Original subtitles

Captain McCaffrey. Just a moment, Mrs. Benson.

Did I have an appointment? No, she just showed up.

She refused to give a number, address.

Anyways, if there's a name that Donna Benson claims to have information on

Kenwood, she'll only talk to you.

Get her some coffee. She already had two cups. Get her some more.

Do I know you?

No, we've never met.

Officer Washington tells me you have information on the Kenwood arson case.

Maybe.

I'm not sure.

I might have heard something about somebody who was involved.

Any help you can give us?

Mrs. Benson, you asked to see me.

I heard you speak once.

You seemed fair, open -minded.

I thought you might understand.

Give me a chance.

This is so hard.

You know, often when we investigate a crime, we find out things about people

wish we'd never found out. That wasn't the case with the Kenwoods. They were a

nice young couple. They were happy and in love, and they're dead because

set fire to their home while they slept.

If you know who that person is, you gotta tell me.

This is not the first time he's acted, this person who you may have heard

something about.

No, it couldn't have been. And he'll do it again, I can tell you.

I'm not even sure it's him.

I think you are.

What if it isn't?

I could ruin his life.

Not if he's innocent.

What made you suspicious, huh?

What'd you see?

A repeat.

From a place called Cliff in San Jose.

He bought out the laser there.

We traced it.

It's a fire accelerant.

Donna, you're doing the right thing.

No matter how close you are to him, you can't watch him 24 hours a day.

You're about to save someone's life.

Raina?

Can I use the ladies' room?

No. This way.

Hey, Teddy.

Hey.

Hey. Hey, what? You don't return calls anymore?

I left you two messages and a page. I'm sorry. I knew I was coming up. I figured

I'd run into you. Well, it was about you coming up here and you and Ginny

working on that carjacking case together.

Oh, you think it's a bad idea?

Do you?

I'm not sure. Teddy, I don't know all the details, but I know that you guys

didn't end very well, and, you know, she just got out of rehab. Maybe you should

just give it a little more time.

Yeah. Yeah, that's all right. I can have someone else handle it. Yeah?

Yeah. Look, I gotta run. I gotta pre -limit three.

Thanks, Teddy.

She's gone.

What do you mean she's gone? I took her to the bathroom. She said she was fine.

I turned around and talked to Officer Gibson. I went to check on her. She was

gone. Call down the stairs. Tell them to lock off the building. Okay.

Her name's Kathleen Fitzsimmons, 28.

Blunt force trauma to the head. No sign of the weapon, no sign of her purse.

Father Natale identified her. She was a regular at morning mass.

You know, the church has been burglarized three times since December.

them especially professional jobs.

Could be gangs.

Anything else taken?

Whatever was in the poor box. I'm thinking at that hour the perps didn't

to find anybody here. What time does the church open? 6 a .m. Mass begins at 7.

Father Natale found the body at 6 .35 and called 911.

Did he open the door?

No. That'd be Sean Townsend.

He works here.

Possible witness.

Sean, this is Inspector DiLorenzo in Basso. I heard you might be able to help

out here if you could just tell us what you saw.

I saw a guy taken off down the street.

I heard Father Natale yelling for me.

I was outside in the parking lot, and when I looked up, there was just a guy

running. A white guy.

How old?

It was too dark to see his face, but from the way he moved, maybe 30

I don't think he was a kid.

About how tall was he?

A little shorter than me.

Heavier, bulkier.

See what he's wearing?

Yeah, a leather jacket, jeans, I think, and a baseball cap.

Did you ever see this guy before?

No, nothing was familiar about him. As soon as I saw him, I started chasing

but by the time I got to the gate, he was gone.

I wish I could be more help.

If that's it, I'm going to go make sure the chapel's ready. We're holding mass

in there today.

Did you see Kathleen Fitzsimmons here this morning?

No. When I left the church, it was empty.

What time was that?

It was a few minutes after six.

And then what'd you do?

I went to the school to turn on the furnace.

Otherwise, the kids would freeze.

It's likely we're going to need to talk to you again, so in the meantime, if you

can think of anything else, could you please call us?

You want to handle the pastor?

Priest.

You can handle him.

You're going to be a good cop this time.

Father, me tally?

I'm Inspector DiLorenzo. This is Inspector Basso. We just have a few

for you. Of course.

Could you tell us what happened?

I was in my room at the rectory when it happened, preparing for Mass.

Then I came over to the church.

You knew Kathleen Fitzsimmons? She was a parishioner and a wonderful person.

Forgive me. I know that God always has a plan right now. I'm just...

Trying to figure out what this one is.

Did she ever mention any concerns for her safety?

Anyone who might want to harm her?

No.

Were her relationships stable?

You don't think this was a robbery?

We just have to cover all the bases here.

Was she married?

Yes. Was the marriage okay?

Please understand my hesitation.

There's confidentiality involved.

Kathy came to me for counseling.

I think she'd want us to know.

As far as I know, there wasn't any physical abuse.

But her husband could have been kinder.

I tried to call him right after I called the police.

He wasn't home.

Don't worry, Father. We'll notify him.

When did he call it in?

6 .35.

Raina, yeah, I need you to run some subjects for me.

Father William Natale, Sean Townsend, and the husband of the victims, Chris

Fitzsimmons. And pull whatever we have on the two previous burglaries, will

Oh, and you might want to keep an eye on Mrs.

Fitzsimmons' credit card, so first we stole it.

Thanks.

So, DeLorenzo, you're not Catholic, what are you?

What are you?

Mom's Jewish, Dad's Catholic. Nathan Francis Albert Basso beat that.

So what does that make you?

Nothing.

For me, religion and God were just another thing for the two sides of my

to fight about.

Another battlefield, my parents stuck in the middle trying to keep the peace. I

figured if I made it a non -issue, nobody got hurt.

This is where you would open up and share something with me.

My mom only dragged me to church when she broke up with her boyfriend.

She'd be good for...

Three, four weeks. Worked out great. We got rid of the jerk.

I got a new Sunday dress.

Where do we find the husband?

Out in the gastro.

There are five Donna Bintzes in the Bay Area, if that's even her name.

This room needs to press through AFIS. Crossing with DMV.

Sorry, Captain.

Oh, that's okay.

If anyone screwed up, I did.

We'll hear from her again.

She can't live with this. At the very least, she'll phone in an anonymous tip

after he sets the next fire.

Let's find her first. Yeah.

Just like every day, she was up and out of the house without waking me.

Kathy was good at that. I'd be gone to work by the time she got back from Mass.

Sounds like you two led pretty independent lives.

Independent, yeah.

Does that mean anything like we never saw each other?

Lately, Kathy was good at that, too.

But I loved her.

Every marriage has its frictions, huh?

I thought...

We wanted exactly what our parents had. All I ever wanted from her was to be a

wife. And she had a problem with that?

We were going along just fine until she got all wrapped up in the church thing.

I mean, married nine years, and all of a sudden she's saying to me that she

doesn't want me to touch her. I mean, since when is it a crime for a married

couple to have sex?

When it's forced.

We're going to need to establish a whereabouts since midnight.

You don't think I had anything to do with this, do you?

Maybe my marriage wasn't the best, but I never laid a hand on her.

Did anyone see you?

So we're going to need to speak to them.

Thanks, Raina.

Well, the husband's 1032. He's clear all the way around, but there's plenty on

the witness.

Sean Townsend, the janitor, committed his first assault at 14, his first

the year after. Inside job? Could be.

How's it going with that Little League team, your coach and Sean?

Fine. Your parents must be the toughest part, huh?

I get along with everybody.

We've had a few questions for you about your statement, just to clear some

things up. Sure.

And you opened the church doors this morning. Yeah, fixed.

And there was no one here, not Mrs.

Fitzsimmons, not anybody.

Right. And then you went to the school to light the furnace, right? That's

right. And when you got back, you heard Father Natale calling for you?

Yeah. And that took 30 minutes?

I knew you'd think I killed her. I was just waiting for you to go there.

What are you talking about, Sean? You've got my record.

You're going to try to put this on me?

We took a look at the burglaries. They seem to have occurred every six weeks.

When the church orders new stuff, they get hit again.

How'd they know that, Sean?

Such old pals down at 17th Avenue?

I don't even hang out with those guys anymore.

I'm sure you never thought they'd kill her.

How many years do I have to go by before you stop seeing me that way?

Do I look like a junkie?

I look like a thief, because that's how everybody sees me. Everybody but Father

Natale. He saw something in me.

He saw me without my addictions, all my screw -ups. He saw me as God saw me.

Perfect.

And I became that person, clean, honest. I fight every day to be that person

every day.

Little League's doing fine. We're four and one.

Thanks for asking.

Look, I know these are tough questions, but they need to be asked.

There was a robbery and a murder at the church, and one of your most trusted

employees, a man who had access to the church and to her, has a history of

and violence.

A man who beat his heroin addiction, who made restitution for every cent he ever

stole.

A man with a perfectly clean record for the past eight years.

Eight years is a long time, Father Natale.

And it's a sad fact of human nature that the straight and narrow can become a

little stale to someone like Sean. The lesson here being that a person never

really escapes his criminal past?

That we never truly forgive?

That's right.

Not when murder's involved.

I just have one question for you.

If you're so sure about him, why were you shouting for Sean?

Why did you need to know where he was when you found Kathy's body?

I just wanted him to call the police.

But he didn't come.

He told you.

He was chasing after that man.

Well, so much for your inside job, Siri.

Southern just picked up an Hispanic fitting the general description with a

load full of religious objects.

It's quite a haul. Who's the perp?

I got him Rodriguez.

Kathleen's bought the stuff off some Russians who he's never met before.

We got the DA to knock off a year contingent on Mr.

Rodriguez's memory coming back. Where's he being held? County jail.

Maybe we should transfer him down to Bruno and give him something to think

about. Speed up the process.

There's just one problem.

What's that?

Well, there hasn't been a cent of activity on Kathleen Fitzsimmons' credit

cards. You think we're being set up?

For a real smash and grab, it would have racked up a couple hundred bucks in the

first 20 minutes.

Might be. They never murdered anyone before. Maybe they panicked and tossed

their wallet in the trash can.

Then I'm wrong.

You rule out the husband?

His alibi checked out. He left the house around 6 .30 and the neighbor saw him.

If you want to show Sean Townsend's picture to Rodriguez, go ahead and make

six -pack and take it over to him. Meanwhile, get these fingerprinted and

to St. Finian's.

We got a match on the prints.

Her real name is Julie Melita. She works in admissions at San Francisco College

of Art.

I spoke to her several months ago.

Find out whatever you can about her. But do it from records, vital statistics,

marriage licenses, birth certificate. We don't want to spoke her. Okay.

Yeah, well, so I'm down in ADA Driscoll's office.

Just preparing for that prelim on the car jacket.

Just about to nod off when I see a set of notes.

And I say, well, that looks like...

Teddy Blumenthal's handwriting.

Well, suddenly I'm awake, so I ask him, what does Teddy have to do with it?

He says that it's Teddy's face, but he backed out.

You know anything about that?

About Frisco?

About Teddy?

I'm right into him.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

And?

I might have said something. You might have said something. Something like

Like you're not ready to see him again.

Max, this is a case we'd be working on together, okay? We're not dating. We're

not sleeping together. You know what? I know this is not easy for you, so don't

pretend it is.

I saw him yesterday in the lobby. Do I look like I'm falling apart? Not yet.

Max, I know where this is coming from, and it's probably why I'm not jumping

down your throat, okay?

So please stop trying to protect me.

We work in the same building. We're going to have to face each other

This way.

Julie?

Hi. What are you doing here?

Oh, God.

Oh, please.

Leave me alone. I don't know anything. It was wrong of me to have come to you.

know how you feel. I feel the same way. If it was someone close to me, I'd try

to protect him. I'd tell myself those people are dead. What good will it do

turning him in?

He didn't mean to hurt anybody. He's mentally ill.

Where is he now? What's he doing? He must be worried sick.

How often do you call him?

All right, Julie, the next one's on you.

You can't say that you didn't know.

Can you live with that? I don't think you can.

You've got too much heart.

I can't tell you anything.

I couldn't be responsible for his dying. I won't tell you anything unless you

can guarantee he won't get the death penalty.

If he's as sick as you say, they won't execute him. Can you guarantee that?

What my office says carries a great deal of weight.

No.

Julie, he killed four people.

No.

You go to whomever you have to.

You tell them these are my terms.

No death penalty.

I have to be sure. I couldn't live with it if he died.

Sounds simple to me.

We concede on the death penalty and she gives us the Kenwood arsonist.

I want this deal to happen. You're the boss.

I need you to sign off on it. You got it.

You just say whatever you have to to get him and I'll get the DA on board.

Just like that, that's it.

I didn't know anyone had that kind of relationship with the revered district

attorney.

I'll set up a lunch date for the three of us.

Thank you, Charles.

Ah, Kate.

Believe it or not, I'd really rather have us working on the same team. I'm

looking for problems either.

I'll let you know about lunch.

And the overtime.

And the overtime.

I had this big orange cat when I was a kid.

Tommy Pity Pat.

Pity who?

Shut up. Give me a break. I was eight years old.

The smartest feline in the Western world. He learned how to ring the

That would put it like you at about four.

One day he just disappeared.

We're ringing that bell.

You're the one who asked me to share. Now I'm sharing. You don't want me to

share, don't ask. I want you to share. I'm honest, I do. Okay, call me any

I'll be disappeared one day. Go.

When I was heartbroken, I cried and cried for days.

I prayed and prayed to God to bring him home, and I told myself that if God was

real, he would answer my prayers.

But he didn't, because Tommy was roadkill on Route 66.

I lost my faith and decided that it was all just a big lie.

Made me want to go buy you a kitten.

Maybe like two or three of them.

A month later, I met Dennis.

I've got three big cavities. I'm in the worst kind of pain.

Waiting outside for my mom. She's late as usual.

But there was Tommy.

Faith based on small furry animals.

I'm sold.

Remind me of that story next time we go pick up some guy who likes to beat up

his wife for the fun of it, huh?

Faith helps.

Because he can take away her dignity and he can take away her sense that the

world is a safe place. But he cannot take away her faith in God.

He doesn't get that.

So do

you believe in God?

You mean like a guy with a big white beard in the sky?

No.

But do I believe in something more than this?

I'd like to think so.

Father.

O powerful and living God, we give you thanks as we gather together to

rededicate this church.

We ask you yet again to shower your blessing upon this worship place.

O God, to whom mercy and forgiveness belong, hear our prayers on

behalf of your servant, Kathleen Fitzsimmons.

Amen.

This has been so unsettling for the entire congregation.

Nothing like it has ever happened in all the years I've worked for Father

Natale.

People are even afraid to come to Mass.

Father Natale's been a rock, keeping everyone's spirits up.

It was his idea to have the re -consecration service so soon.

He's right.

We all need a new beginning.

If this is a bad time, we can come back.

No, better we get it behind us.

Yes, these are ours. They were taken in the last robbery.

We're more interested in the things that were taken the morning of the murder.

Other than the offering box, I haven't found anything else missing.

I'm not sure about this. I'd have to check the serial numbers.

Can we see the inventory?

Of course. Father keeps it in his office.

I worry about Father. He's so busy cheering everyone else up. He doesn't

time for his own grieving.

Poor woman.

What a senseless death.

Those things mean something to us, but how much can they all be worth?

Here it is.

Would you mind if we took a few minutes and looked at the numbers down here?

Well, I don't think Father would object.

I'll be upstairs.

It's Kathy Fitzsimmons.

You think I don't see the doubt in your eyes? Particularly in yours.

We're professional doubters, Bishop. And I'm not just some clerical apologist

covering up for the church.

The confidence of this diocese and Father Natale is such that I'm speaking

you without an attorney present.

I'd describe Bill Natale as a fine young priest. One of our finest,

unequivocally. Anything from his past or his present that we should know about?

Not so much as a whisper.

We have an 800 line. We have a website.

We encourage our people to come forward with problems.

We investigate even the anonymous complaints.

There's been nothing about Father Natale. Nothing.

We heard about a leave of absence last year.

That involved a spiritual matter.

You're only interested in improprieties. Dirt, I thought.

It must have been pretty serious, this spiritual matter. They kept him away for

three months.

I'd say Father Natale was more tired than anything.

Any idea what brought that on?

It's a special calling.

A parish priest. It has its many joys, but it's a hard and lonely life.

Was he considering leaving the priesthood?

No, Inspector.

He reaffirmed his vocation. His gift to God is one of the most precious things

he possesses, his life and love.

And Kathy Fitzsimmons was in no way involved?

No.

No, no, no.

She was a lovely woman. They were friends.

Has the world become such an ugly place?

Is it so impossible they could have just been friends?

When you two have a minute?

Like now?

Close the door.

Where are we on the robbery angle?

Rodriguez ID'd two guys. Both were in jail the time of the murder.

We're gonna need a search warrant.

Whatever that priest was wearing, he was gonna have blood all over it. If he did

it.

Am I hearing a certain reluctance here, Captain?

Damn right you are.

That man has spent his entire life making sacrifices, living his life in a

particular way.

He deserves a little respect and a lot of care before we go marching into court

with a bunch of drawings and publicly destroy all that.

You're cool.

You got a problem with that, Inspector Baffa? With all due respect, I have a

problem with any institution being put off limits.

They're a bad priest, but that doesn't mean that he's one of them.

Go after your warrant and chambers. Have it sealed.

They don't need to advertise it.

We do need to bring him in.

Bring him in.

Hey. Hey.

How are you?

Fine.

Back to work, huh?

Oh, yeah.

You look good, Jen.

You too.

Listen, I heard about Mag running an appearance.

Oh, yeah.

She just cares about you, that's all.

I've got to be in court.

Hey, Teddy?

Yeah?

Is there any way maybe we can get together and talk?

Have a cup of coffee?

I think there are some things that need to be said.

Maybe it's better left unsaid.

I don't think so.

Wait.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah.

They've agreed to your terms.

I want to make this easy on you.

Don't.

Don't make it easy.

I know how painful it is.

Don't pretend to be my friend.

Even a perfect stranger would understand.

Who is it?

It's your brother Tom, isn't it?

Thank you.

Thank you for not making me saved.

Oh, my poor brother. My poor, sick brother.

He was so smart, so kind.

People said he had the most beautiful mind.

I got a call from Stanford one day. He was teaching there.

He'd been at the blackboard since 9 o 'clock, writing the same numbers over

over.

I took him to doctors.

He wouldn't stay on the medication.

But he agreed to live with me.

He'd just sit in his room, filling...

Yellow pads with tiny numbers.

People terrified him.

But he trusted me.

Then he disappeared.

He was living in filth when I found him.

Then I discovered these receipts and his journal.

everything you mean.

You did the right thing.

This is your chance, Father.

Your chance to get it all out, clear your conscience once and for all.

Finally be rid of that nagging fear, what happens when they find out.

I loved her.

We loved each other.

I never told anyone. Not even her.

I never even gave her that.

Priest in love with a parishioner.

A fine, committed priest who believed in his vows.

So what do you do with those feelings?

You pray and pray and they don't go away.

You pray some more.

You ask for God's grace.

You spend endless hours with your spiritual counselor. You go on retreat

months. If you want to remain a priest. And I did.

I wanted a life of service.

I wanted to honor my promise to God.

Did you tell her that?

I told her that it was over.

It.

Nothing ever happened. We're ending all contact, including the counseling.

And that didn't work either.

Nothing.

Did you hear me?

Nothing ever happened.

But you had so much to lose.

Everything you worked for, the whole meaning of your life.

You had no choice. You walked into that church that morning thinking you had no

choice. I went into the church that morning to see her.

To see her. Just that.

I needed that.

Do you know what it's like to love someone that way?

Letting go of Kathy was the hardest thing I ever did.

And that hasn't changed with her death.

The struggle hasn't ended.

I only held her one time.

She was so unhappy.

She had her arms around me.

Hardly an appropriate memory for a priest.

If Sean hadn't walked in, I don't know what would have happened.

I live with that shame as well.

There you have it.

My complete confession.

Now, if only you could absolve me.

You believe him?

Yeah, Sean saw them together.

You think of what I'm thinking?

We need to talk to Sean again.

Guess you can have a little too much faith.

Yeah, I'll stick with having none.

How many times do I have to say it?

I'm innocent.

a world of reason and without sound.

I demanded Julie

6492.

Six?

6492.

6492. You think this makes any sense to him?

Tells to me.

How do you read a guy like that? He's right.

I just do.

I keep writing and writing.

I can't stop. It gets worse when I stop.

You know where the numbers are.

That's all I hear.

It's an address, isn't it, Tom?

The number of a house.

I didn't want to hurt anyone.

But I had to get rid of the numbers.

If I get rid of the numbers, they promise they'd go away.

Forever.

But they always come back.

Louder and louder.

Over.

And over.

And over.

Kate? Change of plans.

Not no lunch?

Tom Johnson, they're going for the death penalty.

I'm waiting for the punchline.

These things don't always work out. You knew that.

No.

I actually ate that crap you fed me.

You identified Johnson independently.

You could have avoided this entire situation. You didn't have to promise

sister anything.

We would be nowhere if she hadn't walked in the door. That was her choice.

I don't know what the problem is.

You lie to suspects every day.

You tell them you're talking off the record.

You promise them anything to get them to cooperate.

This is no different. He's her brother.

I gave her my word.

And I gave my word to the people of this city.

They want protection.

They want their city safe.

And they care how we do it. We didn't break one law with Johnson.

Tom Johnson's insane.

That's for the jury to decide, not us.

Well, I'm going to let his attorneys know that I'm available to testify.

It's your career.

No.

It's my conscience.

We need to talk to you about Father Natale.

Bringing him to the police station, treating him like a criminal.

You guys are wrong about him.

I admit it, we were.

Never thought he'd bring a woman back here.

He took a vow of celibacy, what did that mean?

He never did that.

He never cared about God or the church or any of this. Not true.

He was in love with Kathy Fitzsimmons.

He was gonna go away with her. No.

He would have forgotten all about you. He told us he didn't care about you

either.

It's a lie.

He was strong. He was fighting against her.

She was always here, begging him, crying, looking so beautiful.

You were afraid that he was going to leave you for her, and you go back to

a junkie and a criminal just like you used to be. You had to stop her, didn't

you, Sean?

You didn't see him struggling.

You didn't see the pain. You don't know what he went through.

Father Natale wasn't the evil one, was he, Sean?

No.

She was.

I had to do something. She was going to win. I couldn't let that happen.

That's not what you wanted, is it?

This is your church.

This is what you wanted.

You wanted to love all of us, not just her.

I did the right thing.

God forgives me.

God forgives everything.

You forgive me.

With God's grace.

Sean Townsend, I'm placing you under arrest for the murder of Kathleen

Fitzsimmons. You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

It's not over. I won't let it be over. Is this how it works?

You lie to me.

You trick me.

You make me give up my own flesh and blood.

Will you be there?

Will you be there with me when they kill him?

When they stick the needle in?

Or maybe you'll think of just the right thing to say. Make that easy too.

Nobody cares and you know it.

Some new hangout?

No liquor license, but I'm safe.

You want something?

No, no, no, not really. I've got to put in a couple more hours at the office.

Well, it's not going to take long.

Oh, no, no, hey, that's okay.

I didn't mean to imply that.

I just thought, you know, since we work so close together that...

Play with that guy What I was busting my butt to get out

of work so I could take you away for the weekend and I saw you You're all

over I

Was drinking

I I don't remember Two days earlier.

I told you that I loved you

Do you remember that?

Yeah.

You know, those words don't really come easy to me.

If you can just let me explain.

I can't explain that.

Can you give me a chance?

Can...

I loved you.

And I was ready to go for it. I knew what the problems were, and I knew it

wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't care.

When you blew me off...

When you had to cancel the weekend.

I was just sure that you had come to your senses.

It's hard to understand.

When you have so little self -respect.

You're just afraid all the time.

And I was afraid that.

One day you were just going to wake up and see the real me, the real

screwed -up me, and you would just go.

So I just beat you to the punch.

But that's who I was, and I'm different now.

Can we give this another chance?

Too much has happened.

Too damn hard.

Life's hard.

No, no, Jenny, you make it hard.

Okay.

So... I guess this is...

The point where you say, why don't we just be friends?

I don't even know if I want that, Jane.

Take care.