Épisode Les empreintes du passé S04E16

Ce script appartient au site twiztv.com

***

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - NIGHT

MUSIC IN

EXT. OFFICE BUILDING/NEW YORK CITY STREET - NIGHT

[MIRANDA BAUER RUSHES OUT OF THE BUILDING. SHE QUICKLY CHANGES SENSIBLE SHOES FOR HIGH HEELS. SHE PLACES HER COAT IN HER BAG, LETS HER HAIR DOWN. EXT.]

[MIRANDA PASSES BY AN ELECTRONICS STORE WITH A TV SHOWING A NEWS BROADCAST.]

TV REPORTER (V.O.)

Tonight’s top story, a child abduction in Brooklyn. [MUSIC OUT] Parents of Bailey O’Dell plead with kidnappers for their child’s safe return.

MOTHER (V.O.)

If the person who took Bailey is listening, [SOBS] we just want our child back. We love Bailey so much.

[MIRANDA MOVES OFF SCREEN]

MUSIC OUT

[THUMPS/SCREAM/BREAKING GLASS/ALARM]

LATER -

[PHOTOS ARE TAKEN OF MIRANDA’S BODY]

TH AVENUE GALLERY - NIGHT

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Our vic is Miranda Bauer, 23, Columbia graduate student, [CELL PHONE RINGS] also a part-time receptionist at a financial investment firm. Her cell’s been ringing non-stop.

MAC TAYLOR

She’s all dressed up. Somebody’s calling, wondering where she is.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

I don’t have the heart to answer it and tell whoever it is the bad news that she’s not gonna make it.

STELLA BONASERA

There’s several lacerations and [ZOOM INTO ECS OF CUT HAND] pieces of glass in the palms of her hands. She tried to get up.

MAC TAYLOR

Means she was alive when the frame fell and busted her collar bone.

[ZOOM INTO ECS OF CUT COLLAR BONE]

STELLA BONASERA

I imagine she tried to break the fall. This sharp edge shattered the glass and she went right through the window.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

I’m coming up short on any witnesses. A couple of people heard the crash but nobody saw what happened. You two finding anything that says this is murder?

STELLA BONASERA

No defensive wounds. No evidence of a struggle. No indication that she was pushed. Looks like Miranda Bauer simply stumbled out of her high-heeled shoes.

[REENACTMENT]

[BACK TO SCENE]

MAC TAYLOR

Stella, it’s three nights in a row you’ve worked overtime. You’re running on fumes. Go home.

STELLA BONASERA

I’m fine, Mac.

MAC TAYLOR

Clearly this is an accident. There’s no need for both of us to be here.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Which means I’m gonna wind up doing all the work anyway. Twenty minutes from now, he’s gonna be on the train home as well.

MAC TAYLOR

Get outta here.

STELLA BONASERA

All right.

INT. STELLA’S APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - NIGHT

BAILEY O’DELL (OFF CAMERA)

I don’t wanna go to bed. I wanna go home.

JASON DILLARD (OFF CAMERA)

We’ll eat some ice cream.

BONNIE DILLARD

Sweetie. Jason’s got ice cream, okay?

BAILEY O’DELL (OFF CAMERA)

I don’t want ice cream. I just wanna go home.

STELLA BONASERA

[OVERLAPPING] Hey, Bonnie. Sounds like you have your hands full.

[WALLA]

BONNIE DILLARD

Oh, Stella. Sorry. My niece. I volunteered to help my sister out. And what we thought would be a fun little slumber party is basically a nightmare. I apologize ahead of time if we keep you up. Good night.

STELLA BONASERA

Good luck.

INT. STELLA’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

[STELLA LAYS ASLEEP IN BED. SHE COUGHS, WAKES]

[WALLA]

WOMAN (OFF CAMERA)

We’ve gotta get out. Have to get out.

[STELLA SEES SMOKE]

[FIRE ALARM]

INT. STELLA’S APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - NIGHT

[STELLA AND NEIGHBORS RUSH DOWN THE SMOKE-FILLED HALLWAY]

[WALLA]

STELLA BONASERA

Everybody out of the building. It’s a fire. Get out of your building. Come on, people. Get out of your building. [POUNDING ON DOOR] Fire. [TO WOMAN IN HER DOORWAY] Oh, oh, whoa, get out! Go! [TO MALE NEIGHBOR] Hey, have you seen Bonnie?

MALE NEIGHBOR

No.

STELLA BONASERA

She lives over here. Uh, blonde. She has a son that’s 11. Everybody out of the building. [POUNDING ON DOOR] Bonnie!

[STELLA CRASHES THROUGH BONNIE’S DOOR]

STELLA BONASERA (CONTINUED)

Bonnie! Bonnie? Bonnie.

[STELLA HEARS SOMEONE COUGH]

STELLA BONASERA (CONTINUED)

Anybody in here?

[SHE CRASHES THROUGH A DOOR INTO A BURNING ROOM]

STELLA BONASERA (CONTINUED)

Jason. Jason, come on. Where’s your mother and your cousin?

JASON DILLARD

I don’t know.

STELLA BONASERA

All right. Just hold onto me. Don’t let go. Come on, honey.

[THE ROOM COLLAPSES BEHIND THEM AS THEY RUN OUT THE DOOR]

THEME MUSIC IN

SHOW TITLE - OPENING SEQUENCES

OPENING CREDITSEND OF TEASER

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET - NIGHT

[FROM ABOVE, FIREFIGHTERS FIGHT THE APARTMENT BLAZE]

[FROM THE STREET, FIREFIGHTERS HELP INJURED RESIDENTS]

[WALLA]

MAN

Is she okay?

STELLA BONASERA

You’re gonna be okay. Bonnie!

BONNIE DILLARD

Jason! Are you all right?

STELLA BONASERA

How could you just leave him up there, Bonnie?

BONNIE DILLARD

I thought you were right behind me on the fire escape. What happened?

JASON DILLARD

I couldn’t see you.

BONNIE DILLARD

I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t realize you weren’t there until I got down here. They wouldn’t let me go back inside.

STELLA BONASERA

Where’s your niece?

BONNIE DILLARD

With the paramedics. My sister’s on her way. Are you okay? Are you sure you’re okay?

JASON DILLARD

Yeah.

BONNIE DILLARD

Are you sure? [WHISPERS] Come on.

MUSIC IN

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - NIGHT TO EARLY

MORNING

INT. STELLA’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

[STELLA LOOKS THROUGH THE FIRE-DAMAGED RUBBLE OF HER APARTMENT. SHE LOOKS AT A FRAMED PHOTO OF HER ACADEMY GRADUATION, REPLACES IT ON THE TABLE. THE TABLE SUDDENLY BREAKS, CRASHING TO THE FLOOR.]

MUSIC OUT

[FIRE DEPARTMENT RADIO WALLA]

[STELLA PICKS UP ROLLED PIECES OF PAPER ON THE FLOOR. SHE LOOKS AT THE FAINT WRITING ON THE NOTES.]

MAC TAYLOR

Hey.

STELLA BONASERA

Hey. The sprinkler systems didn’t work.

[MAC HANDS HER A TAKE-OUT COFFEE, HUGS HER]

MAC TAYLOR

Here.

STELLA BONASERA

It’s perfect.

MAC TAYLOR

So, I got an extra room.

STELLA BONASERA

Thank you, Mac. I think I’m better off staying at a hotel. I snore. [LAUGHS]

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Looks like it’s arson. Fire Investigators determined the point of origin is down the hall. And we got a victim.

MUSIC IN

[CSI NY SHOT - FAST SPEED THROUGH THE HALL TO APARTMENT AND BURNED BODY]

MUSIC OUT

INT. SEAN NOLAN’S APARTMENT - DAY

[PHOTOS ARE TAKEN OF THE BURNED BODY]

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Most significant burns are on the front of the body. Still, it’d be hard to tell who it is.

MAC TAYLOR

How many people lived in this apartment?

STELLA BONASERA

Uh, just one, I think. A Sean. I, I don’t know his last time. I met him in the elevator and then I think I saw him again twice after that.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

According to the building’s tenant manifest, his last name’s Nolan. Lives alone. We’re running the name with the DMV. Maybe he has a car, we can see what’s inside and complete his story. Nothing left in here gives us any help. [CELL PHONE RINGS] Excuse me. [INTO CELL PHONE] Yeah.

[HAWKES LOOKS AT GOLDFISH SWIMMING IN THEIR BOWL]

MAC TAYLOR

He was so close to the door. I can’t imagine why he couldn’t get out. Flack said the fire started in this apartment.

LINDSAY MONROE

Everything’s pretty badly burned. There’s evidence of heavy and low burns. Flashover. And most of the furniture looks like it was incinerated in seconds. And these burns on the hardware floor? They look like accelerant pour patterns.

[REENACTMENT]

[BACK TO SCENE]

STELLA BONASERA

You thinking Sean started the fire?

LINDSAY MONROE

But if he did, it doesn’t add up. He had plenty of time to make it out of the building.

MAC TAYLOR

Which is why I’m thinking someone else was here. Maybe they had an argument, it got physical. Sean Nolan goes down. The attacker starts a fire and escapes.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Okay, but the fire investigator said the door was bolted. We found the vic’s keys on the table. You can’t bolt the door from the outside without the keys.

LINDSAY MONROE

So maybe our somebody else didn’t use the door. The investigator said that this window was open.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

That’s a long jump. Not impossible to survive, but somebody’s walking around with a broken tibia.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

So our vic may be the fire starter. Sean Nolan was convicted and served time five years ago for arson.

STELLA BONASERA

Well, that might explain our malfunctioning sprinkler system. Maybe he tampered with it.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

[TO MAC] I see doubt.

MAC TAYLOR

Doesn’t fit the profile, Flack. A guy starts a fire and then [MUSIC IN] sticks around? Most arsonists like to watch their work from across the street, down the block, on the news.

STELLA BONASERA

Maybe this was Sean’s idea of the perfect suicide.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT - DAY

MUSIC OUT

[DANNY REMOVES ITEMS FROM THE REFRIGERATOR]

[CELL PHONE RINGS]

DANNY MESSER

Messer.

INTERCUT WITH

INT. SEAN NOLAN’S APARTMENT - DAY

LINDSAY MONROE

Hey, it’s me.

DANNY MESSER

(V.O.) Hey. (ON CAMERA) How’s Stella doing? Is she okay?

LINDSAY MONROE (V.O.)

Yeah, she’ll be all right.

DANNY MESSER

All right. Well, you tell her, if she needs anything, all right, I mean, anything, I’m there.

LINDSAY MONROE

(V.O.) I’ll tell her. (ON CAMERA) So, listen, I was thinking before your shift maybe we could have lunch? My turn to buy.

DANNY MESSER

(V.O.) Actually, I gotta run to the bank. I gotta run to the dry cleaners. I gotta (ON CAMERA) bring my bike to the shop. I been meaning to get it fixed.

LINDSAY MONROE

Is everything okay? What’s wrong?

DANNY MESSER

What are you talking about, what’s wrong? Nothing’s wrong. I just, I just got, um, some stuff to do and, uh, I’ll see you at work, all right? Bye.

[RIKKI SANDOVAL WALKS OUT OF DANNY’S BEDROOM WEARING ONLY A SHIRT]

RIKKI SANDOVAL

Maybe I should take a rain check on Messer’s famous omelet. Sounds like you have a busy day.

DANNY MESSER

No, no, no. This is something you don’t wanna pass up. This omelet is a masterpiece. I’m makin’ one for myself, making two is, like, nothin’.

RIKKI SANDOVAL

Danny.

DANNY MESSER

It’s just a breakfast. It’s just breakfast, Rikki.

RIKKI SANDOVAL

And last night was just sex? Before my son died, you were just the guy that I smiled at in the hallway and joked with at the mailboxes. What are we doing?

DANNY MESSER

Makin’ each other feel better. Right? Because Reuben’s gone. There’s nothing wrong with that.

RIKKI SANDOVAL

Danny. One day you’re gonna wake up and realize that Reuben’s death wasn’t your fault. Yes, he was with you when he was shot. But it was an accident. And me, can’t you see that I’m just taking advantage of the guilt you feel so that I don’t have to be alone?

DANNY MESSER

Well I don’t care. I don’t care ‘cause I just want this hurt to go away. Don’t you?

[RIKKI NODS. THEY KISS.]

RIKKI SANDOVAL

I really should go.

DANNY MESSER

Okay. Okay. But this is my shirt. I’m gonna need my shirt back. Okay? Before you go.

MUSIC IN

[DANNY UNBUTTONS THE SHIRT. THEY KISS.]

EXT. CITY STREET/BRIDGE TO NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - DAY

INT. M.E.’S OFFICE - AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY

[MONTAGE SEQUENCE - DR. SID HAMMERSTEIN PROCESSES THE BURNED BODY. HE BOILS THE CHARRED SKULL, X-RAYS IT.]

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

I must tell you, I don’t, at this moment, have a C.O.D.

MUSIC OUT

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

He didn’t die of smoke inhalation?

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

No, because your victim didn’t die in the fire. The trachea was free of any soot deposits.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

That means he wasn’t breathing, which means he definitely died before the fire.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

And I ran DNA to confirm that this was our arsonist, no match in our database.

LINDSAY MONROE

Well he’d have to be in there. He’s a convicted felon.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Yes. But, there’s a very good explanation. Take a look at the Fast Scan.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

The brow ridge and sinus cavity are small.

MUSIC IN

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Your he is a she.

LINDSAY MONROE

So this isn’t the body of Sean Nolan.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Exactly.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Then who is she, and more importantly, where is he?

[SCAN OF SKULL BEGINS TO TAKE ON THE IMAGE OF A WOMAN]

MUSIC OUTEND OF ACT ONE

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - DAY

MUSIC IN

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB/CORRIDOR - DAY

MUSIC OUT

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

The body we found in the apartment is a woman. She was dead before the fire. Cause of death, unknown.

MAC TAYLOR

Time of death?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Fire compromised all physiological indicators establishing T.O.D.

LINDSAY MONROE

Flack’s checking Missing Persons for a lead on the victim’s identity. He’s also got an alarm out on NYSPIN and a wanted card out on Sean Nolan.

MAC TAYLOR

Okay. So we’re back to the evidence we collected from the scene. Sid’s preliminary autopsy report suggests our victim’s age is somewhere between 30 and 40. I wouldn’t guess she died of natural causes, so our focus shifts to foul play.

DANNY MESSER

How’re you doin’? What’d I miss?

MAC TAYLOR

Perfect timing. There’s a lot of work to do. Lindsay, catch Danny up. Priority is the identity of our female victim. I wanna know who she is and what’s her connection to our arsonist, Sean Nolan. May help us find him. That fire may have been a cover-up for murder.

LINDSAY MONROE

Why don’t you catch up by reading this?

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - TRACE LAB - DAY

[CLOSE ON ADAM ROSS’S MAGNIFYING GLASS ON STELLA’S UNFOLDED NOTES.]

ADAM ROSS

Is this real? You think someone’s in trouble?

STELLA BONASERA

I don’t know, Adam. You know, I found these in my apartment after the fire. Now, the edges are singed and the paper’s burned, so clearly they were in the apartment before the fire started.

ADAM ROSS

And you don’t recognize the writing.

STELLA BONASERA

No.

ADAM ROSS

Maybe it’s from a friend?

STELLA BONASERA

Oh, and this friend wrote me a note that said, “Help me?”

ADAM ROSS

Uh, maybe you’re a bad cook.

STELLA BONASERA

[LAUGHS]

ADAM ROSS

[LAUGHS] Uh, I’m, I’m just sayin’.

STELLA BONASERA

Uh, actually, um, since I shot my boyfriend two years ago, I don’t exactly have people have over.

ADAM ROSS

Um, well maybe it’s from like a, a maid, building maintenance, gas company, doorman?

STELLA BONASERA

No, it doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I, I found these on the floor behind a piece of furniture. If it hadn’t fallen apart when I moved it, I would have never seen them. If these notes were intended for me, then why were they hidden?

ADAM ROSS

“Please help me.” “Help find my na--.” My name maybe?

STELLA BONASERA

Why don’t you get a chemical fingerprint for ink. See if you can find a pen manufacturer. Oh, and age the ink solvent. Maybe that’ll tell me how long ago these were written.

ADAM ROSS

I’ll let you know what I find. Oh, and Stella. Uh, um, I’m, I’m glad you’re okay.

STELLA BONASERA

Thanks, Adam.

[REENACTMENT]

[PUSH ZOOM TO THE INK ON THE PAPER]

[TO NEW SCENE]

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - LAYOUT ROOM - DAY

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

What do you see?

DANNY MESSER

Goldfish.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

They were in Sean Nolan’s apartment and these two little guys are gonna help us establish our vic’s time of death. If goldfish are left in the dark for an extended period of time, their color starts to fade.

[REENACTMENT]

[CLOSE ON GOLDFISH]

DR. SHELDON HAWKES (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

They’re made up of cell’s called chromatophores that produce pigments which reflect light and give coloration.

[BACK TO SCENE]

DR. SHELDON HAWKES (CONTINUED)

These pigments are stimulated by sunlight much the way humans tan in the sun. Pale pink is the result of roughly three to five days of darkness, possibly our vic’s time of death.

DANNY MESSER

So you’re saying our vic was dead in that apartment at least two days prior to the fire and that Sean Nolan wasn’t there either?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

The fish are faded. Means no lights were turned on, the blinds were closed. Basically no signs of life. We normally determine time of death based on lividity, but the fire compromised the body.

DANNY MESSER

So what are we thinking her? Our arsonist killed our vic, panics, takes off for a few days, but knowing he has a dead body in his apartment [HAWKES’ PAGER BEEPS] comes back and sets a fire?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

It’s murder. It doesn’t have to make sense. [INTO CELL PHONE] Hawkes. Okay. Okay. Let us know. [TO DANNY] That’s Flack. He’s got our arsonist, Sean Nolan, in custody.

DANNY MESSER

Boom.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK (V.O.)

A woman--

INT. NYPD - INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

DETECTIVE DON FLACK (CONTINUED)

--burned to death, Sean.

SEAN NOLAN

Her, her name is Marla Bronson. She was taking care of my fish.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

And killing her is your way of saying thanks?

SEAN NOLAN

I’ll say it again. I have been in Boston for the past week attending an insurance convention.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Takes a second to strike a match. And less than an hour to get back to Boston by plane. Is that the story? Did I figure it out? You look a little nervous.

SEAN NOLAN

Y-You just told me that someone I cared about is dead. And you’re accusing me of taking her life, which I did not do, and I did not burn down my own home.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

This wasn’t an amateur job, Sean. Somebody definitely knew what he was doing. What kind of accelerant did you use? Same as the last fire? Lighter fluid? Your neighbors don’t have anywhere to live, Sean. Some of ‘em lost everything they own. Did you watch from across the street? Did the fire excite you? Maybe you were down the block in the high-rise watching the plumes of black smoke.

SEAN NOLAN

I made a mistake in my past. And I served my time. I did not kill Marla and I did not start that fire and I am done talking to you.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

One of your neighbors, someone I care a lot about, she no longer has a place to live. And she risked her life pulling a boy out of that building. [MUSIC IN] And when I prove you did this, you will answer to me.

INT. M.E.’S OFFICE - AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY

MUSIC OUT

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Marla Bronson’s death is the result of a car accident. I noticed small hairline fractures on both her right and left thumbs, roughly in the same place.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Fractures commonly caused by the release of an airbag.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Right. The driver holds onto the steering wheel, airbag releases and the impact fractures the proximal phalanx of both hands.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

But, Sid, nobody dies from broken thumbs.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Official C.O.D. is massive internal hemorrhaging. This is Marla’s ruptured spleen and damage to her body by the fire delayed my discovery. Now, this, uh, tear in the tissue suggests that the impact was pretty significant. Despite that, her death wasn’t immediate.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

I guess someone can suffer a ruptured spleen and walk around for a couple days and not even know it.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

Which would explain why she wasn’t in the hospital.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

So Marla had a car accident.

[REENACTMENT]

MUSIC IN

DR. SHELDON HAWKES (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

Days later she collapsed because she was hemorrhaging. She was dead on the ground in Nolan’s apartment when the fire started.

MUSIC OUT

[BACK TO SCENE]

DR. SHELDON HAWKES (CONTINUED)

And if we go with my goldfish theory, time of death was roughly three days ago.

DR. SID HAMMERBACK

With that said, we can confidently draw the conclusion that not only didn’t she die in the fire, but this is not a homicide.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

But, Sid, if Sean Nolan didn’t start the fire to cover up a murder, what are we looking at here?

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - LAYOUT ROOM - DAY

LINDSAY MONROE

The fire didn’t start in Sean Nolan’s apartment.

STELLA BONASERA

But there were accelerant pour patterns, a flashover. And he’s a suspect who’s been convicted of arson.

MAC TAYLOR

You’re gonna have to have a pretty good defense to counter that.

LINDSAY MONROE

Exhibit A.

[FLASHBACK]

LINDSAY MONROE (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

I took a sample of the floor to determine the exact type of accelerant used.

[BACK TO SCENE]

LINDSAY MONROE (CONTINUED)

I found traces of gasoline. Now, I know there’s no better fuel to start a fire, right? I also found--

[FLASHBACK]

LINDSAY MONROE (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

--varnish on the wood. So I took a surface sample.

[BACK TO SCENE]

LINDSAY MONROE (CONTINUED)

No gasoline.

STELLA BONASERA

So the accelerant was beneath the varnish.

MAC TAYLOR

Or, mixed in. Sometimes gas is used as a thinner for paints and varnishes and, if burned, can be mistaken for pour patterns.

LINDSAY MONROE

And suddenly we have no evidence of accelerant.

STELLA BONASERA

What about the flashover and the evidence of heavy and low burns?

LINDSAY MONROE

Exhibit B. Most of the furniture in Sean Nolan’s apartment was comprised of polyurethane foam.

STELLA BONASERA

Which is highly flammable, goes up in seconds. Turned the apartment into an incinerator.

LINDSAY MONROE

And explains the flashover.

[REENACTMENT]

[BACK TO SCENE]

MAC TAYLOR

So, if the fire didn’t start in Sean Nolan’s apartment, where’d it start?

LINDSAY MONROE

I don’t know.

MAC TAYLOR

Well, let’s find out.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - A/V LAB - DAY

MAC TAYLOR

Nolan’s apartment sustained the most damage as well as the apartment on the upper floor. The adjacent apartment here is vacant.

STELLA BONASERA

That’s Bonnie Dillard’s apartment and mine. And they both sustained significant damage.

MAC TAYLOR

Doesn’t give us a lot to work with. And we still don’t have a motive.

LINDSAY MONROE

So, what if a fire started in the vacant apartment?

MAC TAYLOR

Okay. Let’s try to prove that.

[USING A MODEL OF THE APARTMENTS, MAC SETS FIRE TO THE VACANT APARTMENT, CLOSES THE MODEL WITH A CLEAR PLASTIC COVER]

MAC TAYLOR

The exterior wall is brick. That slows the fire. And there’s no furniture or flammables in this room to fuel the blaze.

LINDSAY MONROE

Right. But wouldn’t that explain why the fire traveled left and right?

MAC TAYLOR

Something’s got to pull it in some direction, Lindsay. The vacant apartment was the least damaged. It’s as if the flames just skipped right over it. You eliminated Sean Nolan’s apartment. Stella didn’t start the blaze. [MUSIC IN] That leaves one option.

STELLA BONASERA

Bonnie Dillard’s apartment.

INT. BONNIE DILLARD’S APARTMENT - DAY

[MAC, STELLA AND LINDSAY LOOK THROUGH THE CHARRED REMAINS OF BONNIE’S APARTMENT. STELLA FINDS A LIGHTER WITH A PARTIAL PRINT.]

STELLA BONASERA

Mac? Found this cigarette lighter under the bed. Got partial prints. Bonnie’s a smoker. Can’t believe she’d do something like this.

MAC TAYLOR

Isn’t this her son’s room?

[STELLA NODS]

LINDSAY MONROE

If the fire started in here, why did it do the most damage to Nolan’s apartment, which is further away?

MUSIC OUT

[MAC LOOKS UP TO AN AIR VENT]

MUSIC IN

[MAC LOOKS THROUGH THE VENT]

[REENACTMENT]

MAC TAYLOR (V.O.)

Fire feeds on oxygen. It searches for it. The window in Nolan’s apartment must have been open.

MUSIC OUT

[BACK TO SCENE]

MUSIC IN

MAC TAYLOR (CONTINUED)

The flames traveled through this air duct. Lindsay, collect anything we can lift prints from and get it back to the lab. We should be able to generate our own secondary reference sample from items belonging to Bonnie or Jason.

MAC TAYLOR (CONTINUED)

And we’ll compare ‘em to the partials on the lighter. Someone in this apartment started that fire.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - LAYOUT ROOM - DAY

[LINDSAY, STELLA AND HAWKES PROCESS ITEMS FROM BONNIE’S APARTMENT]

MUSIC OUT

DANNY MESSER

Flack just called. Bonnie Dillard didn’t leave a forwarding address with your super. So he’s gonna check all hotels, bus and train stations.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Lindsay, you seeing this?

DANNY MESSER

You happen to have a picture of Jason or Bonnie?

STELLA BONASERA

I didn’t know them that well. You know, maybe I could give a description to a sketch artist.

LINDSAY MONROE

Are you sure this is right?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Ran it twice. Got the same result.

LINDSAY MONROE

Doesn’t make sense that this print would match the partial we found on the lighter. It’s completely unrelated.

STELLA BONASERA

Uh, you guys wanna let us in on this?

LINDSAY MONROE

So far, none of the prints we’ve lifted off the Dillard’s personal items have been a match to those we found on the lighter.

STELLA BONASERA

So it wasn’t Bonnie Dillard or her son that started the fire.

DANNY MESSER

So we’re back to our arsonist, Sean Nolan?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

No. Partials on the lighter are small. They belong to a child. To Bailey O’Dell.

DANNY MESSER

The little girl who’s been missing?

[MUSIC IN] How’s that possible?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Her parents registered her thumb print on our Safe Child Database. There’s no question it’s a match.

[STELLA REMEMBERS THE SOUNDS SHE HEAD IN HER APARTMENT HALLWAY]

BAILEY O’DELL (V.O.)

[OVERLAPPING] I don’t wanna go to bed.

I wanna go home.

[WALLA]

DANNY MESSER

This little girl’s face has been all over the news.

STELLA BONASERA

It was her. Bonnie Dillard has her. She said it was her niece.

LINDSAY MONROE

You saw Bailey O’Dell?

STELLA BONASERA

No, I heard her. She was in Bonnie’s apartment. She was right next door.

MUSIC OUTEND OF ACT TWO

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - NIGHT

MUSIC IN

INT. NYPD - BULLPEN - NIGHT

[WALLA]

STELLA BONASERA

I, I didn’t see her. I heard her. She was saying she wanted to go home.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

How can we be sure that that was Bailey O’Dell?

STELLA BONASERA

Because that’s the only explanation of how that little girl’s prints were on the lighter. She was within my reach, Mac. Right there.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

I’ll track down the other tenants in the building, see if they can give us anything.

MAC TAYLOR

I want a subpoena on Bonnie Dillard’s entire life. Check with DMV on a vehicle.

STELLA BONASERA

Well, I know she had a van. Silver.

MAC TAYLOR

Where does Bonnie work?

STELLA BONASERA

She’s a, a florist. Specialty place. Does arrangements for hotels and highend parties. I, I don’t know the name of the business.

MAC TAYLOR

What about Jason’s school? Any clubs, after school activities?

STELLA BONASERA

I moved in two years ago. I didn’t make an effort to get to know anyone. Hallway relationships.

MAC TAYLOR

Bonnie ever talk about her family?

STELLA BONASERA

She never mentioned a sister until last night, and clearly, that was a lie. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know if Bonnie Dillard’s her real name.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - NIGHT TO DAY

INT. NYPD - BULLPEN - DAY

[STELLA SITS WITH A SKETCH ARTIST TO COME UP WITH A PICTURE OF BONNIE]

STELLA BONASERA

Right here. There we go. Let’s try this.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - BULLPEN - DAY

DANNY MESSER

Blonde woman, uh, five-eight, uh, she has a son. He’s 11 years old. His name is Jason.

LINDSAY MONROE

Jason Dillard. Well, let me make it simpler. Is there any male child 11 years old who’s absent from school today? We have a sketch that we can fax over.

DANNY MESSER

N-No, I get it. Thank you.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - A/V LAB - DAY

STELLA BONASERA

There. That’s her van coming out of the building’s garage. That’s definitely Bonnie.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Let’s see if we can get the plate. We got it. We’ll set up an Amber Alert.

STELLA BONASERA

Thanks, Hawkes.

MUSIC OUT

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - BULLPEN - DAY

LINDSAY MONROE

Thank you.

DANNY MESSER

I’m gonna get some coffee. You want some coffee?

LINDSAY MONROE

No. Thanks.

DANNY MESSER

How long are you gonna stay mad at me, Linds?

LINDSAY MONROE

Oh, is that what this is? Me mad at you?

DANNY MESSER

Is this still about missing your birthday? Look, I didn’t want to go to lunch yesterday. Why do you gotta make such a big deal out of it?

LINDSAY MONROE

Do me a favor, Danny. Don’t reduce me to some shallow, clingy girlfriend that’s starting to suffocate you, okay? That’s not what this is about. Ever since Rueben Sandoval died, y--. I feel like I’ve lost my best friend. And don’t mistake this for jealousy, okay? I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about, to see them one day and then not see them the next, and to know you’re never gonna see them again. I would never expect you not to grieve. But, clearly, you know, you’ve just decided to do it all on your own. Okay. I get it. My mistake for thinking that you might need somebody to lean on. And, you know, for the record, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself. Because I’ve fallen in love with you and I have to figure out how to let that go.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - CORRIDOR - DAY

STELLA BONASERA

We found Bonnie’s van. It appears to have been abandoned. Now, Flack posted unis at the scene just in case she comes back. I sent a crew to process it. Hopefully, they’ll find something that’ll lead us back to Bailey O’Dell.

MAC TAYLOR

What about Jason Dillard? Where is he?

STELLA BONASERA

There was a tenant in the building who actually knew what school he went to. He hasn’t been there in over a week.

MAC TAYLOR

Even before the fire then.

STELLA BONASERA

I think Bonnie has him with her. I mean, he’s already a troubled kid. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking now.

MAC TAYLOR

He’s troubled in what way?

STELLA BONASERA

When I first moved into my apartment, he made a hole in the grout of an adjacent brick wall.

MUSIC IN

[FLASHBACK]

STELLA BONASERA

What the--? Hey. Where is it, Jason?

JASON DILLARD

I don’t know.

STELLA BONASERA (V.O.)

Boy stuff, right? I mean, you could see right through to my bedroom.

MUSIC OUT

[BACK TO SCENE]

STELLA BONASERA (CONTINUED)

He’s just 11 years old. So much of this case doesn’t make any sense. How does the fire play into all of this and why does a six-year-old little girl even know how to use a lighter? What?

MAC TAYLOR

For the last two days I’ve been trying to figure out how to gingerly tell you to sit this one out. Go deal with the loss of your home, take care of yourself. But I realize now what a total waste of my breath it would have been.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Hey guys. Bonnie Dillard called her insurance company [MUSIC IN] about issuing a check for the damage to her apartment.

STELLA BONASERA

She give an address?

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

She requested they call her when the check was ready and she’d pick it up.

STELLA BONASERA

It’s an ongoing arson investigation. They won’t process claims for at least another two weeks.

MAC TAYLOR

Or maybe, with a little encouragement from us, they can do it sooner.

DR. SHELDON HAWKES

Hmm, my man’s getting sneaky.

MAC TAYLOR

Have the insurance company call Bonnie Dillard, tell her to pick her check up in an hour. It’s always the greed that gets ‘em.

EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS - DAY

STELLA BONASERA

Danny, there she is. Print green shirt, brown pants, sunglasses, heading towards the insurance building. Now, you approach her, I’ll cut her off.

DANNY MESSER

Bonnie, hey, how’re you doin’?

BONNIE DILLARD

Do I know you?

DANNY MESSER

Uh, no. Not yet.

[BONNIE PUSHES A PEDESTRIAN INTO DANNY, RUNS OFF]

DANNY MESSER (CONTINUED)

Hey! Hey.

[PEDESTRIAN WALLA]

[DANNY CHASES BONNIE, SAVES HER FROM AN ONCOMING CAB THEN SLAMS HER INTO A PARKED CAR]

DANNY MESSER (CONTINUED)

Don’t move!

MUSIC OUT

STELLA BONASERA

Where is she, Bonnie? Where’s Bailey O’Dell? Come on, Bonnie. You abandoned your own son in that fire because you knew you had to hide that little girl before the police arrived. Her face was all over the news. You knew we’d know who she was. Where is she?

BONNIE DILLARD

I believe I have the right to remain silent.

DANNY MESSER

Come on.

EXT. NYPD - DAY

DETECTIVE DON FLACK (V.O.)

Where are you keeping--

INT. NYPD - INTERROGATION ROOM/VIEWING ROOM - DAY

DETECTIVE DON FLACK (CONTINUED)

--Bailey O’Dell?

BONNIE DILLARD

You know, I don’t understand this. My home just burned down. My son was almost killed in the fire and my niece is sick from the smoke.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

She’s not your niece, Bonnie. You took this little girl from her family and they want her back.

BONNIE DILLARD

Well, they can’t have her back.

MUSIC IN

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Why not?

BONNIE DILLARD

Because she’s much happier where she is now.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

And where is that, Bonnie?

BONNIE DILLARD

Some place beautiful and peaceful. Better than with them. They’re divorced, you know. Her mother’s a single parent. She works part-time at my floral shop. Brings the kid in when she can’t get a babysitter. [CHUCKLES] It was so easy to take her. ‘Cause she knew me already. When I was pregnant, they told me I shouldn’t be a single mother. They said a child should have two parents.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

When you were pregnant with Jason?

BONNIE DILLARD

No, this was before Jason.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

And you gave the baby up for adoption?

BONNIE DILLARD

They took her from me.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Bonnie. Don’t take this little girl from her family.

BONNIE DILLARD

It’s done. They’re not getting her back.

DETECTIVE DON FLACK

Just tell me where she is. Is Jason with her?

BONNIE DILLARD

Uh, shouldn’t I have a lawyer? I mean, I’m not sure I should say anything more.

MAC TAYLOR

Stella? Is Bonnie Dillard capable of murder?

STELLA BONASERA

If you’d asked me a week ago if I thought she could abduct a child I’d have said no.

MAC TAYLOR

And now?

STELLA BONASERA

I think she’s capable of anything.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB - TRACE LAB - DAY

MUSIC OUT

LINDSAY MONROE

I think I might have a possible lead on where Bonnie Dillard is holding Bailey O’Dell. It’s just a lead though.

STELLA BONASERA

We’ll take whatever we can get.

LINDSAY MONROE

Sandplain gerardia.

[FLASHBACK]

LINDSAY MONROE (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

It’s a pollen grain that fell off Bonnie’s clothing.

MUSIC OUT

[BACK TO SCENE]

STELLA BONASERA

She’s a florist. It makes sense to find that kind of trace.

LINDSAY MONROE

Right. But this particular pollen comes from the only federally-protected endangered plant species in all of New York State. In fact, six of the twelve natural populations in the world are in Long Island.

DANNY MESSER

All right. So we go to Long Island.

LINDSAY MONROE

No, because I don’t think that’s where this pollen originated. I found traces of a chemical toxin. Now, the plants in Long Island, they’re not only endangered, they’re federally protected. There’s no way they would let a toxin interfere with the growth of the plant.

STELLA BONASERA

So it means this plant is growing somewhere else in New York.

LINDSAY MONROE

Illegally.

DANNY MESSER

So it’s illegal to grow this plant.

LINDSAY MONROE

Well, somebody had to steal a protected plant to grow it outside of Long Island. They could be federally prosecuted, which is why I’m having trouble locating it. Anybody who would know anything isn’t talking. So, I made a few scientific educated assumptions. Now, wherever these plants are, they’re near a factory.

DANNY MESSER

That makes sense. The toxins are carried by the wind, deposited over the plants.

LINDSAY MONROE

I’ve cross-referenced all the factories emitting that same toxin with any vacant lots, empty buildings, greenhouses in the city. I can’t promise anything, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

DANNY MESSER

What do you wanna do?

STELLA BONASERA

Well, let’s hope Lindsay gets us something. In the meantime, we go with the only thing we’ve got. Bonnie Dillard in custody. We gotta get her to tell us where she’s holding that little girl.

DANNY MESSER

Lindsay. I’m sorry. And we should, we should talk.

LINDSAY MONROE

We have a rooftop address. Get Stella.

INT. NEW YORK CRIME LAB/CORRIDOR - DAY

ADAM ROSS

Stella!

STELLA BONASERA

Got a lead on the little girl that was missing, Adam. Can I catch up with you later?

ADAM ROSS

No. No, look. Okay. You need to know this. I’m not playing around.

STELLA BONASERA

All right. You got 15 seconds.

ADAM ROSS

The notes you gave me were written approximately two years ago by an ordinary, everyday ink pen.

STELLA BONASERA

Oh, there better be more.

ADAM ROSS

I decided to look a little closer and I found traces of quartz, clay, limestone and gypsum. Brick mortar. The mortar acted as a developer of several latent prints that otherwise would have evaporated. Okay, so now I got a bunch of prints and what am I supposed to do, but I run ‘em through the database. Got no hits on any criminal activity, [MUSIC IN] but they were a match to the prints that Lindsay and Hawkes lifted from the items in Bonnie Dillard’s apartment.

STELLA BONASERA

Which items?

ADAM ROSS

Football, basketball, iPod. These prints belong to Jason Dillard. He wrote these notes, Stella. He wrote, “Help me.”

STELLA BONASERA

She took him, too.

MUSIC OUTEND OF ACT THREE

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - DAY

MUSIC IN

EXT. ND BUILDING - DAY

[MAC BREAKS THROUGH A BARRED METAL DOOR]

INT. ND BUILDING - DAY

[MAC, STELLA AND FLACK RUN UP THE BUILDING’S STAIRCASE TO THE ROOFTOP FOLLOWED BY ND UNIFORMS WHERE THEY FIND TABLES FULL OF THE ILLEGAL FLOWERS.]

MUSIC OUT

MUSIC IN

[UNDERNEATH A TABLE, STELLA SEES SLEEPING JASON AND BAILEY, COVERED BY A CARDBOARD BLANKET]

STELLA BONASERA

Hey, Mac.

EXT. ND BUILDING - DAY

[MAC CARRIES BAILEY. STELLA AND JASON FOLLOW THEM OUT OF THE BUILDING.]

MUSIC OUT

MAC TAYLOR

[TO ND UNIFORMS] Hold your fire.

POLICE RADIO DISPATCHER (V.O.)

Arrest team, stand down.

[EMT’S CHECK ON JASON]

EMT

We’ll check you out.

MUSIC IN

[BAILEY IS REUNITED WITH HER PARENTS, WHILE MAC, FLACK, STELLA AND JASON WATCH]

EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE - DAY

INT. NYPD - INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY

MUSIC OUT

STELLA BONASERA

Did you write these? I am so sorry, Jason. I just found them yesterday. And now I realize what a terrible, terrible mistake I made. I accused you of something that wasn’t true and--

[FLASHBACK]

STELLA BONASERA (V.O.) (CONTINUED)

--you were just pushing these notes through the wall because you needed my help.

[BACK TO SCENE]

STELLA BONASERA (CONTINUED)

Oh, I’m so sorry I never got them. I really am.

JASON DILLARD

That’s okay. I found out my first mom didn’t want me anyway.

STELLA BONASERA

Who told you that, Bonnie?

MUSIC IN

[JASON NODS]

JASON DILLARD

[CRIES] Am I going to jail?

STELLA BONASERA

For what?

JASON DILLARD

That dead body.

STELLA BONASERA

You and Bailey started the fire.

[JASON NODS]

JASON DILLARD

She was scared and want a go home. I thought the fire would be a good idea because the police would come. I didn’t want it to burn anybody.

STELLA BONASERA

Of course you didn’t. No, Jason, you’re not going to jail. Is Jason your real name?

JASON DILLARD

No. Just pretend.

STELLA BONASERA

What’d your first mom call you?

JASON DILLARD

Austin Tanner.

STELLA BONASERA

I like that name.

JASON DILLARD/AUSTIN TANNER

Me, too.

STELLA BONASERA

You’re gonna be okay, Austin.

MAC TAYLOR

Austin will be a bit confused. He’s been told that you don’t want him. And he believes that woman who took him rescued him. She used words to gain his trust and love. He never ran away because she convinced him there was no place to run to. It’ll probably take awhile for him to show affection and he’ll wanna know why you never came to get him. Children believe their parents can do anything. So, saying you couldn’t find him or you tried everything just may not be enough. Just be patient, Miss Tanner.

MEGAN TANNER

I will. He’s coming home. [SOBS]

EXT. 5

TV REPORTER (V.O.)

Austin Tanner was reunited with his family today after four years as a kidnap victim.

MEGAN TANNER (V.O.)

Let me look at you. Let me look at you. Oh, my God. [SOBS]

TO BLACK

MUSIC OUT

SHOW TITLE

FADE OUT

THEME MUSIC IN