The Closer (2005–2012): Season 3, Episode 5 - The Round File - full transcript

It's exactly as I described
it to you. Gary doesn't lie.

Intimate, but not small. Check.

Character. Double check.

You see, Gary doesn't lie.

And the best part?

I've been working the owner
for months, convincing her to sell.

You're getting it first. It's
not even on the market yet.

So, you like?

The house? Yes. Gary? Maybe not.

- Good morning, everyone.
- Hey, hello, Doris.

I want you to meet your
first potential buyers.



Fritz and Brenda.

Thank you for coming. Would
anyone like a freshly-baked cookie?

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

It's so homey here. I'm
surprised you want to leave.

Well, I don't really.

No, I put it on the market last
summer, and then I changed my mind.

But the house has
gone up in value so much

that everybody thinks I
should take the money and run.

- More coffee?
- No. I think that...

- Yes, please.
- Okay.

You know, we raised
three children in this house.

My husband, Tom, he put
those cabinets in himself.

- More coffee?
- Yes, thank you.

Hey, we can rip
those out, no problem.



Goodness! More company!

Deputy Chief Johnson.

Thought you said this
place wasn't listed yet.

It's not supposed to be.

Yes, Lieutenant, what is it?

Someone back at my office must've
noticed it was back on the market.

Why, what happened?

He's how old?

Oh, for heaven's sake.

No, no, I'll be right
there. Thank you.

- What if we wanted to make an offer?
- What?

Hey, Chief, fax for you.

- Rules of escrow?
- Thank you!

So, this guy was pushing around
some sick, old man in a wheelchair

near Hollywood Boulevard.

A tourist finally gave him
a cell phone to call 911.

But by the time the paramedics got
there, the guy in the wheelchair was dead.

Which might have
been the end of it...

Except our elderly gentleman
here claimed he murdered the victim.

- Ten to one, here's what happened.
- My heart.

Help! Help!

And then Hollywood
Division pushed them our way,

so that they could
enjoy their Sunday.

They're just following
the rules, Chief.

The thing is our old guy claims to have
killed six other people the same way.

- And how did he do that?
- He won't say.

He won't tell us
his name either.

He didn't have any ID on him,
and neither did the dead guy.

All right.

Okay, if I can determine
that this man's delusional,

that he belongs to the
mental evaluation unit,

then we can all go home
and save on overtime.

In the meantime...

Detective Daniels and Sanchez,
please take a peek at missing persons.

See if anyone is looking
for two nameless old men.

Lieutenant Provenza,

please make sure that our victim
is on a gurney at the morgue.

And Lieutenant Tao,

if you wouldn't
mind sending this fax

to the number on the coversheet,

it's some thingy for
my real estate agent.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Good morning, sir. I'm Deputy
Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson.

Could you please tell me your name?
How about the name of the man who died?

I murdered him. And the
others. I killed them all.

And how did you do that?

Poison.

You know that you poisoned
a total of seven people,

but you don't know your name.

Who says I don't know my name?

A Deputy Chief, eh?
That's pretty impressive.

There's, what, 12 of you
in the whole department?

Sir, there are several
inconsistencies to your story.

I actually remember that
Detective Provenza guy

who put me in here.

He was a highly
motivated young man.

- Bet your sweet ass I was.
- Have you been arrested before?

I spent some time here
when I was younger.

What is it about my
story that's inconsistent?

Well, you claim you tried to poison
someone, and yet you called 911.

If you were you really were trying to
murder someone, why call for help?

Well, I wanted to see what
it was like. Dying, you know?

I didn't watch the others. But it
went on too long and I chickened out.

All right, sir. I'm afraid that
you might not be competent

- to speak on your own behalf.
- You're worried about my sanity.

I've a right to remain silent,
anything I say can and will be used

- against me in a court of law.
- Sir...

I have a right to an attorney.
If I cannot afford one,

- etcetera, etcetera. Blah, blah, blah.
- Sir.

Look, let me make
something completely clear.

I do not want a
lawyer. Understood?

And if you don't know how to assemble
your case, let me give you a little hint.

Bernard Kaplan.

- Is that your name?
- No, it's the name of your dead John Doe.

And I'll trade you the names
of the other six people I killed

if you'll give me
something to eat.

Names. Please.

Lieutenant Provenza, I'm
almost afraid to ask you this.

Do you remember
anything about this old man?

If you twisted my arm, I'd say
he looks familiar. That's about it.

Chief, I ran

Rumple's prints through AFIS
along with Bernard Kaplan.

No hits on either man.

Tao,

- what's a "Rumplestiltskin"?
- It's a fairytale.

There's this old dwarf won't
tell the Queen his name,

and she has to
guess it in order to...

Well, if Rumplestiltskin has
wandered away from home,

it's been less than 24 hours.

Missing persons hasn't
generated a report yet.

All right. Sergeant Gabriel, let's
head over to the Coroner's Office.

Maybe we can get
some death certificates.

Chief,

I can go to the morgue
with you. We'll sort this out.

Oh, Chief, this fax didn't
quite make it through.

I called the service guy. He's supposed
to be here tomorrow morning, 11.00 a.m.

Lieutenant Tao, thank you. I'll find
another fax machine along the way.

Gabriel came off suspension Friday night.
Why don't you give him a call to come in?

Yeah, but we'll be done with
this before he even gets here.

Would you just do it, Flynn?
God, you're a pain in the ass.

Let me guess. Natural causes?

If we were guessing,

I wouldn't be cutting the old guy
open and pulling out his intestines.

I'd still be at brunch. With
my friends. Having a mimosa.

Well, Dr. Morales, I'm so
sorry to interrupt your Sunday,

but it's important to establish that
Mr. Kaplan here is not a homicide victim.

Well, you better wipe off
your crystal ball, honey,

because this guessing
thing isn't working for you.

Mr. Kaplan was murdered?

You see this nasty irritation
along the esophagus?

Some hemorrhaging,
too. There and there.

- And the stomach was pretty torn up.
- Which means?

Violent vomiting before death.

Even in advance of a
tox screen, I'd say poison.

All the offices with the fax machines were
closed, Chief, so no luck sending this.

- Shoot.
- But

I did dig up six
death certificates.

One for each name
that the old man gave us.

Now, they all died within
the last year. And get this.

They all lived at a place called the
Summerview Senior Living Center.

Now, while the certificates indicate
that they died of natural causes,

they're all signed by
the same physician.

All right, Mr. Stiltskin, I'm
not ignoring you anymore.

Thank you so much.

Just work!

- What are you doing here?
- You mean in my office?

Oh, sorry...

You're holding a
delusional old man

in an interview room
on a Sunday afternoon.

Yeah, I know that. You're
wrapping that up, right?

- Sending everybody home until tomorrow?
- Not exactly.

Look, it's irritating, I know.

But as it turns out, the dead
guy actually was poisoned,

which means that we have
six more potential victims.

So get the death certificates.
That'll have a cause of death.

We did that. They all
supposedly died of natural causes.

But each death certificate
was signed by the same doctor.

And when a doctor signs
off on a death certificate...

No autopsy. Oh, my God, Brenda.

Tell me you didn't just fax orders
for the exhumation of six bodies.

Okay, I didn't.

I just faxed the offer. I have
the confirmation in my hand.

Well, nothing has come
through. Can you just do it again?

Gary says Doris could get another
offer any minute. And Gary doesn't lie.

- It's there in the machine.
- It's not.

All right. I'll try and send it
again later. For heaven's sakes.

Oh, Chief, if you could believe it,
six of the dead bodies were cremated.

Track down the ashes.

Any family members give
you a problem, get a warrant.

Lieutenant Tao, are we signed
to search the nursing home?

Not quite. The judge wants us to specify
the room numbers we want to look at.

We have determined, that
the six people you named

are, in fact, deceased.

And that they all lived at the same
nursing home prior to their deaths.

Congratulations, young lady, you're
that much closer to finding out who I am.

And that much closer to
treating you like a murderer,

which seems to be what you want.

Now, I have a warrant to
search Mr. Kaplan's room,

but I need a room number.

308.

Might you have a room
at this facility as well?

Find out for yourself.

Say cheese.

Thank you.

- Oh. Hi.
- Sergeant Gabriel.

What are you doing here? I thought
you weren't coming back until tomorrow.

I spoke to Daniels and she
said the squad was on call,

and my suspension was up Friday,

- and I think this fax came for you.
- Oh, shoot. I faxed myself.

Chief, nursing home awaits.

Yes, thank you, I just
need to send a fax.

Sergeant Gabriel,

if you could please baby-sit
the suspect while I'm gone.

Thank you.

And there's no need to beat
information out of this old man.

He's been
confessing all morning.

Can you sign these, please?

I did sign them. I faxed
them to you before I left.

You faxed me your warrant.

Which is how I knew
where to find you.

Oh, I'm...

Oh, I'm sorry.

Look. I'm dealing with a
potential serial killer here, okay?

A vicious murderer.

Named Rumplestiltskin. Yes,
I know. Here, just sign. Please.

Hi, there. I'm Nurse Stiles.
You must be here for a tour.

- Oh, pardon me.
- Hi, I'm Nurse Townsend. How can I help?

Is Bernard Kaplan
a resident here?

Oh, my, I reported him
missing today. Is he okay?

When did you notice he was gone?

Early morning. I was
just finished my rounds,

and I noticed Mr. Kaplan and
Mr. Baxter's rooms were empty.

Is this Mr. Baxter?

Yes, it is. Donald Baxter.
Are he and Mr. Kaplan okay?

- Mr. Baxter's room number, please?
- 309.

- Should I call the manager?
- You can if you'd like.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

You've gotta sign
the visitors' book.

There's nothing in
Kaplan's room, Chief.

- Thank you.
- It kills me.

White people pay all this money to
store their families in places like this.

We throw some carpet in the
garage, everyone's welcome.

Looking at these pictures, it doesn't
look like Mr. Baxter has any family at all.

There's all kinds of research
on poisons here, Chief.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. I
do recognize him.

Yeah, Baxter. Donald Baxter.

He had the police beat on the newspaper
when I was first starting out, Chief.

How did he end up here?

Don't worry, Lieutenant,
I'll come visit you.

Excuse me? Who's in charge here?

Deputy Chief Brenda
Leigh Johnson. And you are?

Judd Whaley. I'm the manager and
I really would have preferred some

forewarning about
your visit here.

Well, I'm sorry about that,

but when we call ahead to
execute a search warrant,

we often find no one's home.

- Excuse me, step back please, sir.
- Are Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Baxter okay?

- Mr. Kaplan is dead...
- How?

- And Mr. Baxter is in custody.
- Oh, my!

- Why is Mr. Baxter in custody?
- He claims to have poisoned Mr. Kaplan.

Oh, my God.

But...

Look, Mr. Baxter can be
troublesome, a little paranoid at times,

but he and Mr. Kaplan
were friends.

Paranoid. In what way?

Another one of his friends
passed away several months ago,

and Mr. Baxter
took it very hard.

He suffered what our doctor
diagnosed as a psychotic break.

And so, occasionally, Mr. Baxter
makes crazy accusations.

Like what?

Silly things. Like claiming
that the staff is spying on him.

Dr. Reisen put him on Haldol, an
antipsychotic, and all indications...

Are these Dr. Reisen's signatures
on all these death certificates?

Yes, they are.

Because if these six people were
poisoned as Mr. Baxter claims,

and Dr. Reisen
misdiagnosed them...

Nobody is poisoning people here.

Not Mr. Baxter and certainly
no one on Summerview staff.

Well, as it so happens, Mr. Kaplan's
body does show signs of poisoning.

What?

My God.

Do you think Mr. Baxter poisoned
someone to prove a point?

As crazy as that may sound,
we can't take the chance.

I'm afraid we can't allow
Mr. Baxter to return to Summerview.

It's simply not safe for
the rest of our senior family.

Also, as a matter of procedure,

I'm going to have to treat these
six other deaths as murders

until I can determine otherwise.

No, hold on. We run one of
the finest facilities in the country.

Check our records, our
reputation, whatever it takes...

Chief, you need
to see something.

Mr. Whaley, we will certainly
take you up on your offer.

That's my Haldol.

Aren't you supposed to
be taking this medication

on a daily basis, Mr. Baxter?

Yes,

it's supposed to treat my
so-called paranoid delusions.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work
so well since I never took it.

So, now you're ready to believe

maybe I really did murder
those seven people?

I'm starting to, yes.

Then I'd like to
withdraw my confession.

Mr. Baxter, you understand it's
a little hard to take you seriously.

Especially since you've quit
your meds and are most likely

suffering from
psychotic delusions.

The nursing home was
using those pills to shut me up

because I know what's going
on. I know they're killing people.

Well, you do sound
a little paranoid.

Yeah, you see how that works?

I know something
bad is going on,

so they say I'm delusional
and give me pills,

drugs, to try and keep me quiet,

knowing that if I stop taking
the drugs and speak up,

I'm gonna sound crazy.

Why did you first tell us that it
was you who killed those people?

It was the only way I
could get you to listen to me.

And if it comes down to it,

I'd rather go to prison
than back to that home.

But you could've
just filed a complaint.

I did file a complaint
with the police.

But no one took me
seriously until now.

I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful before,
but I needed to know I could trust you.

And I needed you to believe
that murders had been committed.

Murders for which you are
still the most likely suspect.

Bernie was my last best
friend. Why would I kill him?

Well, if I'm to believe
the medical professionals,

it's because you're
out of your mind!

And when I asked you why
you poisoned Mr. Kaplan,

you said it was
to watch him die.

- Now, that's just crazy!
- Exactly!

All right, for the
sake of argument,

what motive drove Summerview to
murder seven of its paying customers?

The customers weren't
paying enough. Look into it.

You'll find that each of the victims
had recently run out of money

and had to go on Medicaid.

It's a massive loss of
income for Summerview.

Doesn't sound insane to me.

In your room, we found research
materials on various poisons.

I was trying to find out
how they were killing us off.

I knew it was poison because so
many of my friends got sick so suddenly.

But when poor Bernie
came down with the same...

I just wanted to try
to get him some help.

Why didn't you call family?
Someone to take you to a hospital?

I don't have any family left, and
you can forget going to Dr. Reisen

or Nurse Townsend for help.

For all I know, one of
them was responsible.

Got the tox screen
back for Bernie Kaplan.

- Positive for arsenic.
- Arsenic.

Chief, we picked up Nurse
Townsend. She's on her way.

We're still looking
into this Dr. Reisen.

And...

Commander Taylor said he's checking into
Baxter's claim that he filed a complaint.

Thank you, Sergeant.

These files the manager gave us?

I looked into Summerview's
financial records for all seven victims,

and Baxter was right.

They were all on
Medicaid. Only problem?

There are currently 11 other
residents at Summerview

who are also on Medicaid.

Several of them for years.

So much for Mr. Baxter's
theory. Anything else?

Summerview seems
like a really efficient place.

Winner of several awards,
commendations and monthly bonuses,

all based on occupancy.

So it's hard to see why they'd
be killing off their customers.

Okay, cremated remains
for five of the vics.

- What happened to number six?
- Family lost him in a move.

This is Joyce Robinson.

Her daughter said she never
got around to getting a proper urn.

- Marilyn Roberts. Her niece says...
- Yeah, I get the picture.

Someone's family cared.

Wanna look a little more
closely at the name, Chief?

Scrappy.

They put Mom's
ashes in the dog's urn.

It's not funny, Flynn.

How nice to see everybody
spending time together off the clock.

This is some kind of team morale-building
exercise or something, right?

Well, actually, Chief Pope, we may
be looking at some overtime here,

- and I'm sorry about that.
- No.

No overtime, period.

And as for your suspect,

either charge him,
or send him home.

'Cause I'm not paying for
him to spend the night here.

I'm also not shelling out thousands
of dollars for you to exhume

six dead bodies, based on
the word of a senile old man.

Okay? So forget about that.

Good night. Bye. Let's go.

Wait. Just... Just a second.

Just one second.

How about this? Sign off on
our overtime today and I promise

I won't dig up any of
those other dead bodies.

We'll just find some other
way to solve this thing.

Deal.

But I'm holding you to that.

Oh, and here, I almost forgot.

A counteroffer on a house that
you are apparently bidding on

was faxed to my office.

It looks like it's more
than the asking price.

What?

Chief, what would you like
me to do with these? I mean...

They're obviously a dead end.

Lieutenant Tao, isn't
arsenic a heavy metal?

Which means it would show up on
a chem screen of cremated remains.

Right. So have those ashes
analyzed ASAP, please. Thank you.

Chief, got a minute?

Seems the old guy did try
reaching out to us for help.

Thank you.

"After receiving numerous
letters to the department,

"Detective Gordon was dispatched to
question the complainant, Donald Baxter."

According to that report, Gordon
found Baxter uncooperative.

In fact, the old guy was more interested
in asking questions than answering them.

Seemed like a crank.

So Detective Gordon dumped
his complaint in the round file.

- I'm sorry, the round file?
- The trash.

But you know what, Chief? We
get this kind of stuff all the time.

It's hard enough staying
on top of the crimes we find,

much less the ones
people make up.

- And the guy was, come on, you know...
- I know exactly what happened.

Mr. Baxter's old and difficult.

And because of that, he
was dismissed out of hand.

And I know that
that's what happened

because it's exactly what I've
been trying to do to him myself.

But we didn't just dump
a complaint in the trash,

a few more human
beings went with it.

Thank you.

- Were you close with Mr. Kaplan?
- I am close with all our residents.

So you remember
these folks then?

Oh, Mrs. Roberts, she was a sweet lady.
She always talked about her late husband.

She used to say he
had a great head of hair.

And then she started to
forget she'd ever been married.

Poor Mr. Hepfner,

after his daughter passed
away, he just sat and stared

out the window for a
whole year before he died.

- You cared about them.
- Yes, that's my job.

Getting old is scary.

Some of our residents lose
everything. Family. Friends. Money.

They run out of life
before they run out of time.

Did any of these people
seem sick before they died?

Yes. They all had the same
disease. It's called old age.

Listen. People die at Summerview.
We don't jump to murder as the cause.

- Who has access to their drugs?
- The nursing staff.

And the doctor. Dr. Reisen?
Do you know where he is?

I've tried to contact him.

On vacation. Hawaii
for a week with his wife.

Oh, you don't think... Dr. Reisen had
nothing to do with the day-to-day care.

- I supervise the meds.
- Any chance drugs get mixed up?

We do our very
best, Miss Johnson,

with patients who forget to take
their meds, misplace their pills

and sometimes
simply won't cooperate.

Do you think that Mr. Baxter
poisoned Mr. Kaplan himself?

I really don't know.

Whatever Mr. Baxter's claiming,

this nonsense that we had
something to do with it, that's not true.

Mr. Baxter burned his bridges
with Summerview and with his son.

- Wait, wait, his son?
- Yes.

Would you like to
have a seat, sir?

- Is my father dead?
- No, he's not.

Thank God.

So what, is he absent
without leave again?

You need me to take him
back to the nursing home?

Actually, Summerview is
refusing to take your father back.

He's made some accusations
towards the staff regarding...

Oh, no, this isn't about the
poisoning thing again, is it?

Listen. It's nothing. Dad
used to be a reporter.

He's just desperate for
one more story, that's all.

Well, some of that
story seems to be true.

Several people at Summerview
may have been slipped some arsenic.

Seriously?

- Wait. Is Dad under arrest?
- Should he be?

Of course not. Look.
He's a nuisance, that's all.

He spent his entire career
questioning people. It's who he is.

- Are you close to your father?
- Why?

You're not, like, suggesting I should
take him home with me, are you?

'Cause I know it sounds cold,
but my life is just not conducive

to dealing with his
baggage right now.

- And when is it conducive?
- Excuse me?

According to Summerview's visitors' log,
which everyone has to sign in to enter,

you haven't dropped by to
see your father in over a year.

And I was wondering if
there was some reason...

What's it to you
when I see my Dad?

I got three kids,
an ex-wife in rehab,

and last time I had the
old guy over for dinner,

he got my eleven-year-old
son to help him get online

to find pictures of people
who'd died from cyanide.

- I don't need that kind of crap in my life.
- Look,

I was only asking
about your father

to see if you had some
reason to be afraid of him.

Afraid of him? I
hardly know him, okay?

He spent my entire childhood
chasing after newspaper headlines.

Look, I got by without him then,
he can get by without me now.

Speaking of which, I need to go.
I left my kids with the babysitter.

Excuse me.

Your dad's here.

Would you like to pop your head in
and say hello before you head out?

Maybe some other time.

I guess Mr. Baxter was
right. He has no family.

So what do you do if you run out
of friends, and family, and money?

It's a reason to kill yourself.

But is it a motive for murder?

Look, Chief,

unless you're going to
book the miserable old guy,

I could take him home with
me for the night. It's no problem.

Your call.

Treat him like a witness,
but watch him like a killer.

Let me tell you something,
I know women like Doris.

She's emotionally
attached to the house.

So, a situation like this, you
have got to do everything you can

to sell her on who you are.

So, in the letter that you
write with the new offer,

you don't just raise the price a little bit,
you talk about the two of you as a couple.

How you see yourselves
living in the house,

raising a family
just like she did.

You even throw in
a picture of the cat.

And you offer to help her out on the terms.
She will jump all over it, all right?

- Trust me. Gary doesn't lie.
- We help her out on terms?

All right, look, escrow's
one to two months.

Today's the sixth. You give
our old lady a twenty-day escrow.

End of the month, Doris has
your money in her hot little hands.

- And so do you, right?
- Excuse me?

You move another house,
especially from someone you listed,

and you get cash coming
and going. Isn't that right?

I don't know, maybe you had
to move another unit or two

by the end of the
month to hit your bonus.

Is that it?

That's got nothing to do with
anything. Please. Gary doesn't lie.

What? What? Where you going?

It's not just the visitors' log.
It's the dates. It's the dates!

Detective Sanchez, may I see
those death certificates again please?

Thank you.

Detective Daniels, were you able to
track down that manager at Summerview?

- Judd Whaley. He's on his way.
- Good.

Lieutenant Flynn, if you wouldn't
mind asking Lieutenant Provenza

- to bring the suspect back in, please.
- I'm on it, Chief.

- Has anyone seen Lieutenant Tao?
- Got the chem results on those ashes.

- You're gonna want to take a look.
- I will, thank you.

Detective Daniels,
if you would please,

bring Sergeant Gabriel up to speed
on Summerview's financials. Thank you.

Sleep with one eye open?

Well, he had me up all
hours playing Yahtzee.

- He's a freak for the dice.
- Really? Who won?

What's Whaley doing here?

We just have a few things
to clear up, Mr. Baxter.

- He'll accuse me of everything.
- Well, we'll see about that, won't we?

Buzz, would you please give me
one of your legal pads? Thank you.

You keep insisting there's a
story here. You're the reporter.

Listen to what Mr. Whaley
has to say. Write it all down.

And I'll be back to talk
with you in a minute.

- You ready, Sergeant?
- Yes, ma'am. Completely ready.

Mr. Whaley, thank you
so much for coming in.

- Certainly.
- Why don't you have a seat?

The reason I called you in is

I think it would be in everyone's best
interest if you were to allow Mr. Baxter

back into your
facility for a while.

- Are you serious?
- What's she doing? I can't go back there.

- We need to hear this.
- He really has nowhere else to go.

- His family...
- Look, Miss Johnson.

There are other patients in our care,
and if Mr. Baxter was poisoning people,

well, for one thing,
it's a liability nightmare.

I certainly understand
your concern, Mr. Whaley,

especially since Summerview
has quite a reputation to uphold.

Two awards for state
excellence, three commendations

by the California Seniors
Association, and eight bonuses,

based upon your occupancy
within the last year alone.

All this while coping with the
extreme loneliness of your residents,

which is something that Mr. Baxter
had in common with the seven people

he claims were murdered.

And I've noticed that not only
had our victims run out of money,

but they had also,
according to your visitors' log,

exhausted their
supply of guests.

No one came to see them anymore.

That happens to many
more of our residents

than one might like to believe.

Well, here's something
a bit more unusual.

This is all that's left
of five of our victims.

The sixth was lost
in the family move.

This is a testament to how
badly they were ignored.

Odd, isn't it? People who have
guests, live. People who don't, die.

Well, the effect of our
emotions on the physical body

is still a mysterious process.

But believe it or not, some of these
people likely passed away from depression.

I believe not, Mr. Whaley, but
then I have an advantage over you.

Because you can test for
arsenic in cremated remains.

And what we have here are
five containers of poisonous ash.

My God.

Oh, but you would never
ask us to take Mr. Baxter back

if you thought he was
responsible for this.

No, I wouldn't. But I don't
think Mr. Baxter is responsible

because he doesn't
have a motive.

What he does have is a lawsuit.

Because he brought these
poisonings to Summerview's attention,

and you attempted to drug
him with antipsychotics.

Well, that was
Dr. Reisen's diagnosis.

I don't prescribe drugs. I'm
not a doctor. I'm the manager.

The manager who collected the
bonuses, based on how many rooms

are occupied during the
first five days of every month.

Can you see a pattern
developing here, sir?

You see, it's really
quite remarkable

because all of your
abandoned Medicaid patients,

they all died in the fourth
week of every month.

Giving you time to
rebook their rooms

with full paying clients
from your waiting list.

Why would I do that?

Well, according to your files,

every month that Summerview
has an occupancy rate below...

Three percent, you collect a $2,500
bonus. You had eight of them last year.

Now, I'm thinking that
maybe you got lucky

and someone died
naturally on your timetable,

but still, you poisoned seven
people for under $20,000.

Sergeant?

Mr. Whaley, you have
the right to remain silent.

- Anything you say...
- She's good.

- Can and will be used against you.
- Yeah, she's all right, I guess.

- If you cannot afford an attorney...
- I taught her most of it.

One will be appointed
to you by the State.

You've heard and
understood these rights?

You're misrepresenting
everything.

We have warrants out as we
speak to search your home,

your office and your car.

All I have to do
is find the arsenic.

Just one little package of Rough on Rats
and it's going to look very bad for you.

Mr. Whaley, absent
your explanation,

I'm going to have to arrest
you on seven counts of murder

in the first degree,

which is a very different
crime from mercy killings.

You know, Nurse Townsend told us
that these people were sick and unhappy.

It must've been very hard to
watch them suffer day after day.

They wanted to die.

There was no quality of life
for these people, Miss Johnson.

Three of them had a form of
dementia and nowhere to go.

Mr. Kaplan, well, he was suffering
from congestive heart disease.

And if you'll just pause
and reflect for a moment.

By controlling the schedule of
when these poor people expired,

which is all I ever did, making sure they
didn't die between the first and the fifth,

which would have been
pointless, by managing their deaths,

I was able to maximize the value
of their passing by creating room

for people who could better
benefit from our service.

People with larger
bank accounts.

Look, I'm not the person who
turned old age into a business.

And honestly, the bonuses I received,
as you pointed out, were very small.

Mr. Whaley, you
poisoned these people.

Well, that's one way of looking
at it. Yes. But really, who cares?

Their families obviously don't.
These old people were dead already.

All I did was make it official.

And by doing it my way,
everybody got what they wanted.

So, I repeat, who cares?

Unfortunately for
you, Mr. Baxter.

Well, you have a point
there. So, how about this?

I will refrain from
expediting the terminal phase

of any future resident's
stay at Summerview,

and Mr. Baxter can come back and
stay with us for as long as he likes.

And if he agrees not to sue,
we'll give him a year for free.

While that is a very
generous offer, Mr. Whaley,

I'm afraid the state of California
would reduce my efficiency rating

if I didn't arrest you on seven
counts of murder in the first degree.

- Which is what I'm doing right now.
- What?

Why are you... I
just explained to you.

Now, now, hold on one moment!

I thought you said mercy
killing and first degree murder

were very different crimes.

They are. But the punishment
for both is exactly the same.

Are you actually talking
about putting me in prison?

Don't worry, it's not that
different from Summerview, really.

You have to sign
in to visit people.

Friends and relatives
tend to forget you exist.

And at some point, the state of California
might just put you out of your misery.

Well, I certainly
don't deserve this.

You're right, Mr. Whaley.

Unfortunately, it's the
worst I can do to you.

- Did you write it all down?
- Well, you gave me an exclusive.

I didn't know if I had
another story in me.

At least, this way, people will
read Bernie's obituary, won't they?

Well, I'm sure they
will, Mr. Baxter.

Would you like us to arrange
someplace for you to go?

Or would you like
money for a hotel room?

Well, really I was hoping I
could go back to Summerview.

- What?
- Well, I don't have to worry

about being poisoned anymore.

And it really is the only
home I have, Miss Johnson.

Oh.

And the Summerview
Senior Living Corporation

just might feel some
sense of financial obligation.

I could wind up living there
scot-free till the day I die.

The golden years.

Rent-free for the first
time since I sold my house.

House. Oh, my. I almost forgot.

- Lieutenant Provenza...
- I've got it covered, Chief.

- Thank you.
- Here we go, Mr. Baxter.

- And good luck, Mr. Baxter.
- You, too, young lady.

- Thank you.
- You know,

if there'd been a great-looking
broad in the department

back when this was my beat,
I might never have retired.

Gary Evans dropped
your letter by earlier.

I can't begin to tell you
how much it means to me,

knowing you feel so
strongly about the house.

- It's all lies.
- I'm sorry?

In our letter. We made stuff up
because we wanted you to like us.

We took advantage of you. And it
was a terrible, dreadful thing to do.

- And I'm so, so sorry.
- But Gary Evans...

Gary lies.

- So you're pulling your offer?
- It just wouldn't feel right.

I'd be worried about how you
were spending your retirement.

So, yes, I'm pulling the offer.

- Oh, but that's wonderful, dear.
- Why?

I hate to say this, but I was never going
to sell this house in a million years.

- Excuse me?
- That's why I upped the price.

I didn't think I'd get an
offer so soon in this market.

I don't understand.

When my husband
died, I was a little lonely.

It's so difficult to meet
people in Los Angeles.

I tried going to
AA for a little while,

but it turns out you have
to quit drinking completely,

which seemed extreme.

- So you put your house on the market...
- To have a little company, yes.

Nothing serious. Just nice
people like you and Fritz,

stopping by, admiring the house.

Say, I have a lot of
chocolate chip cookies left,

and I'll give you a bag or two
if you promise not to tell Gary.

Hi, Mama.

No, everything's
fine. I miss you, too.

Actually, I was hoping maybe you
and Daddy could come for a visit soon.

No, we haven't found a new
place yet, but we'll make room.

English -SDH