High Potential

Bunny... ...I want this on camera.

I have something important to say.

All right, Dad. I'm recording.

There's a secret I've been keeping for ten years,

and I need to get it off my chest.

Dad.

Let me say this, Son.

It's time the truth came out.

Thanksgiving.

Ten years ago.

It was me.

I killed Barry.

Grandpa. No.

When you all were in bed,

I waited for Barry at the top of the basement stairs,

and I pushed him to his death.

And then, I moved his body into the sauna,

hoping that it would all be written off as an accident.

That's not true, darling.

It is true. And it's time I admit it.

Morgan Gillory, LAPD.

Freeze. Morgan Gillory, Major Crimes.

It worked. You're frozen.

Give me that. Where did you get this?

Checkout at the Dollar Store.

Turns out anyone can be a cop if you wait in line long enough.

Chloe couldn't resist.

There should be a law against these things.

That's what I was about to say. It's an absolute outrage.

Why is Jon down here with Melon? He never comes to this floor.

I have no idea.

Top of the morning to ya, Selena.

Melon, Detective Jon. What can I do for you gentlemen?

Celebrate with us.

We closed a cold case this morning.

- Which one? - We got a confession

on the Bucket Lane Murder.

Who confessed?

The guy Captain and I thought did it.

The old man came clean on his deathbed.

He brought champagne.

Maybe Lieutenant's getting promoted.

Mm-mmm. Melon wouldn't ride along for that.

This is a big win.

Some detectives never catch their white whale.

He's right. Enjoy your champagne.

Who has the good scotch?

Morgan Gillory, Liquor Patrol.

-How did you get that back? -They come in a two-pack.

Lieutenant, what was that about?

The Bucket Lane Murder.

George Donovan confessed on his deathbed.

A decade later?

Bucket Lane Murder.

Sounds familiar, but the details are fuzzy.

Morgan Gillory is fuzzy on the details?

It was in the news for months. Were you living under a rock in 2014?

Sorry. Sorry.

Ooh, whoops.

I would've killed for a rock to live under.

It was murder in a mansion? Or something about a sauna?

Melon and I were junior detectives.

He liked George for it.

I had reservations. George beat the case.

But he confesses now?

Now I need to know the whole story.

Follow me.

Day after Thanksgiving 2014,

Heather Donovan's husband, Barry Johnson,

was murdered in the family home.

The housekeeper found him in the sauna,

slow-cooked like Texas barbecue.

The family assumed that Barry fell asleep

during his nightly shvitz.

But the autopsy revealed cause of death to be a broken neck.

He was dead before he went into the sauna.

Yeah, the theory was the killer pushed Barry down the stairs,

breaking his neck,

then placed him in the sauna to cover up the crime.

Hoping it'd be written off as an intoxicated man passing out

and dehydrating in there.

Lenore, George's wife, said

she saw Barry heading to the basement in his robe

shortly after midnight.

That's the last time anyone saw him alive.

Everyone's in bed and claimed not to have heard anything,

but a drop of Barry's blood was found on one of George's shirts

stuffed in the laundry hamper.

This is why he ended up in the defendant's chair.

I thought it was a weak case, but the DA ran with it.

Ultimately, there wasn't enough to convict

because of the coke dealer.

There's a coke dealer too?

Billy Ross.

He's dead now. He was pulled over for running a stop sign

shortly after midnight in his gold 442,

five blocks from the murder.

And Barry had cocaine in his system.

The defense presented this far-fetched theory

that Billy Ross broke into the house,

killed Barry after a drug deal gone wrong

when we never found any proof

that Billy Ross was ever even at the house.

George got off, but Melon always believed he was the killer.

Why didn't you?

Gut instinct. It just didn't add up.

George was well-liked.

He never had any history of violence.

He was a philanthropist.

He was a bigwig at the chamber of commerce.

He spearheaded that whole affordable housing initiative.

So he didn't seem like a murderer.

That was part of it.

I also didn't buy that a 70-something-year-old man

with a hip replacement could carry Barry into the sauna.

Well, Barry was a little guy though.

Still.

So what's your gut say now?

The aftermath of the crime has been brutal on the Donovans.

They used to be the most well-respected family

in Beverly Hills for their ties to politics

and a charity for domestic violence victims in their name.

And suddenly overnight,

half of America believes one of them has to be a murderer.

Now George confesses to the crime?

I think he did it to clear his family.

He wanted them to be able to lead normal lives.

Who do you think did it?

I don't know.

Thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane.

Yeah.

Sure you don't want me to track down that scotch?

No. But there's something you can do for me.

Every cop has that one case they can't get out of their head,

and this one's mine.

I regret not following my gut ten years ago.

Why didn't you?

I let Melon talk me out of going deeper on my hunch.

I felt like I had to toe the line,

be one of the boys for the sake of my career.

I am embarrassed I let that happen.

Mind seeing if there's something we missed?

On it, boss.

How do they keep their backsplash so clean?

Oh. Ooh. No, no. No, no.

Yes.

Lieutenant,

you were right.

George Donovan did not push his son-in-law down the stairs.

In fact, no one did.

First of all, Barry was not killed on the basement stairs.

Barry was killed in the common bathroom upstairs.

So what then?

The killer carried Barry's dead body

all the way down to the sauna?

Not exactly.

Let me take you back to the Donovan mansion

the night of the murder.

We find the killer walking down the upstairs hallway.

He or she passes the bathroom

and hears Barry showering inside.

Showering wasn't in the file.

Are... Are you gonna interrupt the whole time?

-I just got going. -My bad.

The killer finds Barry vulnerable in the shower.

He or she looks around...

and spots a hair dryer and thinks,

"You know what can pass as a heart attack in an autopsy?"

An electrocution.

So that's that for Barry.

But... now the electrical outlet's on fire.

So the killer freaks out 'cause, you know, flames.

But mostly because now there's evidence of a murder.

So, the wallpaper-covered faceplate is scorched.

And that's not good, but it's a problem for later because...

First, it's time to move the body.

Now remember, the guy only weighed about 150 pounds.

So...

down the laundry chute he goes.

- The laundry chute? - Mm-hmm.

That's how he got down to the basement?

It sure is.

It's also how he broke his neck.

And it's how Barry's blood ended up on George's shirt.

And then what?

Then the killer rolls Barry's body to the sauna.

He carefully props him up,

places an empty wine bottle next to him...

and cooks him to perfection.

And that is how Barry Johnson met his maker.

I get it. You're still processing.

It's okay. It's all very exciting.

Let me show you some evidence.

Every single inch of this house was photographed.

Remember that scorched wall plate I was talking about?

Right there.

Yeah, but it's not scorched though.

But it's plain.

All the other outlets are covered in wallpaper.

There, there and there.