All language subtitles for Law And Order Toronto s02e01 White Squirrel City.eng

[narrator]: In Toronto's war
on crime,

the worst offenders
are pursued by the detectives

of the Specialized Criminal
Investigations Unit.

These are their stories.

[echoing gavel]

- Hey yo, Mick!
What's good, man?

Got an extra sandwich
if you want it.

Jonah says he's gluten-free,
so it's yours.

- Thank you, my man. I love it.
- Shut up, just... okay?

Go do some meth, you bitch.
- Hey, no.

Give me back my phone, Roger.
- I don't have it.

- I know you took, I saw you.

- That's a lie, you dumb bitch.

- He went into my tent
and he took my phone.

- Okay, can you just give it
back, man?

- Go to hell, Mick.

[grunts]

Mick, what are you doing?
Bitch owes me money, man.

- Roger! She is not a bitch,
so stop calling her that.

- Why?
'cause you're screwin' her?

A little meth head
and her sugar daddy?

What a joke.
- Okay, you know what?

One more strike,
and you are out on your ass.

All you gotta do is just
keep the peace,

keep your side of the street
clean or you're outta here.

- Got you a sandwich, Ruthie.
- Thanks, Mick.

- Friend or foe?
- They're all plants, Dad.

- Yeah, okay. Well,
this one's been hanging out

in my alyssum,
pretty sure it's a weed.

What are you doing there, bud?

[gasps]

Where'd you get this from?

- The park.

- Okay. Nate, go inside
right now.

[car horn honking]

Hey!

Hey!

Do you know anything about this?

'Cause my seven-year-old
just found it here.

Right across the street
from my house.

- Alright, I'm sorry about that.

- There were never needles
in this park

before you guys showed up.
- I'm sorry about that!

- My son used to play here
all day long.

Nobody was frightened, nobody
was tripping over garbage,

nobody was getting
hassled for money.

- Hey. Hey, Ward, take a beat.

We're all citizens,
we're all neighbours here.

- This guy's not my neighbour.
He's a squatter, and a pervert.

And I want him the hell
out of my park!

Get that camera out of my face.

- Five, six, seven, eight.

? I'm like a bird
I'll only fly away ?

? I don't know where
my soul is ?

? I don't know
where my home is ?

? And baby all I need... ?

- Go in again, babe.
- Mom, c'mon. It's fine.

- No, Ava. It's not fine, okay?

If I'm gonna stop working
nights on set,

we need paid endorsements, okay?

We have to crack
10,000 followers,

which means we gotta be tight.

- My God, hashtag,
"mother-daughter BFFs,"

hashtag, "Moves Like Jagger."

It's like, oh my God, Mom,
it's so phoney.

- Okay, then. That's fine.

- Mom.
- No, Ava.

We have been through
hell together.

You and me,
against the world.

You know, I just wanna show 'em
what we're made of.

Whatever, it's fine.

- Mom, stop. It's okay.
Let's go again.

[chiming]

- Leila, I need a hand.

You can't just sit there
all day.

[sighs]

- Hey.

What are you drinking?

- My own damn business, why?

- Can I have some?

- No, but I'm happy
to draw your picture,

if you like.

- I already know
what I look like.

[chuckling]

[dog barking]

- It's on the house.

- Hyuh!
- Ugh!

[grunting]

- What are you doing?!

Stop it!

[grunting]

[theme music]

- Eh, it's hot as hell out here.

But I guess that's Toronto
in June for you.

So yeah, it was just
another Monday morning,

I was riding through the park.

I thought it was gonna be
a good day.

- Sorry for your loss.

- We get a name?
- Mick McCarthy,

lives out here in the park.
I'm guessing he's homeless.

- It's "unhoused,"
that's the word

we're using these days.
It's a basic combat knife.

About 30 bucks, standard issue.

Every army surplus store
in town's going to have

a few of those lying around.

- Who found the body?

- Uh, another
"unhoused" person,

Ruth Pearson. She was over
near what's left of his tent.

- I'm guessing it burned down,

you can smell the gasoline
from here.

- Yeah.

- Unlike this,
it smells like iced tea.

- Which one's Ruth?

[echoing gavel]

- She's right over there.
- Thank you.

Ruth Pearson.

I understand you found
the deceased body this morning.

- Yes.
- I take it he was your friend.

- He was everyone's friend,
he was the mayor.

- What do you mean "mayor"?

- Mayor of White Squirrel City.

[chuckling]
That's what everyone called him.

- White Squirrel City, is that
some kind of inside joke?

- No, it's just stupid.

There's a bunch of albino
squirrels who live in the park.

So what?
Makes the boss of a bunch

of freak show rodents?
- Roger's just pissed

because Mick wanted him out.

Told him to clean up his garbage
or get out.

- Fake news. Mick's a perv.

He was hitting on Shauna.

I was just looking out for her.

- Uh, Shauna?
Do you know where Shauna is now?

- I dunno. I haven't seen her.

- Where you going?
- Everyone wants me to leave,

so I'm leaving.
- I don't want you to leave,

Roger, because I'm pretty sure
you set fire to Mick's tent.

You wiped the gasoline
off your fingers,

and that's too bad,
because it never really

comes out of leather.

But Mick wasn't in his tent.

So now I'm thinking
that you found him

elsewhere in the park,
beat the crap out of him

and stabbed him
with a combat knife.

- I didn't stab anyone!

- Okay.
So why'd you torch his tent?

- Maybe somebody paid me.

[echoing gavel]

- They're living right across
the street from me.

They're doing drugs,
defecating everywhere.

Scaring the kids,
scaring the homeowners.

- I get it, I do. I mean,

you must have paid what,
2.8 million dollars

to live on this park?
- 2.84, but yeah, exactly.

What's the city doing about it?

- Agreed.
I mean, you should feel

safe in your own backyard.

I don't blame you
for taking matters

into your own hands.

Cut off the head
of the snake, right?

- Sir, a kid from the park
told us

that you gave him 100 bucks
to burn Mick McCarthy's tent.

- No. No, I gave that kid
100 bucks

out of the goodness of my heart.
- Right.

Yeah, you seem very sympathetic
to the plight of the unhoused.

- I hope you got a receipt.

- Mr. Kondas, six people saw you

fighting with
Mr. McCarthy yesterday.

- Yeah, we had words.

Right after I found
my seven-year-old

playing with a needle.
- Was it Mick's needle?

- I don't know
whose needle it was,

but I do know Mick's the guy
who brought the tents here

three months ago, and I'm pretty
sure he's a pervert.

He's always sitting down there,
drinking from a flask,

sketching young women
as they walk by.

- He got what he deserved.
- What are you talking about?

- Turns out Mick was found dead
in the park this morning.

Stabbed to death.
That's pretty clear

you had strong feelings
about the man.

- That's absurd.
I didn't kill anyone.

I'm an investment banker,
for God's sake.

- Ward's story checks out.

He and his kid were at
his parents' horse farm

in Caledon last night.
- I pity the horses.

- Yeah. Well, at least we got
him and Roger for arson,

maybe they can be cellmates.

- Poor guy.
Hard life, hard death.

Lots of old injuries,
but I guess that's life

on the street for you.

What?

- Oh, it's just...
It's not like you.

- My brother's unhoused.

Lives under the Gardiner.

Won't take his meds,
won't take my help.

Breaks my heart.

Mick McCarthy, 44,
multiple contusions

and abrasions on the head
and torso indicating-

- Multiple assailants.
- Correct.

The victim was attacked,
beaten, rendered senseless,

but cause of death
was external exsanguination

as the result of a deep
penetrating wound to his liver.

Wound matches the knife,
no surprise there.

What is a surprise,
Ident got prints off the knife.

Obviously,
prints aren't on file.

I would have led with that.

- Any drugs or alcohol
in his system?

- No. Calling time of death
around midnight, give or take.

- It's a little early
for decomposition.

Compressed charcoal?

- Yes. Actually, artist's grade.

How did you know that?
- There's a sketchbook

found on the scene.
- Clearly our man liked to draw.

[Middle Eastern music]

[man]: Miss? Excuse me?

- Nice fit, loser.
You look like a bucket.

[phone buzzing]

[ringing]

- Inventory from the park.
You want flask or sketchbook?

- Dealer's choice.

- Your forensics came back.
You were right,

nothing but iced tea in them.

- "Happy Father's Day. XO, J."

Maybe he was holding on to this
for sentimental reasons.

- Yeah. But there's no
next of kin listed, no siblings,

no wife, no kids.

Could've just
picked up somewhere.

He'd been on the street
for 12 years. Hmm.

That's not half bad.

- Hmm. All young women, though.

Let's not discount predator.

- Well.
That is refreshingly lo-fi.

[echoing gavel]

- That's Alice. She walks
her pug here every night.

And that's Shauna.
She lives in one of the tents.

- That V-shape on her forehead,
is she Indigenous?

- Mm-hmm
- I wondered if those

were kakiniit markings.
- Kakiniit?

- Inuit tattoos.
They put the V-shape

on their forehead
to celebrate entering womanhood.

And yeah, she's from Iqaluit, originally.

- Have you seen Shauna today?

- No, but I've been
at my girlfriend's house

since yesterday morning.
- And you own this property.

Right?
But you're pro-encampment.

- Seeing these folks
set up camp,

getting to know them,
hearing their stories.

I don't know,
it got me fired up.

The NIMBY narrative
about the unhoused is so scary.

- What do you mean?
- Well, it's just

fabricated truths.
They're gonna drain the system,

harass the normals.
Steal your packages.

It's just not true.

- So why was Mick McCarthy
calling you?

- I'm an independent filmmaker,
we were talking,

working on something together.

- Working on what, exactly?

- A documentary
about the encampment.

The stories of the residents,
intercut with reactions

from people around the park,

cinema v�rit� style,
you know?

- So you know the community.

Did you notice anything
strange yesterday?

- Well, I caught Ward Kondas
having a fight with Mick,

but otherwise, no.

- Caught it, like what,
on your phone?

Oh, we're gonna need
to see that.

- Sure.
- And you said v�rit�, right?

You find the stories
in the footage,

fly on the wall stuff.

So where's the rest
of the cameras?

You can't be out in the park
all of the time,

you must have a few
cameras planted.

[tense music]

- It's not a great angle,
but there he is.

[computer beeps]

- Could you slow it down?

Uh, up the exposure a bit.

Mick sees something there.

Zoom in.

- Oh my God, it's a swarming.

- So, navy hoodie
approaches our victim

who's just sitting,
sketching in the park.

He draws her, and he hands
the sketch over and walks away.

And now, that's when the two
other assailants show up.

Boom. So now we got navy hoodie,

black balaclava and red bandana.
All disguised.

- Anyone holding a knife?
- Not that we can see.

- God, they look like kids.

- Yeah, we think they are kids.
Body language tracks.

Fast, awkward and look
at what they're wearing.

Balaclava's wearing
Bluebird Veloce sneakers,

but aside from that,
it's a basic teenage uniform.

- So what are we doing?
- I'm working with the video

forensics team going through
CCTV footage in the area.

We've also got the C3 unit
putting a net

over the area of the crime,
pulling all the social media

from that timeframe.

- Okay, we'll leave you to it.

Three masked teenage girls
kill an unhoused man

in Montrose Park,
well this is gonna be a ride.

Okay, was it random?
Was it premeditated?

What are your instincts?
- I don't know.

Youth violence is up higher
than it's been in five decades.

At least once a week,
my kid comes home,

shows me video of a fight that
took place in her schoolyard.

- So what, Lord of the Flies.
Gang initiation.

Adolescent hysteria. What?

- Well, maybe it was motivated.

Fear? Revenge?
At least two people

have suggested that Mick
is a predator.

- Who's this? She looks about
the same age as the girls

in the video.
- That's Shauna.

We don't know her last name.
Inuk.

She lived in the tents,

and she hasn't been seen
since the night of.

- Well, if Mick was
harassing her or abusing her,

she'd definitely have motive.

And it sure as hell
might explain

why she made herself scarce.

[echoing gavel]

- So, you work with
the unhoused in the area.

- Uh, I always
feel like a tool,

handing out cocktail party
sandwiches to these folks,

but we take what we can get.

I was, uh...

sorry to hear about Mick.
Thanks.

He was a great guy,
I've known him for a while now.

- What about this woman here?

- Yeah. Yeah, sure.
That's Shauna Kanuk.

My partner and I drove her
to Ellie's

the same night Mick died.

It's a woman's shelter
on Dundas.

- What time you drop her off?
- Almost 2 a.m.?

There had been a fire
in one of the tents,

she said she was just too scared
to go back.

I was just glad they had
a bed for her.

[echoing gavel]

- I knew Mick wasn't
in his tent,

so I thought that he'd be okay.

Was it Roger
that did this to him?

- Roger lit the fire,
but he didn't kill Mick,

and that's why we're here.

- Shauna.
What was your relationship

with Mick McCarthy?

- What do you mean?
- Were you friends?

Were you lovers?
Is there any way

in which he was taking
advantage of you?

- No, Mick was more like my dad
than anything else.

Actually, he was a lot better
than my dad. My dad's a fool.

Mick took care of me.

He brought me food,
he set up my tent,

he bought me a phone.

Mick was like my dad,
and my brother,

and my bodyguard.

So yeah, we were friends.

- It's just that
in his sketchbook

that we found at the scene,

there's a lot
of drawings of you.

[chuckles]

- My God.

I told him to get rid
of half of these. I look awful.

- Shauna, they're all drawings
of young women.

- Yeah, that's because
that's what was missing for him.

That was the hole in his heart.

Mick had a girlfriend.

They had a little girl together,

but he lost
both of them years ago.

That's why he got so messed up.

It's like that for half
the people in these tents.

You know, people think
that it's laziness or lifestyle,

but...

sometimes,
it's just plain old grief.

- We've got a hit
on navy hoodie

through social media.
12:20 a.m.

Two wasted dudes on
the streetcar livestreaming.

Who knows why,
it doesn't matter,

but navy hoodie was there.
College streetcar, eastbound.

We pulled transit
security footage,

she's next to the two guys.

- Okay, where'd she get off?

- Not sure yet.

Two guys got off at Yonge,

this is from their livestream.

- Ah, how come we didn't see
that logo on the other footage?

- That was her disguise,
she's reversed it

to hide the logo.
- T-S-N, what's that?

- Taylor Swift Nation?

- Um...
[scoffs]

- What can I say,
the woman's a poet.

- Or it's TSN Collegiate
in Scarborough.

I played basketball against them
a few times.

- And that is a far
better guess. Good man.

[echoing gavel]

- This is absurd.

My daughter is a good kid.

Works here every night.

- Was she working on Sunday?

Because a teacher
at TSN Collegiate

identified Leila as the same kid

we saw headed eastbound
on a College streetcar

at 12:20 a.m.

- No. She was at home.
In her room.

Leila.

Leila!

- It was the first time
we were meeting up in real life.

- Who were you meeting?
- These two girls.

We became friends online
a few months ago.

We just thought
it would be funny, you know?

- Funny. What would be funny?

- Uh, meeting up.
Without seeing

each other's faces.
So like, no judgment

about how we look,
or where we're from.

- So you met up in disguise?

- We met in an alley.

We were going to go
into a corner store,

to boost some Red Bull,
or something.

Smoke some weed.

But then, afterwards,
we started walking into a park.

And the girl
in the black mask thing,

she told me to go up
to the homeless guy,

get his alcohol.

I did, but he said no.

And then, after that,
it was a blur.

- Do you know who brought
the knife?

- No. I got there late.

They were already talking,
and I didn't even see a knife.

I don't even know
who these girls are.

And the chatroom that we've been
using's been shut down.

- So you don't
even know their names.

- The girl in the black mask
was Iko.

She was the one
who started the chat.

But I never saw her face.

- What about the girl
in the red bandana?

- She had an accent.
Really strong.

Her screen name was Dost Kara.

But I figured her real name
must be Kara Dost.

- So my gun arm comes up
and around, block my arm.

Disarm the gun, it goes down.
Nice. Do the throw.

I go down. Okay? Go in again.
Alright.

Okay. Ready?

[gasps]
- I'm so sorry!

- No, no! You're not gonna
hurt me, I promise, okay?

You've just gotta lean into it,
you know?

Um, Ava, can you come help me?

Katie, why don't you just
step off for a second?

Just watch, okay?
- Okay.

- Okay, babe. So gun arm's
gonna come up and around,

you're gonna block my arm-
- Yeah, I got it.

I was watching.

[grunting]

[laughing]
Aw, yeah. Ha!

That's my girl.

Okay, Katie,
see what we're doing here?

Fight back a little bit,
you know?

- Mark's working on Leila's
phone right now,

but she's right,
the chatroom is gone.

It was on Ghostgram,
it's made for

this kind of anonymous stuff,
it's gonna be hard to track.

You find anything on Kara Dost?
- Maybe, I think I have a lead.

Dost means friend in Hindi.

Dost also means friend or ally
in Persian and Turkish.

Dost Kara,
Dost Kara got me thinking,

I knew I'd heard it before.

There was this political
dissident from Turkey last year.

Altan Balik.

He was getting out of prison,
and he turns to the camera,

and he says,
"Dost kara g �nde belli olush,"

I made a meal of that.
But the gist of it is,

"A real friend is known
in times of trouble."

- Okay, so red bandana
could be Turkish?

- Yeah, and she could be
his daughter.

Turns out, Altan Balik
came to Toronto six months ago,

and according to that,
he's living in North York

with his wife
and two teenage daughters.

[echoing gavel]

- Nothing to see here, detectives.

It's two rooms, four people.

A thousand mice
in the walls.

- Well, it was very brave
of you to leave your country.

- It would have braver
of me to stay.

So what do you want
with my daughter?

- You see, we have reason
to believe that a young woman

operating under the name
of Dost Kara

was involved in a violent
incident on Sunday night.

Felice, you are under
no obligation to speak with us.

And if you want a lawyer,
we'll get you one, no charge.

But, sir,

we will need your daughter
to accompany us

to the station.

And if her prints match
those on the weapon,

then we have a problem.

- If I say no?

- Then I'm sorry,

we'll have to pull her prints
from immigration.

- Don't bother.
Because you're right.

I did it.

I stabbed a man in the park
on Sunday night.

- So, Felice, turns out
your fingerprints

match the prints we found
on the knife that killed

Mick McCarthy.
The evidence lines up,

you stabbed him,
and then he died.

- Whatever you say.
- No, it's not whatever we say,

it's whatever you say
right now that counts.

So, how about we start
with the truth?

- You want to know the truth?
Here it is.

Felice came from Istanbul
to Toronto six months ago

after being persecuted
for her father's

so-called crimes.
After being beaten

at a student protest when
she questioned the government.

- Yeah, we understand that.
- Felice Balik is 15 years old.

She's a minor.
She's being bullied.

- That doesn't give her
the right

to stab a man to death.

Nothing justifies murder.

- I have file upon file
about trauma.

PTSD. Dissociation in minors.
- Yeah, we also have a file.

- I didn't mean to do it, alright?

It was supposed to scare him,
not kill him.

A prank, "kick the bucket,"
move on. That's what's she said.

- Sorry, "kick the bucket."
What does that mean?

- That's what she called them.
Homeless people.

They, they pee in a bucket,
they collect change in a bucket.

- So why did you stab him

if you were just trying
to scare him?

- Because it wasn't real.

The knife, it was fake.

- Well, I'm sure Mr. McCarthy
would beg to differ.

- She stabbed it into
her own leg, nothing happened.

The blade disappeared
into the handle.

And then she gave it
to me to use.

It was supposed to be
like a joke.

We do this thing together,
she said.

We'd be bonded,
friends for life.

- You keep talking about she.
Who is she?

- Her screen name was Iko.

I never saw her face,
she had the best disguise

out of all of us.
A black mask,

it covered her whole face.

I have no idea
what she looks like.

- So we've got our killer.

Felice Balik, 15 years old,
recent immigrant from Turkey.

She's confessed,
admits to killing Mick McCarthy

with the knife we found
at the scene.

- But...
- Kid says she didn't

know what she was doing.

She's saying she thought
it was a fake knife,

she thought it was a joke.

- Well, that's a hell of a joke.

- Yeah.
- Do you believe her?

- I think we do.
- Doesn't change the fact

that we have a confession.

I mean, Theo, we can pull
the trigger on this right now.

Bump Felice up to adult court,
charge her with second degree,

possibly first.

- I came here from Jamaica
when I was seven years old.

Moved in with my grandmother.

My mom was stuck in Kingston,

but that's a whole other story.

First and only time
I got suspended from school,

I threw a snowball at a teacher.

Kid handed me a snowball,
told me it'd be fun, funny.

That by acting
like a jackass,

I'd finally fit in.

Snowball had a rock in it.

I remember that teacher
staring at me,

confused,
blood coming down his face.

I'm not feeling
this story just yet.

I'm not gonna prosecute
this young woman

until I have some idea
of what really happened

or what she did.

- So if Felice threw
the snowball,

who planted the rock?
All we know is her name is Iko.

- Black balaclava,
the best disguise.

She really didn't want those
other girls seeing her face.

What was she wearing again?

- Grey sweats.
Those fancy sneakers

with the bluebird on them.

She was the one who started
the chatroom.

- And the one who dissolved it.

She made some
vulnerable friends online,

and then weaponized them into
killing an unhoused man. Why?

- Well, maybe he insulted her
on the street.

Maybe she drew a picture
one day, she didn't like it.

Maybe she lives in the area
and doesn't like having

all those tents in her park,
I mean teenage NIMBY?

I'm sure they exist. Ketchup?

- I'm sorry, have we met?

- Okay, so maybe we go back
to the rock in the snowball.

Felice said the knife was
a joke knife, a prank knife.

But she said
that it felt real.

Maybe we figure out why.

[echoing gavel]

- we're the only real game
in town.

A couple of clown operations
up in North York,

but their props are garbage.

What kind of knife
are you looking for?

Ooh. That the real knife
the bad guy used?

- No, but it's the same
make and model.

- Can I ask what the crime was?

- No, Brando, you cannot.

I'm merely curious to know
if you have a prop knife

in stock that matches this one.

- Wee, wee!
[laughing]

It's a very common model,
we rent out a lot of these.

Dull retractable blade,
but otherwise,

pretty much identical.

[Bateman]: Who do you rent to?
- Mostly props people.

Sometimes stunts, prosthetics.

We try not to rent
to the general public.

You don't want normals running
around with those things,

am I right?
- Mm.

- Right.

Brando, we're gonna need
a list of everyone

who rented that model
in the last six months.

- Yeah, happy to help.

- Anna Wilson, props,
shooting a feature in Sudbury,

no kids.

Ron Head,
props master on The Girls,

but it says here he's already
returned it. You got anything?

- Yeah. Jade Lancaster.
She's a stunt coordinator,

hasn't returned the knife.

She lives on Grace,
just near Montrose Park.

Uh... Looks like she's pretty
big on social media,

for whatever that's worth.

- These days, that can actually
be worth quite a lot.

- And that looks like
a teenage girl to me.

Hashtag "mother-daughter BFFs,"
hashtag "twinsies,"

hashtag "singlemomlife."

- You mind?
- No.

? I'm like a bird

- Graff. Those are the shoes.
- Yeah.

- Iko was wearing those shoes.
- Yeah.

- Nikita's obsessed with them,

they're limited edition
Veloce's, they go for 800 bucks,

at least, if you can get
your hands on them.

- Honestly, I'm more excited
about the rabbit.

Look.

- He was making fun of us!

Our videos, saying horrible
things right to my face, okay?

You always told me
to fight back.

- Okay, Ava, could you
just give us a minute, please?

Thank you.

Mrs. Lee, I'm so sorry about
what happened at lunch today,

and I know Ava is too.
It's just...

Ava reacts strongly
to aggressive men.

- I don't understand.
- Ava's dad.

He was extremely abusive.
- Oh!

- Verbally, physically.
- I'm so sorry.

- Now we have her
in therapy, but...

once in a while, she overreacts.

- Of course, Ryan should never
had made fun of her.

I'll talk to him.

- Ava's a good kid.

But I'll keep
a closer eye on her.

She won't hurt anyone else.
- Thanks, Jade.

- Ava Lancaster.
15 years old,

lives with her stunt coordinator
mother near the park.

Very expensive taste in shoes.

- Ava makes some impressionable
friends online,

she takes one of her mother's
prop knives,

Ava's grown up around props
her whole life,

she's gotta know how they work.

- So she buys a real knife
that matches the prop,

and tricks one of her
new friends

into stabbing Mick McCarthy.
Okay. But why?

- He drew her. He knew her.

- And according to his friend
Shauna,

Mick had a girlfriend,
they had a little girl together,

but he lost them both.
- And as you can see

in the photo there,
that tatty old rabbit

pried a place on her bed.

We got to thinking that maybe
she's had it

since she was a little girl.
Maybe Mick gave it to her

as a child.
- Are you suggesting

that Mick McCarthy
is Ava's father?

- We're not suggesting it.
We know it.

Ava's birth certificate.

- Why would Ava kill her father?

He's never even
been in her life.

- No, maybe that's exactly why.

Resentment, abandonment,

maybe she found out who he was

and wanted to make him pay
for leaving her.

- Yeah, or maybe
it's the exact opposite.

Maybe she was embarrassed
to learn

that this unhoused man
was her long-lost father?

- Felice Balik wielded
the knife,

but we all know she wasn't
the mastermind, she was tricked.

And it's about
to ruin her life.

- Okay. It's not a slam dunk,

but it's definitely
worth a conversation.

- Ms. Lancaster?

- Hi. Can I help you?

- I'm Detective Graff,
this is Detective Bateman,

Toronto Police.

We're here about a man
who was killed the other night.

He was living in a tent
just down the hill.

- Yes, I heard about that.

Didn't wanna get into it
with Ava,

'cause I didn't want her
to be afraid of the park.

Um...

How can we help, exactly?

- The deceased was identified

as your ex-partner,
Mick McCarthy, Ava's father.

We thought you both should know.

- So, you're saying
that the man at the park,

the homeless man who died,
that... that was Mick?

I haven't seen that man
in 12 years.

- I have.

I don't know him,
if that makes any difference.

I don't remember him.

I know he was awful to my mom,
but I don't really remember.

- But you knew
he was your father.

- He came up to me at a caf�
by the park a few months ago.

He introduced himself,

called me Ava Marie,
started crying,

and told me he was my father.

I said, "I'm sorry,
I don't have a dad."

But he knew my middle name.

He knew my birthday
down to the minute.

He knew about Bunny,

said he gave her to me
when I was two.

He said I have his eyes.

- Okay. Ava you need
to stop talking.

- That must have been incredibly
strange for you, Ava.

- It was and it wasn't.

When you don't know your dad,
you're kind of always

waiting for him to appear.

I mean, I never pictured that,

but I don't know.

I guess I always knew
he'd come back.

- And you were embarrassed?

- No. Not embarrassed.

Maybe mad?

He was a terrible father,
he beat my mother up,

shoved her head into a toilet.

Left me alone in my crib
for four days,

forgot to feed me
and went on a bender.

- Four days?

- But looking at him then?

I was actually happy.
Just to know who he was.

- Ava, where were you
on Sunday night?

- Watching a movie on my own.
My mom was working, so-

- Okay, that's enough.

Um, I have to work tonight,
and I think we're done here.

So...

- Ava, we actually
have one more question-

- I said we're done!

No more questions.
Not without a lawyer.

- Ah, well, she's protecting
her daughter. You'd do the same.

- Well, maybe she's
protecting herself.

Theo, this mother,
Jade Lancaster.

Look at her. I mean, she looks
almost as young as her daughter.

Hashtag twinsies.
Now, she's good online,

she knows how kids work.

Easiest thing in the world
is for her to pose

as a teenager,
because basically,

she is a teenager,
and she's a stunt coordinator.

She knows how to imitate
the way that people move.

- Jade's current alibi
is iffy at best.

She said she was working
a night shift Sunday night,

but the producer said
that she felt sick.

She left for a few hours,
he didn't see her

back on set until after 1 a.m.

- Okay, but the daughter
doesn't even have an alibi.

So why are we discounting her?

- She said he was happy
to finally meet her dad,

and it seemed real.

- Okay, so if it's the mom,
what's the motive?

- Well, apparently,
Mick was abusive.

Now the stories
sound exaggerated,

but even if they're half-true,
revenge would fit the bill.

- Any past complaints,
any charges against him?

- Nothing. I'm still waiting
on Jade's medical records.

She never pressed
charges against Mick McCarthy,

but that doesn't mean
it didn't happen.

- We're looking into
Mick's medical records as well.

You know, trying to see if
anything lines up timewise,

broken hand or lacerations
from punching someone,

that kind of thing.
- Mm-hmm, okay well,

if it's the mom,
it's gonna be tricky.

Lavallee defense.
Battered woman syndrome,

maybe Jade thought Mick
was coming for her.

He moves into the park
near her house,

announces himself
to her daughter?

Jade must have been terrified.

- Sure. But even if Jade was
operating out of self-defense,

or revenge, or fear,
it was premeditated.

It was planned.

And it ruined the lives
of the two teenage girls

she coerced into helping her.

- Well, we've got enough
for a warrant.

- Okay.
- What do you want to do?

- I think we take a run at her.

What do they call this again?
- They call it the circus.

- Ava.
- What are you guys doing here?

I'm not supposed to talk to you,
my mom said.

- Yeah, it's okay.
We're actually here to see her.

- She's inside. She's working.

- Can you do us a favour
and text her,

get her to come out?

- Hey, dumb question,
while we're waiting.

You have the shoes
my daughter dreams about.

Can I ask where you got 'em?
- What shoes?

- The Veloce Bluebirds,
limited edition.

I saw 'em on your social.

- Oh, yeah.
Um, those aren't mine,

those are my mom's.
She got them

at a set sale or something.

She only lets me
wear them for photos

'cause they're crazy expensive.

- Hey, what's going on?
This is my workplace.

- Oh, we can take it downtown
if you like,

you can call in your lawyer.
We just wanted

to avoid all that,
it's a bit of a rigmarole.

We just have
a few more questions.

- Ava, stay here baby, okay?

What do you guys want?
- Jade, just like you,

we want this to go away.

And you know what?
It probably will.

Video footage tells us
that Mick was stabbed

by three teenage girls.
Two of those girls

are already in custody,
one of them

has already confessed
to the murder.

- Well, yes and no.

Felice Balik
wielded the knife,

but she didn't know it was real.

- That doesn't make any sense.
- Agreed.

It's, um, what's the expression?
A fabricated truth.

Like so many things these days,
you know,

pizzagate, birther theories,
social media. Special effects.

Stunts. Props. In short,

someone coerced
two vulnerable teenage girls

into committing murder,
and for what?

To prove themselves? To bond?

See, that's fabricated truth
writ large.

[indistinct chatter]

[bell ringing]

- Look.

Mick McCarthy forced himself
back into your life.

He approached Ava
at a coffee shop.

Ambushed her out of nowhere,
full of lies,

wanting time with her.

Wanting money, no doubt.

What kind of father does that?

[indistinct chatter]

[bell ringing]

- I mean, Mick McCarthy
was a monster.

My God, you had it hard.

June 2009, patient was hit
in the head with a baseball bat.

Treated for severe concussion.

October 2010, patient admitted
to Sinai

with defensive wounds.

January 2011,

patient treated
for a broken shoulder

after suspected
domestic dispute.

The thing is, Jade.

You weren't the patient
in any of these medical reports.

These are Mick's records.

You were the perpetrator.

- Mick was abusive.

To me and my daughter.

I don't care what you say,
that's the truth.

- Well, maybe it is,
maybe it isn't,

maybe that's your truth.

The story that you've been
polishing for the last 12 years

doesn't change the fact
of what you did.

Thing that I'm pondering
is the why now?

I mean, Mick wasn't a threat,

except maybe
to your relationship

with your best friend
and daughter.

Your online image,
your perfect persona,

your abuse survivor narrative,
hashtag "singlemom."

You know actually,
now I'm saying it,

maybe Mick was a threat.

You and Ava, you're a team.

In life and on social.

You didn't need some bum
coming around looking for money,

looking to spend time
with your child.

Some homeless guy,
disrupting everything

you've fought for,
with his no doubt

very different version
of the truth.

- Mick is a drunk.

He left when Ava was three.

Disappeared for 12 years.

And then, all of a sudden,
he just shows up.

Smelling like garbage, wanting
to spend time with my child.

- Mick McCarthy was clean,
he was sober for four years,

and by all accounts,
he was kind.

Maybe he just wanted
to get to know her.

- It's too late!

I killed myself for this life.

Me and Ava,
that's my everything.

She doesn't need a dad,
and I sure as hell

am not sharing my life
or my kid with that man.

Go home, detectives.
You have nothing.

- Okay, but was it your plan
to have all the evidence

point to Ava?

Because if so, we have
more than enough to arrest her.

Including those very
specific shoes

she was wearing
on the video evidence.

- Yeah.
- I mean, she just told me

that they were yours,
but we can't prove that,

right, Graff?
- Agreed.

Now, should I call her over?
Look, I'll just go get her.

- No, she didn't do this.
You know she didn't do this.

- What I do know, Jade,
is that when Ava realizes

who she's protecting,
she's probably gonna confess.

Best friends forever, right?

- Mom?

- Hey baby, it's okay.
Everything is okay.

[stammering]:
I want you to text Kira.

You'll stay at her place
tonight, okay?

You'll have a sleepover
with your cousins.

- Where are you going?

- I'm just gonna...

talk to these guys
a little bit more downtown.

[voice breaking]: I'm gonna
come with you guys, okay?

I just need a moment
with my daughter.

- I don't understand.
What's going on?

- I did what I taught you
to do, okay? I fought back.

I protected us.

It's gonna be okay,
we got this.

[sobbing]

[sirens blaring]

- Imagine,
having her as a mother.

- Imagine not having her.

I feel for the kid.

[theme music]

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