"One of America's Most Wanted?" "Uh, he kept trying to cross our tape to look at the dead guy." "Oh." "Never a good plan." "Uh, did he see the accident?" "No, but we got eyewitnesses." "They say the driver just slumped over and slammed into this pole." " See, this is why you buckle up." " Exactly." "Well, probably had a loss of consciousness, maybe a heart attack." "Any way you slice it, it's standard issue death by MVA unless you say different." "No ID." "Uh, did you run his plates?" "All the good it did." "Car's registered to a Mildred Vance, seventy-eight years old." "Still trying to contact her." "Hey, uh, call Detective Woody Hoyt." "Let him know he needs to get his ass down here right now." "And use a land line." "I don't want this gettin' out over the radio." "You don't want what getting out?" "Tell him it's about the Strand case." "You got it." "Detective Capra." "Where's Detective Hoyt?" "I'm covering for him." "You're covering for him?" "Is he okay?" "Detective Hoyt is taking some time off." "So what's this about the Strand case?" "It's a little before your time here." "Are you familiar with it?" "I better be." "It's our biggest open case." "Marie Strand, age fourteen." "Abducted from her bedroom by a handyman named Curt Reevus." "Neither of them's been seen since." "Til now." "Meet Curt Reevus, the prime suspect." "CROSSING JORDAN 3x07 Missing Pieces" "Marie Strand." "We all know the story." "Ten months ago, her bedroom window was pried open and she was abducted from her home." "By a Curt Reevus, itinerant house painter, right?" " Yeah." "It was major news for a while." "So did uh, Marie Strand turn up?" "No, but Reevus did." "Died in a car crash this morning." "It was the first real break in the case, and the police were hoping it would lead them to Marie, but that hasn't exactly panned out so far." "Well, surely, he's got keys, personal effects. / None to speak of." "Well, what about the car he was driving?" " Stolen." "What if he was holding Marie?" "If- if he's dead, what'll happen to her?" "Well, see, that's a real concern." "Which is why we need to forensically determine where he's been." "We do that, maybe we find Marie." "Nigel, Bug, go over his clothes." "I want trace evidence analyzed down to the very last spec of dust." "Consider it done." "Peter, run tox on his blood and hair." "Any drugs in his system, legal or not, could give us a piece of the puzzle." "Sure thing." "Lily, want you to contact Reevus's relatives." "Ask if they know his recent whereabouts." "They may open up now that he's dead." "I'll get right on it." "Jordan's starting the autopsy on Reevus as we speak." "Let's try to make this happen, people." "You sure you're up to this?" "If you're here to tell me to take time off, the line forms outside." "Jordan, you and Max have been through the ringer." "What do you think that means in my family?" "That we go off somewhere and share a hug?" "He won't return my calls." "Well, he won't return mine either." "Guess that's where he's at right now." "In the meantime, there's a missing girl who needs to be found." "Parents worst nightmare." "So what have you got?" "For one thing, these facial lacerations, uh, not all of them came from the accident." "Looks like he went toe-to-toe with someone." "Too bad they didn't beat some answers out of him about Marie Strand." "The guy's already dead, Garret." "Isn't that enough for you?" "Don't tell me you're defending this guy." "No, it's just that I seem to keep learning that people aren't always who you think they are." "Come on, Reevus was a known sex offender." "His prints were all over the girl's room, and he went AWOL the second they named him as a suspect." "There are no open questions here." "Then where did these come from?" " Stab wounds." " Fresh ones, too." "Permanent press polyester work trousers." "Mister Reevus was clearly no slave to fashion." "You know, I'm hard-pressed to recall the last time" "I felt this- this level of urgency." "Mmm, well, when you do recall, please don't tell me." "Retrieve your mind from the gutter." "I was referring to the chill of exhilaration that comes from being poised on the cusp of dramatic and meaningful discovery." "Yeah, I feel it, too." "Uh, electrifying." "You know, you- you are a black hole of a man, bent on draining every bit of positive energy, aren't you?" "Well, why should there be any about this case?" "I can hardly believe what I'm hearing, you of all people." "You're the one who's always whining about how by the time someone comes here, the damage is already done." "It's too late to do anything." "Well, that's because it is too late." "Not this time." "Bug, we find evidence of where this Reevus chap has been, we can rescue Marie Strand." "Save a life for a change." "Well, you- you really believe we can save that girl?" "Of course." "I mean, with hard work and proper luck and rigorous application of the scientific method." " She's dead." " You don't know that." "She's been dead for a long time." "Men like Reevus don't keep their victims for months on end." "At best, we may find her body, but even that is improbable." "You're wrong." "We're just going through the motions here." "Everybody knows that but you." "Is that what I think it is?" "Mrs. Strand?" "I'm Detective Capra." " You found Marie?" " No, but we're here about her case." "May we come in?" " Of course." " Thank you." "Bill, it's about Marie." "What about her?" "Actually, it's Curt Reevus." "You should know he died this morning." "He was in a car accident." "So where's Marie?" "We don't know yet." "Well, where's Reevus been hiding?" "Uh, where was he coming from when he crashed?" "We're trying to determine that, but it's complicated." "The man who took her fell into your lap and you still have no answers?" "Sir, I know you're upset, and we are doing everything we can." "You people couldn't find your ass with both hands." "How could you ever find my baby?" "I think we both know where Marie is." "She's safe, she's in a better place." "I don't want to hear that kind of talk." "There's another reason we stopped by." "We'd like to have a look at one of Marie's hairbrushes, if that's at all possible." "What for?" " To compare her hair with one I found on Curt Reevus's jacket." "What's the point?" "It'll just prove he was around her, which we already know." "It's just important that we cover all our bases." "I apologize for Bill." "He refuses to give up on her." "I don't know how he does it." "I really believe we'll have answers for you soon." "She used to play after dinner and sing for us." "She had the most lovely voice." "Bill's always coming in and keeping it in tune." "Would you mind if we borrow this?" "We might need a clothing sample." "I suppose there's no harm." "Detective Capra." "The hairs are a match." "I'm sorry." "I still don't see why that matters." "Blood cells in a hair's roots break down after twenty-four hours." "The cells in the hair I found on Reevus were still intact." "Are you saying that Marie is alive?" "She was as of yesterday." "Detective Capra." "Peter, did you find anything in Reevus's blood work?" "Minor anemia, but other than that, he's clean." " What about his hair?" " No pharmaceuticals." "Um, I did find these weird THC levels." "Alright, call DEA." "Based on a chemical profile, their lab may be able to ID the marijuana strand, tell us where Reevus got it." "Yeah, but that's the weird part." "He quit. / What do you mean, he quit?" "Well, the THC levels in his hair indicate that Reevus had been smoking on a daily basis, then two and a half inches from the root, they just stopped showing up." "And head hair grows a quarter of an inch in a month, right?" "So that would have been about ten months ago, about the time he took Marie Strand." "What do you think that means?" "Doctor Cavanaugh." " Hey." " Whadya got?" "Well, we've narrowed down where Reevus came from." "Where?" "A building near the crash site, within a few miles anyway." "How do you figure that?" "One of the stab wounds nicked his heart." "Uh, he had maybe ten, fifteen minutes before he bled out." "So what kind of building?" "You know what?" "I'm gonna have Nigel fill you in." "I'm not done with Reevus's body yet." "There's still a lot it could tell me," " but he's right in there." " Thanks. / Bye." "Detective Capra, welcome." "Hi." "I understand you have information for me." "Yeah, a wealth of it." "Um, right before he died, Reevus spent time in some structure other than a house." "And you know this how?" "Cause of this little bugger right here." "It's one of a plethora of plaster particles I found on Reevus's trousers." "Lime content indicates it was used in commercial construction." "Merge that with the five-mile radius from the site of the car crash, and voila." "All the possible locations." "This is progress?" "If Marie Strand is in one of these buildings, it could still take weeks to find her, months even." "But Jordan found amosite asbestos fibers in Reevus's nasal passages." "That's found in asbestos cement sheeting." "That material hasn't been used since nineteen sixty." "But that still leaves us with what?" "Dozens of possibilities." "Then we factor in the sheer quantity of dust and desiccated rat feces in Reevus's clothes." "I'm afraid to ask what that tells us." "That the building is question is in some phase of reconstruction or abandoned." "And now, my piece de resistance." " A paint chip?" " Embedded in Reevus's shoe." "Analysis reveals this paint to be one of many custom-blended for the now defunct Swann- Flanders Construction Company, which just happened to erect these four structures in our target area." "Thank you." "Is there some reason you didn't just tell me it was one of these buildings to begin with?" "Please try to respect my process." "So, I'm curious, Detective." "Why would you choose to search this place first?" "Is it the symbolism that Reevus might associate with a church, a place of refuge and sanctuary where absolution is granted and sins are forgiven?" "It's the building closest to where he wrecked the car." "Oh." "Oh, well, um, in any case, um, I stand ready to compare my paint chips with the paint inside." "You may not have to do that." "It's kind of my plan B." "Plan B?" "Well, what's plan A?" "Rufus." "A dog?" "It's getting hit from in there." "Alright, guys!" "Let's get that door open!" "Over here!" "She's acting like she's been in this room." "Looks like she has been." "Search the rest of the building." "Marie could still be here." "Detective Capra." "Blood." "Test results came back?" "It's not Marie's blood." "That's good news." "Turns out the blood is from Curt Reevus." "He was beaten and stabbed." "My guess is that it happened right inside of that church." " Got anything else?" " Just this." "Reevus's wounds were caused by a knife pretty close to this one." "Doesn't really get us any closer to Marie, does it?" "Yeah." "You've done everything you can." "Well, it doesn't really matter if it's not enough." "Uh" "Excuse me." "Hi." "Do you know Adam?" "Adam?" "N" " Uh, are- are you Marie?" "Marie Strand?" "I just got some great news." "Marie Strand's been found and reunited with her parents." " Alright. / Oh." " Woo!" "And I don't think it would have been possible without the efforts and dedication of everyone in this room." "How's she doin'?" "Apparently, she's doing okay." "Jordan just got called to Boston General." "I'm sure she'll find out more about her condition." "Does the press know about Marie?" "Because a few reporters have called here sniffing' around." "No, and we're not gonna tell em." "The family wants to keep the media away from her as long as possible." "You know, I knew all along we'd find her." "You know, every so often so often, something like this comes along where- where we can make things right, actually put a life back the way it was." "So my advice to you is to savor this moment." "Alright, now get back to work." "Peter, got a minute?" "Yeah. / Got a possible homicide over in The Fens." "Well, I'm ready when you are." "Well, see, I'm kind of up to my eyeballs around here, so" "You want me to take the case by myself?" "I think you're ready if you feel up to it." "Yeah, absolutely." "Hey." " Hey." " How is she?" "Physically, the doctors say she's a little dehydrated, but she's okay." "Emotionally, well, that's another story." "She said something about uh, "Adam" at the station." "What did she mean?" "She's not really talking right now." "Well, what can I do?" "You said that you thought I could help." "We found this knife in her pocket." "I think it's pretty clear how it got there." "She stabbed Reevus and then escaped." " Don't tell me you want to charge her." " Absolutely not." "This is justifiable homicide all the way, but Walcott needs a little bit more before she's willing to close the case." "Well, didn't Marie give a statement." "Psychiatrist said she's just a little too traumatized to talk about what happened right now." "You want me to see if the evidence can do the talking." "If you can just determine that she stabbed Reevus, we can cross our T's and dot our I's and send her home to her family." "Okay." "Uh, well, I'll need the knife, her medical records and her clothes." " And I'll need to do an exam." " Okay." "Just so you know, uh, what I'm doing is taking some samples from underneath your fingernails." "It's a very standard kind of thing." "It would help me to know how many times you've washed your hands in the last day." "More than twice?" "Did you use soap and water or just water?" "Look, I know these are really stupid questions, Marie, but I kind of have to ask them." "Soap and water." " Ouch." " Sorry." "Uh, I'm sorry." "I'm not used to working with people who uh, have, you know, nice hands." "Um, are you okay?" "I miss my family." "Yeah, I bet you do." "Look, I'm here to help you, Marie." "Uh, you don't have to talk, but if there's something you want to tell me, I'm listening." "Don't say a word, honey." "You aren't supposed to speak to my daughter." "Sir, all I said to her" "I heard what you said." "Marie doesn't need to relive what she's already been through." "She just needs to get back home where she belongs." "Isn't that right, sweetie?" "How much longer will this take?" "A few more minutes." "I'll wait." "How you doin'?" "With the M.E.'s Office." "You don't say." "Been doin' this long, kid?" "Long enough." "Uh, quite honestly, I don't enjoy be" "Normally, you people identify yourselves first thing." "Good habit to get into." "Peter Winslow." "Officer Dodd." "Now that we've bonded, maybe you'd like to ask where the body is." "So where's the body?" "Down there." "So, who found the body?" "We don't know." "You don't know?" "What do you mean you don't know?" "The citizen who called it in declined to give his name." "Right." "Needless to say, he's got no ID." "Looks like someone beat the bejesus out of him, maybe even a few people." "Smell that?" "Rotting flesh?" "Now, you know how you catch a whiff of something?" "Sometimes it takes you back to your childhood." "And you're getting that right now?" "Never mind." "Well, rigor's come and gone already, so he's been dead at least a day." "Major blunt force trauma." "I figured he got killed someplace else and then dumped here." "Not according to gravity." "His body's on an incline." "The only way that we're gonna major blood loss from a head wound like that is if his heart was still pumping." "Yeah, this is where he died." "Except that doesn't make any sense." "Why not?" "He got stripped down to his wears, dragged out here, worked over." "Died where he fell." "Then why aren't his feet dirty?" "Doctor Cavanaugh, the rest of Marie Strand's medical records just got here." "Oh, thanks, Emmy." " You Doctor Cavanaugh?" " Yeah." "I'm Pam Oakly." "I'm" " I'm here about Curt Reevus." " Are you his next of kin?" " No, they couldn't be bothered." "I was married to Curt two husbands ago." "Uh, some people collect kewpie dolls." "I collect losers." "Well, what can I do for you?" "Is it true he was murdered?" "Yeah, I'm afraid so." "And that girl's just gettin' away with it?" "Excuse me, but that girl is a victim." "He's not the one who took her." "I mean, Curt was a screw-up and he was a thief, but he wouldn't abduct a child." "The man was a registered sex offender." "You know how he got that way?" "He got busted at eighteen for having sex with a 16-year-old girl." "And that label sticks." "That ruined his life." "Look, I'm sorry for your loss, Ms. Oakly, but the evidence speaks for itself." "Curt said that there were some other people from the painting crew hanging around the Strand house the day that Marie went missing." "And he told the police, but they didn't want to believe him." "Ms. Oakly, you need to stay in my office." "You're not supposed to be back here." "Curt couldn't have done it." "He didn't have it in him." "What have you got there?" "Compression marks from a shoe." "His clothes were taken off after he was killed." "Is this a sex crime?" "No, it doesn't look like it." "But everything's going okay?" " Yeah." "Yeah, it's under control." " Great." "Hey." "Hey." "You got anything?" "His prints aren't in the database." "What about Missing Persons?" "He isn't one of their cases." "I mean, he's a young guy, he's well cared for." "W- why isn't somebody missing him?" "What's the matter?" "I don't know anything more now than I did when I was at the crime scene." "Hey, it's not your fault he's a John Doe." "No, it's not even that." "I can't even tell what he was hit with that made all these marks, or how many assailants there were." "And then there's this." "Blood alcohol content is three times the legal limit." " Well, how does that figure into it?" " I have no idea." "I just know that Doctor Macy gave me a shot and I'm screwing it up." "At least you have cause of death, right?" "He has a subdural hematoma." "His neck's broken at C-three and he bled to death." "I have more causes than I know what to do with." "Oh, thank you." "Here's another one we can add to the list." "He has a toxin in his body called Thujone." " Well" " It's wormwood." "Capra." "I was just trying to reach you." "Where's Marie." "They won't let you talk to her." "Listen, I don't think forensics on the stabbing are that important anymore." "You want to bet?" "They eliminate her as a suspect." "Based on what?" "For starters, she has limited range of motion in her shoulder because of an old gymnastic injury." "There's no way she could have stabbed him." "With adrenaline flowing, any- anything is possible, shoulder injury or not." "She could not have killed him, I can prove it." "She just made a statement to the contrary." " She what?" " That's why I was calling you." "She said she took the knife from Reevus." "She tried to get away, they fought, she stabbed him." "That's it." "Come on, honey." "Let's go home." "It's over." "Hey, I was just looking for you." "Lily, what happened to my John Doe?" "Well, for one thing, he's not a John Doe anymore." "Since when?" "Since MIT faxed over his records." "He was an exchange student from Europe." "That's why his prints weren't in our system." "So then how'd you track him down?" "Uh, his mother flew in for a visit." "When she couldn't find him, she called the school and they called me." "Uh" "Lily, Lily." "You didn't release him yet, did you?" "Cause I haven't finished my autopsy." "Oh, I" " I moved him to the crypt." "She wanted to view the body, make sure it's really him." "His mother flies in to visit him, and she's gotta come and do it here, that's tough." "Is there anything I can tell her about who killed him or why?" " I'm nowhere." " Ah." "What was the name, the victim?" "Uh, Marek Novotny, I think that's how you say it." " Does that mean something to you?" " No." "Peter, I just found Marek Novotny's autopsy report on my desk." "That's right, I just put it there." "You listed the cause of death as accidental?" " Mm-hm." "Peter, how does accidental explain a broken neck, the blood loss, the trauma?" "Think about it." "It's the only thing that explains it." "I'm having a hard time seeing that." "Look, he was drunk." "His apartment's right next to the park, so he went out to take a walk, maybe to clear his head." "Slipped in the ravine, fell, hit some rocks and some branches" " and that's how he got his injury." " Where are you getting this from?" "He took a walk in his underwear?" "No, based on lividity, his clothes were taken off after his death, maybe by some transient in the park." "Maybe it's the same guy who called in the body, but didn't want to leave his name." "What about the toxins?" "You said that there was wormwood in his blood." "Yeah, that turned out not to be significant." "Half an hour ago, this was murder and you were without a clue." "What changed?" " I figured it out." " Peter, what are you not telling me?" "Just listen to what I am telling you." "It was an accident." "Case closed." "Whatever you have, it better be good." "Oh, this exceeds good by leaps and bounds." "Oh, no, not this again." "Nigel's going to give you the Cliff Notes version this time, aren't you, Nige?" "Yeah, if- if you insist." "Right, um, okay then." "Uh, well, uh, women tend to stab with an upraised arm, inflicting wounds with a downward angle." "Reevus's wounds have a slight upward angle from a thrusting motion typical of men." "That's it." "I think we all know men tend to thrust, but that doesn't rule out Marie." "Yeah, but uh, Marie's barely five foot tall." "You see, the angle would have been much steeper." "The wounds seem to suggest an attacker at least as tall as Reevus himself." "Not only that, but one of the knife thrusts almost severed Reevus's third rib." "That would have required considerable strength." "And then there's Marie." "No blood on her or her clothes." "No injuries to her hands, even though Reevus was hit by his attacker." " Should I keep going?" " She lied." "Why would she lie?" "I can only think of one reason." "Uh, to protect someone." "Like who?" "Like her father." "Oh, um, sorry." "I was under the impression this would just be the two of us." "Doctor Winslow, this is Marek Novotny's mother." "Ms. Novotna, uh, I'm very sorry about your son." "How is it that you know to call me "Novatna" because I am a woman?" "I" " I'd" " I" " I guess I must have picked it up someplace." "I" " I really" " What can I do for you?" "When I read your report, uh, at first I did not understand." "Well, initially, I did consider it a homicide." "But if you call it an accident, the police will not look for Marek's killer." "I'm afraid there is no killer." "How can you tell me this?" "I saw the body." "Ms. Novatna, sometimes things aren't what they look like." "I don't think you're what you look like." " I don't know what you mean by that." " Don't you?" "I want a second opinion, someone with experience with an open mind." "Okay, I can request a second autopsy for you." "I promise you, the results will be the same." "Why do you protect a murderer?" "Why do you treat my son like this?" "I have handle" "I have handled your son's case as I would handle any case." "You're lying!" "I'm sorry, I can't help you." "I am so sorry." "Excuse me." "What was that about?" "That was about you ambushing me, that's what." "What did Mrs. Novatna say to you?" " I don't know." " Yes, you do." "What the hell is going on here, Peter?" "You don't just walk out on her." "She just wants answers about her son." "Trust me, she doesn't." "Come on in." "Garret, I have major concerns with Doctor Winslow's handling of the Novotny case." "So much for small talk." "This is about his finding of accidental, I take it?" "How did you know?" "I just read his report." "It's very solid." "Is everyone going crazy around here?" "Look, it's easy to mistake an unprotected fall for a homicide, even for a seasoned M.E." "As far as I'm concerned, Peter did an excellent exam." "Okay, even if that's true, there's more to this." "Like what?" "Peter had this bizarre reaction to the victim's name." "And then things got really heated between him and Mrs. Novotna." "You know as well as I do how emotion family members can be." "She spoke to him in Czech." "Garret, I'm trying to help Mrs. Novotna, but I'm in the dark here." "I mean, if Peter has some kind of personal connection to this family," "I need to know about it." "I can't force him to talk to you, Lily." "Then show me his personnel file." "Marie admitted that she killed the man." "What more do you want?" "The truth." "You calling my daughter a liar?" "Yes." "We've evaluated the evidence." "It doesn't support her story." "That doesn't make any sense." "If she didn't do it, why would she say that she did?" "Well, we were hoping you could tell us." "We stand by Marie's statement." "Now, you need to leave." "Not until we talk to your daughter." "I will not allow you to go in there and stir things up." "And what she needs is to get back to a normal life." "We all do." "That's not going to happen, sir." "This is a murder investigation." "You call it murder." "I call it justice." "Now, get out." "We need to speak with your daughter." "I'll arrest her for obstruction if I have to." "Bill, please." "Marie?" "There's some people here who.." "We have officers going door to door." "Road blocks have been set up." "Everything possible is being done." "After all the- the time and the- the tears, how could someone take her again?" "We aren't sure anyone has at this point." "What do you mean?" "It must be a copycat thing." "He came through the window, just like Reevus did." "We haven't found any signs of forced entry." "Are you saying that she left on her own?" "Do you have any idea why she might do a thing like that?" "Of course not." "I mean, she played her guitar for us after dinner." "Everything was back to normal." "She was just being what you want her to be, Bill." "As always." "I'd like you both to talk to these two detectives." "Tell them everything that happened from the moment Marie came home." "Detective Capra." "Bring Marie back to us." "Please." "Kid-size prints on the glass and the latch." "Pair of shoes missing." "She definitely took off." "Question is why." "I thought it might be because she's afraid to talk to us." "Because the truth might come out about her father?" "I don't think the truth has anything to do with him." "He's too upset about this." "Well, Marie was pretty worked up herself." "Why else would she stomp this nice guitar to death." "She played that for her parents." "Guess it didn't bring back fond memories." "If she's running from them, who's she running to?" "Maybe this is Stockholm syndrome." "She was held captive for ten months." "She could have bonded with her abductor." "But he's dead." "Besides, she went to the police station." "She was seeking safety." "What if she wasn't?" "What if she was there for some other reason?" " To find somebody." " Somebody named Adam." "All the perps we booked in the last forty-eight hours, and there's nobody in there named Adam." "I checked the computer." "Marie was asking about Adam." "We were taking that at face value." "She was traumatized, upset." "She may not even know what she was talking about." "Yeah." "Oh, wait a minute." "I've seen this guy before." "His name's not Adam, It's Aaron Furney." "He was being arrested when I showed up at Reevus's car crash- for showing a little too much interest in the body." "Where is he now?" "In the wind." "We kicked him loose around three thirty this afternoon." "I thought I'd never see you again." "It's okay." "Don't worry, baby." " I missed you so much." " I missed you, too." "My parents are gonna be looking for me." "Don't worry about that." "Don't worry about that." "Marie, step aside." " Go away!" " Can't do that, Marie." "Get on the ground, Aaron." "What God has joined, let no man tear asunder!" "Get down on the ground now!" "Take him!" "No!" "Don't hurt him!" "Don't!" "Don't hurt him!" "Marie!" "Marie!" " No!" "No, no!" "No, don't take him!" " I need him!" " Marie!" "Please." " You have the right to remain silent" " No, please, no." "It's okay." "It's okay." "It's gonna be okay, okay?" "I love him." "He's my family." "I know, I know." "It's gonna be okay." "Just calm down." "Hi, Lily." "I found something out about you, Peter." "Novotna is your mother's maiden name." "It's not uncommon." "So you're not related to the deceased's family." "It's just a coincidence." "Yeah, that's right." "Then why did Mrs. Novotna speak to you in Czech?" "Peter." "I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself before I go to Doctor Macy, so don't play games with me." "My parents were Czechoslovakian." "Okay?" "Right off the boat Czechs." "I didn't even speak English until I was in kindergarten." "My dad didn't want us to assimilate." "Winslow isn't exactly a Czech name." "Yeah, Dad split and my mom remarried." "I got a new name." "Which is just fine with me, too, by the way." "You said Marek Novotny's mother was responsible for his death." "Why?" " She sent him a bottle of absinthe for his birthday." "It's a liquor." "It's a big Czech thing." "My parents used to break it out all the time." " It smells like licorice and it's sickening." " I think I've had it." "Not the real stuff." "They- they- they outlawed it here in America." "The wormwood and the alcohol content can literally kill you." "Is that what happened to Marek Novotny?" "Okay, so it's Marek's birthday, and he decides that he's gonna toast the moment by throwing back some of that absinthe that mom sent him." "Except it hits him really hard cause he's not used to it." "So he's gotta take a walk in the park to sober up, and- and he falls." "He- he breaks his neck, he fractures his scull." "Cause of death is some dumb ass tradition from the old country." "Now you got the whole story." "Mrs. Novatna doesn't." "Do you really think that she wants to know all that?" "What are you doing, Peter?" "Sparing her from the truth?" "Yes, that's right." "You're punishing her because she reminds you of who you used to be." "She just lost her son." "She deserves better than this." "You're saying Aaron Furney is the one that killed Curt?" "He gave us a full confession." "Why?" "Why'd he do it?" "It was over Marie Strand." "Reevus spotted Furney at a soup kitchen." "Following Furney led him to Marie Strand." "Well, if Curt found him, why didn't he just call you people?" "He should have." "Instead, he tried to rescue Marie." "Well, that's Curt." "He's a sucker for lost causes." "Furney did a real number on Marie Strand." "He believed he was Adam and she was Eve." "He got her believing it, too." "So, Curt was trying to clear his name, and it was you people making him a suspect that got him killed." "It's a terrible mistake." "The only thing I can tell you is I'm sorry." "Well, that won't fix what's broken here." "Nothing will." "How did you know I'd be here?" "Come on, Jordan." "Where else would you be?" "Where's your dad?" "The bartender's not even sure if he's comin' in." "I left a message on his machine." "I told him I'd be dropping by." "Even said that we'd solved the Strand case as added enticement." "Guess he needs his space." "Uh, well, you know, part of me thought that if I made things right with Marie Strand" " You could make things right with Max." " Yeah." " Stupid, I know." " Mmm." "He'll come back around." "Yeah, but is that even the answer?" "Sometimes you can't come back around." "Sometimes things just don't fit the way they once did." "If you really believed that, you wouldn't be here." "So can I give you a ride home?" "I think I'd like to stay here for a while." "You want some company?" "Yeah." "Think I'd like that."