Unforgettable

12 years I've lived in the city, I'd never been to Belmont.

Now I see why you love the horses.

That was incredible.

And Eliot thinks I'm the gambling addict.

Oh, very funny. So, you free Tuesday?

To go back to Belmont?

Yeah, I just need help remembering all the tips we got.

Like that woman I was talking to.

She gave me a tip on a trifecta,

but I forgot the three horses I'm supposed to box.

To box? You know, they have these

support groups for gambling addicts, and you...

What? You're the only one who can enjoy an adrenaline rush?

No, it's just that my adrenaline rush

is based on winning money on the horses.

Yours is more connected to, um, the blonde who gave you tips.

Not true. Are you gonna give me the names of the horses or not?

Because I know you remember 'em. I remember all 12 horses in the race

and the three you were supposed to box.

I also remember five reasons why you can't remember.

Blonde hair, pouty lips, short skirt,

six-inch Stilettos and a giant...

Your point is?

I'm not going back to Belmont with you on Tuesday.

Oh, come on. Why not?

Because it violates my first rule of gambling.

Never accept a tip from a blonde in six-inch heels?

No, that's my second. My first is

only go to the track when the horses are actually there.

Belmont is closed on Tuesdays.

Mm. I see.

- Lieutenant Al Burns? - Yup.

Captain Melvin Stearns, Internal Affairs.

What can I do for you, Captain?

You know a guy named Oscar Payn?

Sure. I collared him for intent to sell five years ago.

Stearns,

what's going on here?

You aware he's been out on parole the last six weeks?

Good for him.

Not so good.

Someone put a bullet in his brain.

And as of now, we have reason to believe that someone to be you.

Lieutenant Burns, you are placed

on modified assignment and relegated to desk duty

till our investigation into the murder of Oscar Payn

determines your guilt or innocence.

May I have your gun and your shield, please?

Lieutenant?

You know the rules, Melvin. Any action against my team,

you notify me personally in advance.

Don't blame me if you don't know what's going on with your team.

What's that supposed to mean?

Maybe the board should have installed

an actual police officer

to run Major Crimes instead of a...

What are you again?

Oh, I know. I know, Melvin.

You wanted this job.

I know how hard you tried to get it.

Sure, some may have felt

that fixing parking tickets for the mayor's niece was pandering,

but I for one applauded your initiative.

Do not take

our history out

on members of my team,

or I will see to it that you regret it.

Lieutenant Burns is a decorated officer with a spotless record.

We wouldn't have moved against Burns

if we didn't have sufficient evidence.

We have a positive ballistics match

to Burns' service weapon and a case file

of other evidence I have neither the need

nor the interest in sharing with you.

Ballistics match?

Perhaps you haven't heard, Eliot,

but every weapon fired has a distinctive signature.

Yeah, yeah. So?

So, Oscar Payn was killed by Burns' Sig Sauer service handgun

to the exclusion of any other weapon.

It is an absolute fact.

This is a matter for Internal Affairs now.

I get even a hint that

your Major Crimes guys are sniffing around,

I will terminate them from this department.

Al, what you doing?

Just getting my coffee.

Jay's got this nice Sumatra with chocolate notes or something.

Wow, you are extraordinarily calm.

Considering I want to put my fist through that guy's face?

That I just went through the most humiliating moment

of my career, maybe my life?

Yeah, considering that.

Listen, we're gonna be fine.

If I wanted to whack a guy, why would I use my own gun?

This is all a mistake.

I think it might all be political.

IAB is only looking at you.

They are not pursuing any other leads.

I put in a call to Beth Bronson, the LBA attorney.

She's requested an independent ballistics analysis of my gun.

Who is Oscar Payn?

A scumbag.

Payn was running an operation out of Corona,

the Tumbling Sixes.

The 117 picked up intel that Payn was taking in

a major heroin shipment.

I got together a team to take him down.

Turned out, there was an eight-year-old

girl inside there... hostage.

And we got her out,

but we lost someone in the firefight.

A young officer.

And what about Payn?

He beat the murder charge on a technicality.

Was still put away for possession with intent.

But he and his partner rolled on a couple of their own guys,

and got reduced sentences.

Payn's guys hated Payn, and they hate you.

You're being framed.

We were at the races the day Payn got murdered.

Where were you that night?

Midnight? Midnight, I was asleep.

- All right, what about your gun? - On my night table.

Not the world's best alibi.

No.

Listen, you stay out of this.

These IAB guys are nightmares.

They'll get you jammed up or fired.

Trust me, the ballistics test will clear me.

I'm gonna clear you,

because I'm gonna find out who killed Oscar Payn.

Do I even want to know how

you got your hands on these?

All I can say is

a highly-classified Bundt cake recipe was involved.

Hmm.

- Jo? - Hmm?

I could get fired for what I'm doing,

and I don't want to get you mixed up in it.

Oh, no. I'll be okay. I'll be okay.

I'm the Dirty Harry of M.E.s.

Mm. How close is the match?

Well, I'm not a ballistics expert.

From what I can tell,

pretty darn close.

Well, Al's getting the gun tested independently, so...

Fingers crossed.

Take a look at this, hmm?

Single round penetrated Payn's skull

precisely dead center.

In other words, right between the eyes.

From ten yards.

Which means our shooter knew their way around a gun.

Uh-huh.

Eliot, what is this?

Melvin Stearns' attempt to humiliate me.

Son of a bitch wants to show me up

in front of my own people.

Look, I know you've kept it in between the lines so far.

And both of us know Stearns is waiting for us to over...

- Are you gonna tell me to stop? - God, no.

I'm asking you to be careful.

Where's Al?

These goons showed up, confiscated his computer,

and announced they were interviewing all of us.

Hmm. He took off.

Oh, hey, I might have something for you.

I dug into Payn's gang, the Tumbling Sixes, and I may have

found something interesting.

Take a look. Once Payn got out,

things went south with his wife Alma.

Apparently, he thought she was cheating on him.

His parole officer thinks it could have been

with his old partner Hector Griego.

Griego got out of jail four months

before Payn. And guess what?

He's a vet, weapons-trained in Afghanistan.

If Hector Griego was sleeping with Payn's wife,

then we have a suspect that has a grudge against Al

and wanted Payn out of the way.

And was a damn good shot.

Now, there's no last known address.

We don't know where he is.

Well, I'll bet Alma Payn knows where he is. Head over there.

Listen, Beth, I'll take a polygraph.

Al, I've told you, that's not admissible in court.

Well, it's got to mean something if I offer to take the test.

The problem is, you take the poly,

they can ask you questions you don't want to answer.

For example, “Are you upset Oscar Payn took a bullet

between the eyes?”

Look, I know this is hard,

but you've got to trust me and just relax.

Relax? You try to relax with IAB guys camped out at Major Crimes

right on top of you.

I know. Would you just stay cool.

Stearns is trying to bait you,

hope you'll take a swing at one of them

and give them a reason to send you to Rikers.