Previously on Elementary...
Have you heard anything about my friend?
There have been no new leads
in the disappearance of Polly Kenner.
There is nothing I can do to get his attention.
If I need to get louder, I'll get louder.
A woman was murdered
two nights ago in Brooklyn.
The earrings that she was wearing were Polly's.
Do you have any idea who did it?
Yeah, he did it.
Not a doubt in my mind.
Your blood pressure and heart rate are way up.
You're not just suffering from PCS.
This is clinical fatigue now.
So, I'm going to go away for a while,
but I'll be back.
While I'm away,
you have my word, I won't hurt anyone.
My car's here.
Taking a break from everything is smart.
It's what your doctor wanted.
You'll be back soon enough. You'll be better.
_
Watson!
I have returned.
Am I crazy, or did you say
you were gonna come back on Friday?
I did... but some sore feelings developed between me
and the local constabulary. - Why would...?
You got involved in a case, didn't you?
As you know, I spent the bulk of the last three months
in my cabin, cut off
from the outside world.
So, when word reached me that renowned trapper
Ragnar Hagerstrom had been killed by a pack of black bears
just miles from my mountainside retreat...
You weren't supposed to do any work.
I realize that, but...
No work. That was the deal.
As I told you when we last corresponded,
I haven't experienced a headache in over a month.
My sleep patterns have returned to normal.
Well, my normal.
I still have to follow up with Dr. Hanson,
but all indications are that
my post-concussion syndrome is in abatement.
Now, would you like to hear about
one scorned woman's attempt to frame an innocent black bear
or... not?
And why do you keep looking over there?
I have a houseguest.
You've taken a lover in my absence. That's excellent.
I can't wait to meet him. Or her.
Or is it them?
No, I have not taken a lover.
So, why are you so determined
to stop me from going downstairs?
Hey, Joan, I hope you don't mind,
but I'm starving, so I dug through your fridge.
Hi. I'm Kelsey.
Kelsey, this is Sherlock, my partner.
Oh. I don't recall seeing
his name in the paperwork. - What paperwork?
He is not my partner partner.
He is my business partner. What paperwork?
The application she filled out to adopt my baby.
No... Kelsey just got in about 20 minutes before you did,
so why don't I take you upstairs,
and then you can get settled.
We'll talk.
How's it going, Professor?
How long are you gonna keep calling me that?
Haven't decided yet... Professor.
Can I at least take off the dunce cap?
Hey, who signed off on this concrete
being poured the other night?
I did.
And who forgot to ask me if we'd finished
putting in all the piping?
Me.
Then no, you can't take off the cap.
Are you gonna watch me pull up every slab?
Just the first. Making sure you still know
how to operate a chain hoist.
Happy?
What did I do now?
What is that?
That's a person, Fred.
Two arms with...
guts in the middle.
And those are the legs.
Somebody got buried here.
And you just cut 'em into pieces.
? Elementary 6x08 ? Sand Trap
== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man
I'd ask for an update on the search
for Michael Rowan, but your data speaks for itself.
No activity on his credit cards or cell phone.
Since we spoke last weekend,
his e-mail account remains a ghost town.
I take it our friends at the Bureau
are still sending you missing persons alerts.
Yeah, every day someone goes missing,
I get a notice on my phone.
I thought we were onto something when a woman
who looked a little like Maddie Williams
disappeared in Fresno the other day.
I almost called you, but then she
turned up safe and sound a couple hours later.
Would appear that Michael has gone dormant.
That's one possibility.
Another is that he's gotten so good at killing
that no one in law enforcement
even notices anymore.
As we discussed before I took my leave of absence,
he seemed to mean it when he said he would restrain himself.
He also said he'd be back, so...
we have to believe he meant that, too.
Thank you.
For tending to this while I was gone.
Couldn't have taken the time I needed
without knowing that you were still at the helm.
I wasn't the only one looking for Michael.
You're the only one who mattered.
Is there a corresponding wall of evidence
which traces your search for a baby?
I'm sorry about that.
I did not mean to spring Kelsey on you.
My attorney didn't even tell me about it till yesterday.
Your attorney?
Yeah, I hired him a few weeks before you left.
Listen, I was gonna talk to you about it,
but you were going through so much with your PCS, and I...
Watson, you don't owe me an explanation.
She's going to be here for a few more days only, okay?
Then she goes back to school in Philadelphia.
She's here to meet with me and a couple of other
prospective parents before she goes back.
It's Marcus.
I know you just got back, but how
do you feel about a trip to the morgue?
Mmm.
Meet Jane Doe.
Construction crew found her in a concrete floor
they were cutting into pieces this morning.
As I noted, the saw they were using
cut her just below the shoulders
and right above the knees.
No concrete in her throat or lungs,
so she was dead before she went into the cement.
These ligature marks... cause of death strangulation?
Yeah. As confirmed by a fractured larynx.
Time of death's between 6:00 p.m.
and midnight two nights ago.
Makes sense. The floor she was in
was poured two nights ago.
Any security cameras at the work site?
No.
And it's a small crew... eight guys total.
Alibis for the first six have already checked out,
and I'm expecting the remaining two to go the same way.
Says here that you found a nylon fiber in her teeth.
God bless man-made fibers
and the manufacturers who register them.
The lab says that the fiber
came from the seat belt of a late-model Japanese sedan.
Unfortunately, the seat belt is used
in cars made by multiple companies.
Stands to reason it was the murder weapon.
These ligature marks are approximately
48 millimeters across.
That is standard width for a seat belt.
Personal effects?
Help yourself.
I checked with Missing Persons.
She doesn't match any reports.
No hits on her fingerprints, either.
Who needs fingerprints when you got one of these?
What, a rubber bracelet?
It's a smart rubber bracelet.
Do you have a scalpel?
Oh.
Thank you.
Companies with restricted areas sometimes use
RF chips embedded in bracelets instead of
the traditional plastic access cards.
So...
This should help us identify her employers,
and that, in turn,
should help us identify her.
Oh, my God.
Poor Lauren.
You said somebody killed her?
Strangled her.
She didn't have any I.D. on her,
but the RF chip in her bracelet
told us she worked here at Pathas Global.
Or at least she did until you
suspended her without pay last week.
She was very talented, but she and Pathas
were proving not to be a good fit.
That said, I'm sure HR still has all her information.
I'll ask somebody to bring it up.
Actually, we've already been to HR.
Got everything we need.
Well, I'm confused.
Why did you need to speak with me?
You said Lauren Wexler and Pathas weren't a good fit.
But...
you are Pathas, Mr. Salinger.
It says so right there.
Oh, you think I had something to do with this?
Listen, I suspended Lauren.
Why would I also kill her?
Why would you call her an "incompetent bitch"
on a convention floor last month?
Oh... I wouldn't have taken you
for a fan of tech industry gossip sites.
You were overheard saying that you would end her.
Now she's dead.
If you thought the gossip sites were hard on you before...
I wasn't talking about ending her.
Okay, I was talking
about ending her work on MERMA.
What's MERMA?
MERMA is an acronym.
Marine Ecosystem Renewal and Maintenance Apparatus.
This thing glides across the surface of a body of water,
neutralizing pollutants and removing toxins.
It's like a Roomba the size of a Fiat,
only instead of cleaning floors, this thing cleans oceans.
Now, Lauren, was supposed to be one of the finest
clean-tech engineers in the country.
I brought her here to spearhead that project.
That was two years ago,
and you want to know how many MERMAs
we've built since then?
Zero.
Hence your frustration with Ms. Wexler.
At the start,
she was relentless.
She did over a year of field research.
She traveled all around the globe
commissioning prototypes.
But then, about six months ago,
she comes in here, tells me the thing won't work.
Project's a loser.
And I told her
that was unacceptable, and I sent her
back to the drawing board.
And when her attitude didn't improve,
I benched her, but...
that is all I did.
Can you account for your whereabouts
between 6:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight
two nights ago?
Is that when Lauren was killed?
Just answer the question, Mr. Salinger.
Two nights ago, I was at a yoga retreat in San Francisco.
A bunch of us were.
We just flew back on the corporate jet this morning.
In fact, I will get you my pilot's information.
Hell, I will get you my yogi's information.
Hey, just out of curiosity,
has your investigation brought you into contact
with a man named Troy?
No. Why? - Well...
few weeks ago, on a day when Lauren
actually bothered to show up for a meeting,
she stepped outside to take a call
from someone by that name.
I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but...
it was obviously an argument.
Did your eavesdropping happen to register Troy's last name?
Sorry.
Troy... all I got.
Hey.
I, uh, just got off the phone with Mr. Salinger's pilot.
His alibi checks out.
Where's Joan?
She had to go home to check on a houseguest.
You guys have someone staying with you at your place?
Like, on purpose?
Did Lauren Wexler's cell phone company divulge her records?
No. Shouldn't be long.
Unless Troy was using a burner when he called her,
should be able to work backwards to his subscriber information.
Hmm.
You look good, man.
I mean, you know,
compared to the last time I saw you.
It was difficult being away.
But I hear the department has done
adequate work in my absence.
Yeah, well, we are the police.
They don't call us "New York's most adequate" for nothing.
What is all this stuff anyway?
It's the contents of Lauren Wexler's work space at Pathas.
I had Mr. Salinger send it over.
Did her drinking bird tell you much about who killed her?
No.
But this leaflet did.
"Home care instructions for sutures, stitches and staples."
According to the receipt on the back, she received stitches
at an urgent care facility
last month in Fishkill.
That's nowhere near her residence.
Or the Pathas offices.
So, what was she doing there?
What, she was buying a hoodie?
No. Have a look at the left sleeve.
You know this isn't blood, right?
It's red paint. It's not red.
It's Farmhouse Wagon Sienna.
Now, there are only three homes in the area surrounding
the urgent care clinic which have elements
painted that precise color.
And out of those three,
only this one is owned
by Troy Roselli.
You can tell Ms. Wexler's cell phone company
they can keep her records.
I'm going to tell Watson
to meet us in Fishkill.
Can I help you?
Troy Roselli?
Detective Marcus Bell.
My colleagues and I want to talk
to you about Lauren Wexler.
- Who? - We believe she paid
a visit here last month.
Soon followed by a trip to the emergency care clinic.
Uh, I'm sorry.
Never heard of her.
See you had your garage door
painted recently.
It's nice. I like it.
Thanks.
You wouldn't happen to have a late-model Japanese sedan
in there, would you?
No, I, uh... I don't own a car.
You mind showing us?
No.
Let me, uh, just throw on some clothes.
Well, he's obviously lying about not knowing Lauren Wexler.
And about not having anything in his garage.
Back door just opened. He's running.
And there goes the towel.
Stop right there!
I'll call local PD for backup.
You two wait here.
Well, should we help him or...?
Well, normally I would, but you saw the towel drop.
Mr. Roselli couldn't be more unarmed.
Unless you think he's got a weapon up his...
Let's just go look at the garage.
I wanted you to know that I am happy for you.
Your decision to become a parent... I support it.
You do?
Why wouldn't I? Are you forgetting
I was in the room with you when you told a pregnant woman
that procreation was the only act
more masturbatory than masturbation?
She was a murder suspect, and besides, you're adopting.
You started looking for somewhere to live?
What?
No. Why? - Well,
there's not an adoption agency on the planet that would
hand an infant to a woman who lives with a heroin addict.
You are in recovery.
- Watson. - You know what?
Look, I already spoke to my attorney,
and he knows that if my lifestyle is a deal breaker,
then I'm not going to adopt.
Anyway, I think the bigger question is...
how are you going to feel about having a kid around?
I mean, I would not expect you to co-parent or anything.
The baby would be my responsibility.
You said that about Clyde.
I am not talking about a tortoise here.
For you, Watson...
I'd make adjustments.
Always.
Am I crazy, or is that a MERMA?
The supposedly impossible-to-build
ocean cleaner?
Without question.
I'm beginning to think that Lauren Wexler
wasn't so incompetent
after all.
No, she wasn't incompetent.
She was a thief.
Look, when you guys came into my door, I swear to God,
I had no idea Lauren was dead.
Well, someone at her office overheard you two
arguing over the phone a few weeks ago.
Look, I'm not saying I liked Lauren.
I'm just saying I wouldn't have hurt her.
You already lied to us once today, Mr. Roselli.
You told us there was nothing in your garage.
So, why should we believe you now?
I lied for the same reason I ran away.
Okay? That.
The MERMA.
Wish I'd never even heard of the stupid thing.
You're an engineer.
You were helping Lauren build it, right?
Yes. I was out of work when she reached out to me.
I needed the money.
That trip to the emergency care clinic...
she cut her hand when we were replacing a propeller blade.
You were aware the plans she gave you were stolen?
Yeah.
Lauren told me she took a job at Pathas
because she believed in the MERMA.
She knew oil companies would pay through the nose
to clean up spills.
But then, about a year into the project,
the guy who owns the company, Salinger,
he decides to open-source all the tech.
So the companies you're referring to
would be able to build their own MERMA vehicles.
Companies, governments.
Anyone who wanted to help clean up the ocean.
Pathas wouldn't make a dime.
Lauren freaked.
She had points in the project.
So she stole all the plans, started working with you.
She was gonna beat Pathas to the market.
What about the lawsuits that would follow?
She thought we could change the tech just enough
to make it hard for Pathas to build a case.
Maybe Salinger found out about what we were doing,
killed her 'cause he was so ticked.
Actually, Mr. Salinger has an alibi
for the time of the murder.
He didn't do it. Well, then maybe it was
one of the other people Lauren stole from.
What other people?
The idea of the MERMA came from Pathas, but...
the tech came from inventors from all over the world.
Mr. Salinger said something
about Lauren traveling a lot,
commissioning pitches from people.
Yeah, different engineers
were supposed to work on different components.
In the end, she poached the best ideas she heard.
How would those people have found out
you guys built your own MERMA?
I guess it could've been during a test drive.
That prototype you saw, it's fully functional.
Lauren took it out on the Hudson a few times
to put it through the paces.
Maybe the wrong person saw her do it.
? Confusion, days of delusion ?
? Take me through... ?
I'm sorry about that.
Feels like I spend half my life in the bathroom these days.
Well, you're pregnant,
so it sort of comes with the territory.
I was telling you about Brody, right?
Yeah. The father. - Yes.
He's a very sweet guy.
Very cute.
No interest in being a dad, but...
Hey, just so you know,
um, what happened...
it's not like me at all.
I don't sleep around.
Honestly, it's really none of my business.
I know, but it's important to me.
Because I was raised a certain way,
and I didn't even date until I got to college, so...
if things work out between you and me,
I just want you to be able to tell people
that the biological mom wasn't a slut.
You have my word.
So, your parents
sound pretty conservative.
How did they take it when you told them
that you were gonna give the baby up for adoption?
They practically threw a party.
Ladies, here you go.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Thanks.
So, you swear you and your partner never slept together?
No. Never.
And you're not a lesbian?
No. - Sorry, it's just...
he's hot, you're hot.
You'd make a great couple.
You would be surprised how often we don't hear that.
In the form you filled out for your attorney,
it said that you used to be a doctor.
Mm-hmm. Well, technically, um, I still am a doctor.
Well...
how did your parents take it
when you told them you were giving that up
to be a detective? Um, you know,
it took them some time to adjust.
I'll bet it did.
All the time you put in,
all the money they put in, God...
I couldn't do that.
Not ever.
I'm sorry if that sounds judgmental, but...
judging you is kind of the whole point of this trip.
It's okay. I mean, you have to go through your process, right?
Am I crazy, or did I see a bunch of beehives on your roof?
How was your breakfast?
I cannot remember the last time
I was so intimidated by a 20-year-old.
She kept calling my situation unconventional.
I've had more than one career.
I live with my business partner.
Conventional is the enemy of interesting.
I don't think she sees it that way.
Were you jogging? My PCS may be in remission,
but I have no intention of ditching the regimen I adopted
to treat it. Speaking of which, would it have
killed you to change the water in
my sensory deprivation tank while I was away?
Oh, how'd it go with Troy Roselli last night?
Did he confess? Only to being
an accessory to intellectual theft.
He has an alibi for the night
Lauren Wexler was murdered.
So we're back to square one.
Hardly.
He thought that in her fervor to build MERMA,
she stole not only from Pathas
but also from inventors all across the globe.
He thought perhaps one of them discovered
her betrayal when she began testing
her prototype in the Hudson River.
She kept a video log.
Quite extensive ones.
And do they show anyone spying on her?
As it turns out, someone thought
she was the one doing the spying.
How many times I gotta tell you,
you can't be here.
How far am I from your construction site?
A thousand feet?
I'm not bothering anyone,
and the last time I checked, the Hudson River
was public property.
Then do us both a favor and jump in.
'Cause the land you're standing on is private property.
Look, every time you come out here,
my bosses are gonna make me chase you away.
- I'm not going anywhere. - Lady...
these guys, they don't mess around.
Okay, next time, they won't send a guard.
They'll send one of their people,
and it won't turn out well for you... trust me.
Now, when she continues to ignore him, he goes away.
But I have a theory as to why his employers were so troubled.
These are the results of Ms. Wexler's tests.
Levels of heavy metals... lead, arsenic,
cadmium, copper...
well above EPA levels.
So, you think the people behind the construction site
were dumping waste into the river.
Are you sure these results are accurate?
I'm not, so I'm about to bring them to my Irregular Gay.
That didn't sound right.
She's not my irregular gay.
Her name is Gay, and she is an Irregular.
I know. I introduced her to you.
But this is about water pollution.
She's a geologist.
But her subspeciality is hydrogeology.
Now, unfortunately, these videos
never captured the site in question
or any of its signage, so I thought,
while I'm with Gay, you could visit
the Dutchess County Department of Buildings and Safety,
because the site in question would've
had to log paperwork with them.
Let's see.
Parcel FN10970-1B,
lot 993482,
east bank of the river.
Says here that permit was issued to Topaz Valley Industries.
Any chance I could get a copy?
Sure. - Thanks.
Did you know that you're the second person
to ask about that parcel recently?
Am I?
Another woman came in last week.
Her name wasn't Lauren Wexler, by any chance, was it?
Sounds right.
But my boss is the one who ended up helping her.
Mr. Pickering?
Do you remember the woman that came in to ask
about the construction going on by the river?
Her name was Lauren, right?
That's right.
Something I can help you with?
I work with the police.
Ms. Wexler was murdered a few days ago.
- Oh, my. - We think it might have
something to do with the company that you issued this permit to.
Did she say why
she was looking into them?
Marjorie, would you mind helping
this gentleman over here, please?
Thank you.
Look, I'll tell you everything I know,
but please, you just gotta keep my name out of it.
Why is that?
When Ms. Wexler came in, I told her
she has to be careful.
Topaz Valley Industries is dangerous.
What do you mean?
Approving construction permits takes time.
We were only a few months into our process.
I was leaving the office one night,
and a man in a ski mask put a gun
to the back of my head.
He told me the permit
for Topaz Valley had to be issued
by the end of the week, or he'd be back.
I came in the next morning,
and I forced the permit through.
Look, you work with the police,
so I probably don't have to tell you this.
Organized crime and the construction business,
they got a funny way of going together sometimes.
Hey, are you still at Gay's office?
No, I'm at the site where Lauren Wexler
was testing her MERMA.
Why?
Gay took one look at the data
and said she needed to do some on-site testing.
Once we're done, we have to go directly to the precinct.
Even if there are heavy metals in the water,
we can't prove they came from the construction site.
Funny thing about that construction site.
It's abandoned.
The work has moved on without building a thing.
That doesn't make any sense. I just spoke to someone
who said the people who own the land threatened to kill him
unless he issued a construction permit.
Yeah, it was a cover.
It was a reason for their trucks to be there.
They never did any construction.
Nor did they dump anything in the river.
In fact, quite the opposite. They took something out.
They were siphoning sand.
What are you talking about?
I'm talking about one of
the most in-demand natural resources on the planet.
Sand is an essential ingredient in concrete,
detergent, silicon chips,
but its supply is finite.
So those in the business of sand are always looking
for new ways and new places to extract it.
You think that's why Lauren Wexler was killed?
She figured out what Topaz Valley was doing?
I do. I also think it's the reason
that hundreds more might die if we don't act quickly.
What do you mean?
I mean the men who were working here
siphoned enough sand from the riverbed
to destabilize the support piers
on the bridge that I'm looking at.
Gay thinks it's on the verge of collapse.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to drink it, but how does this
prove that Maracott Bridge is about to collapse?
That sample, taken today from the water
beneath the bridge, shows, amongst other things,
an excess of limestone.
Why is that important?
Because limestone is the material
which the bridge support pylons are made of.
High concentrations of it indicates
that the support pylons are eroding.
Hold up. I thought we were
talking about sand, not limestone.
We are. The extraction of the sand
is what caused the erosion.
Here. I made a model on my computer.
I think this will help.
Tons of sand got siphoned off the east bank here,
reducing its size.
Now, that, in turn, made the river wider,
which means more and more water is flowing
through this part of it at faster speeds.
Now, if the guys doing the siphoning
had just stopped there,
maybe we're not having this conversation,
but if I'm right, they got greedy.
They started using hoses
to extract sand from the bottom of the river, too.
That's why the woman who was murdered
found such high concentrations of heavy metals.
Sand acts as a natural barrier
against heavy metals in the earth's crust.
You remove the sand, and...
You get more of them seeping into the water.
Meanwhile, the sand protecting this limestone pylon is gone,
and the water moving past it is going faster and faster.
Eventually, gravity takes over, and then...
Hmm. I'll call the state police
and the Department of Transportation
and get them on this right away.
In the meantime, I'd like to get someone
from Topaz Valley Industries in here.
That's easier said than done.
It's a shell corporation.
The man I spoke to at
the Department of Building and Safety
in Dutchess County
thought it was a front for organized crime.
I suspected as much.
More specifically, I suspected an Indian group...
recently expanded their operations stateside.
The Sand Mafia.
The Sand Mafia?
That's seriously what they call themselves?
It's a name they were given
in India, where their activities
have resulted in hundreds of murders in recent years.
Now, they're made up of many different factions,
not unlike the American Mob, but only one of those factions
has a representative here in New York.
You think this is the guy who killed Lauren Wexler?
His name is Vikrant Jindal.
Now, I doubt that he did the deed himself.
In India, he was notorious for a very particular
method of murder.
Are those drill holes? - Yeah.
From his signature tool, a power drill.
Now, lucky for us, Mr. Jindal is also
particular about his eating habits.
I have it on good authority that he eats lunch
every single day at his brother's restaurant.
So...
you fancy a curry?
Mr. Jindal, enjoying your aloo matar, I hope,
lest the chef's skull
soon resemble a colander.
Before you sic your henchmen on us,
let me introduce my colleagues.
This is Detective Bell.
This is Joan Watson.
My name's Sherlock Holmes.
We were hoping that you might discuss
the murder of Lauren Wexler with us.
Am I supposed to know that name?
She spent a lot of time
around your construction site near the Maracott Bridge.
We think she realized that all the sand removal you were doing
was gonna bring the bridge down,
so you had her killed.
Sorry, I don't know this woman.
And none of the work we did would have affected that bridge.
Just like the work
your organization did in New Delhi last year
didn't affect this bridge.
This is New York, not New Delhi.
We would never allow something like that to happen here.
Is that supposed to mean that you value American lives
more than you value Indian ones?
What I value is the American dollar.
There are more regulations here and more risk of lawsuits.
We tread more carefully in this country.
Now, before we bought the land
that you're referring to,
we agreed to pay for impact testing,
performed by the Department of Building and Safety
in Dutchess County.
We told them
we were going to extract the sand,
and we were given a report that guaranteed us
there wasn't going to be any danger to the bridge.
I was at that department this morning.
There were no such reports issued.
Then you didn't look hard enough.
Give my men
your e-mail addresses.
You'll have copies from my attorney within the hour.
How'd it go with Dr. Hanson?
He agrees I'm much improved
after taking the last few months off,
although he insists I remain vigilant.
Most of my hobbies remain off the menu,
including some sex acts.
Is that the paperwork from Vikrant Jindal's attorney?
Yeah, he e-mailed a zip file
right after you left for your appointment.
And? - It's like he said.
He told Dutchess County they were
going to extract the sand.
Could be a forgery.
I don't know. Looks legit.
But I am going to go to
the Building and Safety Department tomorrow
to make sure.
In the meantime, I sent a copy to Gay.
She took one look, and she said the inspector
who allegedly signed off on all this work, a Romeo Garza,
was either terminally stupid
or he wanted that bridge to come down.
And why would he want that?
I don't know. Maybe he's a very patient terrorist.
Until we can get in a room with him,
I'm gonna assume that Jindal's men
forced him to write that report
just like they forced his boss
to approve that permit.
Marcus went to pick him up a little while ago.
He's gonna call us when they're both at the precinct.
Is that Kelsey downstairs, is it?
Yeah, she said she had midterms.
She wanted a quiet place to study.
Either that, or she's already decided
I would make a terrible mother and she does not want
to look me in the eye again before she leaves tomorrow.
I'll try not to disturb her when I make my supper.
Evening.
Hi.
Do you need me to study someplace else or...?
No.
I was, uh, hoping we might talk.
Sure.
Watson was saying that you might have some concerns
about our living arrangement, so, uh,
I was thinking perhaps I could allay them.
I wouldn't say I have concerns.
It's just... a lot to think about.
So that's what I'm doing... I'm thinking about it.
She told me that you were aware of my-my personal history.
You know I'm a recovering addict.
Mm-hmm. Doesn't concern you?
Should it?
I want you to know that...
if you deem Watson the best candidate to raise your child,
and if you decide to give her that gift,
I could leave.
Wait, what do you mean, you could leave?
I mean I could go away.
We wouldn't have to share a home.
I know for a fact that's not what she wants.
You know, what we want and what we need
are very often mutually exclusive.
You think Joan needs to be a mom?
I think that when she told me of her plan the other day,
I was very surprised.
But when you know her
as well as I do,
it makes sense her being a parent.
The child that she raises will be very, very lucky.
So, you think she could do it?
Be a mom?
I think she could do anything.
Hmm.
Something wrong?
No, um, just a...
a colleague of ours was supposed to find a suspect.
And he couldn't find him?
He could.
Just not in the, uh, condition that we anticipated.
I count at least five drill holes,
just like that picture you showed us at the precinct.
Vikrant Jindal might as well have signed his name.
- Hmm... - Romeo Garza had to have been
in cahoots with the Sand Mafia, right?
Jindal killed him 'cause he was a loose end.
Yeah, that's...
precisely what we're meant to believe.
"Meant to"?
Vikrant Jindal may be as large an odorous piece
of human excrement as I've ever encountered,
but I can tell you with virtual certainty
he didn't kill this man.
He's being framed.
This fits Vikrant Jindal's M.O. to a T.
What makes you think he didn't do it?
His love of cows.
When I visited Jindal at his brother's restaurant,
there was a Vaishnava puja shrine.
Vaishnava is a particularly devout Hindu sect
that hold cows to be sacred.
Also of note, neither Jindal
nor any of his associates
wore leather shoes or belts.
And beef was conspicuously absent from the menu.
Okay, but the killer didn't drill holes in a Guernsey.
He did it to a person.
A person whose wrists were first bound...
with a leather belt.
A devout Vaishnava would never even touch such an item.
Back in India,
Jindal always used rope
or fabric to tie his victim's wrists.
All right, maybe he went with something that was on hand.
Maybe one of the victim's belts.
A possibility I considered until I looked at the size.
It's too large to have
belonged to Mr. Garza.
I think the killer brought it with him
as he did the drill for his skull.
Okay, say you're right.
Where does this leave us?
Jindal's attorney sent us
paperwork that seems to support his story.
Topaz Valley Industries
asked for and received a permit to extract the sand
in the vicinity of the Maracott Bridge.
However, when I compared them
to samples of handwriting
found at Mr. Garza's home, it was obvious
they were not a match for the signatures
that we received on the paper.
Okay.
So the Sand Mafia forged the paperwork.
Well, that's another possibility,
but why would they kill someone so brazenly?
Why not just dispose of the body where we would never find it?
Okay, say you're right.
The Sand Mafia didn't forge the paperwork,
and they didn't kill Romeo Garza.
Who did? - And why did they want
Topaz Valley to think their sand mining
wouldn't affect the Maracott Bridge?
What?
If the Sand Mafia didn't kill this man
and they didn't
forge the signatures,
what else didn't they do?
This is horrible.
Romeo was a wonderful man.
You say this is connected to the work done
by Topaz Valley Industries.
You think it might be the same man
that threatened to kill me if I didn't approve their permit?
We would have thought it was the same man...
if that man actually existed.
What?
Last night, after Mr. Garza was killed,
it seemed easier to come up with reasons that the people
behind Topaz Valley Industries wouldn't have done it
than reasons that they would.
I wondered, if they didn't forge his signature
on the report that we received
and they didn't murder him, perhaps, despite the story
that you told my partner,
they didn't put a gun to your head, either.
Why would I make up something like that?
Probably because
you didn't want us to realize how many
different crimes you had committed.
Let's start with the first.
We talked to some of your colleagues
at, uh, your company this morning,
and they shared with us a rumor that you get kickbacks
from a company called Siwanoy Concrete.
- What? - I thought it was strange how often
you accepted Siwanoy's bids for
construction jobs around the county,
especially when there were
competing bids that were lower.
One wonders
how much of a windfall you would receive
for the reconstruction of a collapsed bridge.
Now, hold on just a second here.
We think that when you received
the permit request from Topaz Valley
to siphon sand near the Maracott Bridge,
you looked into them.
Eventually, you realized that it was a front
for Vikrant Jindal and his men.
More importantly,
you realized that if they actually
carried out the work they were proposing,
there was an excellent chance that over time
that bridge would collapse.
So you forged a report saying the exact opposite,
and then you signed Romeo's name to it.
Lauren Wexler realized
the bridge was in danger, right?
That day she came to your offices,
she tried to warn you, so you killed her.
You knew that if we talked to Vikrant Jindal,
he would give us the report that had Romeo's name on it.
Then Romeo would tell us that he didn't write a word of it.
So you killed him, too.
Made it look like it was Jindal's people
so we would go after them and not you.
I think I'd like to talk to my lawyer now.
Sure. No problem.
- When he gets here, we can show him this. - _
A warrant to search your car.
We're especially interested in your seat belts.
We know that Lauren Wexler was strangled with one
from a late-model Japanese sedan.
You drive a 2014 Nissan Altima, don't you?
We appreciate you driving it here, by the way.
Saved CSU a lot of time.
By now, they've probably
finished taking swabs for Ms. Wexler's
skin cells and saliva.
Detective Bell is going to read you your rights now.
Kelsey, your rideshare is here.
Be right down.
You okay?
Yeah, it's just hormones.
Here you go.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Uh, that was a lie.
I can't give you my baby.
Okay.
I mean, I knew there were no guarantees.
You're meeting with other parents. Maybe you'll find the right match.
No, no. I-I'm sorry.
It's just... I should have been more clear.
I can't give you my baby, because...
I'm keeping it.
I'm not visiting with any other parents.
I'm going back to Philadelphia.
It's okay.
Come here. Sit down.
I-I'll cancel your ride.
I'm sorry. I know this is crazy.
No, it is not crazy.
It's your baby.
You know this is all your fault, right?
I've never met anyone like you.
Like, it's inspiring.
Until I got pregnant,
I could have told you exactly what the next 20 years
of my life looked like.
You know, like, I was on a track.
Then I peed on a stick one morning,
and all of a sudden,
I wasn't just off the track.
I mean, the track was gone.
And giving up the baby was supposed to fix all of that.
Then I spent a couple of days here with you, and...
I don't know, it got me thinking,
"Why can't I do everything I ever wanted
and be a mom?"
It-it sounds so lame when I say it.
But then Sherlock came to talk to me last night,
and he told me that you can do anything.
And I believe him.
I don't know, I guess I just want people
to say the same thing about me.
I want my son to be able to say it.
He's kicking.
He's probably saying,
"You're crazy. Let me stay here with Joan".
No.
He's probably just really happy.
You should be, too.
Do you want to feel it?
How long have you known?
Since that day at the gala.
I've never understood
the idea that a sad motion picture
could be helpful to a sad person.
You don't have to understand it.
You just have to watch it.
She isn't wrong, you know.
Kelsey.
You are inspiring.
To the right person.
I guess I'll have to work on that.
== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man