High Potential

Okay.

Well, hello, sunshine.

Hi.

You gonna tell me why you're in such a good mood?

-Or do I have to ask? -Oh, my goodness.

Thank you so much for noticing.

No big deal. Just, any moment, Robert from HR

is going to walk through these doors and hand me my very own badge.

You're excited about your ID badge?

Training wheels are coming off, buddy.

Mmm. I'm not so sure.

Mmm. I'm pretty sure about that.

-First the LAPD mug-- -Actually, that's mine.

And now, my very own badge.

Uh, your vote of confidence is not lost on me.

But nobody panic, I don't plan on rooting around

in the evidence locker too much.

Well, that's good, because your ID badge

does not provide access to said evidence locker.

-Sure about that? -Mm-hmm.

Let me get back to you. Bob. Bob's here.

-Can I call you Bob? -No.

Sign here, please.

Coming right at me with the fine print.

That's "Use of service, limitation of liability, dispute resolution--"

You need to sign for the badge.

You know what, Robert?

I will make you a deal, okay?

I won't sign that, but what I will do is take my badge.

-Yep. There she goes. -You--

-She can't-- -She did.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm I'm fine.

You ever have one of those days

where you just feel like you're losing your mind?

Are there other kinds of days?

What's going on?

It's my girls. Their father was supposed to drop them off last night,

but he never showed up.

I call, I text.

I thought maybe they would be at his house, but

I just wanna know they're okay. But

But you have a bad feeling?

I thought I'd come in here and try to get it together

before I talk to the detectives.

And my dad's on his way.

I'm probably just overreacting, right?

I think

that wherever your girls are, we're gonna find 'em.

Mia, when's the last time you saw your daughters?

Yesterday, when Wendell picked them up.

He's my ex-husband.

You should've never agreed to shared custody

before the divorce was finalized.

Dad, he's their father.

He has a right to see them.

You guys went camping at Mount Baldy?

Yes, last summer. Wendell took us.

That was right before we split.

Was there a reason for the split?

Wendell started reading about everything going on with the planet.

The temperatures rising, icebergs melting. Deforestation.

Loss of biodiversity, industrial waste, ocean acidification.

You sound just like him.

Yeah. What Mia is too nice to say is that Wendell became a radical.

A radical?

Yeah. He became obsessed with environmentalism.

Look, I'm all for electric cars and composting,

but you know, he just took it too far.

He wanted Mia and the girls to live completely off-grid.

Told Ellie and Paige that everything was poisoned. Water, food

I mean, these are kids we're talking about here.

He's not a monster.

The man decided to grow a garden rather than take care of his own family.

Wendell and I had a small online business,

but you kinda need to be on the grid for that.

Thankfully, my father was able to help.

She moved in with us.

Did Wendell ever talk about taking the girls out of the city?

All the time. He bought a cabin out in Upland.

Said he wanted to become one with nature, live off the land--

Could we stop talking now and start looking for my granddaughters?

Mr. Ashford, we cannot put out an Amber Alert

until the girls have been missing for at least 24 hours.

What we can do is issue a BOLO for Wendell's car

and we can visit the home.

Mia, do you think there's any chance he might harm them?

I honestly don't know.

State Department says Wendell Dunn applied for two minor passports

last month for Ellie and Paige.

If the guy got his dream house in the country do we really believe he'd leave it behind?

He might've if he thought he was about to lose custody.

According to this report from Child Protective Services,

Wendell was found to be unstable and could be a danger to his daughters.

All right. Call TSA, and check flight manifests and border crossings.

Maybe he wanted to take these girls out of more than just the city.

-I'll go check his house. -Don't forget Morgan.

Oh, how could I?

-Can I be totally honest? -Please.

I've only worked here for a couple weeks,

but I've studied the people in this building closely.

I know that pit in your stomach's not going anywhere

until your girls are back,

but I promise you, you're in good hands.

-Make sure she eats something. -Of course.

Gillory. Field trip.

We're going to Wendell Dunn's house.

Well, look at this. Solar panels, rain barrels, compost bin.

This Wendell guy really is an eco warrior, huh?

Oh, no. Do you see this?

Ellie was holding this in one of the pictures I saw.

And it was a professional photo, which means it's probably her favorite.

So she wouldn't have left it behind unless she didn't have a choice.

No. She wouldn't.

Hello?

Mr. Dunn?

Detective Karadec, LAPD.

Guy cans his own jam.

Who knows what he's capable of?

All clear.

Mr. Dunn must've left in a hurry, huh?

Maybe. My kids don't love clearing their plates under any circumstances.

Mm-hmm.

A greenhouse.

Well, he's got peppers and zucchini.

Malabar spinach, cucamelon, perilla.

I get it. You know your vegetables.

Most of those are fruits, thank you very much.

-Ah. -Elliot went through

a bit of a permaculture phase last summer.

I'll leave the gardening to you guys. Not really my thing.

Come on, Morgan, the clock's ticking.

Wendell planted cucumbers and tomatoes next to each other?

Are you critiquing our suspect's garden now?

Cucumbers and tomatoes are not companion plants.

Wendell would never plant them side by side.

They compete for the same nutrients,

they have completely different watering needs.

Which might explain why they're not thriving.

Okay. Are you saying that you think

Wendell made a mistake in the way that he arranged this garden?

No, he wouldn't do that. You saw how he lives.

These haven't even rooted yet.

What're you saying, Morgan?

I think this space was empty

until Wendell moved all these plants in here within the last few days.

You just said that he would never do that.

Yeah, he wouldn't. Unless he had a reason. Something to hide.

Or someone.

Wendell didn't have anything to hide.

Someone else did.

Him.

Come on. Sniff. Sniff.

Good boy. Good.

Looks like cause of death was a blow to the back of the head.

-And that's our murder weapon? -Indeed.

Medical examiner thinks Wendell died sometime in the last 12 hours.

Have them rush autopsy and tool mark analysis just to make sure.

If whoever killed Wendell kidnapped those girls,

they could be halfway across the country.

-No sign of the girls anywhere? -No.

We didn't see disturbed soil anywhere else on the property,

so I think the girls were taken alive.

And now our primary suspect is dead.

Mm-hmm.

If the girls saw their father murdered,

it's possible that the killer's holding them to keep them quiet.

Or the killer came for the girls and the dad got in the way.

- Hey. - Anything door-to-door?

No. The neighbors are too far to have heard or seen anything.

So, I went to the café where Wendell sells veggies.

The owner saw him in an argument with a woman yesterday.

-You got a name? -Only a description.

She's 30s, long red hair, glasses.

Maybe Wendell got a new girlfriend.

I don't know about that. The guy's still wearing his wedding ring.

Like that ever stopped anybody.

Check this out.

Morgan found this photo hidden in Wendell's survivalist handbook.

Maybe it's his parents?

-Find out. -Okay.

I'll see if Mia's family knows a woman who fits the description.

Hold on.

You put out an Amber Alert for the girls 30 minutes ago.

I did.

You know all Amber Alerts go through me.

-Why'd you break protocol? -Every second counts.

-She's rubbing off on you. -Who?

Who do you think?

You all right?

"Don't wait for the crisis to arrive. Assume it's already here.

'Cause what we do by choice today may be a necessity tomorrow."

That man just wanted his girls to be prepared for anything.

There's nothing in this book that can teach you

how to survive losing your father.

Yeah. There's nothing that can prepare you for that.

You guys see those fresh tire tracks out there?

We're trying to determine the type of vehicle.

Good.

Because if Ellie and Paige were taken by a stranger and not a family member,