"Hollywood's had more than its fair share of tawdry murders." "The Black Dahlia, The Juice, Biggie Smalls." "I figured you ought to hear about this one from me before the tabloids and TMZ get a hold of it." "But if you're hoping for a happy ending, try the movies." "That's why I never worked homicide, because you already know how the story ends, and even when you solve the case, poor bastard's still dead." "♪ Once I had a love and it was a gas ♪" "♪ Soon turned out had a heart of glass ♪" "Keep moving, Cribbs." "But I kept you waiting, my darling." "Do forgive me." "You didn't keep me waiting." "You stood me up." "Maid Marian." "I'd like to make it up." "My name's Chelsea." "To me, you'll always be my Maid Marian... pure as the driven snow." "This is triple what we agreed on." "Do I look like a damn street walker to you?" "You want another appointment, make one with Holly." "Right now, I got somewhere else to be, so just drive on." "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "No!" "♪ What I find is pleasing and I'm feeling fine ♪" "♪ Love is so confusing, there's no peace of mind ♪" "No, no!" "♪ If I fear I'm losing you, it's just no good ♪" "♪ You teasing like you do ♪" "Frank, Come on in." "Evening, Alyse." "Something smells good." "Kyle sent me a text about, uh," " something we're working on." " Kyle's at the gym." "He didn't send that text." "I did." "Please tell me you're not looking for help planning a surprise party." "I used to think that whole act was charming, Frank, but not anymore." "Not since Deputy Chief Lockhart came to my house the day after you came for dinner." "Lockhart's gunning for you," "You're gunning for her, and my husband is caught in the middle." "Shouldn't you be talking to him about this?" "I tried." "He can't hear me because he's too busy trying to live up to this idea he has about his father." "Billy cast a long shadow." "You're using him, Frank." "Kyle's just too good of a man to realize it." "Understand something, Alyse." "Billy was my partner." "So I'm not gonna apologize to you or anyone else for trying to solve his murder." "Alyse just ambushed me." "I'm impressed." "That's not easy to do." "She thinks I'm leading her husband into the darkness." "Well, I'd say it's the other way around." "Oh, yeah?" "How do you figure?" "Well, you've been living in darkness ever since Billy died." "I'd say Kyle's pulling you back into the light." "You should've been a head shrinker." "I thought I was." "It's part of the job description." "If you're gonna fulfill their fantasies, you have to access the parts they try to hide from the rest of the world." "Speaking of parts, am I seeing you tonight?" "That'd make three nights in a row, Frank." "We've never done that." "You keeping score?" "You're not?" "Every time I see you is a win in my book." "Well, unfortunately, I'm on duty tonight." "_" "Speaking of which, duty calls." "Councilman, how can I help you?" "My date never showed." "I'm so sorry, Ken." "Who did you have time reserved with?" "Uh, Chelsea." "You know, I'll send you someone as soon as possible... my top girl." "I promise you won't be disappointed." "I'm sorry, Holly, but I can't." "He's a meat-and-potatoes missionary client." "20 minutes tops." "What's with the boxes?" "Yeah, I've, uh, been meaning to tell you." "I'm getting out of the life." "What?" "I met someone." "What's the first rule of this business?" "Don't fall for a client." "He's not a client." "And we're really in love." "Oh, honey." "Love is an illusion." "It's what they tell you when they don't want to pay for it." "No one knows that better than an escort." "How can you say that?" "What do you mean?" " Frank." " Frank and I aren't in love." "Aw, you are probably the smartest woman I've ever met and I don't see how you don't see it." "You two are perfect for each other." "You're broken in all the same ways." "Rather than trying to talk me out of leaving, you should be thinking about getting out yourself while there's still time for happily ever after." "Well, there are no happily ever afters, just more wrinkles." "Look." "He's a very important client." "And you can keep my cut." "Consider it a parting gift." "10-4." "Definitely a homicide." "Your wife mention we spoke last night?" "My wife?" "About what?" "She thinks I'm Colonel Kurtz trying to lead you down the river." "Better square that away." "Never let them into the clubhouse, trainee." "Take it from one who knows." "That way leads to madness." "What's the ruckus?" "Sofia Knowls. 29." "SID thinks the body was dumped." "Killed somewhere else, most likely strangulation." "Petechial hemorrhaging, some pretty pronounced ligature marks on her neck." "Hey, I don't speak CSI." "Funnel that propeller-head crap to RHD." "You don't recognize her, do you?" "Should I?" "Sofia Knowls... it's one of Holly's girls." "Word on the street is other women have been missing over the last 14 months." "All high-end escorts." "Could be we have a serial." "Frank?" "Frank!" "It's okay, Mike, I got her." "I need to see her!" "No, don't." "Is it Sofia?" "Oh, this is my fault." "She was quitting the business, and I forced her to go out last night when another girl didn't show up for a date." "Another girl?" "Yeah, Chelsea." "I left her some messages." "Oh, God." "You..." "You don't think something happened to her, too?" "Holly, listen." "Sofia wasn't killed here." "Guy abducts his victims, plays with them for a while, then dumps them." "There's a chance Chelsea's still alive, but if she is, we don't have a lot of time." "Frank, you find her and then you kill the son of a bitch who did this." "Nice to see you, Ken." "Frank, what... what are you doing here?" "Well, I could say I was just in the neighborhood, but I'd be lying." "This is my home, Frank." "I-I really don't appreciate you showing up here." "I got a dead escort and another one missing." "Guess what these gals have in common?" "Councilman Ken Patterson." "Both of them were on their way to see you, which makes you what we call a person of interest." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "You weren't at the Standard Hotel last night?" "All right." "All right." "Yes, yes, maybe I was, all right, all right?" "And maybe I did order in, but neither one of the girls showed up, I swear." "So it's just a crazy coincidence that both these gals had dates with you last night?" "Yeah, uh, uh, it's the truth, Frank." "I waited over an hour for the first one." " Then you called Holly." " Yes." "She said she was gonna send someone over right away, and... and she never showed, either." "Look." "There's cameras all over the hotel, Frank." "I swear to you I am telling you the truth." "I figured you were." "Good." "Then..." "Then you'll... you'll keep my name out of this, right?" "You know..." "I want to believe we're friends, Ken, but I haven't heard from you, so..." "I-I was gonna call you, all right?" "I found out something on Lockhart." "Better be good." "I'm overseeing the review on the police department's budget." "Lockhart has been diverting funds into a secret surveillance operation." "All I know is that it's someone important enough to establish a slush fund, keep it off the books with no oversight." "Not enough." "Not even close." "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" "Wait, wait, wait." "I-I'll find out where they're diverting the funds to, all right?" "Just cover my ass on this whole escort thing, please." "It'll ruin me." "I'll do what I can, Ken." "That hotel security footage better exonerate you, or I'm coming back, and we're gonna have a very different conversation." "Hey." "I saw you called." "What's going on?" "You talked to Frank last night." "Before my shift." "Why would you do that?" " Some things needed to be said." " About what?" "I don't need you to fight my battles for me." "I'm not fighting your battles, Kyle." "I'm fighting for my marriage." "Where's this coming from?" "You come home with your knuckles bloody." "I know you fought somebody, but you won't tell me who." " You don't even mention it." " I don't interfere with your work." "You don't care about my work, Kyle." "When is the last time you asked me about it?" "About anything?" "I'm sorry, but you've changed since you started riding with Frank." "This has nothing to do with Frank." "Your mother sees it." "I see it." "The only one who can't see it is you." "I still don't get why you came to Frank about this." "Why didn't you just come to me?" "I'm not gonna have this conversation over the phone." "I'll talk to you about it when you get home." "We have one dead girl and Chelsea, the one who's missing." "Guy like this isn't gonna hang on to her for long." "We also have two other escorts who could be victims..." "Jessica McClane and Lorianne Salvatore." "Vice heard rumors, but nothing they could act on." "These girls are calling him Houdini because apparently, these women just disappear." "So four missing women now and only one body." "If this girl Chelsea is still alive, our window for saving her is shrinking by the minute." "Not a lot to go on." "Nothing to go on." "The department didn't look very hard either." "Most of these escorts jar some honey and just keep moving." "It's not like they're posting it on Facebook." "Two girls in one night." "If this is a serial, Houdini's upping his game." "If they're connected." "We don't know that yet." "I mean, at least not for sure." "I know one way we could find out." "That's why you brought me into this." "You need to take a run at Holly, and you want to use me to do it?" "This needs to happen, Frank." "Just figured it'd be better coming from you than me." "Hey." "What are you doing here?" "Why didn't you come upstairs?" "It's not just Chelsea and Sofia." "It's four women now." "Lorianne Salvatore and Jessica..." "McClane." "She was one of my girls." "I figured she skipped town." "Oh, my God, what if this is my fault?" "Holly, if I'm gonna find this Houdini, it means I'm gonna need to get into your business." "They finally sent you to get my book." "Look, I know you, Frank." "All right, there are names in there that are gonna make your eyes light up the way they do when you're hunting..." "Bad guys that I know you've been after for years." "And they'll be very unhappy if they find out I gave it to a cop." "You can trust me with this." "Look, Frank, I need you to promise me right here that you're gonna put me first before the job, before the bad guys, no matter what you find." "I'll keep you safe." "I promise." "Password?" "Frank  Holly... ampersand, lowercase letters" "You know what I'm gonna ask." "Was there a client that had seen both Chelsea and Sofia before last night?" "And?" "Thurman Ballesteros." "Thurman's a walking turd who deals in stolen electronics and selling knock-off prescription pills." "Left a trail of closed-casket funerals on his way to the top." "This son of a bitch doesn't make mistakes." "Even walked away from a murder beef 'cause somehow there wasn't any gunshot residue on his hands." "I always thought Ballesteros might have someone on the inside helping him, but I could never prove it." "Well, if it isn't his boy Ellroy." "You shouldn't be here, Frank." "Frank, I gave you my tailor's name, right?" "All you got to do is mention my name." "He'll take care of you, no charge, because we got to do something about this wardrobe." "I know, right?" "This your new mascot?" "Officer Craig... my trainee." "You a fan of Melville, Officer Craig?" "I prefer Ellison." "Hmm." "You see, I'm Frank's white whale." "The one creature he can't catch, and I'm afraid that's stuck in his craw." "Moby Dick." "Well, you're half right." "Where were you last night, Thurman?" "You need to be more specific." "I have got a very active social calendar." "Your calendar involve either of these two women?" "I've had the pleasure." "Repeatedly." "But not last night." "Last night I was at a fashion show and then two after parties where 100 people saw me." "Do you know anyone who might've wanted to hurt these girls?" "You're talking about Houdini." "If I knew who that sick bastard was," "I would've taken care of it myself." "You see, on my side of the law, preying on women is a capital crime." "You sanctimonious morons keep releasing them back into the wild with their little ankle bracelets so they can do what they do over and over." "Let's go." "Frank." "I'm curious." "How could you possibly know that I spent time with these ladies in the past?" "'Cause no way you're getting any without paying for it." "I think it's because you and Miss Holly are friends with benefits." "Those girls work for Holly, do they not?" "Holly's lack of discretion in this matter concerns me greatly." "She's very pretty, your girlfriend." "Wish I'd known her when she was learning the business, as it were." "Don't you ever mention her name again." "She's made you soft, Frank." "You let her get too close." "Used to be I could never push your buttons this easily." "You're not a whale, Ballesteros." "You're a cockroach." "You've been dodging my boot for a long time, but one of these days soon, your luck's gonna run out." "Frank, let's go." "Oh, what the...?" "What the hell?" "Oh, my God." "Help!" "Somebody help me!" "Don't!" "You'll make him mad." "Huh?" "Don't break character." "Huh?" "Now, this is what we Normans like, a beautiful lady to flatter me." "Cribbs." "You sick bastard." "This isn't funny anymore." "You let us out of here right now!" "You hear me?" "Whoa." "Heavens no, m'lady." "That's why I was late last night, you see?" "Putting the final touches on your set." "I wanted it all to be perfect, and... it is." "Until you break character." "Then... it ruins it for me." "No, Cribbs, stop." "What are you doing?" "No!" "Welcome to Sherwood, m'lady." "What's with the hand cannon?" "Well, since Barber dumped our sidearms in cement," "I've been in the market for a new best friend, something with a little more stopping power." "That's ridiculous." "Yeah?" "Just wait till we get in a gunfight... then you'll thank me." "See, that... that's the difference between you and me, Frank." "You can't wait to get into another gunfight, but I've had my share, and I'm happy to avoid one if there's another way." "Daisy Red Rider." "My first gun." "What's that for?" "Val told us there were rumors about Houdini." "And one of them came from Horace Canker." "He's a peeper." "Dabbles in indecent exposure." "Got caught playing pocket pool in a lady's garden." "Fed detectives this rumor he'd heard about a couple of missing girls." " Both of them high-end escorts." " And no one followed up?" "Sad truth of the matter is these aren't cases murder cops seek out, and nobody wants to spend any time with guys like Canker... not if they don't have to." "Aah!" "Ohh." "Ohh!" "Ohh!" "Hey, Frank." "How's it hanging, Horace?" "Come on." "Let me down." "I'm guessing these aren't for bird watching." "The hell you doing up there?" "Get a better view of the ladies powder room from that pole?" "You know what we have here, trainee?" "A sex predator piñata." "Whee." "Care to take a whack?" "Hey!" "No, no, come on." "Hit him hard enough, maybe some jujubes will fall out." "Don't." "Looks like he's about to pass out." "Yeah, yeah." "Going back inside, Horace." "Sending your ass back up to Folsom." "Cons up there just love pre-verts like you." "Pass them around." "Trade them like baseball cards." "Wait, wait, wait!" "L-L-Let's talk about this." " Talk about what?" " Whatever you want." "I mean, you got to want something." "I know I'm not worth your time otherwise." "Last time you got popped, you told detectives about some guy the girls were calling Houdini." "Yeah, yeah." "I remember." "I..." "I tried to tell them, but they didn't want to hear what I said... either that, or they didn't care." "What'd you hear exactly?" "This chick who lived in my building, she worked as an escort." "She used to let me watch every now and then." "Yeah, yeah." "What else?" "A friend of hers disappeared." "Six months later, the same thing happened with another girl." "Said the girls were calling the guy Houdini." "She thought she knew who he was." "Said he was some old washed-up movie guy." "Lived up in Hollywood." "Said he was into role play, different wigs." " Wigs?" " That's what she told me." "Bet she gave you a name, too, didn't she?" "You've been saving that little tidbit for a rainy day, for when you were really... in a jam." "No, no!" "Aah!" "The name." "All right!" "She said his name was Cribbs!" " Have a nice day." " Yeah." "Aah!" "Frank!" "Man!" "Agh!" "Abel Cribbs." "Dude was a B-movie producer/director in the '80s." "Made a lot of money, mostly on crap straight to VHS." "Yeah, but he flew too close to the sun." "His business went belly up in '92 after he tried to do a remake of" "The Adventures of Robin Hood." "Since then, he's been a recluse." "Looks like the kind of guy you'd find eaten by his cats." "I'm sending you the workup now." "All right, Kyle and I will check out Cribbs' crib." "You guys keep scrubbing surveillance footage, see what you can come up with." "Kind of spooky." "You gentlemen said you were detectives?" "That's right." "We want to talk to your boss, Abel Cribbs." "Just routine." "We think he might've been a witness to a crime." "You're the killer." "I mean, were you the..." "If you'll excuse me," "I'll let Mr. Cribbs know you're here." "You do that." "It's impossible anyone's this creepy." "Obviously you haven't been around a lot of film people." "Impressive, isn't he?" "My man Loomis took him last year up in Nunavut... with that." "Is that legal?" "Oh, it is in Canada." "I think." "You gentlemen aren't with PETA, are you?" "Do we look like we're with PETA?" "No." "I suppose not." "We're police officers conducting a missing-persons investigation." "We were hoping you could help us out." "Yeah, like where are they?" "Excuse me?" "The girls you took, Cribbs." "What have you done with them?" "You know who you're talking to here?" "I am Abel Cribbs, you idiots." "Sit your ass down." "You can't just barge into my home and threaten me like this." "I have rights." "You have the right to find a better hair dresser." "Check the hallways, make sure Lurch isn't doubling back on us." "My man Loomis lives to hunt, Detective, and this would be late second act, if I'm not mistaken." "This is usually where the partner gets killed." "I should know." "I produced "Blood-soaked Badge" 1 through 4." "Shut the hell up." "See?" "Don't move." "Kyle!" "Kyle!" "Come on, partner, rise and shine." "Come on!" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "It was the first movie I ever saw." "I was going to remake it." "We were in pre-production and the bastards pulled the plug." "Now it's all superheroes, digital crap, and shared universes." "You've come to Nottingham once too often, my friend!" "Look out!" "Damn." "Mad." "Stopping power." "Told you you'd thank me." "Magnificent!" "That is a wrap, everybody!" "Not quite." "Quick!" "Quick, lads!" "Mr. Cribbs, I just wanted to say" "Blood-soaked Badge 4 is the reason I became a cop." "Oh, that means everything." "Listen, I know this might be weird timing, but would you mind?" "It would be my pleasure." "To whom should I make it out?" "Parking detail." "You're going away for good, Cribbs." "It was worth it to finally see my vision brought to life." "I doubt those women would agree." "I cared for them." "They were surrounded by beauty untouched." "I didn't rape them or grope them." "Reality check... you held them against their will." "You think that was any different from their lives, Detective?" "Do you think those women chose to be prostitutes?" "What about Sofia?" "Why'd you kill her?" "I don't know any Sofia." "And I didn't kill anyone." "You tried to kill us." "What about Loomis?" "He do it?" "He was a gentle soul, really." "I wouldn't let him harm my girls." "Well, you guys took two girls last night and one ended up dead." "I..." "I would never take two." "No." "Each one must be courted, cherished." "Last night was for Chelsea and Chelsea alone." "So you're telling me this is Houdini, but he didn't kill Sofia?" "That's what he claims." "We won't know for sure unless your lab nerd can find us some proof." "Seth, come in here." "For the record, I think lab geek is the preferred terminology." "Not my preferred terminology." "Hey, I need you to go to Cribbs' mansion" " and sweep it for Sofia Knowls' DNA." " I can do that." "If he finds even a skin cell in there, then we know Cribbs is lying his ass off, and we can finally put this whole thing to bed." "Go." "You think Cribbs is lying?" "Do you?" "Hello?" "We caught Houdini." "Chelsea and Jessica are alive and well." "So is the other girl." " Thank God." " Well, there's more." "He was a collector, not a serial killer." "Sofia was killed by somebody else." "Can you think of anybody" " who might've wanted to hurt her?" " No." "No, she was getting out of the business." "I met someone." "He's not a client." "We're really in love." "Wait, Frank." "She told me she had met someone." "They were in love." "He was why she was getting out." " Did she tell you his name?" " No." "But I could swing by her place," " see if there's anything there." " I'm on my way over." "Don't go inside till I get there." "Sofia had a boyfriend." "Frank, subpoenaed phone records for the girls came back." "One name jumps out..." "Seth Kemp, the SID tech." "All from Sofia's cell." "Must've been the boyfriend." "He worked Sofia's crime scene and he didn't say a word to us about dating her." "He's been under our nose the whole time?" "Well, he's not going to Cribbs' to find evidence." "He's going to plant it." "That's why he left, to get some DNA from Sofia's apartment." "Holly's on her way over there now." "Let's roll." "Hi, it's Holly." "Leave a message." "Damn it." "Went to voicemail." "Keep trying it." "What are you doing here?" "Scared me." "Uh, it's okay." "I'm a crime tech for the Los Angeles police." "I know." "I saw you at Sofia's crime scene." "You didn't answer my question." "What are you doing here?" "Just getting a hair sample." "Why?" "What..." "Holly!" "Frank." "That's Holly's phone." "Son of a bitch has got her." "Come on!" "Seth could've killed Holly outright, but he didn't." "He was trying to clean up his own mess." "He needs to find out what she knows and who else she told." "Seth dumped his phone, but his departmental vehicle has a GPS locator in it." "They're not in his car, they're in Holly's." " That Frank?" " Yep." "Tommy?" "Listen, turns out Seth was a lead forensic tech on a bunch of crimes connected to your buddy Thurman Ballesteros." "That's how Ballesteros has been getting away with it." "Seth's his inside man." "Shows up at Ballesteros' crime scenes to gather evidence, then he destroys it." "Ballesteros hired Sofia through Holly's escort service." "He must've introduced her to Seth." "Seth killed her thinking that we'd chalk it up to Houdini, and we would have except nobody counted on you guys finding those girls alive." "But why would Seth kill Sofia?" "You think I wanted to kill her?" "I loved her." "We were gonna run away together." "She..." "She figured out that I was destroying evidence for Ballesteros." "Then he called me, told me I had to get rid of her." "You have to believe me." "He..." "He would've killed both of us if I hadn't." " You're a coward." " Shut up." "Shut up!" "I told you I had no choice." "The hell is this?" "You brought her here?" "!" "I had to!" "It all went sideways so fast." "Get out." "Get out of the car!" "I didn't know where else to go." "They know about me and Sofia." "They know about..." "They know about all of it." " He's gonna kill you, Seth." " What?" "Well, old Seth wasn't the brightest bulb, but he kept me out of jail." "I hooked him up with Sofia to keep him happy, but the dumb son of a bitch fell in love with her, told her some things he shouldn't have." "She loved him, too, Thurman." "In fact, they were gonna leave town together and never look back." "Well, they're together now." "What's the play, Frank?" "They'll kill her before we get close." "We need a distraction..." "a flash bang, something." "Kyle." "Kyle, I'm not thinking straight." "I just want to charge in there." "We need to lure them to us somehow." "Give me your phone." "I'm sorry you got pulled into this." "Frank and I, we were always destined to end in killing." "But I got nothing against you." "Thanks for nothing, ass..." "What the hell is that?" "Check it out." "Can I ask you something?" "What the hell do you see in Frank?" " The guy's a dinosaur." " Are you serious?" "He's a man in the age of boys." "He has a code, and he's willing to fight for it." "♪ Hurry now and don't be late ♪" "♪ 'Cause we ain't got time to chat ♪" "♪ You and me, we're goin' out ♪" "Well, hot stuff." "It's time for lights out." "♪ Hey, y'all, prepare yourself for the rubberband man ♪" "♪ You've never heard a sound like the rubberband man ♪" "Hey!" "What do you think you're doing?" "♪ We're gonna lose control ♪" "♪ When the rubberband starts to jam ♪" "Gotcha." "At least you don't have to see it." "You all right?" "What took you so long?" "Thank you." "Figured you might want this back." " ♪ Just a small-town girl ♪" " Thank you." " Can I pour you a drink?" " Sure." "♪ Livin' in a lonely world ♪" "♪ She took the midnight train goin' anywhere ♪" "You okay?" "Yeah, just I need to talk to you about something." "♪ Born and raised in south Detroit ♪" "I'm quitting the business." "And I'm leaving L.A., and I want you to come with me." "Look, I was your informant, and now... look, I don't know what I am, but we're good together, Frank." "We're really good." "And I just don't see us making it here." "This is our home." "This town, the jobs we do... they eat your soul..." "kill your compassion, destroy your capacity for seeing the world as anything but dark, and I don't want to live like that anymore." " I can't." " Holly..." "Please." "Come with me  before you wake up one day and there's nothing left to save." "Billy would understand." "Would he?" "Yeah." "Holly... a man that walks away from a job unfinished isn't a man worth loving." "Goodbye, Frank." "♪ Hold on to that feeling ♪" "♪ Streetlight people ♪" "♪ Oh, oh, ohhhhh ♪" "You're still my informant, and if you leave town," "I'll throw your ass in jail." "I love you, too, Frank." "♪ Don't stop believin' ♪" "Hey, any food left?" "Alyse, I'm sorry." "Since I've been riding with Frank," "I learned some things about my father, about myself I don't like." "I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that." "I didn't want to bring it home to you." "Well, I'm here now." "Talk to me." "So?" "Get in." "Not my car, you idiot." "Yours." "Oh, yeah." "Okay." "I tracked the money from Lockhart's fund as far as I could." "And?" "She's paying a private-investigation firm in Mexico." "She's looking for someone, something." "Mexico?" "Who the hell would Lockhart be looking for in Mexico?" "I haven't been able to figure that out yet, but... the payments stopped abruptly, so whoever it is or whatever it is  I think she found them." "You can go now." "Mexico?"