The Closer

Previously on The Closer...

Just got an advanced copy

of the department's new organizational chart.

You will be directing all of your inquiries

to new Assistant Chief Russell Taylor.

Chief Johnson

did Major Crimes investigate the murders

of an elderly convenience-store owner

and his 8-year-old grandson, referred to as the

"Shootin' Newton" murders?

What is this about?

Turell's mother has filed a civil suit against the city,

the L.A.P.D., Chief Pope, yourself,

and every member of your division

for the wrongful death of Turell Baylor.

How about I just quit?

Then I'll tie this lawsuit around your neck

and tell the city attorney

that whatever happened to Turell Baylor was a consequence

of your own personal actions.

Chief! Chief!

Chief, you okay? Chief!

This is Deputy Chief Johnson, Major Crimes.

Got an officer down. Repeat -- we have an officer down!

The Closer 7x02 Repeat Offender Original Air Date on July 18, 2011

== sync, corrected by elderman ==

During his years of service,

Chief Thomas Delk embodied the core values of the L.A.P.D. --

to serve and protect.

The aneurysm that cut short his life

has also robbed us of his vision

for our city's future in law enforcement.

Chief Delk was a family man,

and he brought the same level of commitment and dedication

to his second family, the L.A.P.D.

And I know he would agree that in our interim chief,

the torch has passed to a worthy leader,

one who will guide us through this next

and even more difficult transition.

Chief William Pope.

Will?

Today is not about our future purpose,

but our present loss

and the too-short life of a 30-year veteran of the L.A.P.D.

The king is dead.

Yeah. Long live the Pope.

I had the privilege of working closely with Chief Delk

during the few months of his too-short tenure.

On behalf of the department...

and the city, I offer Tommy's wife, Nicole,

and his sons, Carlton and Tommy Jr.,

our deepest condolences.

Brothers and sisters, let us pray.

How long you think the commander's

gonna stare into that grave?

You guys might want to consider putting Taylor on suicide watch.

Delk was his only way up. Poor guy.

Yeah, it's a real tragedy.

Flynn, lend me a hanky.

Major Crimes. Detective Gabriel.

Uh, Chief Pope?

Listen, I would have told you

the mayor appointed me interim chief,

but I just found out myself

in the car on the way from the church.

So, I-I guess this means that Commander Taylor

is not going to be assistant chief?

That'd be a pretty good guess. Yeah.

Budget savings, anyway, in my keeping both positions.

So we're back to normal?

Well, as long as there's the word "interim" in front "chief,"

I need to move carefully.

But eventually, yeah. A-and what about, uh,

Captain Raydor's investigation into Major Crimes,

the "Shootin' Newton" case?

is that over, too?

Chief? Uh, one second.

Yeah.

Chief? We caught a murder.

Chief? Murder?

Yes, Detective. Murder.

Where? Over here, Chief!

How'd y'all get here so fast?

Did you take the freeway? Sepulveda.

Anyway, about an hour ago,

officers responded to a 911 call from inside the house.

When they entered, they found the victim --

female, early 20s -- dead for days.

Who called this in?

That would be the homeowners, Daniel and Emily Dixon.

That's their son, Jesse.

They just returned from vacation

to find their home burglarized and their house-sitter dead.

The, um, victim's name is Ashley Reed.

She was found by Mrs. Dixon.

Uh, excuse me, uh, Detective?

Oh, uh, no. Um, sorry, Mr. Dixon.

The person that you'd be looking for --

I'm Deputy Chief Johnson.

Mr. Dixon, would you mind telling me what y'all did

when you first got home?

Did you touch anything?

No, no. Um, I don't know.

Like I told the officer,

my, uh, son just graduated from high school.

We took him to Hawaii for 10 days, uh, got back.

He was getting the bags out of the car,

and I heard my wife scream.

I ran in, and, uh, and I saw Ashley.

Ashley was your house-sitter?

She wasn't just a house-sitter.

Her mother and I are best friends since college.

I've known Ashley since she was a baby.

She was family.

Oh, my God. This is my fault.

- It's not your fault. - I'm the one who asked her to stay!

Oh, my God.

Ashley's family's all in Chicago.

What am I gonna tell her mother?

Better let us deal with that, ma'am.

Um, I'm gonna look inside now,

but if you could keep talking to, uh, Lieutenant Provenza here

about Ashley, we'd like to learn everything we can.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

I'm... Please don't be mad at...

I put a blanket over here.

I just... couldn't stand the thought

of anybody seeing Ashley like that.

Okay, Buzz. Come on. Let's go upstairs.

Was it the fall that killed her?

Her neck's broken, but anything else I can't say for sure.

There's a lot of decomp.

She's been dead a good four or five days.

She's practically naked.

Her shirt's torn.

Any sign of sexual assault?

Hard to tell on a body in this condition.

You'll have to ask the doctor.

Yeah, that's her. Ashley Reed.

Got her Illinois driver's license

and her student I.D. from USC.

I also found her cellphone in a suitcase full of clothes

in the downstairs guest room.

What was she doing upstairs?

Wow.

This is worse than the master bedroom.

Well, he is a teenager.

Some of this mess is probably from before the break-in.

But, look, flat-screen TV is still here.

So is the stereo. And the Xbox.

If this is what they left behind...

...What did they take?

Cell?

Yeah. Battery's dead.

Not a problem.

No sign of forced entry, Chief.

Well, if it wasn't a break-in,

who would Ashley open the door for dressed like this?

The, uh, Dixons' story seems legit.

They showed me their plane tickets to Maui,

and then I had them open up those fancy suitcases.

And did you see those sunburns?

I mean, guess they never heard of skin cancer.

Let's just make sure that they weren't here

during the time of the murder,

so check the airports and the hotel in Maui.

Chief, the house has definitely been picked over,

but they didn't bother with the big-ticket items.

Maybe they were interrupted.

I don't know, Chief.

This burglary looks really amateur.

Yeah, so, maybe somebody rapes Ashley,

throws her over the rail, and then just staged the scene.

I got Ashley's phone working.

The last few days,

she's received lots of the same text messages.

"Where are you?"

However, the last messages she replied to were sent --

Five days ago?

Exactly.

4:30 p.m. from A. Banks, "Pick you up at 6:30?"

To which Ashley replied, "great."

And then at 9:14 p.m., another one from A. Banks.

"How was bedtime?"

Ashley wrote back, "all is well.

Kids are asleep. Have fun."

So, she was house-sitting here

and babysitting somewhere else.

Okay, so, we have a phone number for an A. Banks.

Can we get an address?

Mrs. Banks?

Good morning. I'm Deputy Chief --

Oh, God. What happened?

Is it Alex?

Alex? Is that your husband?

Yes. Yes. Was there an accident?

Uh, no, ma'am. Sorry to alarm you.

We just want to ask you a few questions about Ashley Reed.

Ashley? She's one of Alex's students.