Rizzoli & Isles

That's not gonna make her get here any faster.

Maybe not, but it'll prove my point.

Which is...?

Which is if she'd taken Boylston Street like I said,

she would have been here 10 minutes ago.

She may not have the letter.

I went to see the department doctor a week ago.

I was fine then. I'm finer now.

It's just taking them too long to clear me for duty.

Okay, look, I know how badly you really

want to get back to work, but I must admit

that it's been really nice having you here,

and I'm sad that you're leaving.

Me too.

So sad.

You know, you couldn't be happier if I told you that I had

magically turned all the lettuce in the world into beer.

Make it happen. We'll find out.

You should consider buying some luggage.

Everybody thought I was homeless.

Bags don't show dirt. I'll take that.

It's not in ... Ma, is this everything?

Yeah. Look, I understand you're disappointed,

but the doctor must think that you need some more time to heal.

No, I need to go back to my own apartment

and my job so I can feel like a grown woman.

A grown woman who uses garbage bags for luggage.

But I see your point.

Lie down. I'll get you some snacks.

What am I supposed to do all day ...

lay here and dream about a world with no salad?

Oh, you could read magazines, and you could ...

you could just let your mom take care of you.

Okay, but as my best friend and a doctor,

- will you do me one favor? - Anything.

Put me in a medically induced coma.

- I'm going to the market. - Just one little coma.

Is it really too much to ask?

You'd have better luck asking me to give you oxycontin.

Well, can I have some of those, then?

5x10 - Phoenix Rising

Hell of a way to get my attention, Rick.

- Well, thanks for coming, Vince. - As if I had a choice.

I've barely seen you since high school, you tell me you're dying,

and I'm the only one you can trust with your final request.

Well, what can I say? You won the last-request competition.

- Who came in second? - Guy in cellblock "D."

So, listen, Vince, um...

I got six months left... tops.

I don't want to die with my son still thinking that

I set the fire that killed his mother and his sister.

- Hey, I'm a cop, not a hypnotist. - I did not set that fire.

Even if that's true, Rick, you have exhausted all your appeals.

I don't care about the courts. Listen to me.

My son only knows me as this selfish, lying, fall-down drunk.

- That's not who I am anymore. - I'll call him.

See if he'd be willing to come by and say goodbye.

He won't. He doesn't want to hear from me.

After I got locked up, I wrote him a letter a week ...

sometimes two. He never responded.

About three years ago,

the letters started coming back with no forwarding address.

Listen to me, Vince. The only way my son will see me

is if he knows I did not set that fire, which I did not.

I swear it.

Well, you seem like you've gotten your act together in here.

Sometimes, prison does that for people. Write another letter.

I'll find Jason. I'll take it to him myself.

You were the smartest guy in the neighborhood,

and you've been a smart cop for a long time.

Vince, all I'm asking is that you just ... take a look at my case.

Give it two or three hours,

and if you're not convinced, then just walk away.

Don't give it another thought.

I'll take a look.

But no promise about what happens after that.

Thank you.

- She wanted to massage my feet. - Well, that's very nice.

Yes, when I was 3. Now it's just a little weird.

You almost died. She's your mother.

She's just having some kind of a post-traumatic response.

Uh, come in.

Sorry to bother you on a Saturday night.

What a surprise. Thank you.

Barolo 2009. What's the occasion?

Well, I've been looking over a case from awhile back,

and I was hoping you'd be willing to look

at yesterday's science through today's lens.

- How old is old? - Wow. 15 years.

Double homicide, arson.

Rick Sullivan. Mm. Killed his wife and child.

Did you get your medical-release letter yet?

No.

- Sorry. - Oh, Vince, come on.

The department rules are clear ...

no department business until you've

got a doctor's okay to return to duty.

It's a file that I'm reading at hom...

No, someone else's home.

Technically, it's department business.

You were in the drug unit 15 years ago.

This isn't even your case.

No. And I'm annoyed at myself for saying yes I would do it.

But it's hard to tell a dying man to buzz off,

especially if you've known him for 50 years.

You're a very good man, Vince.

Yes. And a bit of a hard-ass

when it comes to some of your closest friends.

It's a day or two. You'll be fine.

I went through the files.

The D.A. had a pretty strong case against him.

Rick was a broke alcoholic, and his wife

had an insurance policy worth 750,000 bucks.

The clincher... is the arson report.

They found acetone on his pants.

It's the same accelerant that was used to start the fire.

When we were kids, Rick would give you the shirt off his back.

He took a lot of hits protecting his sisters from his dad.

If the science says he did it, he did it.

All I promised him was a fair look.

Well, I guess we should get started.

And when I say "we," of course, I mean the two of you

because I'm not cleared for duty, so...

Good luck. Good night.

- Sleep well. - I did not see that coming.

- Thanks for coming in on Sunday. - No problem.

I just figure while Maura's looking at the forensics,

it wouldn't hurt to take another look at the shoe leather.

I was just sitting here for a minute.

Like we talked about ... better than leaving it empty all the time.

Well, the table was pretty packed anyway.

Yeah, where'd that come from?

I brought up the archives in case we needed them.

- Did you know them well? - I never even met the wife.

Saw Rick and his daughter in a park a couple times.

- A cute kid. - Yeah.

So I've been through the interviews with Rick.

Over five days, he never once changed his story.

He said he got drunk and blacked out like most nights,

came to coughing up smoke in the yard.

The son, Jason, was lucky that tree was right outside

- his bedroom window. - I doubt it felt lucky at the time.

Yeah. Were you able to track him down?

He's married with a baby. They live in Dedham.

- You gonna talk to him? - Not unless we find something.

The kid's been through enough. If we don't get traction,

we're gonna do this for one day. That's it.

We're not looking to overturn a conviction here ...

just looking for doubt.

- Maura wants to talk to me. - Well, I'm all set here.

I'll let you know if I find anything.

All right, I was thinking about going over to Rudy's

and picking up your favorite pastrami sandwich.

- Uh-huh. - Hello?

I mean, I usually mention Rudy's,

and you're at the front door with car keys in your teeth.

What are you doing, Ma?

Just wondering what's grabbed your attention.

Uh... I was just reading this fascinating article ...

"10 ways to please my man

and make him happy as a clam... with a candle."

- Well, that's a new one. - It's fascinating stuff.

Huh. The candle or the clam?

I'm sorry. What ... you were saying something before?

Yeah, um...

I was gonna go to Rudy's and pick us up some sandwiches.

Oh, really? Yeah.

I ... that sounds great. I'd love that.

All right. I'll be back in a bit.

- Thanks. - Least I could do. So?

So, I looked over everything.

The burn pattern and depth of charring indicate a fire that burned

unusually hot, so I took another look at the victims' autopsies.

M.E. said they died of smoke inhalation.

Well, in 1999, that was the catchall term

used to describe inhalation-type death,

but five years ago, a study out of Johns Hopkins demonstrated that

some S.I. cases are actually deaths from breathing superheated air.

- How hot is superheated? - It instantly sears your airways,

causing death long before smoke and flame.

What does this mean for Rick?

The fire in the Sullivan home was too hot to be caused by acetone alone.

The arson unit determined that acetone was the only fire accelerant,

and the D.A.'s case hinged on that point.

They were wrong.

- I thought you'd be more pleased. - Oh, I'm...

I guess I was pretty sure I'd be walking away from this.

Well, my findings do not absolutely exclude Rick as a suspect.

No, but it's enough to make me glad

I didn't tell him I wouldn't help him.

Thanks. I'm sure Rick would say thank you if he could.

Well, I'm glad, but I'm doing this for you.

I have confirmed these are the most up-to-date lists on

flash points and flame temperatures for flammable chemicals.

Great. I'm ready to get started.

Well, thank you for doing this on the weekend.

I really do need your expertise to run this fire-simulation program.

No problem. I'd much rather be here than at home

being mad at myself for not going sightseeing.

Using the crime-scene photos, I created a digital