Without a Trace (2002–2009): Season 1, Episode 8 - Little Big Man - full transcript

William, quit
chewing your nails

and grab a mop.

We got work to do.

He cleared it
with me, Butch.

He´s got the
Regent´s Exam
next week.

It´s a restaurant,
not a damn reading room.

William,
you know what?

Go home, little man.

Go get some sleep.

You sure, Mr. Bradley?

´Cause I don´t have
to do this right now.



I can help you close up.

You´re covered.

Just get here
a little early tomorrow.

Kitchen´s closed,
gentlemen.

Hey, have a good night,
Mr. Bradley.

Hey, happy holiday, fellas.

You too, little man.
All right.

WOMAN:
His name´s William Hope.

He´s 16 years old.

I inherited his file
about six months ago.

His boss says he left work
a little before midnight

but his foster parents called,
said he never came home.

No one called
the police?

They said they don´t
deal with runaways.



That´s William´s picture.

He looks like
he´s ten years old.

It´s the only photo
I have in his folder.

He´s 16.

What´s he doing working
in this neighborhood
6:00 to midnight?

It´s not the
ideal environment,
but he was working.

The situation
with the new
family is stable.

His grades
are improving.

This is a kid who spent
18 months on the streets, Danny.

He´s had it a lot worse.

Okay, Polly...

I´ll see what I can do.

But we need to be
realistic here.

We only have a handful
of agents

and Child Services
sees 30 of these kids a week.

Just like William

they´re all running away
from a bad situation.

This is not just
some runaway.

This is a kid whose life
is finally working.

If he´s missing, something
terrible has happened to him.

BRADLEY:
Always showed up on time.

Never had a problem with him.

How did he seem
on Sunday night?

He seemed tired.

But then, you know

he´s been under a
lot of pressure at school.

But other than that,
nothing out of the ordinary?

Well, depends on
what you mean

by "out of the ordinary."

WILLIAM:
No, man, you can´t
have a cap.

Give me one of those
yellow caps, man.

No, you can´t
have a cap.

You didn´t order
no...

BRADLEY:
What´s going on?

He wants the key chain.

You told me not to hand them out

unless they order
a Kid´s Super Jay.

I told you, faggot,
it´s for my nephew.

Why you got to call me...?
He pay for his sandwich?

Then go. Get the hell
out of here.

For what, man?
I paid for my food.

I said out,
or I call the cops.

( sighs )

DANNY:
Sounds personal.

I guess they know
each other from
the neighborhood.

He told me the same kid
jacked him for his paycheck

a couple of weeks ago.

You got a name?

I think they
call him Radio

´cause his mouth´s
always running.

This is all
over a key chain?

It´s the South Bronx, Jack.

Kids get shot for
a whole lot less there.

The cops don´t have time
for it, right?

No, but I do.

Well, nothing from
the jails, morgues or hospitals

and not much in the way
of a financial trail either.

One savings account
with 1,200 bucks.

That could be money
he saved from his job.

No credit cards,
no cell phones, no pagers.

How´s the school check out?

He was a good student.
He had excellent attendance.

This kid stayed out of trouble.

Or under the radar.

I think we should get
the press involved in this one.

16-year-old black kid
goes missing

from the foster care system?

It´s going to be
a really tough sell.

( buzzing )

Hi.

Are Mr.
and Mrs. Ray home?

And at the last minute
we had an opening.

Children´s Services
kept telling us

what a great kid he was

and we moved him in
that afternoon.

When was that?

Seven months ago.

How long have you
and your husband
been foster parents?

15 years.

We were never able
to have children
of our own.

My husband and I worked

in the justice system
for many years

and you see it
over and over--

how important it is to get to
these kids when they´re young.

Provide them with
a stable home environment.

You´re a dying breed.

Well, I´m not going
to sugarcoat it.

We´ve had our failures,
certainly.

Here we are.

This is William´s room.

Looks like
he barely lived here.

I asked him

if he wanted me
to take him shopping

to personalize it a bit--
put up some posters...

but he didn´t want to.

He´s probably
moved around so much

he´s afraid of getting settled.

He keeps a lot
bottled up inside.

Breaks your heart, really.

Who´s this?

That´s his sister, Tasha.

Where is she?

There was
some trouble

in her last foster family.

Tasha can be a bit
of a banshee.

So Children´s Services decided
to move her into a group home.

How was William with that?

It´s difficult.

It´s the first time

they´ve ever been separated.

He´s basically supporting her.

Not food and basics,
but extra clothing

school books...
he even bought her a pager

so he´d know where she
was at all times.

You didn´t have room
for her here?

Yes, we do

but... we just can´t cut through
all the bureaucracy.

You don´t usually get involved
in cases like this, do you?

No. Usually they don´t call us
about cases like this.

We´ve never had any
problems with him.

Nice, industrious
young man.

How does he get along
with the other children?

Very well.

Real sweet natured
with the little ones.

Gets them dressed
in the morning--

helps them with
their schoolwork.

There´s always going to be
little things

that rub people the wrong way

when you´re living
in close proximity.

People playing their music
too loud, things like that.

Is there any possibility

that William could have got
himself in trouble?

Anything´s possible,
but I wouldn´t think so.

Is it possible

that he hung out with people

that could have gotten him
into trouble?

If this were a Scarsdale boy

would you even be asking these
kinds of questions?

I´m not sure
what you´re getting at.

You´re assuming that
whatever´s happened to William

he´s brought it on himself.

I´m not assuming anything.

I´m just asking questions.

And they´re the same questions
I would ask

in Scarsdale, Rochester
or Chinatown.

All right, but in the end

you´ll chalk this one up
to another gang hit

and that will be that.

Earlier you mentioned
that William had a brother.

What can you tell me
about him?

Aaron.

Now, he´s a whole
different story.

He just got out
of Juvenile Hall.

Gangs, drugs.

He´s as different
from William

as night is to day.

Has he been
hanging around lately?

He´s not supposed
to be

but... yeah, he was here
a couple of nights ago.

I´m talking about
money, Aaron.

I mean, $5,000.

Five Gs?

That´s some serious
cash, man.

You for real?

Yeah.

Hmm.

What´s going on in here?

Sorry, Mr. Ray.

Are we making too much noise?

How you doing, man?

What do you mean,
how am I doing, man?

It´s 11:30 at night.

Come out here,
William.

I need to talk to you.

You know the rules
of this house.

No guests after
lights out.

And besides that,
your brother´s
specifically

not allowed to have
contact with you.

I know, Mr. Ray,
but we were just...

No, no, he needs
to go.

And he needs
to go now,
and he´s not

to come back here,
understand?

Yes, sir.

Do you have a problem
with me, son?

Because if you
don´t want to deal
with this, I will.

It´s okay.
I´ll talk to him.

All right then.

So, I went back

and waited to see
what would happen.

15 minutes later
I heard the door close.

William went to bed.

Do you think that William
might have been angry

that you banned his brother
from the house?

Maybe, but he knew

the rules when
he moved in here.

Children need boundaries.

If you ask me, I think
he was relieved

that someone finally
put his foot down.

All right.

So, you ate your cheeseburger

and you went home.

Is that what you´re telling me?

Yep.

And you didn´t give William
a hard time?

Huh? You didn´t
give him

a little of this
on your way out the door?

I told you, man,
we was just messing around.

Were you just messing around
when you jacked him

for his paycheck two weeks ago?

Come on, man, I don´t know
a damn thing about that.

( knocking )

Hey, fellas.

Hey.

Guess what?

What?
Our friend here

says he doesn´t
know a damn thing.

No kidding?

Hey, you don´t mind
if I take a DNA sample

of your hair,
do you?

You messin´ with my braid, man?!

Hey!

Danny! Danny!

Hey!

I got it. I got it.
I got it.

You ready to tell
me the truth?

Look, I didn´t
kill him, man.

Then who did?
Who did?!

Danny!

A car came by and picked him up.

Hurry up, little man.

I like your hat.

You know Keith, right?

Whose car?

I don´t know, but I saw
his brother, Aaron

riding shotgun.

What make?

Black Nissan Maxima.

What else
you want from me?

Nothing.

Your government
thanks you, Radio.

What the hell
was that?

A little
improvisation.

It was stupid
is what it was.

Don´t get all
Mr. Civil Liberties
on me now, man.

Look, we go through
situations like that
every single day.

And you know what,
we deserve to win
once in a while.

The operative word
being "we."

Now I´m all for shaking
people down

to get some answers

but you want to pull
a stunt like that again

you tell me beforehand,
or else you and I

are going to have a serious
problem, all right?

Come on, if this was
a white kid

you´d be leading with it
at 5:00.

No, I´m coming to you first.

He´s a good kid, okay?

He´s an honor student... he...

I don´t know what
the angle is.

I don´t know...
the testament

to the possibilities

of social services,
something like that.

No, you got to tell me now.

Otherwise, I´m going
to move on.

Okay, thanks.

I just talked to a contact

who works gangs
over at the 43rd.

He´s offering to help us
track down Aaron.

Doesn´t your brother work
at the 43rd?

Yeah.

You talking to him?

No.

Samantha and I are headed
over to the group home

to speak to William´s sister.

See if she knows anything.

Okay.

Growing up here

I don´t even know how
these kids have a chance.

Is that your liberal
conscience talking?

That´s my heart
talking.

Where´s yours?

Been broken
too many times.

I´m sorry, she´s
in no condition

to talk to you now.

What´s the problem?

Well, I don´t know

what Children´s Services
told you

but, uh, Tasha is a child with
very serious emotional problems.

We´ve had
to confine her

to her room.

Ms. Taft, it´s very important
that we speak with Tasha.

Her brother´s missing.

I´m afraid that´s not possible.

She´s in no shape

to talk to anyone
right now.

Unfortunately, Ms. Taft,
she doesn´t have a choice.

No one´s seen or heard from
her brother in over 36 hours.

We need to see her now.

She´s been
out of control all day.

( knocking )

Tasha?

I´m going to open
the door now.

I want you
to behave yourself.

What did you do with my bag?!

Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hey, hey.

What are you
talking about?

I know you stole it!

They steal
everything in here.

Please, you are going
to have to leave.

Liar! My brother gave
me that bag!

Calm down.

She had contraband
in her room

and we had to confiscate it.

I´d like to see
the bag she´s
talking about.

Oh, no. That´s out
of the question.

You´ll have to talk
to the Director.

Liar! It´s in your office!

The Director don´t
even come down here,
you stupid bitch!

All right,
come here.

TAFT:
I was going to turn
that over to the police.

Yeah, I´m sure
you were just

filling out
the paperwork, right?

Sam.

Hey, that´s my brother´s money.

Lay off it.

Hey.

You feeling
a little better?

It´s all right.

You think you might be ready
to talk to us now?

What for? You going to give me
back my bag?

If you help us

find William
and that money really is his

nobody has a right to it
but him.

Of course it´s his money.

He earned it at his job.

Let´s just forget about the
money for a minute.

Your brother´s out there
and he might be in trouble.

Right now,
you´re the only person

that can help him.

Tasha

nobody here
wants to hurt William.

We just need to speak to him
and make sure he´s okay.

That´s it?
Mm-hmm.

Just talk to him?

If he´s okay, you´ll let him go?

( buzzing )

What´s going on?
Why´d you page me?

Listen to me.

I need you to take this.

What is it?
It´s money.

A lot of it.

It´s yours now.

What about you?

Don´t worry about me.
I´m going to be okay.

Where are you going?

Don´t... Shh!
William!

The less you know
right now, the better.

You got to trust me, okay?

Anybody ask about me,
you don´t know.

You haven´t seen me,
you haven´t heard from me.

Tasha, I love you, all right?
Always remember that.

Now go,
get out of here.

And that´s it?

He didn´t tell you
where he was going?

No.

He didn´t leave you
a contact number?

I told you no.
Can I go now?

What´s up?

I just got off the phone
with Children´s Services.

They said they
found a bed for her

in a different
group home

at least for
a couple of days.

It´s better than nothing.

You´re looking
for Aaron Hope, huh?

What´s he supposed
to have done this time?

We think he may have
some information

pertaining to a missing
persons investigation.

Any idea where we can find him?

Your guess
is as good as mine.

They don´t call me when
they´re released from detention

just when they´re
about to go back in.

When was the last time
you spoke with him?

Uh...

couple of months ago.

His case was assigned to me
through the public defender.

Pretty twisted little ball
of pathology, that kid.

You know, petty theft,
street crimes mostly.

By the time I got him,
he´s up to armed robbery.

Kid was damned lucky, too.

He could´ve gone away
as an adult.

So what turned it around?

The fact that he had me...

his age, plus

his co-defendant was even worse.

Co-defendant?

Keith Reid.

A real moron.

It was his gun
they used in the robbery.

How do I track Mr. Reid?

Try the Army.

Those were the terms
of his plea bargain.

Juvie till he turned 18

then he had to enlist.

It´s funny

that you´re down here
asking me this right now.

Why´s that?

I haven´t thought
about Aaron

in a long time.

And then out of the blue

I get a call
from little brother.

William called you?
Yeah.

I got to know him a little bit
during Aaron´s trial.

Used to come down
to the courtroom

sit there chewing his nails.

Then the other day,
Friday

he shows up in my office

saying he needs
some legal advice.

William, how you
doing, young man?

It´s good to see you.

Good, good.

Yeah, yeah. Come on,
sit down, sit down.

Seen your brother lately?

Yes, sir.

He´s out now.

I saw him the other night.

So what´s up?
You say you need some help.

Yeah.

It´s my sister.

I need to get her a lawyer.

Why, what happened?

Nothing she´s done.

Children´s Services, they placed
her in this group home.

It´s a bad situation,
Mr. Strignoli.

They got her medicated
all the time.

She´s not going to school.

What´s the caseworker say?

Caseworker´s the one
that put her in there.

Oh.

Those people don´t care
about her, man.

That´s why she´s got
all these behavioral problems.

If I could get her out of there
and get her over here with me...

where we´re together...

How old are you again?

16.

But I´m working full-time.

16 years old

William, no family court´s going
to remand her to your care.

I´m... I´m not asking for that.

Just keep us together,
that´s all.

Yeah, but, William, we´re
talking about a heavy price...

I know what it cost,
Mr. Strignoli, and...

I´ll get the money.

Well, he said he was working
full-time

and money was not an issue.

This kid´s working

for minimum wage
and he drags his ass

all the way down here
from the South Bronx.

You ever hear of pro bono?

I mean, I´m a criminal attorney,
you know.

I don´t have any expertise
in family law.

I told him
I´d ask around.

He was supposed to call me
on Monday.

I never heard from him,
I figured that was that.

Well, it´s got to be
drug money.

If he´s got 25 grand
in his back pocket

why is he working at
Jim´s Barbecue Burger?

Probably the brother´s
operation.

So why´d he show up
at 4:00 a.m.

and have Tasha stash it?

Somebody´s on to him.

Well, there were
no major robberies

in the area that night.

The only thing
on the police log

between midnight
and 4:00 a.m.

is a donut shop got hit
for a couple hundred bucks.

Detective Ellis.

Agent Johnson.

This is Agent Spade.

Didn´t know they made them
like this at the bureau.

Yeah. And I walk
and talk, too.

And I´m
anatomically correct.

Frank works the South Bronx
with my brother.

He sends his regards.

Yeah, I´m sure.

Alton never forgave Viv
for going federal.

Anyway, thanks
for coming.

Do you know anything
about Aaron Hope?

Hope. Uh, yeah, sure.

I dealt with him
a couple times.

Penny-ante stuff mostly.

He just got out of juvie.

How´s this in your lap?

He´s got a
younger brother

who´s gone missing

and we think it might be
drug related.

So I called you.

This the kid?

Unfortunately

it´s six years
out of date.

No. I never seen this one.

We think sometime
between midnight

and 4:00 a.m. Monday

they came into possession
of several thousand dollars

and it´s tied
into the disappearance.

I´ll check the log,
but I don´t recall

hearing about
any major takedowns

that night.

Well, a donut shop was hit
at 3:30 that morning.

I´ll check it out.

You know, if these
two knuckleheads

ripped somebody off...

this neighborhood,
heavy hitters?

It´s going to be bodies
piling up.

Private Keith Reid.

Yes, sir.

Agent Fitzgerald, FBI.

I see your Army career
is off to a promising start.

It´s all gravy.

They said they found contraband
in my suitcase, so, uh...

I need to ask you

a few questions.

Do you know a William Hope?

Yeah, I know his older brother
Aaron, why?

Well, he failed to return
to his foster home

Sunday night.

He was last seen at the corner
of Baltic Avenue

and Mosholu Parkway
climbing into
a black Nissan

we believe is registered to you.

Yeah, yeah, I saw him.

Me and Aaron were out kind of
late celebrating, you know.

Last night before
basic training and all.

William paged us,
said he was kind of jammed up.

You offer to give him
a lift home?

That´s right.

Well, what time
did you drop him off?

I wouldn´t know that, sir.

We picked him up
about 11:45 and, uh

they took me straight
to the bus station.

Oh, yeah,
what time was that?

About 12:30.

Then I caught
the 1:00 a.m. bus out here.

Uh-huh.
What´d you do with your car?

Gave it to Aaron.

I ain´t got no use for it
in here.

He´s taking care of it for me.

Well, any idea
how I can find Aaron?

No, sir.

You try that
halfway house?

Thanks.

Keep up the good work, soldier.

Yes, sir.

Thank you for seeing me,
Agent Malone.

It´s a pleasure,
Mr. Ray.

Please sit.

What can I do for you?

How are you doing
with the media coverage

on this case?

Not very well.

Why is that?

I don´t control
the media.

So how´s
the investigation going?

We´re doing everything we can.

Don´t handle me, sir. Please.

Have enough respect for me
to tell me the truth.

Okay.

The truth is that William
went to his sister´s house

with $25,000 in cash.

How can you explain that?

I can´t.

Normally
at this point

we would turn over
the investigation

to the local police.

But you´re not.
No.

Why not?

Because William´s not
from Scarsdale.

And until we find out
what happened to him

the case is still ours.

Excuse me.

It´s Samantha.

They found Keith Reid´s car.

Where?

181st Street.

No, it´s bad.

There was blood
all over the seat.

Came in about 45 minutes ago.

Yeah, okay, bye.

Sam, I found William´s hat under
the front passenger seat.

Looks like your friend Radio
left out a few details.

Possibly.

We still don´t know

if the blood came before
or after

William went to his sister´s.

Sugar.

Confectioner´s sugar

like the kind
bakers use.

Didn´t a donut shop
get knocked over that night?

Yeah.

SPADE:
Store was robbed
around 3:30 Monday morning.

Neighbor reported
a single gunshot.

That´s three hours after they
dropped Keith at the Greyhound

and half an hour before
William stashed the money
with baby sister.

Danny inside?
Yeah.
( cell phone rings )

Hello?

Night clerk
identified

two African American
males, medium build

between the ages
of 18 and 25.

What was the take?

They told Officer Betancourt
150 bucks in the till.

Okay.

We just got to
figure out where that
$25,000 came from.

Just the same...

it matches the timeline.

Those kids were here, Jack.

You can´t always call
them the right way.

Freeze it there.

Sure.

JACK:
He´s wearing that hat
from the burger joint.

But not the
pants or shirt.

What did they do?

Bring him a change
of clothes?

VIVIAN:
See what your friends

from the city desk
had to say?

At least we got his picture

in the paper.

You think Aaron killed him?

It´s one of the theories.

What are the others?

Well, they went
to Tasha´s house

sometime after 4:00 a.m.

We still haven´t found
Aaron, so we´re...

William would never hurt
his own brother... over money?

Lookit, Polly

I shouldn´t be having
this conversation with you.

Okay, we´re still
in the process

of putting the pieces
together, and...

He was trying so hard.

I just talked to him
last week

about applying to colleges,
Regents exams.

He was so worried.

About what?

His work, family, school.

He was afraid
he couldn´t hold it together.

He was afraid he´d end up
just like his brother.

Polly, you cannot
baby-sit these kids
24 hours a day.

At one point or another

they´re going to have to
make the right decision.

I did. I was a kid just
like William at one point

and I made the
right decision. So...

Taylor, they´re bringing
Radio back in.

I will call you as soon as
I know something, okay?

All right, who is this?

Hold on. Mike...

it´s some reporter
from FOX News.

He wants to know if we´ll
consent to an interview.

Tell him "no comment."

No comment.

I guess your friends
in the media

finally think this
is a story worth covering.

( sighs )

Look, Mr. and Mrs. Ray

I can´t advise you whether
to talk to the media or not

but I think I can tell you

it might be a good time
to get a lawyer.

Jeffrey, go to your room.

Everything´s all right.

I´ll take him.

Come on, Sweet Pea.

Is it really possible that it´s
William´s blood in the car?

They´re still running
the forensics analysis.

We won´t have anything
conclusive for a few hours.

How are we going to explain this
to them?

William was a hero
to these children.

Too early to talk about
him in the past tense.

We´re not certain that
the worst has happened.

His blood
is all over that car.

His brother got him
roped into some robbery.

If he´s not dead,
he´s a fugitive.

You tell me, agent,
how is that not the worst

that could have happened?

( sighs )

I´m so sorry, Agent Johnson.

We´re all just
trying so hard
to make sense of all this.

Hey, it goes with
the territory.

We worked so hard, all of us,
to help William

but it´s...
it´s just so disheartening.

William came to you, didn´t he?

He was scared

of how your husband
would react.

He was in trouble and he knew

he could talk to you.

He didn´t come to me, Agent
Johnson, that´s my point.

He didn´t come to
either one of us.

We so desperately
wanted him to trust us--

to be a part
of this family.

Sorry, Miss Ray.

I didn´t hear you knock.

I thought I would come
check on you.

See how you were doing.

You seemed
a little distracted at dinner.

I´m okay.

Mike´s worried about you,
William.

He said that Aaron´s
been at the house.

You´ve been spending
time with him.

Why is he worrying you
about that?

I mean... it´s not your problem.

I believe it is our problem

as long as you´re living under
this roof.

Has he asked you for money?

How much?

He´s my brother
and it´s my money.

So what?

William, that´s money
that you earned

and it´s money that you

and your sister
depend on.

He´s my brother,
Miss Ray, and, uh...

it´s none of your damn business.

William...

So, you were afraid
of this all along--

that he´d lose his way.

The louder I talked--

the louder any
of us talked--

the less he heard.

So?

TAYLOR:
Isn´t this what started
this whole chain of events?

See, the way I see it is

you mess with William,
he got scared

he called his older brother

they got into trouble and, well

you´re responsible.

Look, whatever they got into
that night, that´s on them.

You can´t hold me
on account of none of that.

So, what do you hear?

Well, it ain´t my turf,
but I heard a few things.

What things?

The word is, William and Aaron

have been planning this
for months.

Little brother
was just waiting

for his opportunity, that´s all.

Soon as Aaron got out of juvie,
they rip off a ton of money

and catch a jet down
to South America somewhere.

Whose ton of money?

Heavy hitters,
that´s all I know.

They the ones that was fronting
that doughnut shop.

Are you sure?

24-hour pharmaceuticals, dawg.

Crack, X, rock, all of that.

Cops didn´t even know
it was there.

But little brother knew.

Hey, Radio, you see how pleasant
this whole process can be

when you give us what we want?

Well, since I served my country

do I get a letter
from the president?

MARTIN:
Now, one more question
and we´ll see.

Suppose somebody
gets shot out there

and they can´t go to a hospital,
what do they do?

Besides die?

Where were you early Monday
morning, Mr. Bisher?

Or do you go by
Doctor Bisher?

I just want to get
the honorific right.

I don´t know
what you´re talking about.

Well, let me
help you out.

You had some visitors
at your apartment

around 4:00 a.m. Monday morning.

What are you

looking at him for?
Stop wasting our time.

We know what you do on the side

to make extra money.

Am I supposed to be intimidated?

I´m a U.S. citizen.

And you´re subject

to the same laws
like the rest of us.

You have any idea

of the penalties for performing

medical procedures
without a license?

I have a medical degree from an
excellent university in Kenya.

That´s great, but it doesn´t
exactly cut it

in this country,
does it?

I got a call, some street kid
said there´s been a shooting.

The bullet had entered his lung.

He was seeping blood.

I told him I had no way
of dealing

with injuries this severe.

If they didn´t get their friend
to an emergency room

at once, there was no question
he would die.

Wait a second, sir.

How many of them were there?

All together... three.

Keith said they dropped him
at Greyhound about 12:30.

So unless they picked up
another friend along the way

Keith lied to us.

He was the third kid.

Yeah. It looks like
I´m taking another trip

back up to Fort Dix.

I just got a call
from the morgue...

a kid matching
William´s description.

Where did they find him?

In a boat pond, 9:00 this
morning; gunshot wounds.

( sighs )

Yeah, okay, go ahead.

Yeah, that´s my brother.

That´s William?

Okay.

I´ll take her out of here.

Could you give
me a second?

Excuse me.

This isn´t William.

How do you know?

Everyone we talked to said he
used to bite his fingernails

down to the quick.

I don´t know
who the hell this is

but this is not William Hope.

What do you mean
it´s not her brother?

You think she´s so unstable
she doesn´t know

what her own
brother looks like?

I think she´s lying.

Why would she do that?

She´s terrified.

We think she´s protecting
her big brother.

That´s what she´s doing.

From what?

That´s what we´re
trying to figure out, Polly.

Tasha, I need you
to listen to me
very carefully.

I know you´re scared.

We know that your brother
is not dead.

Who told you to go down there

and tell us the body was
William´s, Tasha?

Tasha, William´s
foster parents
have confirmed

that the body
is not his.

I got NYNEX on the line.

She got a call on her pager
this morning at 8:30.

A motel in Newark.

It´s got to be Aaron, right?

All right, look, what
kind of guarantees
do I get?

You get nothing.
We hold all the cards.

You hated him so much
you had to destroy him, huh?

Look, I love my brother
William, man.

All I ever wanted
what was the best for him.

You love him?

That´s why you got him
involved in a felony?

You care about your brother
so much

tell us what happened.

Seriously, man.

It was never supposed
to happen like that.

William paged me
and said he was being hassled.

This cat better be here.

Could I get him a ride home?

I was out with my friend Keith.

Where this cat, man?

There you go.

Mm.

Hurry up, man.

I like your hat,
little man.

You know Keith, right?

Yeah.

William just wanted
to be dropped home.

He had exams in the morning.

Keith was tripping.

Whose idea was the robbery?

Just supposed to grab some
donuts and a couple of dollars.

♫ Judge not, judge not, should
be judged first by a... ♫

WILLIAM:
What are we doing here?

What´s going on, Aaron?

You up for some adventure,
little brother?

Yeah, we gonna make
a man out of you
tonight, baby.

No, no, no.
Leave him out of this, Keith.

He ain´t ready for this yet.

Open the
glove box, man.

Yeah.

What´s going on?

Aaron, put the gun
back, man.

Yeah, baby,
it´s like that.

Stay in the car, William.

Do what I say.

Come on, boy.

WILLIAM:
The play was for me

to black out
the security camera

and Keith would take
the cashier.

Get down on the floor
and lay down, boy!

Hey, baby! It´s payday, baby!

Hey, hey!

Let´s go, man!
Hey, hey!

AARON:
The bag was just sitting there
under the counter.

Let´s go now! Now!

Bag was just sitting there
under the counter, man.

We didn´t have time to think

We grabbed it and ran.

( grunts )

Oh! Oh!

It was real bad.

He had blood coming
all out of his mouth.

We had no idea

they were dealing drugs
out of there.

He was begging me
to take him to the hospital

but it was too late for that.

Why?

´Cause he´d hunt us down
and kill us both.

Who would?

That dirty cop.

( groaning )

( tires squealing )

It was Ellis.

Ellis is dirty?

He was on
the take, man.

We didn´t know he was looking
out for that place.

Must have been hanging out

in that back storage room
or something.

Soon as that cop saw
William´s face

his life was over.

No, as soon as you picked
your little brother up at work

his life was over.

I know this, man.

Believe me, I know this.

Whose idea was it

for William
to assume Keith´s identity?

Mine.

Keith had all his stuff
in a duffel.

He had an electric razor
in there.

Put on Keith´s glasses.

After I dropped him off
at Greyhound

we drove around for a while.

Then just before sunup, I...

dumped Keith´s body
in that lake

in Van Cortland Park.

Figured it was about
to freeze up.

Cops wouldn´t find him
till springtime.

( phone rings )

It´s Martin.

Hello.

William´s gone.

Base adjutant says
he released him

to police custody.

When?

20 minutes ago.

Okay.

I just talked
to Internal Affairs.

They´ve been after Ellis
for years.

They had to let him go
on a brutality charge

in March on a technicality.

There´s a shock.

I´ve been talking to the Captain
of the 43rd precinct

for the last half hour.

Ellis has taken a personal day.

They can´t find him anywhere.

Assuming he left Fort Dix
at 5:30

he´s got a 55-minute ride
into the city.

Yeah. Let´s not forget
Thanksgiving traffic.

Good point.

Could this guy
be crazy enough

to execute William
on the New Jersey turnpike

and make it look like
he resisted arrest?

As long as he thinks
William will get him

his 25 grand back

he´ll keep him alive.

Yeah, but we´ve got
the 25 grand in custody.

Ellis and William
don´t know that.

Tasha´s.

That´s Ellis´ car.

It´s clear. Let´s go.

Ellis, freeze!

No!

William! William!

William?

Will, stay down.
Stay down.

We need an ambulance.

This one´s gone.

Stay down.
Yeah.

You´re going to be all right.

Tash.

William, are you okay?

I´m going to be okay.

They just got
to check me out.

I don´t know what

your friend Agent Spade
said to him

but my boss
is getting hammered.

They said Tash
can move in with the Rays.

Glad it worked out.

Thank you, Danny,
for everything.

Do you have any plans
for the holiday?

Nothing special.

´Cause I´m just thinking
that if you´re solo

I´m going to be spending it
with my family.

My sister´s kids
are kind of obnoxious

but my mom´s a great cook.

I know it´s not much
in the way of repayment...

No, it sounds really great.

I got to go.

Call me tomorrow, okay?