The Closer

The Closer 7x08 A Family Affair Original Air Date on August 29, 2011

== sync, corrected by elderman ==

That's it.

Thank you.

Gave us a visitor's pass.

Stop! Eyes left!

Man, I hate being in here.

And without a gun, too.

Ray Diamond?

I'm Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson. This is Detective Gabriel.

It's about time you showed up.

Why? Did you have other plans for the evening?

Where's your attorney, Mr. Diamond?

Yeah, I'm pro per.

You're representing yourself?

Which means I can spend all day in the law library if I want to,

which is where everyone thinks I am right now.

Come on, let's get this thing started!

That's an excellent idea. What do you have to tell us?

Okay, I got some information on a murder-for-hire,

which I'm willing to give up in exchange

for the D.A. dropping his third strike against me.

So, go get my deal, come on back...

tell you everything I know.

Are you crazy? We just got here.

Did you hear the clanging on the pipes when y'all walked in here?!

Bing bang bingity-bang?

Whole joint knows you're in the house.

What's gonna happen when they find out

that I'm the person talking to you?

What happens to me then?

Have you already been attacked by your fellow prisoners?

Your face looks like a mess.

No, no, I got that when y'all arrested me.

That was the toughest bust I ever took.

That was a stupid car chase.

No, I'm safe for now.

You all better hurry, get the D.A. back here with a deal,

'cause, believe me, it's worth it.

Mr. Diamond, this evening already ranks

as one of the low points of my life.

I'm not coming back.

If you've got something to tell me and you want my help,

go ahead, fascinate me.

Maybe you can start with the victim

in this murder-for-hire.

Who was it?

Not "Who was the victim?" Man. "Who is."

I'm talking about stopping a murder from happening.

We're listening.

See, whenever I come back here,

I'm a trustee, which means I get to move around a lot.

One day, I'm spooning chili in the mess hall.

Next day, I'm mopping floors in high-power.

See, everybody knows me, or knows of me.

And I can get visitors,

which means if you need to get word out to the street

to someone, I'm a go-to guy.

So, last night, I get a kite to pass on.

And because it's from this powerful cat,

I take a look...

And I read the message...

Ordering a hit on the outside.

And it all goes down tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Okay, let me see this kite.

No, I had to let it fly, baby.

You knowingly passed on orders for a murder?

If I hadn't, I'd be dead myself already that's the hand to God!

Okay, all right, who's the target?

A D.A. and a deal --

that's what I want --

on paper, legitimate.

Mr. Diamond, it's interesting you use the word "legitimate."

I've been studying your jacket,

and you have been convicted of perjury twice --

the last time,

for providing false information about a homicide.

And here you are now --

having violated your parole and facing a third strike --

and suddenly you've got a story about another murder?

I know. You want a show of good faith, right?

All right, I'm gonna give you something to whet your beak,

but y'all better hurry,

'cause you only got till tomorrow.

The murder has something to do with...

Case number BA120368.

Look it up.

BA120368.

BA120368.

It's a case before the Superior Court --

California vs. a Robert Curtis.

He's the alleged banker

for the Garcia drug cartel's American operations.

Mr. Curtis is facing so many counts of money laundering,

he could go to jail for the rest of his life,

or he could be cooperating with the D.A.

Which would explain why the cartel would want him dead.

But this, uh -- this Diamond guy,

who, by all accounts, is a pathological liar,

is in jail, where this might all be common knowledge.

What makes you think he's not just looking for a likely target

and trying to game the system again?

Mr. Diamond gave his case number from memory.

Doesn't that at least warrant a follow-up?

We've been working through the night,

trying to prevent a murder --

All right, who's prosecuting this,uh, banker guy, uh,, Mr. Curtis?

DDA Hobbs.

Great. You know Hobbs. Call her. Give her the information.

Between the D.A.'s office and the sheriff's department,

they have plenty of resources to take over this investigation.

Why would they take over the investigation?

Because what happens in jail

is the sheriff's problem, not ours.

But this case was brought directly to the L.A.P.D.

Yeah, by a snitch in the county jail,

with information about a county case,

looking to make a deal with the county prosecutor.

County, county, county.

Chief, sir, with all due respect,

Ray Diamond took a huge risk reaching out to us last night.

We promised him that we would follow up.

Which you will do by telling DDA Hobbs all about it.

Look, I'll share a secret with you.

The city and the L.A.P.D. are broke, out of money.

Now, if this snitch had come to you in our jurisdiction,

it would be different, but he didn't, so it's not.

He is physically and financially the problem

of the district attorney of the county of Los Angeles,

to whom Major Crimes will immediately

hand off this investigation.

Chief, we have updates on the Ray Diamond case.

As a trustee, Diamond has access to all parts of the jail,

including high--

including high-power,

where at least six known associates

of the Garcia cartel are housed.

High-power detainees don't get phone calls,

and they don't get out-of-cell time,

so they would use a guy like Diamond

to get their messages out.

Uh, Captain, Ray Diamond is a prisoner

that we're holding in county.

Here's his jacket. Good.

The L.A.P.D. and the FBI

have been investigating the Garcias for years.

They're like Dirtbag, Inc. And it's not just drugs.

They traffic in people and guns, and they're really rich.

That's where the banker, Robert Curtis, comes into play.

According to this indictment,

it was his responsibility to manage all the cartel's money.

Yeah, he probably set himself up a great pension plan.

You're not too far off, Lieutenant.

The Garcias do run the cartel like a major corporation,

and they have themselves subpoenaed

from all over the prison system to the L.A. county jail,

where they have these board-of-directors meetings.

And it looks to us like your, uh, banker, Robert Curtis,

had sole control over their American finances.

Now, if he's looking to make a deal,

we could use his testimony to help track and confiscate

the cartel's money worldwide.

Okay, so, we have a Garcia cartel

board-of-directors meeting going on right now

in L.A. county jail's high-power.

Okay, so they must have heard

that the banker's turning against them.

So they send out the order to kill him

with a kite they pass through Ray Diamond.

Where's Mr. Curtis right now?

In an undisclosed location.

And his hearing isn't listed on the Trial Court Information System.

probably because it's sequestered for his own protection.

So he is making a deal.

Well, Chief, your snitch is starting to look a little more credible.

What?

What's the matter?

Well, according to Chief Pope, this is the county's case.

He just wants us to hand over all our information

to DDA Hobbs and let her just run the show.

Captain Raydor? Chief Johnson?

- I have a complaint. - When have you not?

In our interview with Mr. Diamond,

he said that, after leading the police on a car chase,

he was beaten before he was arrested.

Come on, Chief, Diamond probably dumped the car

at some point and tried to run away.

When you tackle a suspect like that, there's bound to be --

Lieutenant Flynn, this bruise underneath his eye

and the cut on his forehead indicate

a possible categorical use of force by the L.A.P.D.

And, you know, Ray did say

that this was his toughest bust ever.

I think that I should go to county jail

and interview Mr. Diamond immediately.

And while you're taking his complaint,

would you please let him know

that I am in communication with DDA Hobbs?

Great.