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Thank you. Merry Christmas.
So you had to pick the biggest one, huh?
It's a Taylor family tradition.
Every Christmas we
visit all the tree lots
looking for that one.
And then the day after New Year's,
when everybody puts their
trees out by the curb,
my dad would drive us
around the neighborhood
to see if we could find
a bigger one than ours.
- And?
- 17 Taylor Christmases,
never once did we find
a tree that beat us.
Oh, you must be very proud.
You know, we can rest here,
if we're getting tired.
Oh, this is nothing.
When I was in college,
I used to haul my tree
up ten flights of steps
all the way to my
apartment in the Bronx.
Uphill both ways, in the
snow, with no shoes
As a matter of fact, yes.
Whoa, you weren't kidding when
you said it was going to be big.
Oh, that's all Mac's idea.
Yeah, well, nothing's
too big for a child
who's had a parent killed
in the line of duty.
So what's the latest
on Santa and the elves?
Oh, well, it's all set, ready to go.
You guys are the best.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee?
Actually, we gotta run.
We're working the day
tour in the morning.
- Back in at 6:00.
- Well, then
Merry Christmas.
Thank you so much.
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas. See you soon?
- Yeah.
- Okay, bye, guys.
- Bye.
That felt really good.
Yeah, it did.
You know, there is nothing
like Christmas in New York City.
He's not exactly
dressed for the weather.
Looks like somebody tried
to help him stay warm
with a few third-degree burns.
Witnesses heard what they
thought were gunshots.
They look into the alley
and see our boy here on fire.
Shots turned out to be the sound
of these paint cans exploding.
Looks like he was beaten.
There's nothing on him.
Not even loose change.
I'm thinking our vic's wallet
and jewelry were on
someone's Christmas list.
Along with his life.
This is some sort of oil or lubricant.
Internal damage to the airway.
His lungs were filled
with blood when he died.
Must have been a serious punch
to break these lenses like this.
Ooh.
And break these ribs.
This guy suffered severe
blunt-force trauma.
Thinking some type of
weapon like a pipe or a bat.
It's hard to believe the
glasses weren't knocked off
with a blow like that.
Turpentine and
mineral oil--
the perfect storm of
accelerant and fuel.
But it doesn't explain the
burns on our vic's body.
And I'm getting a significant reading
of 800 parts per million for gasoline,
and it's all over his body.
This is interesting.
Looks like this cigarette
started the fire.
So our perp, uh, beats
and robs this guy,
then lights him on fire and takes off.
That's a killer without a conscience.
And probably a long criminal history.
Let's hope this cigarette
butt is in the giving spirit.
Boom!
What are we talking about?
We're talking about that
guy you torched in an alley
off of 74th and Amsterdam.
I wasn't in no alley and
I didn't torch nobody, man.
Your DNA was on a cigarette
butt that ignited the fire.
I ain't capable of
that kind of violence.
Robbery.
Burglary. Assault.
You got a resume for
that kind of violence.
This is a step up for you.
Take a look.
Look, man, I don't
know nothing about that.
That's not going to cut it.
What were you doing there?
Look, you want to spend your
Christmas in a six-by-four cell?
Then start talking.
Okay.
I was over there doing a stickup.
Some fat dude dressed up
like Santa Claus and
another guy playing the sax.
- That's it.
- So you were jacking Santa Claus?
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
I would have heard about that.
There were no robberies
reported over there last night.
They ain't the kind to report it, man.
Neither one of these dudes is legit.
Merry Christmas. Thank you so much.
Don't even try it, punk.
So you were stealing stolen money.
They were out there scamming
Christmas shoppers, man.
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
I'm about to make my move when this car
comes out of the alley
and runs over my foot.
Ho, ho, ho!
I heard some gunplay
coming from the alley.
That's why I split out of there.
Well, did you get a look at the person
who was behind the wheel of that car?
No, man. It happened too fast.
Ooh, so, some mysterious
car comes out of an alley,
runs over your foot,
and you go ahead and
finish the robbery anyway?
Nothing got broke.
Gee, a criminal with perseverance.
I love that.
Yeah, well, I got a girl
and she's got a big Christmas list,
and there was a lot of
loot in that bucket, so
Were you wearing those shoes last night?
Yeah. Why?
Oh, man, come on.
These are my favorite shoes.
I got the autopsy report.
Our vic is James Manning.
Sid printed him, ran his ten card.
Couple of arrests for drug possession.
Nothing in the last few years.
Only next of kin is a fianc�e.
She's coming in to make
a positive ID on the body.
Take a look at this.
X
- ray confirmed broken ribs.
No human being is strong enough
to inflict this kind of damage.
Agreed. CT scan shows
severe trauma to both
sides of the thoracic cage.
Those ribs were shattered.
And one of them ruptured the
right ventricle of the heart
and punctured the right lung.
And check out the humerus bones:
both are crushed in the same place.
So, he's lying supine
with his arms at his side.
To be on his back
like that he was either
unconscious or incapacitated.
Mm-hmm. Tox screen confirms that.
That's a serious dose
of *** in his system.
Definitely enough to knock him out.
Mm-hmm.
And here's something else we found.
Track marks on his arm
and a scar on his hand.
The unusual thing is this, though.
Track marks are well healed.
Probably years old.
And there's only one
fresh injection point--
- The thigh.
- Mm-hmm.
Not a great place to find a vein
close to the surface of the skin.
An experienced addict would know that.
Subdermal bruising with
a distinct linear pattern.
And just like the burns on the chest,
they were inflicted
right where you found him.
At the scene.
These are crash injuries.
The lubricant on the glasses,
the trail of gasoline to the body.
James Manning was run over by a car.
The fire caused by a broken fuel line.
There was no tearing of the skin,
no evidence of dragging.
There's nothing to suggest
that the car was going
more than five miles per hour.
Right.
So whoever ran him over
did it slowly and deliberately.
That car is our *** weapon.
That's the victim, but
who's the other guy?
They're both James Manning.
The moment I saw him, I knew
there was something familiar about him.
And then when I saw
that scar on his hand
I ran him through CARS for past collars
and came up with this booking photo.
It's hard to believe
they're the same person.
Put some meat on his bones and a shave
and he looks like a
completely different guy.
It's never a good thing
when you look better
in the autopsy photo than
you do when you're alive.
He used to panhandle on 35th and Lex.
I'd get my coffee and a
sandwich on the corner, and
every once in a while I'd
give m a dollar or some change.
What about a shelter?
I ain't going in a shelter.
Well, you're gonna
freeze to death out here.
Isn't there someone I can call?
No.
I ain't got nobody.
You're wasting your time
worrying about me, lady.
I'm a lost cause.
There's no such thing.
You just need to get off the street,
get sober, and start
taking care of yourself.
No, this life beat the care
out of me a long time ago.
Please, let me help you.
Spare change? Spare change?
And then one day, he
just wasn't there anymore.
It made me feel better to imagine
that he had picked himself
up off the street and
straightened himself out,
but I just I never
really believed that.
Well, he did.
But somehow he ended up in that alley,
drugged and the
victim of a hit-and-run
that someone wanted to
look like an accident.
The question is who?
Until we find that car,
the only thing we can do
is take a closer look at the
people in James Manning's life.
How's it going?
Uh, better than I expected.
The undercarriage left a pretty distinct
subdermal bruising pattern
all over Manning's torso.
Nice. I got a very usable
tire tread impression
from that crook who robbed Santa.
Great, I should be able
to get a partial match
to an undercarriage in our database.
Hopefully, between
the both of us, we can
narrow it down to a
specific make and model.
Teamwork.
Tony, give me a hand with those.
And get those boxes when
you're done with that.
Looks good.
Maybe just a little more basil
and a pinch of red pepper.
Thank you.
Grace Chandler?
I'm Detective Flack.
Yes?
Is there somewhere we
can talk in private?
Oh, my God.
Did something happen to James?
When I came home from work, his wallet
and his cell phone were
on the kitchen table.
I thought he went for a run.
The precinct wouldn't take my report
unless he was missing for 24 hours.
I was up all night
waiting for him to call.
We're gonna need the names of anyone
who might have been with him last night.
There isn't anyone else.
No family and no real friends.
If he wasn't working at the
restaurant, he was with me.
How long have you and
James been together?
We were engaged for six months
and together for over two years.
Have you been getting along?
Yes, of course.
No arguments, disagreements?
No. None.
What kind of cars do you and James own?
A 2009 Lexus.
IS350, that's it.
Why are you guys asking
me all of these questions?
We have to, Miss Chandler.
It's our job.
James was under the influence
of drugs when he died.
No, that can't be.
That's impossible.
He had *** in his system.
I met James when he was using,
but I helped him
overcome that addiction.
I gave him a job and then
I fell in love with him.
We just celebrated two
years of his sobriety.
Um, Miss Chandler, we'd like to take DNA
and fingerprint elimination
samples from you.
Why?
When we find the vehicle
that was used to kill James
and we process it for evidence,
we'll need those samples to
eliminate you as a suspect.
I understand.
I'm sorry. Just this is all so much.
Of course.
She'll have you out of here in no time.
Manning fights his way
back from the streets
and seems to have a
great life ahead of him.
So, how does he end up in that alley
right back where she found him?
Make it a crime scene, all right?
Nobody touches that
car until we get there.
- We gotta go.
- Where to?
Got a match on that tire
tread pattern from the shoe.
Graybridge 205/65/R15,
which is standard on most
late-model compact cars.
Well, that narrows it down a bit.
Lindsay was able to use
that information and match it
to the bruising pattern
on Manning's body
to get an exact year and model.
Traffic towed a '97 Taurus station wagon
to the impound lot on
the Westside this morning.
All right, and get this.
It was blocking a driveway
on 89th and Broadway,
which is 15 blocks
north of our homicide.
Wasn't reported stolen.
All right, well, let's hope this car
is the other half of our crime scene.
Steering column's intact.
Wasn't hotwired.
Definitely started the
old-fashioned way: with a key.
Hey, Danny, I'm waiting for your "boom."
Ah, no more booms.
Lindsay made me promise.
She's afraid it's gonna
be Lucy's first word.
Boom.
This is our car.
I'll check the vehicle registration.
Okay
Car's registered to a Sam Baker,
Hey, nicely done, guys.
Uh, Sam, uh,
these folks wanna have a word with you.
Yeah, send them on in.
- Sam Baker?
- Yeah.
I'm Detective Bonasera.
This is Detective Messer.
Hey, well, that wasn't
our best performance ever,
but not something to
get arrested for, right?
We have a few questions to ask you.
Yeah, all right.
- Sounds serious.
- It is.
Your car was used in the
commission of a homicide.
My car?
Yeah, there's gotta be a mistake there.
No, there's no mistake.
It was the *** weapon.
Why didn't you report it stolen?
Because I didn't know it was stolen.
I told you.
It sits in the parking
garage for days at a time,
sometimes weeks.
And no one else has a key?
I have two keys.
One on my key chain and
another in my apartment.
Hanging on a hook in your kitchen.
- You searched my apartment?
- Your apartment,
your car, the room that you
rent at the recording studio.
This is a homicide investigation, Sam.
Your car killed a man.
All right, and it was started
with one of your two keys,
both apparently accounted for.
This is crazy.
You claim that no one else
has a key to your place.
So somebody broke into your apartment,
took the key, borrowed your car,
committed a homicide, dumped the car,
and then put the key back.
I mean, does that sound like anything
a sane person would believe?
Not to mention you
can't account for your
whereabouts around
the time of the ***.
I told you.
I was home.
Alone.
Detective Flack, my
name is Debbie Fallon.
You're holding my boyfriend, Sam Baker.
Your boyfriend's in a lot of trouble.
I've hired an attorney.
And he's on his way.
Wow.
Eli Cornicello, huh?
You called in the big guns.
You are accusing an
innocent man of ***.
Well, let's hope that Eli can
spin a better story than Sam.
'Cause the one he's telling in
there just isn't holding water.
You're so wrong.
He isn't capable of ***.
Anyone's capable of ***, Miss Fallon.
And right now, all the evidence we have
points directly at your boyfriend.
Hey, Mac.
I'm still waiting on the DNA results
I took from the samples in Baker's car.
What about the fingerprints?
Well, Baker's were all over
the interior driver's side.
Baker's prints inside his own car
- aren't very incriminating.
- Yeah, but James Manning's
all over the passenger side are.
If Manning was sitting
in the passenger seat,
it's likely he knew his killer.
If that's true, Sam Baker is lying.
I don't think so.
Manning had a boatload
of life insurance.
And Grace Chandler is the beneficiary.
This is outrageous.
I just lost my fianc�.
Two and a half million will
make for a great send-off.
It was James' idea
to get those policies.
Those premiums must have
cost over 600 a month.
Living in the streets,
abusing himself the way he did,
he was always afraid of getting sick
and dying young.
So you paid the premiums?
Look, I've been polite for long enough.
I haven't done anything wrong.
I know you think I had
something to do with this.
Most of the people who
sit in this chair
they lie.
Each time that happens
we get a little bit better
at knowing who's telling
the truth and who's not.
And how about me detective? Am I a liar?
I'll let you know.
Flack did a little checking
into her background.
No criminal record.
She's involved in a couple
of homeless advocacy groups,
volunteers as a counselor
at a drug treatment program
at Queen of Mercy Hospital.
Whoever took him into
that alley and killed him,
- knew his background.
- Yeah.
The question is who else in
his life or in his past life
had the means and the motive to do this?
I understand you have
a suspect in custody.
She's not in custody.
She agreed to come in and talk to us.
Do you know her?
Of course not. Why would I?
Her fianc� was murdered
with your boyfriend's car.
Maybe she had a personal
relationship with the band or him.
If you're suggesting
he was having an affair
with her, you're wrong.
I'm not suggesting anything.
I'm asking if there was
a connection between them.
The answer is no.
Is she claiming to know
something about the ***?
I can't tell you that.
But I can promise you, whether
Sam is guilty or innocent,
the truth will come out.
Mac, DNA results came
back from Baker's car.
Give us anything to go
at Grace Chandler with?
Not really. There was one
foreign DNA sample inside
on the steering wheel.
Female, but not a match to Grace
Chandler and no hit in CODIS.
What about the hairs
on the undercarriage?
Human. Not Sam Baker's,
not James Manning's,
and not Grace Chandler's.
They were wrapped
around a chassis screw.
It looked like they'd
been there for a while,
so I ran them through CODIS.
They're from a
hit-and-run in the Bronx
from six months ago.
And get this:
victim was found in an alley,
ID'd as Matt Davis.
Crushed to death, *** in his system.
Sound familiar?
Well, I'm betting there are a couple
of million-dollar life
insurance policies out there
that say these two
cases are no coincidence.
The tire tread patterns are identical
to the ones we found on
Sam Baker's station wagon.
Same crush injuries. Car
was driven slowly over him.
Matt Davis, 27. History of drug abuse.
In and out of the city shelters
up until about three years ago.
- No next of kin.
- Same MO,
same *** weapon, same victim profile.
No family, living on the streets,
addicted to drugs.
Clean for the last couple of years.
Right. The case detective
exhausted all leads.
Figured that Matt started using again,
stumbled out into the alley,
and then was run over by a passing car.
Which is exactly what somebody wanted
James Manning's death to look like.
Except the killer didn't
count on us finding the car.
Exactly.
Matt Davis was also heavily insured
under a bunch of different
policies totaling $2 million.
There's our beneficiary.
Am I supposed to know her?
How about him?
Okay.
Is this the part where I look
at the bloody crime scene photo,
break down in tears,
and confess to ***?
Only if you did it.
That ain't happening.
'Cause I ain't never
seen that guy before.
Dead or alive.
Well, that's surprising,
considering his death
made you $2 million richer.
$2 million?
You think I'd be out here
slinging flowers and newspapers
if I had that kind of money?
Maybe you collected the
money for somebody else.
Or someone else collected it for me.
You need to talk to
the other Lisa Williams
running around out there
pretending to be me.
Some of these date back
to over two years ago.
Credit card accounts.
Doctor bills.
I thought I had it all straightened out.
When did you discover that
your identity had been stolen?
I hit a rough stretch
a couple of years ago.
I went into rehab and I got clean.
And when I got out,
that's when the phone calls
from the creditors started coming.
And they started coming around
asking me about accounts
that I ain't never opened.
Was your rehab affiliated
with a hospital?
The place was upstate.
I went there because I
was referred by the
staff at Queen of Mercy.
Thank you, Lisa.
I think we just found our
connection to Grace Chandler.
James Manning, Matt
Davis, and Lisa Williams
all went through the same
drug treatment program
at Queen of Mercy Hospital
where Grace Chandler
happens to volunteer.
That makes her the common denominator
in each one of their lives.
Hundreds of people go
through Queen of Mercy
for the same thing.
Lisa couldn't ID Grace Chandler.
She had access to patient's
personal information
without ever seeing them.
Stealing Lisa's identity
was just a click away.
We still don't have
any forensic evidence
that connects her to
either one of those murders.
This might help.
Tissue sample from a
cosmetic surgery office
on Park Avenue.
Whoever stole Lisa Williams' identity
used a bogus credit card
in her name for some
outpatient cosmetic surgery.
She had an abnormal growth
removed from her shoulder.
Yeah, that's where being
a doctor comes in handy.
I know that they destroy
the larger tissue sample,
but not the smaller
one used for the biopsy.
Hmm, when they glued that slipcover on,
they weren't thinking
about the integrity
of the evidence. It's going to be tough
to remove it without the
solvent corrupting the sample.
Not a lot to work with.
You're going to get one shot at it.
Somebody better get his game up.
We've been through everything.
We've been through phone
records, credit card statements,
employment history, bank records.
There's nothing that connects Sam Baker
to James Manning or Matt Davis.
Except for his car and
lack of a believable alibi.
He's a up-and-coming
musician
with no criminal history.
What does he have to gain
by killing these two guys?
Maybe his gain is connected
to Grace Chandler's money.
She could have hired him
to kill Manning and Davis.
And we can't rule out the
possibility of she and Sam
being involved romantically.
A love triangle?
That would have to be
the best kept secret ever
and it still doesn't explain Matt Davis.
We have nothing that connects
him to any of the other players.
If Baker is the killer
and uses his own car,
why doesn't he have the car
towed after he runs out of gas?
Why leave it parked right
in front the driveway?
He's no crook. He's in over his head.
Maybe he panicked when he ran the kid's
foot over with his car.
Thought somebody gets a license
plate number off his car.
Didn't know what to do.
So he did nothing.
Or he was thinking on his feet.
Rather than involve potential witnesses
and leave a paper
trail that connects him
to the murders, abandoning his car
and claiming ignorance gives him an out.
Taylor.
Got it.
I'm going to go get Grace Chandler.
Stella, you go get Sam
Baker, get him out of lockup,
and bring him down to Interrogation.
You two pick up Debbie Fallon,
get her over to the precinct.
What's going on?
We got ourselves a triangle.
Except it doesn't involve love.
It involves ***.
This is harassment.
We're not here to harass you.
We'd like you to take a ride with us.
We have someone in custody.
We believe it's the person responsible
for killing your fianc�.
Is that him?
Is he the one who killed James?
No.
She is.
Go ahead. Look at them.
Look at what you did.
I don't know who this other man is
and I don't know any Debbie Fallon.
Well, she knows all about you.
How about Lisa Williams?
That name ring a bell?
I don't know any Lisa Williams.
She came through a drug treatment
program at Queen of Mercy Hospital.
You stole her identity.
So you could take out
life insurance policies
under her name that would pay off
after you and Debbie killed Matt Davis.
Being his fianc�e, you knew you could
get away with putting your name
on James' policies and
collecting on his death.
But not Matt Davis. He posed a problem.
Grace couldn't use her
real name as a beneficiary.
That would raise red flags
with the insurance
companies and the police.
But she made a mistake.
You opened a bogus credit card account
in Lisa Williams' name,
and used it to pay for some work
at a cosmetic surgery office.
We matched the DNA
from the biopsy tissue
to the elimination sample you
gave us in the ME's office.
This doesn't prove anything.
I don't know who this
Grace Chandler person is.
Debbie, before you make a
complete *** of yourself,
do me a favor: take a look right here.
See, if something went
bad with the procedure,
she needed a contact person.
Someone she could trust.
Now, the name's a
fake, but that number--
that's your cell phone number.
See, that's how we
connected the two of you.
And Sam, of course.
Sam, you were next.
What?
Your life was insured for
over $5 million dollars.
In order to become a
legitimate beneficiary,
Debbie called herself your
fianc�e in all of the paperwork.
I can't believe this is happening.
I was living on the streets.
She helped me get a place.
So, why are you doing this?
Why are you helping me?
Because I can and because
I know what it's like
to be out on the streets,
alone
to have nobody.
This was all part of the plan.
Debbie and Grace waited two years,
enough time for the policies
to mature and pay out
at maximum benefits no matter
what the manner of death.
Most likely, Sam,
in a week, you'd have been dead.
The man in this photo
was murdered last night.
As you know, they used
your car to kill him.
We found Debbie's DNA
inside on the steering wheel.
I've heard Grace talk about you.
It's great to finally meet you.
You as well.
You know, I really
appreciate the ride home.
Don't even worry about it.
You know, you're really lucky
to have known a person like Grace.
Yeah.
What are you doing?!
You chose people who were
vulnerable and broken.
People you knew had nobody
to question your motives.
What's it like to live
without a conscience?
It's like being rich.
Something you probably
know nothing about.
Putting people like you away
for the rest of your life,
doing good-- that
makes me rich.
Something you probably
know nothing about.
I have to ask.
Two years nurturing
someone back to health,
getting to know them,
watching them grow.
How do you rationalize killing them?
They're a cancer.
Living in the street like dogs.
Begging for change.
Leaving their feces,
and stench in boxes in doorways.
How long do you think
they would have lasted
before you or some other
cop found them dead?
We took them off the street.
We gave them two more good years.
Two years living in a Park
Avenue apartment building.
Wearing the best designer clothes
and expensive jewelry.
We gave them things, things
they never could have imagined.
Having a life they were
never supposed to live.
We gave them two more years.
Two years they would have never had.
And the payment for
that was their lives?
Look, let's take a walk.
I'll get you a cup of coffee, okay?
I've been guilty of it myself.
Put a couple of coins
or a dollar in a cup and move on.
Never looking at them in the eyes,
never thinking you can do more to help.
Those couple of coins in the cup,
that's more than most.
So, what are you gonna do now?
I don't know.
This has knocked me back on my heels.
When I was a little
girl, there was a sign
hanging above the desk
where I did my homework.
And it said that, "Temptation
will lean on the doorbell,
but opportunity may knock only once."
As ironic as it might seem,
Debbie provided me with
a second chance, and
I plan to make the most of it.
Good.
Mac, what'd you wanna see us about?
Well, you'll find out in a minute.
I just got the last four.
The last four what? What's going on?
I need your help.
Elf costumes.
With what, Mac, making toys?
No, no, no, no.
- Delivering them.
- Yeah, Santa's sleigh
broke down on the Expressway
about 45 minutes ago.
He was on his way over
here to pick up these toys
and bring them over to the Children
and Families Benefit downtown.
Oh, yeah, I remember
Adam collecting money
for that a few weeks ago.
Okay, so, which one
of you guys is Santa?
Ho, ho, ho!
I was starting to think
you weren't gonna deliver.
Get out of here. It's
Cooper from the 11th.
He does all the precinct
Christmas parties.
Gets him off a traffic
post for a couple of weeks.
Listen, he's got like
an hour till his next gig
so we should make a move.
And I promised him dinner
at Morton's, your treat.
Flack, your elf costume.
All right, let's roll.
You guys take that.
We head downtown in two cars.