHS)

Poor woman.

- What are all these about?
- Financial records from Jim Hanson.

Exactly what
you'd expect, Chief.

Bury the two paragraphs of
information you actually want

in a big load of bull pucky.

- I'll start working on it, Chief.
- Oh, bless you. Bless you.

Nobody's told me when
I can see my wife's body

and I've been here
almost an hour.

Actually, sir, I think you might wanna
wait for a funeral home or mortuary

to take a look at your wife.

Are you sure it's her? I mean,
are you absolutely certain?

I'm sorry, sir. Yes, I am.

Is there anything I should
know? Did she die quickly?

I don't think she saw it coming.

Oh, God. I don't know how
I'm gonna tell our daughter.

Sir, do you know anyone who
might have wanted to hurt your wife?

Did she ever talk to
you about a threat or...

No, no. The only thing Maggie
ever complained about was the travel.

I think she was happier lately not having
to come back to LA every other week.

Every other week?

According to DHS, Maggie was
in Los Angeles every other month.

Do you know if she
had other business here?

- Or did she have any relatives? Or friends?
- No, it was work.

Why else would she come?

Chief Johnson,

Special Agents Blackburn
and Horlacher from the FBI.

It's about Maggie Scott.

I'm terribly sorry.

I am right slap-dab in the middle
of interviewing the victim's husband.

Good to see you again,
too, Chief Johnson.

Sorry to interrupt, but the FBI needs
to speak with Mr. Scott right now.

I've already been in touch with Special
Agent Fritz Howard about all of this.

That's who called us, ma'am.
And thank you for informing him

about the encrypted laptop and
cell phone that have gone missing.

Which makes this investigation
a National Security issue.

I hardly think that Maggie
Scott was killed by terrorists.

Unless you think the evildoers are trying
to destroy the world with pepper spray.

We're talking about the
murder of a federal employee,

plus the theft of
classified material.

So we would like all the
evidence you've collected.

And we're gonna take the victim's
husband with us right now, too.

You have any further questions
for Mr. Scott, let us know.

Great to see you again, ma'am.

- Oh, I bet.
- Ma'am.

Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza,

I'd like you to copy everything that
we have on the murder board please,

before we hand it off
to these gentlemen.

Thank you. And
Detective Daniels,

please give the boxes from
Fiscal Operations to the FBI.

That should keep them busy.

And while they're looking at our finances,
let's take a look at Mr. Hanson's.

Thank you.

Lieutenant Tao, please put
the car's computer in the desk.

Thank you.

And, Detective Sanchez,

I'd like you to move Maggie's
rental car out of the print shed.

- To where?
- Someplace the FBI won't find it.

Listen, just because...

Just because the FBI is
starting an investigation

doesn't mean you
have to halt yours.

Let them look for the
laptop. You find the killer.

Well, I still have lots of
questions for Maggie's husband.

Is he a suspect?

Well, he's the only person so far
who seems at all upset about her death.

But here's the thing, Will.

Maggie was visiting Los
Angeles every other week last year

for reasons other
than DHS business.

She lied to her
husband about that.

And her car went over a hillside

at a place where
people sometimes go to...

You know.

So I'm guessing that she
might've been having an affair.

I can promise you, who she was seeing
last year has nothing to do with her death.

How can you say that?

Because the affair she
was having was with me.

When were you going to tell me

that you'd been sleeping
with my murder victim?

Well, there wasn't
really so much sleeping.

Look, do you wanna hear about
this or do you just wanna get all mad?

- I'm investigating her murder, Will.
- Okay, you wanna get mad.

(SIGHS)

Look, we met about a year ago.

And we started seeing each
other whenever she was in town.

Every other week.

I flew her out sometimes and
put her up at the Cielo Hotel.

And it ended six months ago.

I was never involved
in any of her audits

so there's no conflict of interest,
and her husband never knew.

So you were seeing Maggie while
you were still married to Estelle?

Technically, yes.

But after Estelle
filed for divorce.

Look, Estelle was already
seeing someone else.

I was pretty much
alone. As you well know.

What should I have done?
Should I just stop living?

- Is that what you think?
- She was married!

You couldn't have
found someone single?

(SIGHING)

Forget it.

Are there e-mails from
you on her computer?

Not on the government account.

I mean, did she ever check
personal mail on her encrypted laptop?

I don't know.

What?

What?

There's a female investigator
working for an intelligence agency

who was in a relationship,

who you seduced into coming
to Los Angeles on a regular basis.

It all sounds so familiar,
and yet I'm surprised.

Do you wanna talk about this?

In detail?

- Just drop it.
- 'Cause we can.

Drop it, I said.

And tell me what else you know
about the victim that can help me.

Maggie was honest.

Except about me
with her husband.

She was an honest person.
She was a relentless investigator.

She believed in
what she was doing.

Her personal life may
have been a bit of a mess,

but she was
extremely professional.

And she was stubborn
when she was right.

Which she almost always was.

Thanks.

Wait,

I know how this is going to sound,
but the outcome of this investigation,

the timing of it, could affect
my custody agreement.

My kids.

Right.

Well, I'll try to find out what happened
to Maggie before that becomes an issue.

Thank you. Look.

Yes?

I'm really sorry.

Again.

You're really sorry again.

Yes, gentlemen? What
more can I do for you today?

Maybe we weren't clear when we
said we want everything you have

on the Maggie Scott case.

You have her husband.

We're handing over
the rest of our evidence.

What more do you need?

We need the car Mrs. Scott
was driving when she crashed,

and it's not in your print shed.

Well, it's gotta be
around here somewhere.

It was certainly in no condition
to go driving off on its own.

Ma'am, you should know the
FBI issued a national security letter,

which compels you to turn over
every aspect of your case to us.

And when investigating
matters of this import,

we shouldn't even be
dealing with you at all, really,

but rather the Homicide Task Force
in your own Counterterrorism Bureau.

Wait. Okay. No problem.

- What?
- Just one moment, Chief.

If we hook you guys up

with our Counterterrorism
Bureau's Homicide Task Force,

you guys would be cool
with a joint operation?

I mean, you'd have
no more complaints?

None.

- Great. Let's do it.
- All right then. Follow me, gentlemen.

What the hell is this?

Well, you guys said you wanted to
work with the Homicide Task Force

of LAPD's
Counterterrorism Bureau.

That would be us.

Even passed our Weapons
of Mass Destruction training.

This is a bunch of crap.

Chief Johnson, this is
not what we agreed to.

Oh, I'm so sorry,
Agent Blackburn.

It's exactly what we agreed
to, but it's also not my problem.

Lieutenant Provenza and I aren't
part of the CTB's Homicide Task Force.

You'll have to address your
concerns to Lieutenant Flynn.

We want the car.

We gave you the GPS
information from the car's computer.

- We still need the car.
- What for?

BRENDA: Yoo-hoo!

This really isn't my business
anymore, but, Detective Sanchez,

do you know where these
men might find Maggie's Prius?

Well, it was probably
towed to the central garage.

I could take you guys there.

- Why don't you do that, huh?
- Sirs, don't forget your evidence.

(HAILING THEM)

Just the boxes, boys.
The cart belongs to LAPD.

Make sure you lift with
your legs. Don't hurt yourself.

Payback's a bitch, boys.

(LAUGHING)

Chief, I checked the Prius's
online service manual.

If you use a cell phone with a
Bluetooth wireless connection,

you can make
calls through the car.

Maggie's car computer
probably has a record

of numbers she
dialed and received.

That's why the
FBI wanted the car.

They can't get into Maggie's
encrypted cell phone yet either.

Well, it's our patriotic
duty to help them out.

Let's take a look.

TAO: The Prius's Bluetooth
system isn't really designed

to display the information
without the menu.

We tinkered around a little,
and we found the phone numbers.

And here they are in order.

And the last call
Maggie Scott received

came from Joe White,
the CFO of Civil Audio.

Right after that, she punched in the
address of where we found her body.

So while I'm looking into
Mr. Hanson's finances...

Yes, thank you, Detective
Daniels. Please look into Mr. White's.

Hey, I knew Joe White
when he was on the job.

There's no way he'd
murder anyone. It's ridiculous.

Yeah, Joe was a bit of a
player when he was around here.

Maybe he and Maggie
were doing the big nasty,

and she was gonna tell his wife.

FLYNN: You think White
would try to take somebody out

with a can of pepper
spray? Come on.

(BRENDA GROANING)

You can't keep doing this.

- Doing what?
- Being angry at me.

You insisted, insisted,
I get the FBI involved.

(GROANS)

- I'm not angry.
- So what is this,

so I recognize the
mood when I see it again.

It's disappointment.

You knew what would happen when
you called your buddies at the FBI

and you didn't tell me.

I'm a little let down, frankly.

I told you the request was a bad
idea. You demanded I do it anyway.

And then you hung up on
me before I could explain.

And you're saying
I let you down?

Well, just be aware
most of the time,

- I'm never gonna ask your help again.
- Oh, well, fine.

You know, that is fine because
what happened here, in reality,

is you confided in me and I tried
to do something about your problem

and apparently I
just made it worse.

That's exactly what happened.

You tried to help me and
you only made it worse.

Let's see if I can't provide that
same kind of help to the FBI.

FRITZ: Don't scratch.

(SIGHS)

As CFO of Civil Audio,

Joseph White pulls in
nearly $500,000 a year.

That's a lot of radios, Chief.

A ton more cash than
he was making here.

But his new residence cost three
times as much as he got for his condo,

which, for the record, is two blocks
away from the scene of the accident,

right above Academy Road.

He knew the area well.

Joe White paid $1.5
million for this house?

How are we ever gonna be
able to afford a new house?

How?

And for the past two years,
Mr. White has been spending

more than double his declared income
without incurring any obvious debt.

It's like he's pulling money
from someplace off the books.

He did, however, cancel a charge
to his contractor four days ago.

He was complaining about them
going over budget on the remodel.

But there were construction
workers in his backyard yesterday.

Because Saturday morning,
the charges were reauthorized,

provided that the
contractor would guarantee

everything would be
finished in three weeks.

PROVENZA: So, timeline.

Maggie Scott drops by Joe
White's office at Civil Audio.

Tells Joe that his accounting
doesn't quite add up.

That night, Maggie flies off a
cliff. And Joe continues his remodel.

(SINGING)

FLYNN: Sing whatever
song you want.

I still don't believe Joe White would have
anything to do with something like this.

He was building a pool, didn't
wanna disappoint the family.

And what about Jim Hanson,
our Fiscal Operations Director?

His divorce left him
strapped for cash.

Almost maxed out on
all of his credit cards.

But his personal
investments seem solid.

Detective Sanchez, where did you last
see Special Agents Blackburn and Horlacher?

They were checking
our impound facilities.

But I had the car moved
again a few hours ago.

- They'll never find it.
- Excellent.

Lieutenant Flynn,
please call our FBI friends

and tell them what we've
discovered about Joe White.

Chief, we share our
information with the FBI,

they're likely to take
matters into their own hands,

and make our situation worse.

That is the established
pattern, Lieutenant.

Let's hope it holds
on for another day.

Gentlemen! Gentlemen!

Gentlemen, I have to ask
you to wait! Excuse me!

You cannot take White away
like this! We called you, remember?

Not now, Sergeant. We're
questioning Mr. White today.

- Could be you'll have a crack at him later.
- We agreed to share our information.

All right, just for you.

Mr. White here seems to have
faked Civil Audio's invoices to police

and fire departments all
through the Southwest,

adding on a little surcharge for every
radio he sold and keeping it for himself.

And the victim
knew all about it.

Let's hit it.

Chief, where are you going?

Hopefully I'm gonna find out

where Maggie's encrypted
cell phone and computer are.

(DOORBELL RINGS)

This is all a terrible mistake!

Joe would never kill anyone
except maybe in self-defense.

- He was a police officer.
- And our accident investigators agree.

Mrs. White, they say Maggie
Scott drove straight over that cliff.

Oh, you have to tell
that to the FBI. Please!

Oh, I will, I will.

But what I was wondering is why
you didn't just tell them that yourself?

- Tell them what?
- That you were there.

That you witnessed the accident.

- But I wasn't there.
- Mrs. White, I'm not gonna lie to you.

Leaving the scene of
an accident is punishable

by six months in
prison or a $10,000 fine.

Before we talk about it, I
should inform you of your rights.

GABRIEL: Susan White, you
have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.

You have the
right to an attorney.

If you cannot afford an attorney, one
will be appointed to you by the state.

Have you heard and
understood these rights?

Yes.

Now, if you really want
to help your husband...

- I do. Of course I do.
- Then you're gonna have to fess up.

Because I know you
that you were there

when Maggie Scott
drove herself off that cliff.

Why do you think that?

Because the last call she
received was from this house.

And immediately
following the phone call,

she punched in an address to
the GPS system on her Prius.

An address only four
blocks from the condo

where you and Joe used to live.

She...

She drove there for a
spur-of-the-moment meeting of some kind.

Now, I don't think she
would've agreed to that,

to meet alone, at night, in a
deserted corner of the world

with anyone she was about
to accuse of embezzlement.

Now, if I'm wrong,
Mrs. White, just tell me.

If it was your husband she
was meeting with, and not you,

if our accident investigators
made a mistake.

No. No.

Listen, let me just explain. What
Joe did was not embezzlement.

At all.

He borrowed a
little bit of money

because we went so far
over budget with this remodel.

Our contractor lied to us about
what everything would cost.

And we have this adjustable mortgage,
and the payments have skyrocketed.

We put everything we
have into this house.

Joe was just trying to keep
us from losing our life savings.

And I wanted Mrs.
Scott to know that.

That sounds reasonable. And so
you wanted to explain that to her.

So I called her. And I
told her where to meet me.

I said I had some information
she needed for her audit.

I was waiting for her
when she drove up.

She rolled down the window
without turning off her engine.

I told her, I said, if she
would just give us a month,

Joe would make things right.

That he would flip the house and
put all the money he borrowed back.

- With interest.
- And she agreed?

No. She didn't. She
said Joe would go to jail.

She said she was going to report
him, that she was just following orders.

I argued with her,
and she got really mad.

And she drove off and missed the
turn, and drove over the side of the cliff.

(EXCLAIMS)

I was just so upset, I got back
into my car and I drove away.

Yeah, but you know, you
could've called someone

and waited for them
to arrive, ma'am.

I know I should have. I know.

But it was dark.
And I was afraid.

And I'm sorry. I'm
so, so, so, sorry.

So sorry that you got in touch with
your contractor the very next morning,

and told him to have his workers
finish up the remodel on your house?

You... Listen! I was just making
the best of a terrible situation.

I thought if we could get
the house in shape to sell,

Joe had time to repay the money.

Which is what I told that
woman we wanted to do,

but she wouldn't listen.
She refused to listen.

Well, that might've been
because of the pepper spray

that you spewed
all over her face.

GABRIEL: That's a report from
our Scientific Investigation Division

and the LA County
coroner's office,

documenting that there was
pepper spray on the victim's face

and the steering
wheel of her car.

Which is another reason I knew
that it was you that called Maggie

and not your husband.

- Because the attack was so inept...
- There was no attack!

That woman, she...

She reached through the
window, grabbed me by the arm,

and tried to drag
me along the road.

She must've given your arm quite
a bruise. Could I see that, please?

No?

That makes me wonder, Mrs. White.
What else do you have up your sleeve?

It's been awfully hot here lately.
Your husband's in shorts and a t-shirt.

Sergeant Gabriel here took his
jacket off the moment we sat down

and yet here you are,
all covered up head to toe.

That is exactly the type of rash
I'd expect to see on someone

who was begging for mercy
with a can of pepper spray.

You may notice that I have
got a similar rash on my legs.

Only like you, I didn't
get anything on my hands.

That's because we
were both wearing gloves,

though for different reasons,

when we were standing in the
poison oak over Maggie Scott's body.

She didn't die in
that crash, did she?

- (SOBBING) No.
- No.

She pulled herself up out of
that car, and crying for help,

crawled her way
back up to the road.

She had a husband and a daughter.
And she was trying to see them again.

She was doing everything she
could to try and see them again,

- but you wouldn't let her!
- Don't! Please stop!

Please stop? Is that
what Maggie said?

As you hiked down the side of the
hill and beat her with a tree branch?

Was she begging you to stop before
you crushed her skull in with a rock,

and then left her body to
be torn apart by coyotes?

Please stop? It was far
too late for "please stop."

I was only trying
to help my husband.

Let's skip the part where
you try to explain yourself.

I just don't have the
stomach for it today.

Because there's something
else I need to know, Mrs. White.

The whereabouts of an encrypted
cell phone and a computer.

And it is something I
really need to know.

Mmm. That smells good.

For all your help. Even
without trying, you always do.

Still, nobody knows who Maggie was
seeing all those times she came to LA.

Yeah, well, some secrets
are best taken to the grave.

Oh, speaking of Maggie,

here are her computer
and cell phone.

I don't know which is which.

Maybe you could hand them over
to Agent Blackburn with my regards.

Where did you find them?

Susan White smashed them to
bits and put them in a dumpster

behind a nearby Home Depot.

Along with the can
of pepper spray.

Nice. Got another little baggie
in there with Maggie's Prius in it?

I'm sure it'll turn
up by and by.

The feds will take the residence,
and after we sue Civil Audio,

our money problems will go
from terminal to merely bad.

Well, sir, if I might
offer a suggestion,

being that it was Priority
Homicide that cracked the case...

Actually, this is the first arrest of
our new CTB Homicide Task Force.

- So congratulations.
- Yeah, thank you, sir.

I was wondering if maybe some
of the money could be applied

to Priority Homicide's budget.

I mean, the idea of losing
personnel at this phase is just...

Oh, no.

Well, that's not my car.

No, sir, it's not.

Sergeant, where is my car?

Well, sir, I think in an effort to
maintain access to the vehicle

and other evidence
pertaining to the murder,

someone must've thought
that your parking space...

You're just making all of this
up off the top of your head, right?

I am, sir. I don't know how this
happened. This is terrible. I...

- Sergeant, go find my car.
- I'm finding it right now, sir.

Thank you.

English -SDH