Major Crimes

Major Crimes - 04x01 - A Rose Is a Rose

Come... come... come here, come here, come here.

Lieutenant Provenza.

Ah, Sykes.

Why the hell are we here?

I mean, couldn't this just be a-a neighborhood dispute

or a standard follow home?

It could also be an escalation of the home invasions

occurring almost every week in this part of town.

Well, if it isn't,

we hand this off to Hollywood and then we leave.

I want Detective Oderno packed up and gone

before Julio comes back.

Flynn, what the hell is that?

It's the victim's pet.

His name is Nacho.

9:20 this morning, dispatch received a call

from a Mrs. Lynn Reed.

That's her over there by the tree.

She says she saw this little guy running loose on the street.

Well, anyway, she brought him home

- and then looked in the window. - Ay, yi...

You think you could hand Nacho here off to someone

and we could work the actual murder?

Wh-where's the body?

I'll take him.

Not the way we intended to begin your last day

with Major Crimes, Oderno, but here we are.

Care to introduce me?

Uh, yeah, Lieutenant Provenza, meet Gary David Erwin,

age 71, widower living alone.

Accountant... Just retired.

Friends say that next Monday,

he was taking a trip to Italy.

Looks like he put off his departure a week too long.

Struggle all your life saving to retire.

You plan a little trip, and then some psycho freak

breaks into your house and puts a bullet in your back.

Uh, three bullets, actually, lieutenant... 9mm.

Okay, look, i-in these other home invasions, no one got shot.

So if this is connected, why the escalation?

An excellent question.

Here's a few more, starting with the flowers.

- What flowers? - Exactly.

In every other case, our home invaders gained entry

by pretending to deliver two dozen roses.

Ding-dong!

When fleeing, they left the flowers behind.

Hard to pick up rose stems with your hands full of other people's stuff.

That's another discrepancy.

Mr. Erwin's jewelry and his computer are still here.

As is his wallet, full of cash,

which I found on the kitchen counter.

And in every other case,

the person who opened the door was tased in the chest.

And Mr. Erwin has no taser marks.

Nor was he left behind cuffed and gagged.

- Instead... - He's dead.

Uh, sorry. Sorry for the victim,

but our work here is done.

- Excuse me? - Look.

If this murder is not related

to the other home invasions, then it's not a major crime.

So we hand off poor Mr. Erwin here to Hollywood,

and we go back to the office before Julio gets there.

Oh my God! Help! Help, please!

Please help me, please!

I don't know what to do. My mom, she's hurt!

Please help me!

- Please! - There might be suspects in the house.

- You two guys take the left side. - Okay, okay, okay.

- It's gonna be okay. - Hurry up!

My mother!

Help! My mother! You need to help her!

Clear.

Clear.

Go... go up.

House is clear!

Okay.

Now it's a major crime.

Our second victim, Lisa Lewis,

age 48, mother of two...

One blast from a taser, one gunshot to the head.

She was dead about two hours when her daughter Ashley

came home from summer school this morning.

And, yes, she was at school...

Advance Placement courses for English.

Is there something new on Stroh?

No, just unverified sightings in Cyprus and Crete.

So, no one saw anything this morning or heard gunshots?

No, and I checked up and down the block.

- No security cameras, either. - Thank you, Buzz.

She's 16, hmm?

Anyone in her family to assume custody?

Well, her father died of cancer two years ago.

Other than her brother, she only has a grandmother,

who's on a European river cruise,

and Ashley can't even tell us what river.

Oderno's gone to pick up Ashley's brother, Peter,

from the gym where he works,

unless you would rather I call children's services.

Look, th-this girl is going to be in therapy

for the rest of her life.

A few more hours with us won't hurt.

How are we handling the brother?

Well, initially we're only telling him about

the murder of his neighbor across the street.

Um... listen.

Since Oderno's already started this case,

maybe we should re-think having Julio back today.

What?

There's no need to re-think anything, Andy.

Oderno started on this case, and he should finish it out.

Yes, Mike?

Uh, casings confirm Lisa Lewis and Gary Erwin

were shot with the same gun.

Any hope of finding it?

Hollywood's conducting an article search,

but we have a bigger problem.

The LAPD may have had someone

from these home invasions under surveillance.

- During the murders? - I don't know.

Tell Chief Taylor I would like a briefing.

Hi, you busy?

Ashley's calm enough to talk, but I don't know for how long.

Oh, one second, Amy. Is this important?

Kind of.

Uh... maybe.

Ye... uh, you know what, I'll... I'll wait. I'll wait.

Okay. Andy, if you could come with me?

What the hell is wrong with you?

I want to focus on catching the bad guy,

not be worried the cop next to me is about to explode.

Hey, lieutenant, who's that girl in there?

The daughter of a victim.

She came home from school

to find her mother shot in the head.

Have you found the killer yet?

Well, apparently we've had them under surveillance.

Wh-what's it to you?

Um... just my... my...

My journalism professor rejected my story,

and if I want to be considered for the paper next fall,

I need to submit something new by tomorrow at 6:00 p.m., so...

You cannot report anything that we're doing here.

Not without permission, in writing, from Chief Taylor.

Okay, fine, wow.

What did I do?

Let's start with this morning.

Did anything unusual happen?

Did you see your brother before you left for school?

Uh, he was gone before I got up, but I...

I saw my mom.

Did you talk about anything?

She asked me what I wanted for breakfast,

and... and I said cereal, so she made me oatmeal

before she started getting ready for her clients.

And when does your mom normally leave for work?

She doesn't.

She works from home... Word processing for legal firms.

S-she designs their templates.

Anyone else working for your mom at your house?

No, most of her project managers live in other cities.

Didn't she tell you that?

Uh, Lieutenant Provenza, Lieutenant Tao,

meet Peter Lewis.

Lives across the street from Mr. Erwin.

But, uh, he didn't see anything unusual this morning.

I don't know why anyone would kill the poor old guy.

Hey, I'm not... in any trouble, am I?

No. No, no, no, no, no.

Um, as a matter of fact,

we're in trouble and could use your help.

My help? In what way?

So, you didn't see anything abnormal this morning?

What about last week? Anyone new show up to the house?

New? Like who?

For example, did you change maids

or, uh, gardeners or anything like that?

No, my brother takes care of the lawn,

and w-we don't have any maids or anything like that.

Do you know what your mother kept in her safe?

Um...

Her jewelry, money, a gun,

our birth certificates.

What kind of gun?

I'm not sure. It wasn't hers. It was...

It was my dad's.

And his wedding ring was in the safe.

It's gone.

It's all gone!

Of course, I'm at the gym training people most of the day.

Not worth going home on breaks,

so if any one came by I wouldn't, uh...

Pete! Pete!

Oh, my god, Pete!

- Oh, my god, Pete! - Hey.

- Oh, my god! - Ashley, what's the matter?

They didn't tell you?

Mom's dead, Pete.