"You were fast." "Where were you?" "At the office." "Closing up the Silverman case." "At this hour?" "You need to get a life." "Detectives Morris and Baker?" "How did we pull them two cases in a row?" "Yeah." "Just lucky I guess." " What do we got here?" " Two dead." "Dave Piaseki, 23, and Linda Chapman, 22." "Both shot in the head." "Liver temp and lividity puts it around 11 p.m. last night." "No witnesses." "Just a hiker found them and called it in." "So young." "Dr. Hunt, how nice to see you again." "Detective Morris." "You almost sound sincere." "I hate to spoil this little reunion, but you two wasted a trip." "There's no medical mystery here." "It's a straight-up murder-suicide." "She took the first bullet, then he turned the gun on himself." "There's powder burns on the right temple and the gun's cradled in his right hand." "He has bruising on his left knuckles." "And a callous pattern that indicates he's left-handed." "If you're left-handed, would you shoot yourself in the head with your right hand?" "Doubtful." "Okay, bruises and calluses don't make him left-handed." "True, but carrying your wallet in your left back pocket does." "So much for robbery." " Here we go again." " Autopsies in two hours." "Damn it." " You okay?" " Yeah, my hands are acting up again." " Mom?" " Lacey?" "Hi." " I was hoping to get you before school." " Dad's waiting outside." "I gotta go." "I'm late." "I just wanted to know if you wanted to get together after school today." "I have riding after school." "Tomorrow?" "We could" " We could have lunch." "Twist is right by your school." "Lace?" "Okay, but I gotta go." "Bye, Mom." "Lace?" "Lunch?" "Remember you told me to give Lacey something from my heart for her birthday?" " Yeah." " Well, I gave her a key to my apartment." "And when I came home later, she'd left me a piece of her birthday cake." "A key?" "The point is, she's giving me another chance." "Well, I'm glad to hear it, but just take it slow, okay?" "Didn't you just tell me to get a life?" "I'm trying." "There you are." "Piaseki/Chapman murder-suicide." "Alleged murder-suicide, yes?" "Get Ethan and Curtis to help you." "I want this handled quickly and efficiently." "When do I ever do otherwise?" "Well, then I have nothing to worry about, do I?" "Just out of curiosity, it's not a coincidence that we pulled Morris and Baker, is it?" "I spoke to their lieutenant." "We agree that you four seem to work well together." "Unless you think otherwise?" "If you're trying to break Megan it won't work." "I'm not trying to break her, I'm trying to contain her." "It's better to knock heads with two detectives than the entire Philadelphia Police Department." "You know, we have low-fat." "I like it sweet." "I've got two bodies coming in." "Suit up." "I am your superior, you know." "Who keeps saying he wants to be called a doctor." "So come on, show me what you got." "Oh, yeah." "Show her what you've got." "Oh, shut up." "So her bullet went in and his split in two." "Maybe." "Well, pull them out, have a look." "All in good time, detective." "Dave Piaseki lived in Manayunk." "Now, first generation Polish." "Parents dead, no siblings." "His landlord confirms that he was left-handed." "Linda Chapman's father is Al Chapman." "A real estate developer." "Evidently, they were an item back in the day." "She went to Springside and he went to Roxborough." "That's the opposite sides of the track." "How did they meet?" "According to the Chapmans, they met right where they died." "Valley Green was a teen hangout for years." "The press is already short-stroking it as a murder-suicide." "Oh, I wonder how they got that idea." "She dumped him, that's how." "She's rich, he's poor, she goes to college and he joins the Navy, and has held nothing but grunt construction jobs since he got out." "He kept the candle burning, she rejected him a second time, and then he takes them both out." "What's the mystery?" "There's a dry patch on the left forearm, possibly eczema or contact dermatitis." "Navy tattoo on the right." "Ethan, you got anything?" "She has a scar on her spine from an old operation." "Her makeup's a mess." "And until recently, she wore hair extensions." "She's got traction alopecia." "She was a beautiful girl." " Got the bullet." " Bullet." "Look, this is all very touching, but Piaseki's prints are on the gun." "I haven't heard anything that disproves murder-suicide." "You may be right, detective." "But then again, maybe not." "That bullet didn't split in two." "Those are two separate rounds." "So unless he shot himself in the head twice, it wasn't a murder-suicide." "This is straight-up murder." "So, what do we have?" "Peter?" "The scar down Linda's spine was from a childhood accident." "She was hit by a car." "Broke her neck in three places." "That would explain the rods." "She had healed Mallory-Weiss tears." "It's bleeding in the mucosa at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach." "Caused by vomiting, typically from bulimia, alcoholism or pregnancy." "Yes, but she wasn't pregnant, and bulimia and alcoholism would have shown signs of damage in the organs." "What about Dave?" "Some recent respiratory complaints in his file." "That's about it." " He wasn't a smoker." " No." "But he was in the Navy." "They're exposed to everything, right?" "Yeah, but I didn't find any plaques on the pleural surfaces." "Now, what do we think of these?" "Their last meal, burgers and green French fries." "Anybody know where that particular Happy Meal was served?" " I'll get Bud and Sam on it." " You two get busy on Dave's lungs." "Oh, no." "I am not approving any unnecessary tests." "Curtis." "Haven't you ever wanted a second chance with your first love?" "Those two people will never have that chance again." "I wanna know who took it away from them." "You're just trying to suck me into your crime-solving cult." "No, I'm trying to get you to act like a doctor who gives a damn." "Green French fries, huh?" "Irish pub, maybe?" "Either that or Dr. Seuss just opened up a restaurant." " Either way, it's food dye, huh?" " Think so?" " He's from Manayunk, huh?" " Yeah." "You ever been to Manayunk Avenue on a weekend night?" " Nope." " It's all burgers and fries and water ice." "Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, I know this is difficult for you." "Excuse me." "I'm Dr. Hunt." "I'll be handling your daughter's case." "I'm very sorry about your loss." "l" "I practically taught her how to walk again after her operation." "She was my baby." "I was her protector." "I just couldn't protect her from that boy." "We thought Dave got the message after Linda broke up with him in high school." "But we were wrong." "If he couldn't have Linda, no one would." "Oh, when can we have her?" "We-- We just wanna put our baby to rest." "I'm afraid that's not going to happen until the investigation is over." "What investigation?" "He killed our daughter." "The story that the news is reporting is wrong." "This was a double homicide." "Now, I know you already spoke to the police, but is there anything else you can tell me that would help us in our investigation?" "Like what?" "Dave was Linda's past." "Who was her present?" "Was she seeing anybody?" "Brian Hall." "He owns a restaurant downtown." "Linda worked as a hostess there last year while she was applying to law school." "But she ended it with him months ago." " Is there--?" " It's all right." "We can do this another time." "And I promise you we will get your daughter to you as soon as we can." "Thank you." "So where are the police on this?" "Running down Dave and Linda's last meal." "I saw healed Mallory-Weiss tears on the prelim." "You and Peter should go find this Brian Hall, see what Linda was really doing to herself." "Exactly what I was thinking." "Yeah, poor Linda." "I heard about it on the news." "I haven't seen her since we broke up." " When was that?" " Three months ago." "When you were dating, did you notice anything wrong with her?" "Like drinking too much or not eating?" "Yeah, not eating wasn't exactly Linda's problem, so..." "You wanna watch out, that'll stain your clothes." "We clean the bar top with lemon and baking soda." "Must take all day." "It takes two days, actually." "Off-hours." "It's my annual nightmare, so if you don't mind?" "Excuse me." "You have beautiful hair." "Oh, thank you." "And that is some dress." "It's" " It's the uniform." "Some uniform." "Well, Brian, he" " He insists." "So, what was Linda's problem?" "What are you asking me all these questions for?" "I thought a medical examiner cut up bodies." "I'm not an ME, I'm a medicolegal investigator." "I investigate anything to do with a suspicious death." "Or in this case, two." "Suspicious?" "It was a murder-suicide." "No, it wasn't." "Is being so thin part of the uniform?" "Excuse me." "What happens when you don't do what Brian wants?" "Nina, don't say a damn word." "Look, I told you, I never met Dave Piaseki." "And I haven't seen Linda in months." "Now get the hell out of my restaurant." "Eric Singleton?" "Who wants to know?" "Were you at Tom's Burgers on Manayunk Avenue last night?" "I can't remember." "Try remembering these two." "We have witnesses that say you had words with Dave Piaseki." " So what?" " So, what happened?" "He should have known better bringing his black bitch into our neighborhood." "What are you do--?" "I think you had more than words." "Oh, Dave got the better of you, didn't he?" "Then you went after him with a gun." "The only thing I don't know is how you two geniuses actually found him." "Three." "There we go." "I don't think this is a good idea." " What's the big deal?" "It was on the way." " It's like dating." "You don't turn up on a girl's doorstep right after she gave you her number." "I'm not dating my daughter." "I just wanna say hi." "Megan, correct me if I'm wrong, but she lives with her dad, she blames you for the divorce, and after five years, she's finally opening up." "I don't think this is the time to push your luck." "You know, I was meeting some of my friends later and" "Hi, Lace." "Mom, what are you doing here?" "You said you had your lesson today." "Yeah, but I'm not supposed to meet you until tomorrow." " Who's that?" " Mom." "I'm sorry, I just thought I..." "No, you didn't think, Mom." "You didn't think at all." "I may never have been a neurosurgeon like you, but I am a doctor, and I do care." "Check Linda's teeth." "If she was throwing up to lose weight, the stomach acid would have eroded the enamel." "Okay." "What are you looking for?" "Soap." "You were right." "There are signs of erosion of the enamel on her lower molars." "And what does that tell you, doctor?" "It confirms bulimia, but not long-term." " More like she just started." " About a year, I bet." "Right after she started working for Brian Hall." "What's that?" "A residue of potassium bitartrate, sodium bicarbonate and lemon." "The stuff Hall uses to clean his bar." "Which means Dave was in that restaurant the day he was murdered." "One thing you need to know about me is when I promise something, I deliver." "I promised the Chapmans they'll have their daughter back soon." " So where are we?" " Their last meal was in Manayunk." "Those weren't green fries, by the way." "They'd had lime water ice." "Dave got into a fight with a skinhead named Eric Singleton." "He's got a sheet." "But he also has two skinhead friends who swear they never left Manayunk that night." "We assume they're lying, but he has no connection to the gun." "And we have nothing solid to hold him on." " And you?" " Linda was bulimic." "All signs are it started when she hooked up with a restaurateur named Brian Hall." "You didn't say anything about that." "We didn't confirm bulimia until last night because her body has had three months to recover from starving itself." "The same three months since she broke up with Hall." "He's a control freak with a temper." "But most importantly," "Dave Piaseki was in his restaurant the night of the murder." " How do you know that?" " The stainless steel bar." "They've been cleaning it for the past two days with lemon, cream of tartar and baking soda." "It left a residue on Dave's arm." "Well, I guess we're gonna go check out Brian Hall." "Hey, Curtis, check this out." "I found the cause of Dave's respiratory problems." " Amphiboles in the alveoli." " Asbestos?" "Yeah, and not from his Navy days, either." "These are fresh, just a few weeks old." "Hello?" "He worked construction." " What do you want me to do about it?" " Come with me." "Where?" "Out there?" "What am I, Nancy Drew all of a sudden?" "I don't even know what you're talking about." "I'm talking about you threatening Linda so much she disconnected her phone." "I'm talking about you threatening her in front of her neighbors two months ago." " Old news." " Then why lie about it?" "You don't exactly advertise when your ex turns up dead." "What did Dave come here to talk to you about?" "Blow a lot of hot air." "He threatened you if you didn't leave Linda alone." " Nobody threatens me." " Oh, and lives to tell about it?" "You know what I think?" "I think that Dave kept a candle burning for Linda." "Three months ago he tracks her down only to find out she's involved with a guy who inflates his own ego by making women feel bad about themselves." "What pissed you off more, Brian?" "Linda leaving, or Dave opening her eyes?" "You think you got it all figured out, huh?" "Except for the part that I didn't kill them." "Then you won't mind telling us where you were two nights ago." "Nina, get your ass over here." "Tell them where I was two nights ago, baby." "With me." "So now we have two suspects with shaky alibis." "Oh, I found her very credible." "I'll have a talk with her." "Knock yourself out." "But Singleton's our guy." "How are you gonna get her away from Brian?" "I'm not." "You are." "Come on, admit it." " She got to you, didn't she?" " I don't know what you're talking about." "No, you said, "Who am I, Nancy Drew all of a sudden?"" "I would have gone Hardy Boys, by the way, but that's just me." "You know what I meant." "That's who we seem to be working for these days, Nancy Drew." "Which is an interesting thing to say considering you are the deputy chief." "You know, your mouth won't be flapping so much with my foot in it." "It's like she has some strange power over us." "Here." "Give me that hard hat." " This one?" " That one." " This one?" " That one." "You sure it's gonna fit?" " Give me the hat." " Well, you've got a big head." "Let's see if this is where Dave got his asbestos poisoning." " Who's that?" " Hey." " What are you doing?" " Curtis." "Curtis." "What are you doing?" " This is private property." " Keep going." " Come back here." " Don't close the gate on me." " Curtis, Curtis." " What are you doing?" "Sorry about yesterday." " What's his name?" " Who?" "The boy I saw you talking to." "I don't know." " You don't know or don't wanna tell me?" " Can we just eat lunch, please?" "I'm sorry, I just" " There's so much I wanna know." " Why?" " You never cared before." " That's not true." "You're too busy with work." "That's what the judge said." "I missed that court date because I was a surgeon." "I was saving someone's life." " You missed more than one." "I don't care." "You don't get to tell me how to feel." "God, I knew this would happen." "How do you feel?" "Like I can't breathe." "So just back off, okay?" "Look, I'm not ready for this." "So I'm just gonna go." "Thanks for lunch." "Gunshot residue?" "The killer closed her eyes." "It's too bad you can't get a print off the eyelid." "Well, I can swab for DNA." "Hey, he must have been sweating to take off that much eye shadow." "So if we're lucky, we'll get a stray epithelial or two." "You still think it's Brian Hall?" "It's a theory, assuming his new girlfriend is lying for him." "But in order to prove that," "I'm gonna need your help." "Seen your friend Eric lately?" "We've been checking up on you, Lonny." "Turns out your dad is still declaring you as a dependent." "Which, seeing as you're not, makes him heading upstate if you don't talk to us." "Look, I never wanted to go after that guy in the first place." "Spell it out, Lonny." "Eric had it in for the guy as soon as he showed up with that black chick." "Isn't this sweet?" "Couple of lovebirds headed over..." "He and Eric had words, but the girl pulled him into the water ice shop." "Let's go get some water ice." "Come on." "We were just hassling them." "But then Eric says we're gonna jump them when they come out, so we did." "Or we tried to." "Eric made his move and the guy just nailed him, pow." "It was fast." "Eric dropped to his knees." "That's it?" "Come on, Lonny." "Your dad's still heading upstate unless you give us something we can use." "Yesterday, Eric showed up with blood on his jacket." "He ditched it just before you guys got there." "Make sure you get to the bottom of that one over there." " Nothing." " Yeah, recycling." "Detectives." "Here you go." "Now, that's what I call probable cause." "Ironworks Restaurant." "This is Nina." "Can I help you?" "Nina?" "My name's Eddie Davis." "I live on North Newkirk, just down the street from Brian." "Yeah, I'm calling because his house is on fire." "Oh, my God." "Brian." "Nina." "I have nothing to say to you." "Are you willing to listen?" "What am I doing here?" "I wanted you to meet someone." "This is Linda Chapman." "You know who she is?" "Extensions, bulimia, the uniform." "That's all Brian, isn't it?" "She's a beautiful girl." "So are you." "I can't stand the thought of him doing to you what he did to Linda." "Do you have somebody to help you, Nina?" "Has Brian threatened you if you try to leave him like Linda did?" " I don't know how to get away from him." " We do." "And we'll help you." "With counseling, with resources, with whatever you need." "Listen, we've all done stupid things for men." "But don't let this jerk tell you how to feel about yourself." "Oh, God." "You're safe now, okay?" "And you can tell us the truth." "Was Brian with you the night of the murders?" "Yeah, he was." "He really was." "I'm sorry." "He won't let me out of his sight." "Okay." "I'm gonna send you to the Women's Shelter." "There's a woman there named Ann White and she'll take care of you." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Well, looks like you need a new theory." "Okay." "Now, these are the amphiboles I found in Dave's lungs." "You can also see some grains of sand and pollen too." "Amphiboles?" "It's a kind of asbestos used in building construction." "And here's the same sand-pollen-amphibole mix we found at the site." "It's an exact match." ""We"?" "So somebody was cutting corners and exposing workers?" "Maybe Dave threatened to blow the whistle on them." "So you're saying Dave was the target, Linda was the collateral damage?" "It's a theory." "Peter, go with Ethan to the job site and see what you can find." "Sure." "And, Curtis, check on my DNA results, will you?" "What DNA results?" "The ones I ordered in your name." "I didn't think you'd mind." "Told you." "She has a strange power." "You must know something by now." "Well, we do know a few things about your daughter that might be difficult to hear." "Like what?" "She was bulimic." "And she had hair extensions that did permanent damage to her scalp." "And both of these things seem to coincide with her relationship with Brian Hall." "Did you know anything about that?" "We kept pretty close track of her through college." "But when she got out, she wanted to be independent." "That's code for never telling us anything." "I don't wanna sully your memory of your daughter, but I would like to correct your memory of Dave Piaseki." "I think that he got her away from Brian." "And I think he genuinely loved her." "I know he did." "He came to our house the night they were murdered." "He told us what Brian had done to Linda." "Why didn't you mention this before?" "Because we didn't believe him." " Who the hell are you?" " Peter Dunlop, Medical Examiner's Office." " You?" " Gary Miller, foreman." "Did you know that Dave Piaseki was dead?" " Yeah, I heard." " And had asbestos in his lungs?" "You can take your mask off." "We had an exposure about a month ago, but we cleaned it up." "Yeah, okay." "I'm gonna keep mine on, thanks." "We did everything we were supposed to do." "Oh, except report it." "Did Dave threaten to tell the authorities?" "Look, pal, right now you're facing an EPA violation." "You wanna bump that up to murder?" "Dave came by a few days ago." "He wanted an advance." "A big one." "But not to keep his mouth shut." " So, what did he need the money for?" " An engagement ring." " Thanks." " What about the EPA?" "They're on their way." "Sorry." "We took a soil sample." "Remember me?" "You're still contaminated." " You gotta be kidding me." " Does it look like I'm kidding?" "Come on." "What are you doing?" "Looking for evidence of an engagement ring." "How did you know?" "Linda's mother." "Dave asked her parents' permission to marry her." " Oh, they didn't think to mention that?" " They felt guilty." "They thought Dave killed Linda because they said no." " What's that?" " The ring." "We canvassed the area and found a pawnshop near Dave's work." "He hit up his foreman for the money to buy it." "Everything I learn about this guy makes me like him more." "What happened to the ring?" "I mean, it's not worth enough money to kill for." "The last time that your hands bothered you, you were calling Lacey about lunch." "Paresthesia is not psychosomatic." " Stress is." " I'm not stressed." " Then how was lunch?" " It was fine." " Sound stressed." " Why do you want to know?" "You wanna give me more advice?" "I'm stressed because you stuck your nose into my business in the first place." "Well, I'm starting to regret that myself." "You know, you've got great instincts about the dead, Megan, but about the living, you suck." "I care about the dead because they can't speak for themselves." "The living are on their own." "Really?" "Then explain rescuing Nina Wheeler from her creep of a boyfriend." "Somewhere under all the crap that you're dealing with is a decent person and a good mother." "And the only reason that I put up with it is because" "I'm fairly sure that you won't find her without me." "That is an incredibly arrogant thing to say." "Doesn't make it not true." "I blew it with Lacey." "Okay?" "She says I smother her." "Lacey wants me to back off." "So back off." "She'll come around when she's ready." "Who's gonna tell her what she needs to know, huh?" "About life, about boys, about everything?" "When did I give up that right?" "Your DNA results from Linda's eyelid." "One set." "Male." "Now all you need is someone to match them to." "Eric Singleton, this is the police." "Open the door." "We have a warrant to search the premises." " Go, go, go." " Go, go, go." "Singleton." "Please, give me a reason not to shoot your ass." "This is what we call probable cause." "Linda Chapman's blood on your jacket." "And this is what we call the Fat Lady." " Do you know what that refers to?" " Your wife?" "Brunnhilde, whose ten-minute aria in Gotterdammerung ends Wagner's Ring Cycle." " Which is particularly apt" " It's the ring we found in your apartment." "It's the ring Dave Piaseki bought to propose to Linda Chapman with." "It's the ring you took from the scene after you shot them." "I didn't shoot anybody." "Sure you didn't." "This ring just magically appeared in your apartment." "No, I took the ring, but I didn't shoot anybody." "They were already dead." "How did you know where to find them?" "That's what we were hassling them about." "They were talking about Valley Green." "The old days." "It made me sick." "So you popped them and closed her eyes." "What happened?" "You got a pang of remorse?" "Couldn't take a black chick eyeing you from beyond the grave?" "We match your DNA, you're cooked." "Since I didn't do it, you won't find anything." "But you believe me, if I did do it, she'd have been lying there with her eyes open, watching me laugh." "Not crying tears of remorse." "Tears." "Of course." "Well?" "You can tell the Chapmans they can come get their daughter." "Please come in." "You've met Dr. Hunt already." "This is our investigator, Peter Dunlop." "And these are Detectives Morris and Baker." "Is there a breakthrough in the case?" "I know what happened to your daughter." "Mrs. Chapman, I think you might wanna sit down." "You gonna tell me something worse than my daughter was murdered?" "I'm afraid so." "Linda was wearing eye shadow on the night she was killed." "That eye shadow became smudged because the killer's final gesture was to close her eyes." "Would Brian Hall do that?" "Doubtful." "Would Eric Singleton?" "Never." "The killer loved Linda, because Linda was his daughter." "But that's impossible." "The human body sheds cells all the time." "Hair, skin, even tears have cells that we can retrieve and analyze for DNA." "Do you wanna tell us what happened, Mr. Chapman?" "Okay, I'll help you." "It was a big day for Dave." "He stood up to Brian Hall." "He had borrowed money to buy a ring." "He'd done the honorable thing and asked you both for Linda's hand." " Will you marry me?" " I doubt that he thought you'd say yes." "And I doubt that you thought saying no would stop him." "Yes." "Yes, yes." "That's why you brought a gun along." "Because you knew Dave wasn't the kind of guy to back off from a fight." "This is despicable." "How can you even think my husband could do such a thing?" "We're leaving right now." "Are you, Mr. Chapman?" "Mrs. Chapman, did Dave mention Valley Green when he came to your house?" "Oh, God." "Al, it's not true, is it?" "That's where your husband found them." "I don't think you meant to do any harm." "I think you just wanted to scare Dave off once and for all." "But it all went terribly wrong, didn't it?" "What happened?" "Did he startle you?" "Did he grab for the gun?" "It was Linda." "She" "She started blaming me for interfering again." "Just like high school." " Don't do this, Linda." " Dad?" "What the hell?" "And when Dave opened the door the gun just went off." "Linda?" "And when you realized that you'd just shot your own daughter you ran around to her side of the car." "It must have devastated you to see her like that." "It filled you with rage knowing that it was all Dave's fault." " So you shot him." " No, no." "Please." "Panic impairs judgment." "You thought you'd make it look like a murder-suicide." "So you wiped your prints off the gun, then you put the gun in Dave's right hand, and used his finger to pull the trigger." "But you put the gun in the wrong hand." "You were crying." "You wiped your tears." "But before you could leave your daughter, you reached out and closed her eyes, leaving your DNA." "You've been crying a lot, Mr. Chapman." "You were crying two days ago when you held Linda's identification form." "The cells that I retrieved from that form match the cells on Linda's eyelids." "She was my baby girl." "I taught her how to walk again." "I would never hurt her, you know that." "Please help me." "God, please help me." "He loved his daughter so much he killed her." "Good work, doctor." "Hi." "You've reached the Flemings." "We can't get to the phone right now, so please leave a message." "Hi." "Lacey, it's me." "I just want you to know that I heard you yesterday and I'll try." "I may not be very good at this, but I wanna be." "I so wanna be." "So I'm gonna back off for a while until I hear from you." "Okay?" "Bye."