Murder in the First

Gentlemen.

You're in the wrong place, Inspector.

Take-out's downstairs.

We're looking for Sam Rydell.

Never heard of him.

Then you don't watch TV.

Our records say that he called

this club about 20 times in the past 2 weeks.

Maybe he's ordering egg rolls.

You know, if you write a Yelp review,

you get 10% off your next delivery.

That's cute. Give it to him.

- What's this? - Open it.

These are all current cases that name the Tongs...

prostitution, racketeering.

We can handle this here or down in Homicide.

It's on you.

I saw Sam a few days ago.

Yeah, we know. You roughed him up pretty good.

- We had a conversation. - Where'd he go?

Well, if he's smart, halfway to Mexico by now.

Why is that?

'Cause sandwich man owes us some serious greens.

So you threw him over the bridge,

- wanted to teach him a lesson? - I didn't do shit.

If you want any more info, you gotta talk to my lawyer.

He's that drunk fool over there

singing them silly white man songs.

All right, get up. We're taking you in.

Come on, man!

What's wrong with you?

Inspectors.

A word, please.

I was just about to have a little late night snack.

Care to join me?

Egg roll?

No, we're good.

My grandmother's recipe.

When I was a boy, I watched her roll a hundred in one hour.

She had the smallest fingers. Good for delicate things.

I'm sorry.

But you're not interested in my, uh, culinary history.

So how may I assist you?

Sam Rydell.

We found his car abandoned on the Richmond Bridge.

Your business card was tucked in his jacket inside pocket.

There are times when a client does not repay his loan

in a timely manner.

I find fear motivates them to do the right thing.

Yeah, well, you scared him, all right.

He thought you were gonna kill him.

No.

Fear is one thing, but death is another.

I did not build such a successful business

by burning money.

Mr. Rydell is a feiyang, cash cow.

My people were farmers from Guangzhou.

And every good farmer knows

one does not slaughter a feiyang.

One milks it.

- Mm-hmm. - I would be sorry to lose Mr. Rydell.

Let's go. Come on.

Damn!

All right.

Deal me in.

A split.

Okay, come on, God.

Just be good to me one time.

Come on. One time.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

Yes!

Okay, all right.

Please.

Please, please. Yes!

- Thank you, Lord. - Yeah!

Okay, come on, bust, you rat bastard.

No offense.

Come on.

Bust. Bust. Come on.

Bust.

Yes!

Yes, I knew you could do it!

The boy is back! Don't bury me yet!

Whoo! Okay.

We are on a roll!

Hey.

- Right on time. - Hey, good morning.

Got you the daily special.

- Thanks. - Yeah. Wanna...

Yeah.

So what'd you wanna tell me you couldn't say over the phone?

Well, I've been, uh, been working for a bit

on an investigative piece about violence in the NFL

off the field.

And I wanted to share a tip from an inside source

about a player who pulled a gun on Normandy.

Okay, is this credible or just more gossip?

Well, Billy James is my source, so yeah, it's credible.

I think it's what got him killed.

Did he tell you the player's name?

Luke Wedman, former running back for the Wildcats.

Yeah, guy's a local hero.

Scored the winning touchdown for USC

in the Rose Bowl senior year.

Yeah, well, this hero pointed a gun at Normandy Parker

- in the Wildcats' locker room. - Why?

Last game of the season, Normandy was supposed

to hand the ball off to Luke for a gimme touchdown,

but instead called an audible and ran it in himself.

Luke never scored his 10th touchdown,

which would've triggered a $2 million performance bonus

in his contract.

How did the team keep it quiet?

Lieutenant Koto.

The pro football player pulls a gun on the star quarterback,

and nobody hears anything about it?

Not on Twitter, Facebook, nothing?

Who does Luke play for now? He doesn't.

Guy rushed for 1,200 yards that season,

and he's still a free agent.

Maybe Normandy Parker leaked it to management.

Luke could've blamed him for ruining his career.

- Two in the head and they're even. - Okay, Billy James' murder.

- What's... what's the connection? - Maybe there is none.

Thank you.

Sam Rydell has been found. That was Reno P.D.

He had a heart attack last night in a casino.

Is he dead?

No, they stented him. He's stable.

How come it took so long for them to call us?

There's an APB out. Sam's all over the news.

Yeah, he had a fake ID on him... a couple, actually...

and a Canadian passport.

Wasn't until the day nurse recognized him

from his commercials that she thought to call the cops.

It seems he's ready to talk.

Why don't you guys fly up there and bring him back?

- He's at Reno General. - Okay.

The two of you go interview Luke.

My information is that he spends most every day

at Metro Fitness working out.

Yeah, well, old habits never die.

Yeah.

Luke Wedman?

Terry English, SFPD, Homicide. This is Inspector Mulligan.

Why are you here?

You're looking good, man. I see you putting in the hours.

Thanks. Gotta stay primed for when the call comes in.

Every weekend adds names to the injury list, you know?

- I keep my toothbrush packed. - You got the fans upset, man,

saying the Wildcats shouldn't have cut you.

Yeah. People spread their love for me. I know they did.

No help. No help at all.

Seems Twitter don't keep you on a roster.

- Ah, I hear you. - You follow football?

Yeah. My dad and brother made a point of it.

Church and football every Sunday... not an option.

But the pair of you didn't come here to blah-blah

about my career, did you?

- So just get to it, okay? - Before I cool down too much.

Yeah, my bad. Uh, the night Normandy Parker got killed...

Come on, man. For real?

Hey, we just wanna see where you were.

Why? Billy James killed him.

- How do you know that? - 'Cause I know I didn't.

Well, you point at a guy in a locker room

- with a $2 million motive... - Who said anything about a gun?

Guy gets shot dead,

people remember the first part, you know?

You're gonna ruin any chance I got at a future.

Only if you killed him, man.

Look, just tell us where you were,

we'll let you get back to your workout.

I was at home. I saw it on the news.

Popped a bottle of the good stuff to celebrate.

Couldn't have happened to a better guy.

An arrogant prick.

Huh. All right, well, did you share a glass with anybody else

while the bottle was still open?

Yeah, my girl.

Your girl have a name?

Yeah, she's got a name. Willow.

I'll tell her you're coming.

Okay, all right. Appreciate the cooperation, man.

- Thank you. - Oh, just so we cover all our bases,

where were you when Billy James got killed last Thursday?

Sure. I was principal for a day at Jefferson High.

You can see all the photos of me online.

Charity work is a part of my anger management therapy.

It really helps.

All right, back to work.

Guy owns a nationwide chain,

prints money in his sleep,

and he manages to piss it all away.

- Mm. - Great American tragedy.

- Yeah. - Riches to rags.

And...Hello.

- Hello. - Oh.

Mm.

I like having you home.