Unforgettable (2011–2016): Season 2, Episode 4 - Memory Kings - full transcript

(both laughing)

Time's running out.

Ray Allen for three
at the buzzer.

- Yes!
- Oh!

Heat win by two.

Carmelo with a running hook!

(bottle clatters)

(loud crash)

CARRIE:
You're forgetting.

I hit the Red Sox
on Wednesday.

Plus, I nailed that
three-team parlay

of the A's, Jays and
the Reds on Friday, right?

Which would put
my new total at...

See, that is a very
nice number, Zeke.

All right, give me the Mets
tonight, two times.

Okay.

Bye.

That was my bank.

Your bank's not
like my bank.

Oh, you have no idea.

So what do we got?

Old guy took a noser
from the 12th floor.

Eliot has us out here

because he's some
big-shot doctor

on the faculty
at Algonquian.

What's his name?

Uh, hold on.

Lustig. Eugene Lustig.

LUSTIG:
So while we will always

"gaze ahead with wonder

"at the great uncharted
terrain of the future,

"I believe it will
soon be possible,

"by unlocking
the secrets of memory,

"to turn our gaze behind us

"and bathe in new sunlight

the hidden landscapes
of our past."

Thank you.

MAN:
I'm so sorry, folks,

Dr. Lustig has
another engagement.

Thank you so much
for coming.

LUSTIG: Bye-bye.
Take care. Thanks.

CARRIE:
Dr. Lustig. Hi.

I'm sorry, Dr. Lustig
has a plane to catch.

Dr. Lustig, I just need
to talk to you for one minute.

"Thank you for your
kind words, Chancellor.

"It's great to be
back at my alma mater

"under such
a bluebird sky.

"30 years ago,

"when the late Professor
Ed Hartung introduced me

to the mysteries
of the human memory..."

This is the speech I gave
at Cornell last week.

It hasn't been
published yet.

Did someone
give you a copy?

No.

I think I'll, uh,
catch a later flight.

Jo?

Hi.

I saw him speak at the Y.

He was very impressive.

Yes, he was.

WEBSTER:
Came down 12 stories.

Pushed, jumped or fell...
that is the question.

In my opinion,

his injuries are
consistent with a high fall,

but anything else,
tomorrow will tell.

Did they, um...
did they see anything?

The landing, not the dismount.

Al, I-I knew him.

It was 2004.

Year and a half after...

I quit the force.

Quit you.

I was a wreck.

I mean, every, uh...

every bad thing
that had ever happened to me,

every mistake I had ever made

was running in my head
on a loop.

Like a swarm of bees.

And then I heard about

this neurologist,
Eugene Lustig, and...

So I tracked him down.

I figured, you know,
why not...

donate my body to science
before I was dead?

Maybe in the process,
I wouldn't crack up.

Then I-I joined
a research group,

with five other people.

The first of
what became known as

Highly Superior
Autobiographical Memory.

HSAM.

Were you still
in touch with him?

No, not for years.
It's...

Gene Lustig is the reason
I didn't crack up.

Not exactly lived-in.

You'd expect
a few books at least.

Know if he was married?

He was.

Getting divorced, actually.

I just talked to the neighbor.

She said Lustig moved in
a month ago

after breaking up with his wife.

Neighbor know him well?

It occurred to me,
but she says no.

But she did say
Lustig was having

a bunch of health problems,

was down in
the dumps lately.

And judging by
how clean this place is...

no sign of struggle
or forced entry...

kind of makes you wonder.

What are you saying? Suicide?

You find a suicide note?

Any kind of drugs
for depression?

No, but, you know,
still doesn't mean...

Then I'm not buying it.

AL:
Railing's too high.

We can cross
off "accident."

WEBSTER:
...came down 12 stories.

Pushed, jumped or fell...

There was a geranium
right there.

There was a plant.

How you got geranium,
I don't know.

Because I saw it down below.

Bits of clay, dirt...

Gene's attacker...

rushes him and
throws him over,

but Gene grabs
on to the railing.

So in order
to break his grip,

the attacker picks up the
first thing he can find,

and... smash.

The flower pot goes over, too.

We don't know the flower pot
is connected to this,

we don't know how many
people were involved,

we don't know for sure
he didn't jump.

We'll get Webster on it,

and CSU will take a look
at the clay fragments.

I knew Gene Lustig.

He was one of the most
positive, vibrant people

I have ever met.

He gave me hope when I had none,

and that's not easy to do.

He didn't commit suicide.

Three fingers are broken,

each between the first
and second knuckle.

Also...

I found topsoil in his scalp
and under his shirt collar.

Absent your flower pot theory,
I came up with nothing.

His neighbor said he had
some kind of health problems.

- Did you find anything?
- Oh.

Jumped right out at me.

He had cancer.

Cancer?

Mm-hmm.

See those little white dots?

Radioactive tubes.

Brachytherapy.

Prostate cancer.

Exactly. Treated early,

the success rate is...

95%/ after 15 years.

So then that would not
be a reason

for him to jump off a balcony.

Right.

Oh, Carrie, I'm so sorry.

Al told me you knew him.

Were you his student?

More like his object of study.

I can't imagine
you being a lab rat.

I was difficult.

I tried to chew through
the bars on my cage.

(laughs)

Look, I know I'm not
the detective on this,

but I'm with you.

Your friend had help
going over that balcony.

- Carrie!
- Oh.

(laughs): I'm sorry,
I didn't mean to startle you.

Hi. That's okay.

May I call you Carrie?

Yeah, sure, sure.

Great. Come on.

I want to tell you all about

this little study
I've dreamed up.

Okay.

No needles, no electrodes,
I assure you.

Oh, well, that's...
that's a relief.

(chuckles) Just simple questions
to gauge the capacity

of your marvelous mind.

I don't know
about "marvelous."

Save the modesty
for Terry Gross.

This is science.

Next week, I want to have you
meet the others.

Others?

Yeah, the other study subjects.

Oh, did you think
you were alone?

It's okay.

You can go.

I'll take good care of him.

Thanks, Jo.

Nothing on the surveillance
video from Lustig's building.

The camera in the lobby
shows him entering alone.

No cameras at all in
the basement or garage.

Any prints off the flower pot?

CSU has to reassemble it first.

We're talking pellets.

I wouldn't hold your breath.

Well, it looks like
the ex-wife's clean.

Friends say the divorce
was amicable,

and she's been in Europe
for five weeks.

So she's out of the picture.

But I wouldn't come to you
without something.

Been digging around
at the university.

Meet Alwyn Pierce.

Assistant Professor of Neurology
at Algonquian.

Former graduate student
of our Dr. Lustig.

Something of a prot?g?.

Lustig had high hopes
for this lady.

Apparently she had
high hopes, too,

but they never panned out.

According to some of
the faculty members I spoke to,

she was pretty difficult.

Just last month,
she was denied tenure.

How'd she take it?

Not good.

It all blew up at
a faculty meeting a week ago.

She accused Lustig
of rigging the vote.

- Did she?
- She did.

And according to folks at that
meeting, she really went off.

They had to call
campus security.

(school bell ringing)

CARRIE:
Alwyn?

Alwyn Pierce?

- Carrie Wells.
- Yeah, we met years ago,

in Gene's first HSAM study.

Yes, I know. I remember.

Lieutenant Al Burns.

Of course.

You're here because of Gene.

You guys worked together
for a long time.

This must be hard for you.

It is.

AL:
Though we understand

you two had
your differences lately.

Perhaps,
but professional squabbles

seem irrelevant
at times like these.

CARRIE:
As opposed to a week ago,

when professional squabbles

led to you being escorted
from a faculty meeting

by four security guards.

I worked with Gene
for ten years.

And I felt I earned his support.

Instead, he blackballed me.

So draw your own conclusions
about our "differences."

Why would he blackball you?

I have no idea.

If he were alive,
you could ask him yourself.

You know,
we don't need to ask him.

According to a transcript
from the tenure committee,

Gene thought
your work displayed...

and I don't think
I'm getting this wrong...

"a shoddy methodology

bordering on fraudulent."

Now, that... that had to hurt.

That was a joke.

Especially since his work

was sloppy and mediocre.

I was a part of Gene's work.

There was nothing mediocre
or sloppy about it.

Where you were between the hours
of 6:00 and 7:00 this morning?

Wait a minute.

I got denied tenure,
and I blame Eugene Lustig,

but I sure as hell
didn't kill him.

You sure as hell
didn't answer my question.

I was asleep,
in my bed, by myself.

You need proof, talk to my cat.

Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have a class to teach.

ELIOT:
She make any physica/ threats?

"I'll ruin your life.

"You'll regret
what you've done.

You'll be sorry."
That sort of thing.

Sounds like my daily staff
meeting at the mayor's office.

Anything else?

Well, we're trying to find
something more concrete,

see if we can work up a warrant
to search her place.

Please, Burns,
with all deliberate speed?

Algonquian University
pumps $9 billion

into this city's
economy every year.

I know, I thought it was
a typo, too. It's not.

Having this on the front page
of The Times

irritates the mayor,
who then irritates me.

That's a lot of irritation.

You need more on this woman,

and you're not gonna
find it here.

Would it help to know
that she's a thief?

Check this out.

I followed up
with campus security.

Got them to give me
all the Neuro Lab

surveillance footage
since that faculty meeting

where Alwyn went off.

2:30 a.m., one day
after the tenure meeting.

Alwyn enters the lab,

and she heads for a cabinet
by Lustig's desk.

She opens the cabinet.

Right there. That box.

Security say she was authorized
to be there?

Definitely not.

That's trespassing.

Forget the search warrant.

- Go pick her up.
- Right.

(knocking on door)

Alwyn Pierce, I repeat,
this is the NYPD.

MURRAY:
Alwyn Pierce?

Alwyn?

Well, we can rule out
your garden-variety robbery.

Money, credit cards,
all here.

No sign of forced entry,
no struggle.

She let them in.

Yeah, that's how I read it, too.

Her phone shows one
45-second call at 6:30.

Traces back to a pay phone
at a gas station in Brooklyn.

We'll check
for surveillance cams.

Al?

That's the box Alwyn took
from Lustig's office.

CARRIE: These are tapes
from Gene's HSAM study...

from my HSAM study.

December 3rd was a Friday.

I got off early, so I went

to a 4:30 show
of Unbreakab/e.

- With a friend?
- Alone.

It was at the
Syracuse Odeon.

Wow, it was cheap.

It was four bucks.

Any trailers?

Previews. We call them
trailers in New York.

CARRIE: No, I know,
I know what they are.

You all right?

Yeah.
It's just weird, you know?

One thing to
remember something,

it's another thing to
actually see yourself.

That girl doesn't exist anymore.

Those were tough years,
after Syracuse.

Wish I'd been there to help.

I had to learn to help myself.

Okay, enough of this.

What does it matter if I had
blueberries on my oatmeal

five years, two months,
three weeks ago on a Friday?

Come on, Carrie.

And I didn't.

I had bananas.

Do you see, Gene?

It's relentless!
It doesn't stop!

Carrie, people like me,
our experiences,

all our little joys,
just slip through our fingers.

You get to hold on to them.

You should celebrate that.

I can't let them go!

You keep telling me
how wonderful it is

that I remember everything.

I can't... forget.

There's a difference.

Sometimes you forget.

- Never!
- Once.

Your sister Rachel.

Would it help you to know why?

Yes.

You're all struggling.

You know Todd?

The loud guy.

He likes to scramble up
big rocks without a rope.

And beautiful gentle Lena?

She's seen
Terms of Endearment,

(chuckles):
Like, 400 times.

Cries her eyes out
every single time.

And you and Ruth,

- you like gambling, right?
- Okay.

- High stakes poker, blackjack?
- Yes. So?

So, we don't know the
science exactly yet,

but under the influence
of intense experience,

the brain is flooded
with adrenaline.

That's a key building
block of memory.

Too much adrenaline...

it erases memory.

There's a name for it:
Psychogenic amnesia.

Kind of like a memory hole?

Exactly.

Jumping off bridges
on a bungee cord,

betting the house on red 22...

the death of a loved one...

The most loved one.

You memory guys are
all risk takers,

adrenaline junkies.

The rush engenders

a little benign forgetting.

So what you're saying...

I'm saying you're
okay, Carrie Wells.

But listen,
if in your leisure hours

you're planning
to play with fire,

just do me a favor, huh?

Don't get burned?

Don't get caught.

(laughs)

Hey, Carrie,

you got any idea why

Alwyn would have been tracking
your old memory jocks?

I followed up on
all those phone records,

and in the days after
she stole the tapes,

Alwyn contacted Todd Blasingame,

Ruth Meaney and Dale Parsons.

All participants in
your study with Lustig, right?

I don't know why she didn't call
the other three.

Well, Lena committed suicide

a year after the memory study,

Tomas moved to Korea to study

being a Buddhist monk.

Still leaves you.

Maybe she did call.

Your old number in Syracuse.

By now, it would be
assigned to someone else.

The question is: Why?

Why did she call?

We got to talk to them.

Stay on those tapes.

I got a feeling we find out

what Alwyn was looking for,
we find our killer.

WOMAN:
Hi. May I help you?

Yeah, we're here
to see Dale Parsons.

WOMAN: Oh, he's actually busy
with a client right now.

With you in a sec, Carrie.

Haven't seen this guy
in nine years?

That's why it's called
"highly superior memory," Al.

PARSONS:
Sorry.

Got a bear of an audit.

Some clients,
they just never learn.

Carrie Wells.

Love your new look.

So... unencumbered.

Dale Parsons.

Al Burns, NYPD.

Ah, you're here about Alwyn.

- Gene, too.
- So sad.

But I-I read that
that was a suicide.

Do you think
that they're connected?

You know, she called me
last Monday.

Really? What did she want?

She tried to recruit me
for some follow-up HSAM study.

Chance to make a name
for herself,

I suppose.

She was always
pretty ambitious, Alwyn.

Even as a grad student.

Remember, Carrie, when she asked
Lustig if she could sit in

on Ruth Meaney's
second interview?

Yeah, how could I forget?

January 19, 2004.

It was a Monday.

Around 11:15.

11:16.

Fifteen.

(clears throat)
If you say so.

I do.

So, Alwyn...
what'd you tell her?

Well, I said,
"Please, get back in a room

with those lemon heads?"

Who you calling
a lemon head, Dale?

Who's got time, anyway?

Did Professor Pierce talk about

her relationship
with Dr. Lustig?

Not a word.

She just said
that she was trying

to update an earlier study.

And like I said, I told her
thanks, but no thanks.

I'd say, "Call if you remember
anything else,"

but I've learned
there's no point.

(chuckles)

It's good to see you again,
Carrie, and a pleasure

to meet you, Al,
but I must say,

you're not exactly
as Carrie described you.

Mary, can you give me a hand
with the Elderton?

How is it I came up
in your memory study?

Gene wanted us
to deal with some memories

accompanied by strong emotions.

And how exactly
did you describe me?

Well, I'm not really sure.

You don't remember?

All right, fine.

I may have given you...

a lisp, a wandering eye
and really bad dandruff.

But we had broken up,
and I was mad.

Nice.

Let's go, lemon head.

Hey, Vita Club members,
Todd Blasingame coming at you

from beautiful, beautiful
San Marco Key.

Now, did you know my limited
production Memory Serum contains

the fermented extracts

of over 38 tropical fruits
and berries?

- (bell ringing)
- MAN: Cut!

All right, guys,
let's reset it back to one.

Lauren, honey,
I'm gonna need a touch-up.

I'm sorry.

So you were asking me
about poor Alwyn Pierce.

Yeah. Did you speak with her
in the last week?

No, but I saw her name
on my call list.

Hundred calls a day,
can't return them all.

Hmm. Any idea why
she was calling?

Thanks, hon. I'm good.

Not a clue.

Go ahead.

- Hit me.
- Hit you?

Yeah, you know,
with the question.

You know, where was I
the night of blah-blah-blah?

Okay. Monday morning,
Tuesday night,

where were you,
Mr. Blasingame?

Call me Todd.

Norway.

You were in Norway?

Jus got back this morning.

Have you ever
heard of Trollveggen?

3,600-foot vertical cliff.

(laughs)
Outstanding!

I BASE-jumped it.
(whistles)

So when's the last time
you saw Dr. Lustig?

February 17, 2009. Tuesday.

That was the day I settled

that little nuisance lawsuit
he cooked up.

Hmm, he didn't want you
using his name

in promotion for
your memory products.

JAY:
$500,000 in punitive

and lawyer fees, Mr. Blasing...

Sorry. Todd.

Weren't you even
a little upset?

(giggles)

You see that?

And I'm not talking
about the beauties.

This uses your body's own energy

to locate areas that are
stressed.

This little puppy has
already made me three mil,

and I haven't even
shipped a one of 'em.

I don't think
I'm upset at anyone.

MAN: Okay, Todd,
let's get another one.

Thank you.

You know, I am starting
to understand why

Carrie didn't stay in touch
with these memory folks.

Yeah, you hold on
to everything long enough,

it's easy to forget
anyone else is out there.

From Mr. Blasingame,
with his compliments.

TV ANNOUNCER:
And they're heading to the gates

for race number six.

Number three horse...

Carrie Wells,
as I live and drink.

Ruth Meaney.

...number seven, Rosso Brew,
with jockey Juan Marquez...

Whatever happened
to blackjack?

Are you kidding?

My picture's up in every casino

- all across the country.
- (chuckles)

There they go.

And it's Vital Jack
down the inside...

Who you got?

Claire's Knee, number six.

I got no memory edge
for the ponies.

And so what
if he ran 2:11 in the mud

a year ago Tuesday?

Look at him now.

With all the booze and dope
I've sucked up,

you'd think I'd be brain-dead.

No such luck.

Rosso Brew and Vital Jack
are battling it out!

And it is Vital Jack...

Run, you schmuck.

(patrons murmuring excitedly)

Did you hear about Alwyn?

I'm afraid so, yeah.

Come on.

She claimed
Lustig goosed the results

of the memory tests.

Oh, you know, try to make it
all seem more impressive,

make a bigger splash,
dazzle the world.

He would never do that.

He was a legitimate scientist.

Well, you're telling me.

But Alwyn had an axe to grind.

Now, she asked me

if Lustig
ever put me up to lying.

Well, did he?

Oh, come on, no!

(chuckles)

Well, Alwyn thought he did.

Well, that-that would be crazy.

Of course it's crazy.

But... I guess there was someone

who told one big old whopper.

Someone in our group lied?

Who?

Alwyn wouldn't say.

But, um...

well, it was that
one group session we had

is all I know.

Thank you, Ruthie.

You and me, Carrie,
we could break the bank.

(laughs):
Ooh.

Make a hell of a team.

Unstoppable, indestructible.

Whoa.

Carrie, what's up?

We have to look
at the group session.

What group session?

There was only one:
January 20, all six of us.

Lustig wanted to see
if we could influence

each other's recollections.

Uh, I'm not seeing it, Carrie.

There's no tape for that day.

Check again; there has to be.

Nope. January 15,
January 19, January 23.

Okay, well, I know

there was a session on the 20th,
which means...

someone stole that tape
from Alwyn's apartment.

What's so important
about that one session?

Alwyn thought someone lied
about a memory.

Whatever is on that tape
got her and Gene killed.

(engine revving,
tires screeching)

Carrie, what's going on?

Carrie?

We got no witnesses
from the street

or surrounding buildings.

We're looking for footage
from secams, traffic cameras,

anything that might
have picked up the car.

- Thanks. Stay on it.
- Yeah.

ELIOT: So, we know this
group session was taped,

but we don't know what's on it,
and now it's gone?

It's not gone.

WEBSTER:
Hold still, please.

I work so much better
when my patients aren't moving.

We have a copy here.

Yeah, we don't need the tape.

I got it in my memory.

What do you need?

Uh, candles,
uh, what, some music?

No, no, we just...

a stenographer
and a pad of paper

would be great.

You know, it's not a massage,
just remembering.

Great. We'll set you up.

It was the first time
he put us all together...

the only time.

He brought us

all in a room,
sat us in a circle.

All right, everyone,

I am gonna ask
about your memories...

CARRIE: And asked us about
memories from random days.

Uh, the first one was
January 17,

1991.

Tomas said,
"That would've been a Thursday.

/ had a history test
and a term paper."

Todd interrupted.

It was the start
of Desert Storm.

Right, I was going to say.
And, uh...

"And I was sitting down
to study, but my mom..."

Then Gene asked about
February 11,

1999.

First to Ruth.

Right, of all days.

- Sorry?
- Ruth said,

"Well, just 'cause
after getting killed

on the Villanova game, which..."

I mean, 111 to 85.

- Come on.
- "Come on."

Are we talking basketball?

"What do you think?" Ruth said.

Boomerang chucking?

"Yes, basketball, you egghead."

...you egghead.

Lena, "Wouldn't you know it,
they were doing

track work
on the Rock Island Line..."

So I had to have Peggy
drive me in.

Peggy?

That's my niece.

- Right away, she starts
coughing. - "She starts coughing.

"So I said,
'Forget Marshall Field's.

We're going straight
to Dr. Rinaldi."'

"February 11, 1999,

"we got a call about a break-in.

"Little two-story colonial

"with yellow trim
down on Sterling and Coolidge.

"Turns out it was a couple kids

throwing rocks
at the basement windows."

Blasingame, "I mean,
anybody could've told you

the new year was gonna be soft."

So, I turned a profit on Intel
at the open at 631/8.

"I rolled it over into...

...June hogs.
- June hogs."

Then Gene asked about...

March 6, 1997.

- Da/e Parsons said...
- A Thursday.

"I'd just read an article
how they're getting

record prices at auction houses
for art."

- 68.9... ...million dollars
for a van Gogh.

How is that even possible?

"It's just paint, people.

"And since I happened
to be two blocks from the Met,

I go in that afternoon and ask,
'What's the most..."'

...expensive painting
that you have in here?

Did you get an answer?

A Vermeer.

Uh, Young Woman
with a Water Pitcher.

"So I went and had a look at it,
and you know what?"

It's a young woman
with a water pitcher.

- Tomas said...
- I love that painting.

- Then Gene asked...
- Ruth?

I remembered to bring a sweater,

because 1010 WINS...

"...was saying a high of 40.

What they didn't..."

...say, the sky was
gonna crack open.

It was Saturday, and I'd just
gotten my first M3.

- 3.2 liter...
- "3.2/iter,

"passion-red, beautiful.

Got pinched for doing 48
in a 35 zone."

Which I don't even
consider that speeding.

Gene said,
"You"re a// amazing."

You're all amazing.

Uh, there's pizza
in the next room.

For those who don't like...

"...pepperoni,
there's ham and pineapple.

Save me a slice."

And...

The end?

The end.

AL:
Thank you.

You okay?

Tired, sad.

You are amazing.

JAY: I'm just saying,
this is a ton of memories.

Which, incredible job,
by the way, Carrie,

but if we're gonna
verify each one,

it's gonna take forever.

AL:
We know Lustig

- was able to do it.
- No, he wasn't.

He did random spot-checks.

Yeah, see,
but then how did Alwyn do it?

I mean, we're talking
about random details

about track work on the Long
Island Railroad in 1988.

The price of lamb chops, 1996.

Fourth race at Roosevelt, 1994.

I don't know.

Now, maybe if she was a fan
of the trotters or something.

Maybe she was.

I mean, maybe Alwyn found
an incorrect memory

in no time at all
because it happened to be

in an area of her expertise.

If it was something
that jumped out at her...

MURRAY:
Money, credit cards, a// here.

No sign of forced
entry, no struggle.

She let them in.

AL: Yeah, that's
how I read it, too.

Her phone shows one
45-second call...

Traces back to a pay phone
at a gas station in Brooklyn.

She and Lustig may
have been fighting,

but she's got a ton
of his books here.

Art.

Alwyn was an art lover.

Books, museum posters... they
were all over her apartment.

PARSONS: Since / happened
to be two b/ocks

from the Metropolitan Museum,
I go in that afternoon.

Vermeer, A Young Woman
with a Water Pitcher.

Parson said he saw a Vermeer
at the Metropolitan.

Young Woman
with a Water Pitcher.

Maybe he got the museum wrong?

No, that painting
was at the Met.

My cousin Angie works there.

It's been in the collection
for years.

All right, call her.

My bet is he didn't see it

when he said he did.
March 6, 1997.

Find out if the museum
was closed,

having a private event,
something, anything.

Hey, Ange, it's me.

You by a computer?

What if Parsons
just got it wrong?

People make mistakes.
No one bats a thousand.

Parsons does.

He scored highest
on all of the objective tests.

He beat me.

If he got it wrong,
he's lying.

You rock, Ange. Yep.

March 6, 1997.

Young Woman
with a Water Pitcher

was on loan to the Prado Museum
in Madrid.

No way Parsons could've seen it.

He is lying.

And whatever he did that day,

he wants to keep it secret.

- He'll kill to keep it secret.
- Uh-huh.

Jay, check
the "crimes" database.

March 6, 1997.

Unsolved murders, anything.

Okay, here we go.

Let's look at
the whole tristate area

and unsolved murders.

Widening the jurisdiction.
Got it.

Four unsolved murders
March 6, 1997.

Now, assuming for the moment
that we're not looking

at a gang-related homicide,
that narrows it down to...

Valerie Johnson, age 21,
CUNY student,

found dead in her car
in Farmingdale.

Strangled with clothesline.

Thanks for meeting me, Dale.

If anyone can help us
with this thing, it's you.

No problem. I got a client
right around the corner,

but I think I already told you
everything that I know.

Well, maybe I can learn more

by picking that
extraordinary brain of yours.

Well, you'll certainly
learn something.

But probably not about
what you want to know.

March 6, 1997.

Thursday.

Yes, it was.

What were you doing
that afternoon?

Oh, God, you sound
like Lustig.

I thought this was
about Alwyn.

Well, it is, indirectly.

See, I know what I was doing
that afternoon.

I was buying socks and underwear
at the Syracuse Dress Barn,

which is not the most exciting
or sexy thing in the world,

but at least it's true.

It's not like

the Syracuse Dress Barn
just moved to Madrid.

I'm sorry,
what was the question again?

March 6, 1997.

- You told our group...
- I'm kidding.

That you were
at the Metropolitan...

Oh, group session, boring.

...seeing a painting by Vermeer.

- No, I didn't.
- Yes, you did.

Wow, is that what you remember?

Uh-huh.

Sorry.
(imitates buzzer)

No, Carrie,
on Thursday afternoon, March 6,

I was at the 1:45 p.m. Screening
of Donnie Brasco

at Lincoln Square Cinema.

Afterwards,
I had sushi at Lenge.

By the time I was finished,

I would've had exactly
nine minutes

to get across town to the Met
before it closed.

So how could I have seen
a Vermeer?

P.S. I don't even like Vermeer.

You said you saw the painting.

It's your memory against mine.

What about the tapes?

Great, check the tape.

You'll see that I am right.

I could always ask Todd, Ruthie.

Sure, ask them.

But why bother?

You have the tape, don't you?

Don't you?

(sighs)
It's just you against me.

I wouldn't take those odds,

but you're the gambling gal,
right?

Are we done?

One more thing, actually.

A little picture for you.

Valerie Johnson.
Remember her?

She was a client of yours.

Indeed she was.

I did her taxes for 1996.

Adjusted gross, $21,380,

total take-home, $25,300.

- She got a $408 refund.
- You ever take her home, Dale?

I think I liked you better
when you were miserable.

AL:
All right.

Thank you.

That was Murray.

She found three more cases,
same M.O.

Young women strangled
with clothesline.

Poughkeepsie; Binghamton;
Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Each murder corresponds
with an audit

Dale Parsons attended
on behalf of clients.

Valerie Johnson
wasn't his only victim.

He's a serial killer.

I still don't get it.
Parsons kills these women,

doesn't leave a trace,

but then makes up a bogus alibi,

knowing Lustig could find out
and challenge him?

It was seven years later.

Gene was picking random days.

Dale wasn't expecting
him to ask

about that one day,
so he panics,

and he lies.

So based on IRS returns

where Parsons signed on
as the responsible accountant,

we could be up to eight victims.

- Oh, my God.
- Lf he consulted,

gave investment advice
to other women,

who knows how many he killed?

- What the hell are you drinking?
- Mm.

Blasingame's memory juice.

You know, I hate
to admit it,

but I think the guy's
onto something.

I read his book.
He caught a rattlesnake

with his bare hands
in Death Valley.

Guy's a total adrenaline junkie.

LUSTIG:
You memory guys

are all risk takers.

Adrenaline junkies.

The rush engenders...

a little benign forgetting.

What time of day
was Valerie Johnson murdered?

It was morning sometime.

She was on her way to school,
so 8:00, 8:30.

We've got to bring
Dale Parsons in.

We don't have enough
to arrest him.

Can't lock a guy up for lying.

He wasn't lying.

- Hey, Dale.
- Hello.

Thanks for coming in.

Never been in an actual
interrogation room.

- (laughs)
- It's cozy.

And an audience.

Hello, people.

So, what happens now?

You break me?

No.

This is just a conversation;
friendly conversation, Dale.

So I won't need, say, a lawyer?

Why would you need a lawyer?

You're Dale Parsons.

True.

Okay, friendly
conversation, then.

Just, let's not play
the day and date game.

So does that mean
I can't ask you

about July 12, 1999,

August 27, 2003,

October 11, 2008...

Which were a Monday,
a Wednesday and a Saturday.

- Very nice.
- Right?

Yes, they were.

You're good.

You know what happened
on those days?

You promised.

Fine, why don't I tell you
what happened on those days.

July 12, 1999.

Tina Davis, murdered.

Strangled to death in her car.

August 27, 2003.

Lakshmi Patel, also murdered.

October 11, 2008.

Gloria Durning.

Same M.O.

All of these young
women murdered.

You know any of them?

You're accusing me.

No.

No, I'm asking you.

- Now I do need a lawyer.
- You only need a lawyer

if you've done something wrong.

Besides, you're smarter
than any lawyer I know.

I don't know them.

Don't remember them?

(scoffs)

Excuse me?

Don't remember killing them?

You know,
despite his terrible jokes,

Gene Lustig was one of
the smartest men I ever met.

And he said something to me
once, and it helped me a lot.

He said that people like us...

sometimes we need a vacation.

You know, from all
the stuff in our heads.

You more than anyone,

because you were always
the best of us.

You admit it.

(Carrie chuckles)

So you want to know
what the secret is?

Adrenaline.

We crave it.

But not for the rush,
not for the high.

That's for other people.

We crave it for
the rest it gives us.

From ourselves.

Where were you...

the morning Gene was murdered?

I was at home, asleep.

Okay.
What time did you wake up?

6:45. It's my usual hour.

It's when I take the dogs out.

Oh.

Anyone see you?

I have no idea.

Middle of a rainstorm:
Odd time to walk the dogs.

They don't mind the rain.

Thunder must have
bothered them, no?

It did, but hey,
when you gotta go,

- you gotta go.
- Mm.

Speaking of which,
if we're done here...

There was no storm the morning

Gene Lustig was murdered.

No rain.

No thunder.

I'll lay it out for you.

See, I thought you lied

about the Vermeer to
cover up where you were

when you killed Valerie Johnson.

But she was murdered
in the morning.

And you said you were went
to the Met in the afternoon,

so I thought to myself...
why lie?

Why make up an alibi
you don't need?

But you weren't lying,
were you?

You forgot.

Because when you murder people,

like these young women,
you forget.

That's why you do it.

Not Gene and Alwyn.

You killed them
to cover your tracks.

But I bet you don't remember

what happened
afterwards, do you?

You have no idea
what you're talking about.

Yes, I do.

You know I do.

The adrenaline unleashed
by the act of violence

helps you to forget
your painful life.

No, you're... you are wrong.

Which becomes more miserable

- when you finally, inevitably,
- No. No, that is...

remember what you've done.

And then you kill again.

To forget, again.

You're an addict, Dale.

You're addicted to murder.

You don't understand.

Of course I understand.

(over speaker):
I'm the only one who does.

How long do you get?

A few minutes?

A few hours, a whole day?

How long?

Sometimes more than a day.

The first time...

it was a cat.

It was a stupid
neighborhood cat,

and he kept howling and howling.

And when I put my fingers
around its neck,

and I squeezed...

it was like I was here...

for the first time.

Just here, now.

Not five minutes ago,
not 20 minutes ago,

not 20 years ago,

when my father did those things,

and when those boys
did those things,

because I was different.

Because I was the one
who was always telling them

that they were wrong,
because they were always wrong.

They never remembered anything.

And Valerie...

The last thing I remember

was the light
fading from her eyes

like a torch down a well.

And then it was a miracle.

It was a whole, long,
blissful day of peace.

At least I think it was.

I don't remember.

"Peace"?

I want you
to look at these women.

I want you to study
their faces.

I want you... to remember them.

Because from now on,
forgetting is not an option.

Nice work.

That was amazing.

There you are.

Carrie Wells, on behalf of
the Memory Studies Group,

it gives me great pleasure

to present you with this check
for 100 U.S. Dollars.

Wow, Gene, a hundred dollars.

(both laugh)

Along with an infinite
amount of gratitude

on behalf of... me.

You know,
you can grow that money,

or you can just piddle it away.

Maybe I'll do both.

Yeah?

Let me guess.
Texas Hold 'Em?

Blackjack, actually.

Scientifically sanctioned.

"A little benign forgetting."

Hmm.

What are you gonna do now?

(laughs)

Keep moving, I guess.

Just a word of advice
from a new old friend?

The past has lessons for us,

but the present
is where we live.

And nothing brings us into
the present like a goal.

A task that uses

all your powers, including...

Hmm.

You said you were a cop.

It was too hard.

Okay.

But, Carrie, if anybody
ever needed a mission,

it's you.

When you find one, let me know.

Gene?

Thank you.

I'm taking off.

Think I'll stick around.
Ripped By mstoll