(siren wails, horn blares)
(clattering in distance)
(woman shrieks, laughs)
(steam hissing)
Thanks.
(music playing, people talking and laughing)
WOMAN: I like your tie.
It's really nice.
MAN: Thanks.
Get him out of here! Out!
What'll it be, hon?
Dirty martini.
Sorry, no vodka tonight, but you look like
you could be a sloe gin fizz kinda girl.
I can be whatever you want me to be.
How we doing?
Amazing. Movin' and groovin'.
Receipts looking good?
Come on, buddy. Are you kidding me?
Will you just relax? Look at this place.
I'd say we're doing good.
(patrons exclaim)
(all cheering)
(rock music plays)
♪ I want to taste your love ♪
♪ Keep me coming back for more ♪
♪ I want to get some love ♪
♪ Come on and give me more ♪
♪ I want to keep on coming ♪
♪ I want to try something new ♪
Whoo! ♪ I want to get some loving ♪
♪ If it's the last thing I do ♪
♪ I want to taste your love ♪
♪ Keep coming back for more ♪
♪ Want to get some love ♪
♪ Come on and give me more ♪
(howls)
♪ Whoo... whoo-ooh ♪
♪ Whoo... whoo-ooh. ♪
(music fades)
CHRISTINE: Hey, I never asked you.
How did your doctor's appointment go yesterday?
He said I'm showing signs of improvement.
Sailing through my tests
and getting better all the time. (chuckles)
Couldn't have done it without you.
Mmm, this is nice.
You, me, a quiet moment.
Mm-hmm.
I can see us here years from now
sitting on our bench...
wrinkly, gray.
You'll be all crotchety, of course.
(both laugh)
What's the fun of getting older
if you can't be crotchety?
(phone ringing)
Go on. Get it.
Taylor.
(siren wails briefly)
Lot owner says he closed up at 10:00 p.m. last night.
Showed up at 6:00 a.m.,
found our vic shortly thereafter.
DANVILLE: Well, not the kind of Christmas surprise
that poor man was expecting, I'm sure.
FLACK: The vic is Jason Black, 28 years old.
Blunt force trauma.
Also...
DANVILLE: Ow.
Any sign of what was used to hit him in the head?
No. But I have a pretty good idea why.
Bank deposit bag.
Ten grand was taken off of our vic.
So he was robbed.
Yeah, kinda.
How do you kinda rob someone?
You leave $5,328 behind.
His wallet, credit cards, untouched.
Why robs someone and not take all the money?
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org
♪ Out here in the fields ♪
♪ I fight for my meals ♪
♪ I get my back into my living ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. ♪
(camera shutter clicking)
Foot tread would indicate our vic was kicked in the chest.
Probably the force that sent him back onto the spike.
Yeah, it's just hard to tell
if it was intentional or accidental.
The blunt force trauma? Nothing accidental about that.
TAYLOR: Medium-velocity spatter.
Yeah, our vic took
quite a beating before landing on the spike.
If a body falls in a fake forest, does it make a noise?
Apparently not. Canvass of the area
turned up zilch. No witnesses,
no surveillance cameras.
And the lot owner?
His alibi checks out.
The business on the deposit slip, The Real McCoy.
Yeah, it's a super exclusive speakeasy up the street.
Opened up about two years ago.
Our vic was one of the co-owners.
Personally, I don't get the appeal.
20 bucks for a specialty drink? Give me a beer
and call it a day, thanks.
It's nostalgic. So nostalgic
that the bar keeps everything old school from
its drinks to the "cash only" policy.
Over 15 grand. Must have been the
end-of-the-week deposit. There's a bank
drop-off two blocks from here.
He ends up here.
I found a piece of fabric on the front gate, matches our
vic's coat. I'm thinking maybe he ducked
in here to hide from whoever
eventually caught up with him. Or someone forced him in.
You're gonna rob someone, the best bet is to get 'em off the street.
But if it's just a stickup,
why go to all the trouble of squeezing into a locked lot?
Hey. Where do you think you're going?
Hey, babe. I didn't mean to wake you.
Mm.
It's way too early to be functional.
I don't have rehearsal till 2:00.
I know, but I gotta go.
I thought you had the day off.
I do.
Adam, we need to talk.
Okay.
This isn't gonna work out.
What?
It's been a fun few months, and you're cute and all and...
mildly intellectually stimulating,
but if you're gonna insist on being a morning person, then...
(laughs)
Oh, way to give a guy a heart attack.
(both chuckle)
Mm, I would actually love to stimulate you
with my mild intellect, but, uh, um...
Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this right now. I-I gotta go.
You have no idea how much I hate myself.
No idea.
At around 1:00... Yeah?
you're gonna be overcome with a particular feeling.
Oh.
That feeling is going to be overwhelming regret.
So you should reconsider this whole responsibility thing
you've got going on. Yeah.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes, but I gotta go.
Where are you going?
Um, Hyperion House.
It-it's a nursing home that I sometimes volunteer at.
Okay,
now I'm overcome with regret.
I knew you were one of the good ones.
(chuckles)
Thanks.
Bye.
TAYLOR: Jason was your boyfriend?
Almost a year.
Typical story.
Best friends who became more.
We've known each other since college.
Eli, too?
Used to call them Yin and Yang.
They were total opposites,
but together, they just kinda worked.
Despite being opposites, Jason and Eli got along?
He was my best friend...
since second grade.
I can't imagine things without him.
Not many friendships survive going into business together.
We had our moments.
He was always quick to anger,
and I've always been a little too passive.
How about Courtney, how'd she fit in?
Started off as a dancer.
I mean, still am. But as things got
more hectic around here,
they had me start helping with the day-to-day.
There was a good portion of cash taken from Jason.
Do you know if he had any money problems recently?
He liked to gamble.
He always took the risky bet, but...
How risky?
I guess risky's relative.
I was a stats major,
so I always saw the odds;
the risk/reward of it all.
Jason just saw the reward? Yeah.
I mean, this bar had been our dream.
Jason's grandpa, he'd worked at a speakeasy back in the day,
so we grew up hearing stories
all about it all the time:
Club Durant, The Hollywood, The Ha-Ha Club. It was exciting.
We wanted to replicate that feeling.
Share an experience, offer an escape.
What about the exclusivity of the bar?
That only made people want it more.
That could've pissed some people off.
Jason have problems with anyone recently?
He was the life force of this place.
People came to see him.
Everybody loved him.
♪ ♪
The screw from the tree stand
pierced the left external carotid artery
and the left jugular vein.
Official COD exsanguination.
Liver temp places TOD around 4:00 a.m.
What about the lacerations?
Two horizontal puncture wounds
and one in which the skin split
and caused three radiating tears.
Given the shapes and the ragged look of the laceration,
I'd say our vic was pistol-whipped.
The blunt end, the corner of the handle.
Subdermal photos confirm it.
Probably a small gun, given the shape and size.
So our perp used a gun,
but never fired it.
Also, I collected trace from the wound.
Sent it up to the lab.
What is this mark below the temple?
Hmm.
DANVILLE: Might lead us to the weapon.
MAN: All right, here we go.
Yoo-hoo.
Huh?
We're playing a game here. It's your turn.
You got to take seven tiles.
Oh. Sorry about that.
It's okay.
There you go.
I got it! Okay.
Hey.
You know that kid?
I thought maybe it was my son.
I don't know why. He never visits.
I wouldn't either, I guess. Place is disgusting.
You're a good brother, Brian.
I'm...
No one else visits me, just you.
How's the family? You need money?
Remember...
Always be saving.
Ah-huh.
What's wrong?
You see, you see that woman, huh?
I'd give you a few bucks
but she keeps stealing my wallet. That's why you
always gotta be careful. I don't like the people
who hang around here. They're just trying to help you.
Yeah, just trying to help themselves to my money.
Uh...
Can you hold on one second?
There you are.
What are you doing here?
I wanted to see you in your element.
Thought I'd surprise you with a little pick-me-up.
Maybe help out?
Uh, I mean, that's really sweet
and I really appreciate it. Just, um, I'm busy.
Oh, no.
Where the hell did he go?
♪ ♪
Hey, you're gonna get a wrinkle
if you keep furrowing your brow like that.
This just doesn't make sense.
What? I found blood
on the vic's watch. You were there,
you saw; the jacket was securely around the gloves.
Yeah, the watch was completely covered. Yeah.
So where'd this blood come from?
(computer beeps)
(indistinct chatter)
(people shouting)
FLACK: All right, hey!
(grunts)
That's a catch of the day.
Petty theft, armed robbery, burglary.
You were pinched five years ago for third-degree robbery.
You're out of prison for a week
and you're already back at it?
I don't know what you guys are talking about.
I'll paint you a picture.
You get out of prison, times are tough...
You want to get back on your feet...
FLACK: You find an easy mark-- Jason Black.
Name ring a bell?
I don't know who that is.
Yeah, you do. It's a pretty good theory.
A theory supported by the fact
that we have your blood on our victim's watch.
Theory sound more like fact now?
Guy was a douche.
I found a way into his pretentious exclusive club.
I try to order a drink, the ass has me thrown out.
Come on. Get out of here.
Get your hands off of me!
Left a pretty good mark, too.
What kind of place
refuses business just 'cause I don't look the part?
It doesn't sound like your kind of joint.
Just like you said. I'm out of prison a week.
I got a taste for bourbon.
It's as simple as that.
Just a random bar.
Of all the watering holes in all of New York,
you had to walk into that one?
Doesn't feel random.
Plus, you're on parole, which means...
Which means the only thing I did wrong was try
and get a drink in that bar.
MAN: There's no reason for this!
None! I want to go home.
Look, I don't know who you are,
but I demand to speak to your supervisor!
I got this, I got this. Hey, it's okay. Take a breath.
You!
You're behind this, aren't you, Adam?
I should have known!
Always trying to ruin things for me!
You know who I am?
Of course I do.
Look, I got a call from the cops saying they found you.
I'm just gonna take you home.
That's where I was trying to go
before you had me hauled off. You did this!
I didn't do anything! I want to go home.
I need to go home. Do you understand?
I do, but do you know where home is?
Don't be silly! Arizona!
We're in New York City.
Don't tell me where I am.
Okay, look, let's just, let's just go home.
You are such a disappointment!
Always have been, always will be.
A good-for-nothing!
Trying to put me away, huh?
Trying to hurt me.
I haven't seen you for years, and this is when you show up?!
This is how you repay me?!
Huh?
Can you put him in an interview room, please?
Come back here, Adam! Adam?!
Adam!
What's going on? Is that guy okay?
Yeah. No.
My dad has Alzheimer's.
What did you say?
He's my dad.
Hey, Jo. Turns out you were right.
Oh, I love those three words.
What was I right about this time?
Subdermal bruising on the vic's face.
The insignia is the trademark for Dunley Ballistics.
(computer beeps, trills)
The perp's gun.
Yeah, but not just any gun.
A starter pistol.
They use those at my kids' swim meet.
It only fire blanks or caps.
Looks just like the real McCoy, but far from it.
Probably just wanted to scare the vic
into giving up the money.
Still doesn't explain why our perp only grabbed $10,000.
Hmm.
(computer beeps) Ah! Okay,
cotton, indigo, foil, boric acid.
Trace that Sid collected from the wound of our vic.
Okay. Uh, cotton and indigo...
sounds like denim.
Foil...
But boric acid?
Okay, usually used as an antiseptic, insecticide,
flame-retardant, lubricant.
Any number of things.
Uh! I expected so much more from you.
Hey, Flack, I got your text. What's up?
Since we don't have anything else to go at Nathan Brody with,
I've been looking over complaint reports
from the area around The Real McCoy.
Able to I.D. any sort of robbery pattern?
Not yet.
What I did find, though, is an unusually high number
of disorderly conduct and public intox.
14 incidents in the last month,
and only three others in the two years they've been open.
That's a pretty significant spike.
Could be nothing.
Maybe the bar was just over-serving.
The vic's tox report
said he had a buildup of formic acid
in his system.
When ingested, methanol
quickly converts to formaldehyde,
and then to formic acid. Okay.
So what are you thinking, here?
That maybe the bar isn't just a speakeasy by name.
Chocolate malt shake.
(chuckles)
My favorite.
How did you know?
Just a good guess.
Do you know where you are right now?
Uh... no.
Do you remember anything about today?
Um... I went to, um...
I, um... I was looking for, um, for my wife.
Um... she wasn't home, so I, uh...
I went out for a walk, to uh, to-to find her.
She leaves a lot.
You okay?
Where was that when I was a kid?
Huh? You got to speak up if you want to be heard.
You know, you remind me of my boy?
Sweet. But, uh...
a little soft.
I try to toughen him up. Yeah.
Who am I?
What kind of question is that?
It's so frustrating, how I...
I have you for five minutes, and then I lose you again.
Who am I?
Say my name.
Brian.
That's your brother.
Charles.
That's you. I'm Charles?
Yeah.
Dad.
Say my name.
I don't... I don't know.
I'm Adam.
I'm your son.
♪ ♪
(bad English accent): I'd like a martini, shaken, not stirred.
Yeah, and preferably one with ethanol.
Not that I don't like an excuse to come see you, babe,
but what's up? Based on Mac's theory
that our speakeasy is not just a speakeasy,
I tested all the alcohol.
And you found methanol. Yeah.
Only not in any of the bottles out here,
only in a few in the stockroom.
So the real stuff is here on the shelves,
the fake stuff's in the back.
Any idea why?
Well, I think it was a recent change.
They have been serving the counterfeit stuff, see?
The rubber mat gives it away.
Methanol corrodes rubber,
pulls moisture out of the air
and turns it into a white powder.
Mm. I love it when you talk sciencey to me, baby.
Hmm.
Votova Vodka.
That's the stuff with the methanol.
So this is a modern-day bootlegging operation going on.
Yeah, only during Prohibition people were so desperate
they were drinking pure ethyl alcohol.
That's like swigging aftershave.
This stuff is a lot slicker.
It's less detectable, but it's not any less dangerous.
Yeah, but it's essentially poison.
It gives you a mild reaction similar to extreme drunkenness,
but it's dangerous enough to kill you.
So maybe our vic figured out
that people were selling him a fake product.
We need to find out who this bar was buying from. Yeah.
If it didn't kill him,
it could be what got him killed.
Votova Vodka?
You want to pass off fake vodka as legit,
I'd come up with a better name.
Feel free to fill out a complaint card on your way out.
Yo. Listen to me.
Between us, the Feds, ICC and ATF,
you're screwed, my man.
You sold counterfeit vodka to The Real McCoy.
And Jason Black figured out your scam.
Please.
I'm scamming no one.
Running a business is expensive.
Clearly, they're looking to cut corners.
And you were happy to oblige.
That's usually what you do when you run a business.
Jason confronted you about the fake booze you were selling him.
He didn't want to pay.
Yeah, he confronted me, all right.
Whoa.
No way, man. Not gonna happen.
I'm not selling your crap anymore.
What are you talking about? I know what you're up to.
Dude, I'm just trying to drop off your order. Hey.
I mix drinks for a living. You think I can't tell
you've been selling me this counterfeit vodka? Yeah, I'm selling it to you
'cause that's what you've been ordering. Well, that's impossible.
Look, this guy didn't have a clue.
He didn't handle the P.O.s.
He refused to pay; he sent me on my way.
So you killed him.
You took what you thought he owed you.
No.
I told him he was bitching at the wrong person.
Okay. So who handles the purchase orders?
Ah, the manager.
The broad, Courtney.
TAYLOR: You lied to us, Courtney.
Relationships are built on trust.
Jason trusted you, and you betrayed that trust.
LINDSAY: You were stocking the bar
with counterfeit vodka.
I didn't think anyone was gonna get hurt.
TAYLOR: Jason found out,
confronted you, and then what?
Then nothing.
LINDSAY: Come on, Courtney, enough with the lies.
You killed Jason to keep your secret safe.
Then you used the money
to pay off your liquor distributor.
No.
No, I loved Jason.
Want a drink?
It's a little early to be drinking, don't you think, babe?
Nah, have a sip.
What's with you?
Do it. It's noon.
So it wouldn't be because it's counterfeit vodka?
Jason, I was gonna tell you. I'm... No.
No, no, no. Stop.
You put me at risk.
You put the bar at risk.
What were you thinking?
I was just trying to help.
We're barely making enough money to stay afloat as it is...
Baby, I'm so sorry. Don't.
Jason didn't look at the books.
He didn't know.
He was... he was never any good with money.
Eli told me that we had to start finding ways of saving.
We had to cut back. TAYLOR: And you two
kept the bar's money problems from Jason?
Eli thought it would be best.
So Eli knew about the alcohol?
No, I did that on my own.
How did you leave things with Jason?
He said he needed time.
Now time is something we can't get back.
Your arm hurt?
Yeah. Ever since I broke it, I can always tell
when the weather's gonna change.
I can feel it.
When did you break your arm?
You were there.
Remember?
There were those, uh...
those two birds that we wanted to take out?
Man, those girls.
What were their names again?
Oh, that brunette.
What a knockout. She was something else.
(chuckles)
We just wanted to impress them.
We stole some beers.
Got that old, uh, that old army blanket,
you know, from the garage.
Packed up the car, and...
there was Dad.
Oh, man, was he pissed.
Remember that?
He was some new shade of red I'd never seen before.
And it wasn't the belt.
Or the spoon.
Not that time.
Man, he was pissed.
He broke your arm?
Yeah. What are you gonna do?
He would've broke yours, too,
if I hadn't stepped in.
Stupid broken arm.
Ruined my chance of playing ball.
I could've been great.
Why did you let him hurt you?
What were we, like 15?
What choice did I have?
I mean... did-did he do it to you often?
Oh, come on.
You don't want to relive that stuff.
I relive it every day.
I tried for so long to forget about everything you did to me.
Don't you remember?
No, I... that was Dad, that wasn't me.
You are my dad.
You kicked the crap out of me.
Look at me.
You look at me.
You tell me you remember.
No, you must have me confused with someone else.
(keyboard keys clacking)
That's one complicated-looking map.
But it is the map that might lead us to our perp.
The trace you ran led to a ton of possible sources,
one of which: denim insulation.
Cotton, indigo, foil and...
Boric acid, acting as a flame-retardant.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
So maybe our perp kept his gun in the attic.
Denim insulation gets on the gun
and transfers to our vic when he gets hit.
And how does that trace connect back to this?
It turns out Jason and Eli worked a slew of odd jobs
before opening The Real McCoy.
They laid denim insulation?
Yeah, right before they opened the bar,
they worked for Overhead Roofing.
I took the addresses of all the jobs
Jason worked, plugged those in, then
cross-referenced all the players in the game
with those address to see if there was any link.
Jason's employees, friends, family.
And finally, anyone questioned.
DANVILLE: Nathan Brody.
HAWKES: Nathan lived at his grandma's house till he got popped
for third-degree robbery
and hauled off to prison.
Pulled the file.
His haul was approximated at ten thou.
That was five years ago.
Money was never recovered?
Not a dime.
When was our vic in the attic?
Date on the insulation job says a little over two years ago.
Right before Jason opened the bar.
So if Nathan hid his gun in the attic,
maybe he hid his money there, too.
Mm-hmm. Nathan's released, comes home to find his stash gone.
And somehow fingers our vic as his thief.
What?
So maybe Jason's dream was built on a lie.
FLACK: $10,000. Scary to think what some
people would do for that kind of money.
In your case, you killed for it.
Look, I already told you what happened, all right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was part one of a two-part tale.
We know you killed Jason Black.
We have the gun you hit him with.
FLACK: The skeleton in your closet comes in the form
of a starter pistol in the attic.
Start talking.
I found the receipt for the insulation job.
Signed off by Jason Black.
FLACK: Quick Google search,
you find out that Jason owns
The Real McCoy. You snuck in that
night to confront him, but he booted you out.
Figured if he wouldn't talk to me at the bar,
I wouldn't let walking away be an option.
Look, I don't know what you're talking about, man.
I've never seen you before, and I did not take your money.
You were in my attic, right?
You found my cash, and I'm here to collect.
(both grunting)
I was gonna leave him, then he fought back.
So I searched him...
found the deposit bag, took my money back.
It wasn't yours to begin with.
Think what you want...
but that money was my hope to start over.
A hope to meet my kid.
He was born four months after I went in.
Yo, you were gonna start over with stolen money?
I just wanted to do right by him.
Hoist him up on my shoulders after his first ball game.
Hold his hand on the way to the barber for his first haircut,
you know?
Give him better than my dad gave me.
The sins of the father
are the shackles worn by their children.
Let's hope your son is able to break free.
(people chattering)
Tough day?
Yeah. Nothing that a good night's sleep can't fix.
I saw you with your father.
You want to talk?
Okay.
You know, I only stood up to my dad once.
I was 15.
And he, he just got home from work.
My mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen.
He started hassling her... verbally.
Then he pushed her hard against the wall
and shattered this picture frame.
My mom starts to cry.
And I could, I could hear from the living room.
Then he started to hit her.
And I, I just...
I couldn't listen to her cry anymore.
So I got up
and I grabbed a piece of broken glass off the floor
and... I yelled at him to get off her.
And I said, "If you ever hurt me
"or her again...
I will kill you."
Why do you go visit him?
I'm his son.
I feel obligated.
Did you take care of your dad when he was sick?
No, no, my mother did that.
I wish I'd done more.
It's just not fair, you know?
He doesn't remember anything...
anything that he did to me.
And I remember every curse,
every smack, every bruise.
Everything. I remember all of it.
You want an acknowledgement.
Or an apology,
but with his fleeting memory, you can't have that.
I look at him now, and he's old... and sick.
And I feel nothing.
And it scares me.
I mean, what does that say about me as a person?
You know, you're supposed...
you're supposed to love your parents.
So...
I guess I go because I want to...
I want to feel something.
It looks like you feel something now.
Holding onto the anger isn't gonna help you.
It's so crazy, you know?
I've learned more about him now since he's been sick
than when he was normal.
Turns out, he's just another case of history
repeating itself, you know?
He was a victim, too.
A little forgiveness... you can move on.
Maybe.
Not just for him, Adam,
for you.
FLACK: Thought you guys might want this.
COURTNEY AND ELI: Thank you.
Detective?
You got the guy?
Yeah.
COURTNEY: Jason was a really good man.
Who would want to hurt him?
It seems the past came back to haunt him.
Apparently, he stole ten grand out of someone's attic
when you guys used to lay insulation.
You said you won it in Atlantic City.
What're you talking about?
The money. The last bit
of the start-up money.
You said you won ten grand in AC.
I did. No.
No, you laid insulation with him. You were there.
You took that money.
We were so close
to having everything that we wanted.
The money was... it was just sitting there.
It should have been you.
I didn't think anyone would know.
Or that after all
this time anyone would come looking for it.
No one ever thinks that.
(chuckles)
What?
Ah, man, uh, I'm gonna regret saying this,
but I totally understand if you want to walk away from this.
No hard feelings.
I'm here, aren't I?
I know, I just...
you have to deal with all this baggage.
We all have baggage.
You just have to find someone
who you want to help you carry it.
I'm applying for the job.
(chuckles)
Can I play you something?
'Course.
This is the only thing I have of my dad's.
The only thing I ever wanted.
Favorite memory as a kid was
going to the record store with him.
(pop song plays)
That'd be another point for you.
(both chuckle)
♪ I want to spend my life with a girl like you ♪
♪ Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba-ba-ba ♪
Thank you.
♪ And do all the things that you want me to ♪
♪ Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba-ba-ba ♪
♪ Till that time has come ♪
♪ That we might live as one ♪
♪ Gonna dance with you... ♪
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