Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Our school crest
a symbol of our history.
Founded in 1918,
The Archford Academy has always
been a beacon
for academic integrity.
The key to our abiding success
as a college
preparatory school,
which has produced
numerous Ivy League graduates,
begins in the classroom.
And for those of you concerned
with Archford's
demanding workload,
know that our teaching staff
is always available,
whatever the need may be.
We find that the team dynamic
and physical exercise
promote humility
and well-being.
Well, I'd like to thank
all of you for coming.
I hope to see a number
of you in the fall.
Remember, Archford is a place
where students are fully
equipped to walk tall
toward their future.
I know.
I still can't believe it.
- WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
- POPO IS EVERYWHERE. YOU GOT TO SEE THIS.
The digital grapevine
is in full effect.
Here's our vic.
Olivia Prescott, 17 years old.
And the undisputed
valedictorian
of the senior class.
Hey, buddy.
Can we get these kids
cleared out of here, please?
All right, let's go.
Any of them catch anything
besides a postmortem snapshot?
Come on,
move these people back here.
No. I got officers
taking statements,
but so far, nothing concrete.
Just rumors and speculation.
According to her schedule,
she just finished
her free period.
So she wasn't coming
from a classroom.
Well, this is Archford Academy.
Kids have deep pockets.
They shop
on the Upper East Side.
She could have left the campus.
Significant blood loss.
Couldn't have gone far.
She was murdered right here
on the school grounds.
Usually, you tell your kids
to be safe walking home
from school, not through it.
"Ad Vitam Paramus."
Means "we are preparing
for life."
Well, someone at Archford
had a different idea.
Laceration to the
back of the skull.
Injury to the occipital bone.
Took a lot of force.
No visible defensive wounds.
Doesn't look like she struggled
with her killer.
A head trauma injury
like that usually means
a significant amount of spatter.
Our vic staggered away from
the primary crime scene.
Witnesses say she came
from that direction.
Did you see the looks
on those kids' faces?
They're never going
to forget this day.
I still remember every detail
of the night
my friends were murdered.
Let's hope one of them remembers
every detail
of what happened here.
You got a hall pass,
young lady?
All right, that'll do.
Medium velocity blood spatter
right here.
So this is where Olivia Prescott
was attacked.
C.O.D. Was an injury
to the back of the head.
That's consistent with
the edge of the sink.
This is her backpack
right here.
Seems like she was a smart girl.
Calculus C.
Lord. I never knew
there was an "A" or a "B."
Oh, we've got shoe tread marks
on the toilet seat.
That's kind of a weird way
to do your business, no?
When I was in school,
our mirrors were so high,
we had to stand on the toilet
to get a full view.
Well, there's no mirror
across from this stall.
That would suggest
that someone was hiding.
Lying in wait.
Who would want to kill Olivia?
Everyone wanted to be her.
Popularity has its price.
Anybody hate her for it?
No.
You couldn't even if you tried.
Some girls fight for their
popularity, you know.
They'll claw and scratch
their way to the top.
But Olivia never had to.
Maybe somebody wised up.
Tried to take her spotlight?
No. Olivia was in
a league of her own.
Everyone knew that.
And they respected her for it.
Mrs. Prescott, do you know
if your daughter had problems
with anyone in school?
Olivia's always been
very well-liked in school.
What about boyfriends?
With her academic load, Olivia
didn't have much downtime.
She was always so bright.
She was head of
the student council.
She was captain
of the debate team.
Has she ever been
involved in drugs?
Partying, drinking?
Absolutely not.
Is there any way
this could be an accident?
I mean, maybe she fell
and hit her head, right?
I'm sorry, but everything
seems to indicate
that this was a homicide.
It just it doesn't
make any sense.
Never does.
I promise you, we'll
do everything we can
to find who did this.
It's okay.
Sid?
Uh, I was just thinking
about my niece.
She's not much older
than our victim here.
She's a beautiful girl.
C.O.D. Was epidural hematoma.
The curved shape
of the contusions
confirms the sink
is our *** weapon.
Mm-hmm.
Tox screens are clear.
No substance abuse of any kind.
However, I detect
contact dermatitis
on her knees.
A skin rash?
It usually develops within hours
of direct contact with,
well, any number of
allergens hay, mold,
poison ivy,
various cleaning products.
I swabbed the affected area.
Found traces of microorganisms,
which I sent to the lab
for processing.
Based on our interviews
with students and faculty,
there's 80 minutes
unaccounted for
prior to Olivia's death.
Is it possible for
contact dermatitis
to develop within that window?
Absolutely.
Well, maybe whatever
caused the rash
could help tell us
where she was.
Or even who she was with.
Uh, one other thing.
It's not a tattoo, and it's
the only one on her body,
but I just find it odd.
How does the smartest girl
in school get an "F"?
Mac, incubated
the microorganisms
Sid collected
from our vic's knees,
isolated three
different variations:
Penicillium, aspergillus
and alternaria.
Huh. Mold.
Exactly. All three
typically grown indoors,
so I figured if we can locate
them somewhere in the school
We'll be able to place Olivia.
Grab a supply
of air-o-cells.
All righty.
Can you imagine Lucy
at a school like this?
Girl was just murdered
here, so I'll try not to.
It's a five-star education.
Courses built around
the specific developmental
needs of your child,
an equal emphasis on
arts and science,
and a college acceptance
rate that's in,
like, the 95th percentile.
You memorize the brochure?
I'm just trying to be prepared.
It's our daughter's future.
All right, well, I got
news for you, sweetheart.
Lucy's gonna go
to an old-fashioned,
nice public school
like I went to, okay?
That's her future.
Not with these kids.
Okay.
Redness and the degree
of dermatitis on Olivia's knees
suggests she was here
right before she was murdered.
I found a book
of Greek tragedies
in her backpack
that had one of those
Dewey ma-jig codes on the
binding, like a library book.
The Dewey Decimal System?
Yeah. I could never
figure that out.
Well, maybe if you'd gone
to Archford.
Boom. All right,
this is a copy
of the book
I found in her backpack.
Tells us she was here,
but it doesn't help us
establish a motive.
She was kneeling.
She must have picked up
the mold here.
Huh. Looks like there was some
activity going on back here.
There's handprints
all over this table.
Looks like the table was also
repeatedly slammed
against the wall.
Is that an *** print?
Honey, what?
Look.
Yeah, that does look
like an *** print.
Babe, do me a favor.
Hop up on this table.
Yeah, but see, the hands
would be like this.
Like that.
Looks like there was
a little extracurricular
activity going on
back here, huh?
Yeah.
So Olivia saw
two people having sex.
You think that's worth
killing her over?
If it was a teacher dishing out
some extra credit.
So she wasn't just
checking out a book.
She was getting a
little sex education.
That was a quick print search.
Think I'm gonna throw away
that Archford brochure.
It's a student.
With a record.
Drunk and disorderly at 18,
huh, Benjamin?
That's impressive.
You can't just search my locker.
That's private property.
My private property,
Mr. Gold.
You waived your rights
the day you were accepted.
Archford Academy policy.
What's this about?
I don't know.
Maybe you want to tell us.
You get into it
with Olivia Prescott, perhaps?
No.
No? All right.
What do we got here?
Wow.
Someone's getting detention.
What are you teaching
these kids here?
How do you like
Principal Andrews' BIG exam?
Principal Andrews' BIG exam?
That's clever.
What can I say?
I'm a professional.
Seem a little cocky for a kid
who's looking at jail time.
Whoa, wait a minute.
Every one of these girls
has signed a consent form
and they're all of age.
You can take that up
with our Sex Crimes unit.
Were you in the library today?
Yeah. But I'm-I'm there
every day.
Got a lot of work done then?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I didn't realize having sex
was considered homework.
Okay, look
you have to promise
not to tell my parents.
I'm totally gonna be
expelled for this.
Archford has
a zero-tolerance policy
for, like, everything.
I'm finished.
I can kiss my Harvard
acceptance good-bye.
I can't make any promises
until I get
the information I need.
You understand?
Start with Benjamin Gold
and the details of what happened
in the library.
Look, my productions have had
numerous library shoots.
You'll have
to refresh my memory.
Well, how about today's?
The one where
Olivia Prescott threatened
to reveal your little secret.
Archford students are expected
to be these perfect beings.
Ben's movie,
the risk, it was
a way to break a few rules.
It was exciting.
So Ben told me
to meet him in the library.
He had his camera
all ready to go.
Hit record,
dropped his pants and I
Okay. Just fast forward to
the part where Olivia Prescott
caught him with his pants down.
I don't know
what you're talking about.
Your costar Becky
is sitting in the room
on the other side of this wall.
We confiscated your camera.
The time stamp on your footage
puts Olivia Prescott front row
for your latest production.
She caught you in the act.
Threatened to turn you in.
And since "pornographer"
won't look so good on
a college transcript,
you had to shut her up.
Olivia Prescott didn't catch us.
Then what happened
after Ben called "cut"?
I left.
Look, I didn't kill Olivia.
And she didn't threaten to blow
the whistle on my production.
Whew!
That was fun.
Who's back there?
Oh, crap. Olivia.
Look, I don't know what
you just saw, but
I saw enough.
Please, you-you can't go
to Andrews.
They'll expel my ***.
Come on. What do you want?
Name your price.
What are you doing?
You hopefully.
Where do I sign up?
Olivia wanted to be the star.
Hey.
Hey.
Dog ate your homework?
What's up?
Okay, check this out.
I was processing Olivia
Prescott's clothing,
and I found this weird
gray dirt on her blazer,
so I ran it through GCMS,
and I found a high concentration
of sodium, potassium,
magnesium and chloride,
which is, um,
well, it's, ah
it has the same
chemical consistency
as, uh, Martian soil.
What?
Soil found on Mars.
Okay, so I should have Flack
send out an APB on what?
Five-foot-two, big head,
almond-shaped
piercing black eyes,
last seen leaving Archford
Academy in a flying saucer?
You know, I just got
the results back,
and I don't want
to go to Mac yet
'cause I just don't want him
to think that I'm crazy.
Adam, I can personally
guarantee you
that Olivia's never been
to Mars.
Based on the tears in the fabric
of her blazer,
the killer likely
grabbed Olivia.
So the Martian soil had
to be secondary transfer
from the killer's hands.
But obviously, the killer's
never been to Mars.
So got to figure out
what Martian soil has
to do with Archford Academy.
Okay.
Oh, God.
Okay, so what's up with you?
Mold spores from
Olivia Prescott's knees leads us
to the library,
where she witnessed an amateur
*** shoot.
Our suspect Benjamin Gold
has a record, plenty to lose.
Sounds like motive to me.
But Benjamin claims that
Olivia Prescott
wanted to be
in one of his ***.
Oh, given a teenage boy's
fantasy life,
I'm not sure Ben is
telling the truth.
But without evidence that puts
Ben or his costar Becky
in the bathroom,
they're not suspects.
And we're starting over.
Maybe not.
Processed the trace
you collected from
the shoeprint in
the girls' bathroom stall.
Intestinals from the pre-abdomen
of an emperor scorpion.
How does an emperor scorpion
find its way
into a New York high school?
Devilish-looking creatures.
But don't be fooled
by their appearance;
They're actually
quite harmless.
I'm Mr. Booker. Biology.
How many of these do you have
in your classroom,
Mr. Booker?
We had five.
"Had" being the operative word.
Yesterday, one of our
more petulant students
thought it would be funny
to scare one of his
female classmates.
Hey, Emmy.
Are you going to that
party on Saturday?
What party?
Um, never mind.
Who was the unlucky girl?
Emmy Thomas.
She's an incredibly
bright girl, but
frequent target of her
fellow classmates.
Why's that?
Well, the blazers aren't
the only form of unification
amongst these students,
detectives.
From what I can tell,
Archford breeds
a specific type of teen.
We're well aware
of the student"
academic achievements.
No, I'm talking about
outside the classroom.
Socially, these kids
can be pretty brutal.
Emmy's a knock-off
of the real thing.
Brains? Yes.
But style, sophistication?
No.
Is there any connection between
Olivia Prescott and Emmy?
They're two different species.
But you can ask Emmy herself.
Do you want me
to put this on top?
Thanks.
Sure.
Emmy Thomas?
And Allen Wilson.
Pleasure.
I thought the judges
didn't arrive until tomorrow.
We're not
That's okay. Just give me
a minute to set up here.
The lava lizard's
color-changing abilities
are not unique to
its environment
its environment being the
Atacama Desert in Chile.
We are hoping to isolate
its chromatophores to
I'm sorry.
We're with the
New York Crime Lab.
We need to speak
with you, Emmy.
Where'd you go after your
biology class yesterday, Emmy?
I don't remember.
Let me help you remember.
You were hiding
in the bathroom.
How do you know that?
We found your shoe prints
on a toilet seat.
It's the same bathroom
where Olivia Prescott
was murdered.
You can't connect my shoe print
to the bathroom
without a practical reference.
Which I never gave you.
Mr. Booker told us about
the joke with the scorpion.
He did?
Yeah.
Traces of scorpion intestinal
tract were in the tread pattern
we lifted from the toilet seat.
He also mentioned this
wasn't the first time you were
singled out by your classmates.
Why would he tell you that?
Did Olivia ever single you out?
No. Embarrass you in
front of your peers?
What do you care?
Care?
Because Olivia's dead.
We just want answers.
Now, what were you
doing in the bathroom?
I ducked out of class
after that schmuck
James Howland put the scorpion
by my bag.
I wasn't going to give him the
satisfaction of laughing at me.
So I went to the bathroom
to get away from everybody,
when two girls
from my class came in.
What a stupid ***.
I mean, she didn't have
to step on the thing.
Whatever.
The girl's so damn skittish.
Tap her on the shoulder,
she jumps, like,
nine feet in the air.
I thought it was funny.
I hear she has to take
diet pills to keep her figure.
Wow.
They're really working for her.
And they were obviously
talking about me,
so I stood on the seat.
Pretty good at being invisible
when I need to.
When they were finished
ripping me apart, I left.
We're gonna need
those girls' names.
Cynthia Evans
and Rachel Halstoy.
When they're not
puking in the toilet,
they're usually
at cheer practice.
Is there anything else that
I can do for you, detectives,
or are you done unpacking
my personal life?
No.
Thanks for your time.
No.
Emmy Thomas's story
is confirmed.
Flack interviewed
the two cheerleaders,
and they both admitted,
without remorse,
that they made fun
of Emmy in the bathroom,
knowing the whole time
she was there.
That is so cruel.
If they were on my squad,
I'd kick 'em to the "D" team.
You were a cheerleader?
Don't act like you weren't.
So, Benjamin Gold's
letter of consent,
found in the vic's backpack.
It was filled out, signed by
our vic Olivia Prescott.
Looks like Olivia was
ready for her close-up.
Maybe Gold is telling the truth.
Plus, we don't have anything
that puts him in the bathroom.
But Gold's statement
does explain where Olivia
was during her free period.
According to the
timestamp on the camera,
Olivia was alive 50 minutes
into the 80-minute free period.
So we just have to
figure out what happened
during that 30 minutes.
It's got to be in the evidence.
We're just not
looking close enough.
Since when were Stalin,
Khrushchev, and Beria
ingredients in water?
Never.
I don't think there's 1947
calories in it, either.
Where did that
water bottle come from?
Vic's backpack.
"One, T, D"
T.D.
Truman Doctrine.
Two, MP.
Marshall Plan.
Three, NSA.
National Security Agency.
National Security Act.
Agency wasn't formed till 1949.
Everything on this
bottle has been replaced
with information pertaining
to the Cold War.
All the answers to the test.
It's a cheat sheet.
It's impressive.
I mean, not like I ever cheated
or anything.
Olivia was the smartest girl
at that school.
She wasn't a cheater.
And this would explain
the transfer of the "F."
Lindsay, go to Archford
Academy Web site.
I want to know what exams are
on the schedule for today.
AP World History.
Looks like Olivia Prescott
might've caught a cheater.
Give it to me!
Hawkes.
Hey.
So I processed
our bottle cheat sheet
and Olivia Prescott's prints
are all over the outside.
Well, that's consistent with
the smudged letter "F"
Sid found on the vic's thumb.
Ink must have
been pretty fresh.
I tried to reverse
engineer the label.
It's made with materials
you can find at any art store.
But I did find
another set of prints
on the inside of the label.
Let me guess.
They're not Olivia's.
Correct.
Running a search
through AFIS now.
Chances are,
it's another student.
Well, they might not
be in our database.
They can't all be as
enterprising as Benjamin Gold.
Let's try and find
another way to determine
who that print belongs to.
You got it.
I'll take Martian
soil for $200, Alex.
Hey. So Archford's policy is
that they only print up tests
the day of the exam.
Means somebody hacked
the teacher's computer.
Exactly.
Hmm. Well, the school's
computers all networked.
Should be able
to trace the source.
Tried that.
Found nothing.
Well, it's not impossible,
just ballsy.
What? What is it? What
are you talking about?
It's called
Remote Desktop Access.
It's a program
that can be installed
on pretty much any computer.
You indicate
the host computer
then the client computer.
Then you have
direct access to their desktop.
Wait for it to sync and
Is that Mac's?
Yeah.
That's pretty impressive.
Yes! Uh! I'm the man.
It's not Martian soil.
Just got off the
phone with Archford.
They've never suspected any
of their students of cheating.
They never suspected
any of their students
of ***, either.
Every school has cheaters.
I guess they're just trying
to preserve their reputation.
They've got to do
something to justify
those $80,000 tuition checks.
I mean, I know that these kids
are under a lot of pressure.
But I don't
understand why anybody
puts so much effort
into cheating.
Did you find any more of
those hidden cheat sheets?
No. Just the bottle.
Though I have to admit it,
that was rather ingenious.
I know, right?
I wish I'd thought of that
for Mr. Hamilton's
math class.
Olivia had everything
going for her, right?
Yeah.
Grades, looks, respect.
But there was
one thing missing.
Girls like Olivia
have boyfriends.
Isn't that presumptuous?
No. Remember, kids
at that age define themselves
Peers and passion.
There was no mention
of a boyfriend or a
Listen to this.
"Olivia, I know our time
together has been brief,
but I'd love this relationship
to continue."
I got it!
What?
The Martian soil
well, the supposed Martian soil.
It's not really from Mars.
Where's it from, Adam?
Well, it took
some heavy digging
because there was
no reference sample on file,
but I prevailed. What up?
Yeah.
Okay. Due to its
dry environment,
the levels of sodium,
potassium, magnesium
and chloride nearly mirror
the climate of Mars.
It's really soil
from a remote desert in Chile.
The Atacama, to be exact.
The lava lizard's
color-changing abilities are
not unique to its environment
its environment being
the Atacama Desert in Chile.
You know, Allen, I'm
not a biologist or anything,
but I'm pretty sure
chameleons change color
just the same.
You had to go get a lizard
from the deserts of Chile.
That's a mighty expensive
science project.
My parents vacation in Chile.
They brought him back
as a present
for my science project.
Yeah. We found evidence
of your lizard's terrarium dirt
on Olivia's clothing.
You seem like a smart kid.
Not smart enough to remove
one important thing from
your water bottle cheat sheet.
You forgot to remove
the original bar code.
Because of that, we were able
to track the bottle back
to its manufacturer,
check their shipping logs,
find out which supermarket
it was sold in.
Good thing Mommy uses
credit cards.
You and Olivia had
a weekly study session going.
So what happened?
She discover
your little cheat sheet
the day before the exam?
It's grounds for expulsion,
isn't it?
I imagine Olivia threatened
to turn you in,
you had an argument,
she grabbed the bottle,
ran to the ladies' room
hoping you wouldn't follow her.
Olivia, please!
Give it back!
You're gonna screw up
the curve for the entire class!
Olivia. Olivia!
Get out of here, Allen.
No!
Give it back!
No, that didn't happen.
That ain't gonna hold up
in court, Allen.
I didn't kill Olivia!
"Olivia, I know our time
together has been brief,
but I'd love this relationship
to continue."
Does that sound familiar?
That's your handwriting.
Checked it against a couple
of your exams.
Olivia was a popular girl.
Beautiful.
All those one-on-one
study sessions
I'm not a cheater,
and I'm not a murderer.
Maybe you saw your relationship
with her as something more,
and that all went south
when she caught you cheating.
Fine. You got one thing right
at least, okay?
I did like Olivia a lot.
And I would never do anything
to hurt her.
And she didn't catch me
cheating.
I was helping her cheat.
Olivia singled me out.
I didn't know why at first.
She just said that it would be
mutually beneficial,
which was fine with me.
I got to spend time with someone
as gorgeous as Olivia
in exchange for help
with a few classes.
She wasn't doing too well,
her grades were slipping.
And as she got busier
with all her stuff
So she asked you
to help her cheat?
The teachers are smart, but
technologically illiterate.
All I had to do was activate
the remote desktop connection
on their computers and I could
view all of their files.
The bottle was my idea.
Olivia liked that.
Do you have someone who can
confirm your whereabouts
at the time of Olivia's death?
I had a meeting
with Mr. Dorsey.
He's the dean
of the math department.
You got into Georgetown.
Why help her cheat?
Because even an Archford
education can't teach you
how to win five minutes
with a girl like Olivia.
I don't get it.
Motive seems there.
Yeah, but the science can't put
Allen in the girls' bathroom.
He may have grabbed her,
but that could have happened
anywhere in the school.
Can't be far off.
People commit *** for one
money,
revenge,
and
jealousy.
Hi. You again.
We just want to ask you
about your science project
with your friend Allen.
Uh sure.
We were partners, studying
the color-changing properties
of the Chilean lava lizard.
We found trace
of the lizard's terrarium dirt
on Olivia Prescott's blazer.
That's from your project, Emmy.
I told you,
I didn't really
even know Olivia.
You know,
when I was your age,
I had a big old mouth
full of braces.
Kids made fun of me
all the time,
but I had a backbone like yours,
and I never let it get to me.
Good for you.
But matters of the heart
a little different.
It must have really hurt
to see him spend all that time
with Olivia.
Him?
Allen.
This is the school paper.
That's a note he wrote
to Olivia on her copy.
In that photo, you're in the
background looking at him.
I can see it
in your eyes, Emmy
the jealousy.
His obvious
affection for Olivia
must have been hard to watch.
What happened when Olivia
came into the bathroom?
When I was
in the third grade,
the student who memorized
the most numbers in pi
won an ice cream sundae
for the rest of the week.
Allen and I tied.
And we've been best friends
ever since.
He's the sweetest guy
on the planet.
The only one
who doesn't judge you
by the way that you wear
your hair or your clothes.
He noticed me for me.
Not like the rest of my class.
And we had each other.
Until Olivia Prescott
asked Allen
to be her study partner.
She knew exactly
what she was after,
and exploited Allen to get it.
Let's go.
Did you see her hair the other day?
Yes.
Disgusting.
So do you have it?
Yeah.
Oh, my God, you're amazing.
But be careful.
It's still wet.
Oh. Seriously, you have no idea
how much this is gonna help.
It's all on there?
The cheating.
To keep up her grades, get into
an Ivy League university
and keep up her image.
Yeah. Multiple choice, key
words, dates, everything.
Just don't tell anybody, okay?
Duh.
Now get out of here before
someone gets the wrong idea.
Thanks.
He's helping you cheat?
Were you just spying on us?
Oh, my God, you totally were.
You need to keep
your perfect academic record
that's fine by me.
Just leave Allen out of it.
We were just studying.
In the bathroom? No.
What are you gonna do?
Turn us in?
That'll get your little
boyfriend in trouble, too.
He's not my boyfriend.
Mm, but I see the way
you look at him, Emmy.
It's the same way
he looks at me.
Small price to pay for an "A."
For years,
I've had people make fun of me.
And that's okay.
At least I was aware.
It made me sick to my stomach
seeing Olivia batting her eyes
at Allen
in exchange for his hard work.
He risked everything for her,
and she
He didn't deserve it.
Olivia Prescott
didn't deserve to die, Emmy.
I regret killing Olivia.
I really do.
But what I don't regret
is standing up
for my best friend.
You think
Allen Wilson had any idea?
That his best friend
was capable of ***?
That his best friend
was in love with him.
It's funny the things
we choose not to see.
Yeah, well, wouldn't hurt
for parents to open
their eyes, either.
People have got to remember
the world these kids
are living in every day.
Even in a place like this,
they're learning
all kinds of things
that aren't on the curriculum.
You just wish
someone would have told Emmy
that high school
isn't the end of the world.
It's just the beginning.
Guess that's the kind of lesson
you can't learn in school.