Original subtitles

In Toronto's War on Crime,

the worst offenders are pursued by the detectives

of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit.

These are their stories.

I made sinigang!

Thank you!

I really wish I could go with you this time.

Better.

What?

Your lola, she's better.

So we're not going.

Son, we're staying for your graduation.

We're so proud of you.

- Really? - It's true!

Aw, but it's sold out.

- What? - Huh?

Yeah. For like weeks now.

I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Hey, Luc!

Excuse me, I'm completely lost.

My son is graduating next weekend,

who do I talk to for tickets?

Sorry, I don't know.

This is the name of the boat

leaving Kowloon with the shipment.

Tsk, I don't care what the name of the boat is.

Don't be a fool, alright?

You make sure this package is inside your container

before that boat leaves.

Is everything okay?

Hey.

Come on, man. Let's go.

Let's get it.

Jerome?

Jerome. We need to talk.

Talk about what?

- Stay here. - Dad. Dad.

Dad.

- Dad! - Rodrigo?

Oy! Oy, get out!

Rodrigo! Oh! Oh! Get in! Get in, go!

Get in!

- Mom! - Get in, get in!

- What are you doing? - Gloria!

Ugh, ah, Rodrigo! Argh!

Rodrigo!

Gloria!

No, Rodrigo!

Please, no, no, no!

Rodrigo and Gloria Ábalos.

Import/export business, food mostly.

Neighbour called it in just before midnight.

Poor kid.

Looks like a happy family.

Could you bag this for me, please?

Where was the son?

Closet. Mom locked him in,

first responders had to wedge the door to get him out.

Thankfully, the key was in Gloria Ábalos' fist

because the shooters went through her pockets

and emptied her purse.

Well, two to the chest, one to the head.

Aka failure to stop, aka failure drill,

aka Mozambique drill.

- Casings? - ... 40 calibre.

Judging by the exit wound to her forehead

and where the casings landed,

Gloria was kneeling here,

and the shooter hereabouts.

So a gun to the back of the wife's head.

Open the safe, or...

We'll redecorate your walls.

Except he did open the safe.

Then why kill them? I don't see any defensive wounds

or any evidence that the victims put up a fight.

- How much was in the safe? - Ledger said 80 grand.

What?

Well, the bullet to the back of Gloria's head

would've sent her that way, face down.

So the killers would've had to flip her over

to put the two in the chest.

- To just make sure? - Of what?

How to do the drill wrong?

The two to the chest comes first

and the head is just the insurance,

and you can reach the heart from the back.

Why risk leaving trace evidence

by flipping the deceased over?

Pockets turned out,

purse rifled through.

It's like these guys couldn't decide

between a hit and a robbery.

Where's the son now?

Detectives.

Thank you, Officer.

Jerome Ábalos?

I'm Detective Henry Graf,

this is Detective Frankie Bateman.

Could you tell us in your own words what happened here?

Um...

Uh, it was Thursday,

so I was helping my parents with their books,

- like I always do. - Why Thursdays?

Friday, all the deposits go to the bank.

I was calculating the debits

when we heard the back window smash.

Dad went out, then we heard him scream.

My mother told me to hide in the closet.

I hid like a coward.

They'd still be alive if they hadn't cancelled

their trip to the Philippines.

Why did they cancel?

It was for my graduation.

Masters in Psychology.

They were so proud.

I bet. Anything seem off about your parents yesterday?

No, I don't think so.

I only work here nights.

During the day I'm a TA.

I help Professor Sooley grade papers.

And would anyone else have known

that the money in the safe is at its highest on Thursdays?

We've used the same bank for over 20 years,

so they would, I guess?

Jerome, were you in the closet the entire time?

I left my phone on the counter.

Couldn't call the police, I couldn't do anything.

Do you remember seeing anything,

or hearing anything the killer said?

I don't think they spoke.

At all?

What, is this, is that strange?

Jerome, did you parents have any enemies that you know of?

No. None.

Jerome, if you know something,

now is the time to tell us.

Ábalos Imports had dealing with syndicate drug runners, the Ghosts.

Three days before the murders, Hao Leung,

the son of Ghost leader Sam Leung,

was in the shop making threats,

until Rod told him to take a hike.

- Brave man. - Or foolish.

Double tap to the chest, one to the head.

It's consistent with several unsolved killings

attributed to the Ghosts.

Why, didn't Gloria Ábalos have any skeletons?

Uh, none that we can see so far.

Rod Ábalos had an appointment yesterday

with a Dr. Fooi, or Fu-eye.

But, we haven't been able

to track down anyone with those names as yet.

What about the son?

Yeah, he was trapped in the closet.

He heard the entire thing.

He also said that the killers

never uttered a single word during the robbery.

Ghosts are pros. Pros work quietly.

Yeah, but they're not mute.

They don't go through pockets, empty out purses.

Why not?

For all we know, whatever Gloria Ábalos had on her

was the real reason for the murder.

Perhaps.

Talk to Sam Leung.

If this was the Ghosts,

I want to know what kind of illegal import

was worth the exposure of two dead bodies.

You're barking up the wrong tree, Detectives.

Rod Ábalos was a close friend.

We met stocking shelves when we were kids.

What business did you have with Ábalos Imports?

They imported the food for my exotic pets.

Nothing more.

Right, and that's why your son threatened Rod and Gloria

three days before they were murdered?

Because they refused to import dead crickets for your iguanas?

No, my son threatened them because he is an idiot.

Oh, we're still going to need to talk to him.

My son wanted something imported

that could've gotten Ábalos Imports into trouble.

When he is done pouting, he can tell you himself.

- Sorry, what kind of trouble? - Not illegal, just messy.

Like, guns kind of messy?

Asian leaf turtle kind of messy.

Catch a good price, but without the right permits...

Rod refused.

He called me, I took care of it, end of story.

And how did that sit with your son?

I assure you he did not kill anyone.

How can you be so sure?

Because he has seen what happens to people who disappoint me.

You know, Mr. Leung,

Rod and Gloria didn't appear to have any enemies.

Our suspect list is getting shorter,

and you talking like this...

Ábalos Imports has been vandalized twice in the last month.

Rod has also received several threatening phone calls.

Sounds like an enemy to me.

And Rod told you this?

He thought it was an ex-employee,

but I don't have a name.

I was hoping he would ask me to take care of it, but...

Some advice, detectives.

Find whoever did this before I do.

Sam Leung is a gangster.

He's just trying to stop you from arresting his son!

Hao was with friends during the murders.

Queensway VIP, we checked.

Jerome, was there some reason

why you didn't tell us about the vandalism?

Signs get smashed all the time.

Your parents were killed by amateurs, Jerome.

The scene was staged to make it look like it was the Ghosts,

but they didn't do this.

Were there any employees

that might've been angry with your parents?

My father fired a lot of people.

Alright, well we need you to write down their names,

and we'll have a chat with them. Okay?

Would you excuse us for a minute?

Yeah.

Mark found something on the CCTV.

A dark grey sedan pulls in behind Ábalos Imports

before the murders,

pulls out again about 10 minutes

after the shots were reported.

Mmm, grainy photograph with two unidentifiable figures.

My favourite.

Uh, maybe one of these unidentified people

was fired from Ábalos Imports.

What's that on the bumper? What is that? A sticker?

I know exactly what that is.

Yeah, I know 'em.

That's Bo Lennox and Carlos Rodriguez.

They're not on the list.

That's a pretty bad photo, you sure about the names?

Yeah, Bo here bought this car

from my Zamboni driver about eight months ago.

And where Bo goes, Carlos is never far behind.

How well do you know these guys, Manny?

I coached both of them.

Violent kids, even from a young age.

They spent more time

in the penalty box than you did, Frankie.

Those two were brutal.

Every game, I'd have to pull one off the other.

- So Bo and Carlos would fight. - Yeah.

The boys made me question my life choices.

You think your Zamboni driver has an address for Bo Lennox?

Why are we doing this?

The man supplies the metal man

gets say where the metal goes, aight?

Just trust me.

Man, we coulda got two racks for them.

Man, who says we didn't?

Yo, what was that?

- Police, police! - Carlos, go! Move!

- Show me your hands! Get down! - Hands in the air!

Down now! Don't move!

Police! Get down on the ground!

Down! Now! Don't move! Don't move.

Detectives, all yours.

Okay, we're looking for guns, phones, money.

Anything of interest.

Detectives?

Any interest in a big bag of cash?

Ábalos Imports.

Oh. What do you know?

The money was found in a bag in the garage,

along with a deposit slip from Ábalos Imports.

Guns? Any connection to the victims?

No, not yet, but Sam Leung said

that a disgruntled employee was threatening Rod and Gloria.

Yeah, we think somebody Rod fired might have contracted

Bo and Carlos, somebody who knew that the safe

was full of cash on Thursday nights.

Quite the rap sheets, but nothing big

ever seems to stick to these guys, does it?

I have to say, I am not hopeful that they're going to open up

just out of the goodness of their hearts.

Interview room.

Kind of like a penalty box, wouldn't you say, Bateman?

Oh, we need these two to drop the gloves,

start fighting each other.

Miguel Carlos Rodriguez.

You've already spoken to your lawyer on the phone,

I assume you know your rights.

You can just sit there. Silent.

I tell you, you are a much better friend than I would be.

I mean, if my buddy left a sticker

on the back of his car

that got me convicted of murder?

I mean, oof, I would be pretty pissed.

Here's the thing, Carlos.

Up until now,

you've just kind of been an idiot,

but what we're talking about today is murder.

This is life, Carlos.

This, this is your life.

And I don't know if you want to trust Bo with that.

Because he's pretty chatty.

Look, I got nothing to say.

Oh, that's right, you're a pro.

You don't need to me to tell you that we got you dead to rights.

You know that already, you've been mulling it over

in that mind of yours.

Over and over and over, all the things you screwed up.

The sloppy crime scene, the clumsy getaway.

It's like you wanted to go to jail.

So what's your play now?

'Cause if it was me sitting in that chair,

I'd be talking about who hired me.

No, it's okay. You don't have to say anything,

Bo's doing enough talking for the both of you.

Do you know that, uh,

he's saying you were the only shooter?

That you killed both Rod...

And Gloria? All he did was empty the safe.

He also say the cops

are allowed to lie in interrogations?

This isn't an interrogation, Bo.

This is just two guys talking.

Your lawyer's on the way, we've been through that already.

Did you know, though, when you took the job,

that Sam Leung was a close friend of Rod Ábalos?

Yeah, I uh, I saw Sam the other day.

He told us to find the triggerman before he did.

We can protect you, Bo.

We're sworn to.

It's your choice.

Wait!

Sam Leung never hears my name, right?

Bo and Carlos were hired

by ex-Ábalos employee Luc Francis.

They grew up in the same housing project in the Vern.

Luc got in touch with these two from a burner phone.

- They told you this? - Yeah.

Bo said if it wasn't someone they knew,

they would have never taken the job in the first place.

Yeah, but Bo and Carlos both destroyed their phones

once the job was done, so, uh, in terms of a solid connection,

how do you feel about the word of a career criminal?

It's a start.

What's Luc's beef with Rod and Gloria Ábalos?

He was fired for stealing.

Now Luc would've known that the safe was full on Thursdays

and to instruct Bo and Carlos

to kill them in a very specific way.

Make it look like Sam Leung's crew.

Exactly.

That's why the crime scene

was so performative, inconsistent.

These two, they really didn't understand the brief.

We got a video statement from Bo Lennox,

it's a full taped confession.

You shouldn't have!

Murder weapons?

Uh, that's another weird thing.

Day after the murder, Luc texts Bo and Carlos

and instructs them to stash the guns

in the south garbage bin of a skate park.

And he pays them an extra 10 grand.

Did we go pick up the guns?

Yeah, we sent a team, the guns are gone already.

Killer could be looking to finish a frame job on the Ghosts.

Okay. Find this Luc Francis character,

maybe we'll get lucky, maybe he still has the guns.

Hey!

Whoa! What the hell are you doing, Luc?

I cannot go home, Jerome!

There's a cop parked outside my apartment.

Don't you think your family has put me through enough?

Yo, my parents are dead because of you!

What?

Bo and Carlos.

You told them about the money,

you told them about the safe!

So they robbed my parents and then they killed them!

You knew it and you let it happen!

Hey, Grandma! Ah, you know.

I was thinking.

Maybe we could visit Aunt Shirley on Manitoulin.

Luc. These officers would like to talk to you.

Look, look. I didn't kill anybody.

No, you had your buddies Bo and Carlos

take care of that for ya.

Look, we aren't buddies.

Well then why did they receive a text message from you

instructing them how to kill Rod and Gloria Ábalos?

- Wait, what? - Yeah.

Found these in your grandmother's crawlspace.

Two Glock 27s.

Now they just happen to be the very same guns

that were used to murder the Ábaloses.

You, Bo and Carlos, just like old times, right?

Wait, wait, wait. Look. No, no, I didn't do anything!

Sit down! Luc, sit down.

Look.

Bo and Carlos got my brother killed.

- What? - Yeah.

Never told you that, did they?

Dorian was 13,

and those fools convinced him to rob this old man around the way.

What they didn't tell him

was that old man was a G-soldier.

The street gang?

Yeah, shelled out soon as they broke in.

They ran.

Ah, my brother took two in the back.

Dorian Francis. Ellesmere Road.

That was your brother?

Yeah.

You think I'd have anything to do with them?

Well, Rod fired you for stealing, you were...

No, no, no, I didn't steal anything!

Okay, I guess you didn't break the sign

outside of Ábalos Imports, either?

Okay, no, no. I did do that, but I was pissed, okay?

Rod set me up!

So, you're not a murderer, you're not a thief.

Sure seems like somebody's out to get you.

Luc, you knew that there was money

in the safe on Thursday night.

You knew that the Ghosts were clients.

This is revenge, plain and simple.

Rod set you up to look like a thief, and you made him pay.

No, no, no, no! Rod didn't fire me for stealing.

He fired me for being friends with his son.

What? What, what does that mean?

Dah, Jerome always seemed so lonely.

So I took him out to a club one night.

He got lit, threw up the whole next day at work.

Rod let me have it, didn't want me distracting Jerome

from his schoolwork, so I said fine.

I told Jerome, no more invites.

Yeah, well I guess that wasn't enough,

because three days later, Rod "found" three grand

worth of Asian black truffles in my locker.

Fired me on the spot.

So, you're saying Rod set you up and fired you

just for trying to be friends with Jerome?

That was a light touch for Rod Ábalos.

When was this?

I don't know, like five months ago.

Uh, th-that night with Jerome

was the last time I saw Bo and Carlos.

Um. Luc,

you happen to notice if Jerome exchanged numbers

with Bo and Carlos that night?

I mean, he could've.

I mean, Jerome talked to them for hours.

Look, I told him those guys were bad dudes.

What time did Bo and Carlos

get the text telling them to stash the guns in the skate park?

Um...

About one hour after we told Jerome

that we were looking into ex-employees like Luc Francis.

Well, well, well.

You uh, fancy a stroll around campus?

I'd be delighted.

Professor Sooley.

Yes, that's right. Can I help you?

Toronto Police.

We're looking for Jerome Ábalos.

Who?

Your TA, Jerome Ábalos?

I don't know who that is.

He just finished his Masters in Psychology

at this university, he's set to graduate Saturday.

Uh, you don't, you don't recognize him?

Detectives, I oversee every Masters student in my department

and I've never even so much as heard of a Jerome Ábalos.

- He lied? - Yeah.

Jerome was never even enrolled.

Listen to this, we talked to a Bonnie Baker in Admissions,

she said she received an email from Jerome six years ago

asking for an example of tuition receipts

so he could assure his elderly parents

that they could still pay by snail mail.

So he forged the receipts?

Yeah, we're waiting on a warrant to confirm.

You know, the sneak in and out kind,

because if Jerome knows what we're up to,

that proof's going to start to disappear.

He was lying from the beginning, Theo.

He was trying to point us toward the Ghosts,

and when that didn't stick...

He pointed to the only other person with motive.

Luc.

Did Jerome plan to frame Luc from the beginning?

No, I think he pretended to be Luc

so that Carlos and Bo would take the gig,

but when we blew up his frame job on the Ghosts,

he had no choice.

Okay.

If it wasn't money,

what's the motive?

Freedom.

Freedom?

Jerome felt controlled, and according to Luc,

his parents put unbelievable pressure on him.

If I'm going to prosecute,

I need the word of someone other than Luc Francis.

Who right now is still our best suspect

for orchestrating the murders.

I need to hear from someone who can testify to Jerome's entire life.

Get me that, and I'll think of getting you Jerome.

Yeah, same class since kindergarten,

but I wouldn't say we were friends.

- How come? - Jerome was weird.

Our high school was super competitive,

he was like, remedial, you know?

Dead weight?

And you were, what, valedictorian?

Was third in my class.

I got into every university I applied for.

Now I don't mean to offend, but if you got into university,

why'd you end up here, feeding fish?

School was my father's dream, not mine.

I wanted to be like him,

but when you're the first son in new country,

your parents expect you to be better than they were.

Jerome's parents, were they the same way?

They were next level.

This one time, Jerome was doing a violin recital

and he fell apart.

He always did in front of a crowd,

but he was crying and he pissed his pants.

Rod grabbed his arm, ripped him right off the stage

in front of everybody, he was...

Almost felt bad for the kid.

Advanced Bookkeeping, Bellwoods College.

Presented, ooh, with honours

to one Jerome Ábalos, check it out.

Iggy Pop or Milli Vanilli?

What?

Er, fake or forgery?

Forgery is the real thing, it's just been altered.

Uh-huh.

Iggy Pop refused to lip sync one of his songs

on Australian television because that would have been a forgery.

Whereas Milli Vanilli never sang a word.

Neither the first nor last.

I mean, can we even be sure that their names were Rob and Fab?

Agh, we'll never know! You tell me!

Well, the paper feels solid.

But the seal isn't raised.

And the ink is pooled and bled through the paper.

Dead giveaway.

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a fake.

Let's get the documents section in.

All these photos are from

one stage in his life, his graduation.

Now, don't parents put up photos of their kids

in every stage of life?

You know, their baby photos, birthdays?

First day of school, that kind of thing?

Yeah, every parent I know.

Hey. You in the mood to take me to a fake grad?

'Cause I got two tickets.

Milli Vanilli all the way.

Okay, what do we have?

Everything is fake.

Advanced bookkeeping courses, first aid,

I mean there's even a chess Grand Master certificate.

Chess Grand Master, tell me more.

Well, it's really interesting, actually,

how they determine your rating, they use this AI,

you were joking.

But, wasn't there a ceremony

where he supposedly graduated with his BA?

Yep, but the convocation for his first fake degree

just happened to take place right after Rod and Gloria

flew to the Philippines to attend a funeral.

We checked Rod's email, and Jerome...

Jerome sent this photo in a message explaining.

I didn't tell you about Grad

because I didn't want to stop you from going home

to pay your respects.

Yay us! We did it!

Who are the other kids in the photo?

Get this, paid actors!

Now you're joking!

No! And you know what, he was about to do it again.

What?

Summer 2024 Convocation,

Gallery Section, General Admission, wow.

Yeah, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Jerome knew his grandmother was sick,

waited for his parents to book flights,

and then what do you know?

It's the same week of his convocation.

Yeah, except his grandmother made a miraculous recovery,

and so the parents told Jerome they could make it after all.

So, rather than face the music,

he decided to just kill his parents instead.

Go figure.

Yeah, two days before the murder,

he makes a large withdrawal.

Eight grand.

That's enough for two black market guns.

Oh, it's nice to see that tuition money

going for something, but, why keep up the lie?

Ego and insecurity are two sides of the same coin.

Now, Jerome's parents had such high expectations of him

that it made him feel like a failure.

In retaliation, he made them look like fools,

outsmarting those he could never please.

Must've been quite the drug.

Do we have anything tying him directly to Bo and Carlos yet?

Nope.

Then why are you smiling?

Well, because now we get to do a little acting of our own.

But you found the guns at his grandmother's house!

I know, but as far as we know,

Bo and Carlos could have planted them there.

My guts are churning over this, Jerome.

It's, I feel sick about it.

If only we had something tying Luc to Bo and Carlos.

Phone call, text, anything.

Look, Jerome. You have our word.

Until Luc Francis is behind bars,

we won't stop digging.

We're going to find every piece of evidence we missed.

Jerome!

Hi! Any news?

Actually, we've had some incredible luck.

Um, due to a perfectly timed anonymous tip,

the burner phone that was used to hire Bo and Carlos has been found.

Oh my God. That's, that's great news.

I agree. It's from our spin team.

I have to hand it to you, Jerome.

You really had us fooled.

I don't think you're going to be so lucky with the jury.

Take him away.

Hey, what's up?

Bo Lennox isn't going to testify.

What? But, we have his statement on tape.

His statement has been excluded.

On what grounds?

Well, Mr. Lennox's lawyer maintains

the statement was given under threat.

Oh!

What, said I made it seem that if he didn't confess,

Sam Leung would kill him?

- Hmm. - I did my job to the letter.

Well, so did she.

Alright, look. This is on me.

I lost today.

I really don't want to lose the next one, so, any ideas?

Okay.

Uh, we have this photo of Jerome with the burner phone,

we have an extensive story of his deceit...

Which Sutton will spin into a tale of parents

pressuring a child to the point of lying.

- Not murder. - Right. Okay, so, we have nothing.

Bo's confession, that was the case,

that was the entire glue keeping this thing together.

Look, if family issues were admissible as evidence,

we'd be sitting pretty.

Family issues. Dr. Fooi, Rod Ábalos' notebook.

- Fooi. - I thought you couldn't find

a doctor with that name.

We couldn't. But what if it's not a name? What if...

It's an acronym.

We need to find what therapist Rod was talking to

on the day he died.

And why.

Yes, Rod Ábalos was my patient.

But I only saw him once.

Can you tell me what he came to see you about?

No. And you know that, Detective.

But what if he's been murdered?

Well, that would change things.

My God, what happened?

Did Rod mention his son Jerome?

It's all he talked about.

Six years is a long time to fake being a student.

Wait, Rod knew about the lying?

Oh yeah. He knew everything.

Everything.

Detective Bateman.

Two men were hired to kill Rod and Gloria Ábalos.

The instructions came over text.

Objection! Your Honour,

the Crown can't argue its case through the witness.

Your Honour.

We have heard no testimony, nor even in fact seen

any evidence to suggest that anyone,

murderer or otherwise, was hired by text.

Sustained.

Crown, evidence first, questions second.

The weapons used to kill Rod and Gloria Ábalos

were stashed in a trash receptacle

at the skate park near Evans Avenue, were they not?

Objection! Your Honour,

police have already testified they found no guns in that park.

Sustained. Clean it up or move on, Mr. Forrester.

Detective, you met with Jerome Ábalos

the same day you became aware that the murder weapons

may have been stashed

at the skate park, is that correct?

Yes.

Uh, we informed Mr. Ábalos

that we were looking into former employees

who had been fired by his father.

He gave us a list, Luc Francis was at the very top.

This was one hour before the guns were stashed.

Objection! Your Honour.

Ms. Sutton just said police were sent to the skate park

to retrieve the murder weapons.

I mean, they didn't do it

because they needed the overtime.

Your Honour, they went because they received a tip.

Overruled.

And where were the murder weapons eventually found?

In the crawlspace in Luc Francis' grandmother's home.

Hmm.

Detective, can you tell the court what this is?

Yes, this is the pay as you go cellphone

we caught Jerome Ábalos

stashing in Luc Francis' grandmother's hanging planter.

And was this phone used to contact the killers?

It's got some water damage, but the data we could retrieve

corroborated our theory that the men who killed

Rod and Gloria Ábalos were hired through this very phone.

Thank you, Detective. No more questions.

Detective.

Once the minutes are used up on a pay as you go phone,

people often just throw them away, right?

Yes. I suppose.

And you advised Mr. Ábalos

that you needed the phone

that Luc Francis used to contact the two killers,

did you not?

Yes, as a ploy to get Mr. Ábalos to...

And after that conversation,

Mr. Ábalos retrieved a cellphone.

Yes, to plant it to frame Luc Francis, as I've already...

Detective, isn't it possible

that Mr. Ábalos saw Luc Francis

throw away that phone,

and only retrieved it

in order to help get justice for his parents?

That would be highly improbable and coincidental.

Much like the Crown's case.

- Objection! - Withdrawn. No more questions.

We're losing, Theo.

We need to get Jerome up on the stand.

He needs to hear what his father's therapist told us.

It's in disclosure, Graf. He's most likely read it.

I don't know, I don't know if Jerome would want to know

what his father said about him to a therapist.

And even if he has read it,

he hasn't faced it in front of a jury.

He's a pleaser, he cares what people think about him.

Hao Leung said it, that he crumbles before an audience.

Exactly.

Sutton's entire narrative has been about how horrible

Rod and Gloria were to poor Jerome.

Are we really going to beat up on this kid?

- We need to push back. - It could backfire.

Even if he does decide to testify,

I can't be certain the jury won't be fooled like you were.

Well, the kid plays sympathetic.

Come on, Theo, it's going to work.

We searched the Ábalos home,

there wasn't one photo of Jerome before his graduation

from Osler with a BA, and why?

Because before that, he had never lived up

to his parent's expectations.

Exactly.

It, it's like they cancelled the old Jerome.

Buried him because he wasn't good enough.

Look. If he hears

what his father said about him in that session...

Put me on the stand, Theo, and I'll get him up there.

And you can take him down.

My apologies, your Honour.

Here you are, Detective.

Thank you.

Detective Graf, did Rod Ábalos see a therapist?

Um, yes.

Rod had F-O-O-I,

or, or Fooi written on his notepad,

next to the word Doctor.

Now I originally thought that Fooi

might have been a doctor's last name,

but later I realised it was an acronym.

Families Of Origin Issues,

it pertains to familial sources of trauma.

And what did you learn from your review

of Rod's therapy records?

Rod and Gloria Ábalos

had discovered that Jerome, uh,

had been lying about attending Osler University.

Rod wanted to confront Jerome,

but Gloria convinced Rod to talk to a therapist instead.

And what was discussed at Rod's therapy sessions?

Well, Jerome's many obvious psychoses...

Objection! Your Honour, Detective Graf is not a psychotherapist.

He can't diagnose my client.

Sustained.

Detective Graf,

is it true that Rod and Gloria

were looking for a healthy way

to talk to their son about his lies?

Yes, but at the time...

Uh, please, the microphone, Detective.

Yes, but at that time, they weren't privy to the fact

that the psychopath they raised intended to have them killed.

Objection! Your Honour.

Detective Graf, one more move like that

and I'll call a mistrial.

I agree.

It's not a good idea.

I'm the one accused of butchering my family.

Don't you think the jury wants to hear from me?

That's not what I'm worried about.

Don't let the Crown's affable demeanor fool you,

the man is a shark.

Sharks don't scare me.

Being thought of as a murderer does.

I've done nothing wrong.

The jury will believe me.

My parents were everything to me.

All I wanted was to make them happy.

But you couldn't, could you?

No. But my parents weren't bad people.

They just wanted me to have everything they couldn't

growing up in the Philippines.

But the pressure to be successful,

it must have been suffocating.

It was.

But I understood it.

Jerome, if your parents were alive, right now, right here.

What would you say to them?

I'm sorry.

Sorry I couldn't live up to your dreams.

Hearing you die in that closet

will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Thank you, Jerome.

Please.

You just said you couldn't live up to your parent's dreams.

Did that make you angry?

No. Sad, maybe.

They just wanted me to reach my full potential.

Full potential. Right.

Can you identify this for the court?

That's my degree. Bachelors of Science.

Your fake degree. Bachelors of Science.

- Yes. - Fabricated by you.

Yes.

Can you describe this photograph to the court?

It's a...

it's a photo of my parents and I celebrating my degree.

Sorry?

My fake degree.

From Osler University.

Jerome, there are no other photos of you

from before this moment

on the walls of your house,

your parents' business, why is that?

- I don't know. - You don't know?

Mm-mm.

Okay.

Well, is it safe to say that this kind of love

and happiness and pride from your parents

was something new for you?

Yes.

Say from the from the moment you started lying

about your academic achievements?

Yes.

It was so much pressure.

So I lied. To make them happy.

Jerome, your parents were killed

exactly two days after they cancelled their trip

to the Philippines so they could attend your Masters convocation.

But there was no graduation.

- Was there, Jerome? - No.

So you killed them so that they wouldn't find out.

Describe this photo, Jerome.

Oh, your Honour. This is just gratuitous.

I'm losing patience with you, Mr. Forrester.

Well, your Honour.

Jerome just stated love was a new thing in his household.

It's crucial to the Crown's case to prove that wasn't true.

Get to the point!

Photo, Jerome.

That's my mother's hand.

Clutching a key as she's being brutally murdered.

A key, that if found,

would have meant certain death to you.

Her only son.

Yes.

Can you tell me in your own words

what it felt like to finally have, as you say,

your parents' love.

After all the years of disappointment

that you caused them.

It felt amazing.

I bet it did.

In the six years that you were lying to your parents

about going to school,

were you ever afraid

that if they found out, they would stop loving you?

Yes.

You couldn't bear to lose their love again.

- Could you? - No.

Even if it meant killing them so that they wouldn't find out.

- No! - Do you know what your father

said about you in therapy, Jerome?

After he learned you'd been lying to him for years,

stealing his money, making him look like a fool?

He said,

"Please help me show my son

how much I love him".

- My father did not say that! - That is a direct quote!

It was in disclosure.

Probably too painful for you to read though, wasn't it?

You probably assumed your father was cutting you down.

But he said was,

"Please help me show my son how much I love him".

- No, that's not true. - No?

Read it yourself.

Your father wanted to help you, Jerome.

Your mother clutched that key as she was beaten

and shot to death at point blank range,

so you would be safe.

Even when they knew you lied to them, they loved you.

They died for no reason, Jerome.

Look at me. Look at me, Jerome.

If you had known that,

if you had known how they felt,

would your parents still be alive today?

Would they still be alive today, Jerome?

Yes!

Yes.

Of course they'd still be alive.

But how could I have known that?

How?

How would I ever have known that?

How?

Did the parents create the monster,

or was it always hidden inside?

It doesn't matter.

The monster's real.

Either way.