Original subtitles

Went through ATF's arson program, did a bunch of federal cases.

It's just the kind of leadership that OFI needs right now. I really hope

you'll consider it.

This is really about you and what you want.

I left you in the leadership position at 51.

You know my history with arson and you know my father's. I do.

And it doesn't change my opinion.

We got a lot more weight to carry now.

But we got this.

All right, let's talk apparatus inspection.

Fleet's asking they all go through the online portal now.

What's wrong with the paper logs?

HQ's trying to move everything online.

It takes 15 minutes to open a browser.

Moving on.

Camp Severin.

Captain.

Page 13.

Okay, a lot of changes this quarter with the SOPs, folks, so...

Gonna need you all to read and sign the acknowledgement form.

Buffalo, right? Yeah.

From the lady at the end of the bar?

She said don't take no for an answer.

Do me a solid, huh? I don't want to get stiffed on the tip.

Can't take this.

Don't think my wife would like it.

Who says she has to know?

I didn't even see you come in.

Not sure how that's possible with you wearing that.

Wow.

Whatever's in there must be riveting.

Believe me, it's not.

It's kind of nice seeing you out in the world like this.

I forgot what it looked like.

Yeah, me too.

Yeah, I know it's not easy sitting in the big chair.

It's a lot to take on.

Well, it helps I don't have to do it alone.

Well,

bad news is...

I don't think that the workload is getting any lighter for us.

The good news?

The good news is that we have the next 48 hours off with

no plans.

So, I think we should make the most of it.

Captain Severide.

Yeah. I'm Agent Evans. This is Agent Warren.

Sorry to drop in. We tried your phone.

Come on in.

What the hell's going on? There's been a fire at the home of a Cook County judge.

We have reason to believe it was arson. We need you to come take a look.

All due respect, I'm not the one you should be talking to. This is really a

job for OFI.

ATF's taking jurisdiction here, and the special agent in charge specifically

asked for you.

I believe you worked with them in Alabama.

Special Agent Calloway?

Yeah, I know him.

Calloway's flying in, so we were hoping you could get a head start on the scene,

since we're already losing time. Losing time?

What does that mean? The judge and his wife weren't at home at the time of the

fire, but their five-year-old daughter was.

And now she's missing.

As in kidnapped?

A manhunt is already underway, but right now, every second counts. So if you

don't mind, We'd prefer to finish briefing you on the way.

Give me three minutes.

Judge Scanlon and his wife were at the opera when it happened.

They'd hired a sitter to stay with their daughter, Kaylee.

We believe Kaylee was already upstairs when the fire started. And you're sure

she was taken?

K-9 was able to track her scent from the back door to the curb. Then it just

stops. And the sitter, where is she?

She didn't make it.

It's to your left here.

It's not just a kidnapping.

It's a... It's a murder, too.

Forensics is on their way to process the scene. We're hoping between you and

them, we'll get some kind of direction.

I thought you said a manhunt was underway.

We've got patrols canvassing the area, but so far, pod cameras and witnesses

have all come up empty.

The truth is, the only real clue we have is this fire.

So I hope you're as good as Calloway says.

all night at the station.

I understand.

Then why aren't you out there trying to find our daughter?

Trying to get justice for that poor little girl in our living room? Judge

Scanlon, I assure you, we are.

I told the sergeant if I had any clue, we would do something as heinous as I

would tell her.

We'll walk through the house and see if there's anything out of place or

missing. Could be very helpful.

Okay.

I'm watching the report on the news. They're saying that at least one person

might have died. Yeah, the babysitter.

God, that's awful.

Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're there. I mean, it sounds like they can use all

the help they can get.

Yeah, well, I don't know how much help I'm going to be. This fire is not

telling me much so far.

Hey, it looks like Third Shift responded.

So maybe they saw something while they were putting it out.

Good idea. I'm pinned down until Calloway gets here. Maybe I can send a

patrol unit.

You don't need to. I can talk to him. You sure?

Yeah. I mean, I'll know better what to ask them anyway. Plus, I just want to

help if I can.

Okay, let me know what you find out.

I got to jump.

Yeah, you got it.

Agent Calloway, welcome to Chicago.

Captain, it's going to take me a minute to get used to saying that. Don't worry,

I'm still not used to hearing it. Aren't you the one about to get some fancy

award? Yeah, you heard about that. Yeah, most convictions out of any arson

investigator, isn't that right?

No comment.

Now, what do we got here?

Check the room, floor to ceiling.

Char's uniform everywhere.

No V-pattern?

Not that I saw.

Gas key valve.

Looks warped. Had to be 1,300 degrees, three feet off the floor, but it looks

locked to me.

So they got no point of origin and no clear ignition source. Whoever did this

knew what they were doing.

Which means they're smart.

Smart enough not to leave a trail.

It can't all be easy.

There is one thing.

Look at the position of the body.

She's sitting like nothing happened.

Exactly. Door's five feet away. The room goes up in flames. She doesn't try to

get out. How the hell does that make sense?

It doesn't.

You sure this thing's arson?

What makes you ask that?

Well, it didn't really burn like one.

I mean, it was a son of a bitch to knock down, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't

like those accelerant fires.

But it was hard to put out. Yeah, that's just because the room was already in

full flashover when we got there.

Once we got a second line in, we got it under control.

Okay, what about outside?

Did anybody see anything weird?

Bystanders acting off?

Anything like that. It's just the regular looky-loos.

What about the car?

You know what I'm talking about, Lieutenant?

When we were rolling up... When we were coming up on the fire, there was a car

tearing down the other way. Greer had a swerve just not to hit him. I assume

they were just hauling ass to get away from the fire.

Maybe they were.

It's just not for the reasons that you thought.

Anybody get to make a model.

Okay.

Great. We'll meet you there.

What's the update?

PD just put a bolo out on all late-model white Honda Civics. Decent odds that's

our kidnapper's getaway car.

Your wife's got good instincts.

Yeah, she does.

In the meantime, M.E.'s on the way to pick up the babysitter's body.

What do you think they're going to find?

I guess something that says she was incapacitated or killed even before the

fire started.

That would explain the positioning of the body.

I told him we'd meet him at his office.

Come on, I'll drive.

I can't imagine you ruffled through feathers at over five for bringing me in

on this.

That's their problem. If they knew what was good for them, you'd be running the

place.

Actually, they asked me to.

But you'd rather be pulling cats out of trees.

I'd like to see you do some of the stuff I've done.

Fair enough, but I saw you in Alabama.

I know a kindred spirit when I see one.

Sounds like your old boss saw it, too. What was his name again?

Ann Meter.

I don't think he was too happy with my decision.

Well, he was grooming you for the chair, right?

If I was him, I wouldn't be too happy either.

You got something?

Maybe.

What's going on?

We got a hit on the Civic.

Shut down 37th and Loomis on both ends.

Nobody in, nobody out. Pair off and work the block. That Civic blew through this

intersection and disappeared, so it's got to be close.

Okay. Got it.

Car's empty.

It's Captain Severide to Maine. I have an auto fire off 37th and Loomis.

I'm gonna need an engine out here quick.

The Scanlan said Kaylee's favorite blanket was missing from her room.

I got something else.

What is it?

It's a message.

We all agree that's supposed to be scales of justice, right?

Looks like it to me. It's a little on the nose for a judge, don't you think?

Someone feels they've been wronged, wants to balance the scales.

Taking Scanlon's daughter is how they do it.

Your suspect is someone Scanlon presided over.

Yeah, but he's been on the bench for, what, 15 years? That's a lot of cases, a

lot of suspects.

Except this one has a fire.

So we start with any of Scanlon's arson cases, go from there.

I'll have the guy start combing through those now.

You're too fine what you can here.

I'll get a little fire to flap at the cow. Give me how hot that fire was.

I'm guessing our guy used some kind of chemical accelerant.

I got a hunch I want to run down, too.

There's something I should know.

See if anything pops up first.

Hey, I got something I might need your help with.

You can't have a fire without an ignition source.

And in arson, there's two kinds.

Simple and sophisticated.

Now, the sophisticated ones often make use of what we call an incendiary

device.

Now, these devices can give arsonists an advantage because it puts distance

between them and the fire.

But it also leaves a clue.

Look who's commanding the classroom.

Should I call you Professor Van Meter?

Oh, well, you caught a good lesson. Let's see if they stay awake for hazmat

regulations.

Your name comes up around here a lot. Really?

Good things, I hope. Oh, one hell of a training officer is the general tenor.

I don't know about that. I just had to cut a phobia loose. Well, that's part of

the job, too, right?

Knowing who's got it and who doesn't.

But I assume you're not here to talk about that.

Severide asked me to come by.

He's working in arson.

With OFI?

ATF, actually.

I see.

He remembers you telling him about an arson that you worked, but he couldn't

remember the details.

It was something about a victim whose body was posed.

Or immobilized somehow.

I know the case he's talking about.

Anton Liddell.

He set three house fires with the tenants still inside.

But before he did, he dosed them with a paralytic so they couldn't get away.

When was this?

2008, I think it was.

I'd have to check.

Tell me Severide's not dealing with something like that.

He's not sure yet.

The only other thing he's got is this.

Does this mean anything to you?

Maybe in connection with Liddell?

I don't recognize it.

But I was pulled off the initial investigation when the feds took over.

If you want, I could ask him.

Who?

Liddell? He's at Pontiac Correctional.

It's not that far away.

And honestly, I've been meaning to make the trip anyway. I'm building a motive

typology of serial arsonists for the NFPA.

I can call now and get a visitor's pass.

Could you get two?

Agent Calloway.

Kay Gleason, one of the new evidence decks here at All-Fi.

Appreciate the assist on this. This is, uh... Captain Severide. I know. Been

catching up on all your cases.

I guess I'm not the only one with a reputation.

What do we got on that Civic?

Fire started here. Passenger side foot well. Most likely chlorine powder mixed

with diethyl ether.

That would get the fire hot enough to warp the floor pan like it did.

Let's run the sample now.

Diethyl ether. Remind me again, what is that used for? A lot of things.

Pharmaceuticals, plastics, starter fluid.

What is it?

Nothing. Rush that analysis on that, will you? The clock is running on this.

Will do. Come on, let's go pull that list.

Chemical-like diethyl is going to be regulated, which means we can pull from

a list of businesses that have it.

Maybe our arsonist picked it up from work.

See, this is why I liked having you in Alabama.

It's a shame you had to leave.

I had priorities I had to get back to.

Like what?

Saving my marriage.

I'm good on you.

Because I sure as hell didn't save mine.

Nice to have company.

I don't get a lot of visitors.

We're hoping you can shed some light on your history.

I know people think I'm a monster. I understand that.

But I was sick.

I'm better now.

You're arsonist.

You refer to them as art projects.

Is that right?

I thought I was making art.

Still life, that's what I called it.

And, uh... Is this part of your art?

No, but... But what?

Well, I just feel if I have something to offer, I should be compensated in some

way. There's a little girl missing.

You say that you're better?

Prove it.

Talk.

It's a signature.

All artists have one. I did.

Why do you think this is a signature?

You have a talent. You want people to know, right?

Nobody sees what you did as talent.

The investigators did.

One in particular.

He was the only one who really got it, you know?

How hard I worked.

Yeah, well, I doubt he was a fan.

More like a worthy adversary.

Which, in a way, I think is better.

You know?

Always thinking of you, trying to get in your head, understand you.

And in the end, isn't that what we all really want?

So who understood you?

Callaway. I got that list of businesses.

Your idea about the babysitter being drugged, that wasn't a hunch.

You've seen it somewhere before.

With Anton Liddell, you put him behind bars.

You hid that from me, from this investigation.

Why?

I'm not convinced they're connected.

Maybe you don't want them to be.

Yeah, maybe I don't.

What do you know that we don't?

Look, if these cases are connected, all of this... It's on me.

Eighteen years ago, I ran point on the Liddell arsons.

I cuffed him myself.

And Judge Scanlon?

He was involved, too.

We pulled every arson Scanlon presided over. Liddell's not one of them.

Scanlon didn't.

Try the case. He prosecuted it.

We've been looking in the wrong place.

You said this all could fall on you. What did you mean by that?

In the original investigation, there was some circumstantial evidence that

Liddell may have had an accomplice.

But you didn't pursue it?

Liddell denied it, even though it would have given him reasonable doubt.

So you let him walk?

An accomplice out for revenge, using his mentor's M.O. at tracks.

How many hours have we lost because you kept this from us? For the record, I

never bought the accomplice angle.

That's why I hesitated to bring it up. You didn't. We found out. And right now

it's looking pretty damn compelling.

Liddell has always said he worked alone.

I doubt he'll change his story. Maybe not, but we're 12 hours into this

manhunt and no closer to finding that little girl. So I'm willing to try just

about anything.

Liddell's not the only one who can give us a name.

That list of suspected accomplices?

You still have it?

I don't know who you are.

And I don't know what you want.

But whatever it is, it has nothing to do with our daughter.

Kaylee is an amazing, kind, sweet little girl with a loving heart.

And I know she just wants to be back with her friends, her cats, and a family

who loves her.

Please, bring Kaylee home.

Stella, interrogator just finished with Liddell.

Did he give up a name? Well, he said he's willing to in exchange for better

accommodations. So he is admitting that he had an accomplice. That's what he's

saying. Now it's up to the state's attorney to decide if they want to make

a deal. In the meantime... What is this?

Liddell's case file.

They asked us to look through it.

Liddell likes to be clever.

They're thinking maybe he hid something about his accomplice in our

conversation.

All right.

There's no accomplice here.

In all of these interrogations and interviews... Liddell doesn't even hint

at it. Mm-hmm.

It doesn't mean he didn't have one.

Calloway knows that.

Certainly not a reason to hide the connection between these cases.

Did you ever work with him, Calloway? No. As soon as the ATF took over, I was

done. But I know guys like him.

What the job means to him.

If he really lets someone walk and they're behind this, that's sometimes

when cops stop being helpful, start becoming a liability.

Okay.

This ATF work, is this ongoing or... No.

No, this came out of the blue.

Because I was about to ask what they did to convince him.

Obviously what I did didn't work.

You know Kelly loved OFI.

And it wasn't easy for him to walk away.

But he did.

And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

After all we've been through.

Listen, Tom.

Nobody knows this.

I am not sure Kelly would even want me telling you.

But when he had the choice between 51 and OFI, he was going to choose OFI.

He had the paperwork ready. He just had to tell Pascal.

But then Cruz got hurt.

And Kelly felt like he didn't have a choice.

Somebody had to leave 51.

That's very Kelly, isn't it? Yeah. Give up the thing he wants to help the people

who need him.

It is.

You know, though, it occurs to me that 51 needed a leader.

He's not the only one at that firehouse.

So, Kelly, I said hi.

Back in 08, we had three guys connected to the Liddell arsons. Flash forward to

now. One guy is deceased. Another guy is out of state.

But David Palmer, he's still kicking.

What was Palmer's connection to Liddell?

We traced the solvent blend used in two of Liddell's fires back to Palmer's body

shop. While Palmer copped to selling the chemicals off books for extra cash, but

swore he didn't know who was buying or why.

Palmer's shop is on the list here for diethyl ether.

Guess you already knew that.

I did.

Let's get everything we can on Palmer.

Sorry to interrupt.

This just came from the ME's office.

Is that the autopsy on the babysitter? It is.

Her preliminary tox screen came back clean.

There was no paralytic found in her system.

Well, that can't be right. She had to be immobilized somehow.

What about injuries?

No wounds, no blunt force trauma, no ligature marks were found.

The official cause of death... The smoke inhalation. No, that can't be right. I

mean, if she wasn't hurt and she wasn't drugged, she would have been fighting

for her life in that fire. I'm just telling you what it says.

An old paralytic that breaks Liddell's M.O. Maybe our accomplice theory is

wrong.

The paralytic's how you were able to trace the murders back to Liddell,

right?

Maybe Palmer learned from his mistake.

Agent Evans, Palmer's body shop closed last week.

Could be where he's keeping the girl.

Who turned that on?

Door sensor must have triggered it. It's an alarm.

Behind. Over here.

I lost him.

He's wearing a spray suit and respirator.

Get local PD and set up a 10-block perimeter.

Canvas the whole area.

If we're lucky, we'll box Palmer in. Any sign of the girl?

None.

So what the hell was Palmer doing here?

He has court transcripts and police files from Medell's case.

Palmer was studying up.

The laptop is full of surveillance photos.

The scan lens, their house.

Kaylee.

He was destroying evidence.

I let him walk, Kelly.

If I had, none of this would be happening.

It doesn't matter now.

I didn't want to believe it.

I should have.

It's on me to finish this.

No.

It's on us.

Yeah, it's gonna take a minute for forensics to log all this stuff. Go

home, get cleaned up, we'll meet at the field office and work through it.

See if anything points to where Palmer's hiding the girl.

Hi. Hey.

Oh, I didn't expect to see you here.

Should I take that as a good sign?

Uh, well, we... We got the suspect, but we still don't know where he's hiding

the girl. He's about to head right back out.

Okay. How can I help?

You've already done more than enough.

It wasn't just me. You owe Van Meter a call, not just to say thank you.

I know.

Hey,

what's up?

No, he's not with me. He said he was heading back to the field office.

All right, let me see if I can get him. I'll call you back.

Calvary's MIA.

Nobody's seen him and he's not answering his phone.

What?

Why would he do that? Go dark like that?

He knows where Palmer is.

But then why wouldn't he tell you that? Because he thinks this is on him to

finish.

Van Meter said something like this could happen where Calloway's guilt starts

becoming a liability.

Damn it. I should have realized he was sending me away.

Something must have tipped him off at the shop.

Well, you've seen what he's seen, right?

So you must know what he knows.

Before we left, he was staring at this picture.

Black elk.

There's an ad for an expedition, mountain biking, something like that. It

fell out of place.

I don't know. There's a bunch of other stuff on the board.

Calloway found Liddell hiding out at the Elk Motel.

That's where he got arrested.

Look at the sign.

Calloway's here.

So is Palmer.

Calloway's gotta know what this is, right?

I mean, that ad was left for him to find.

I'm not sure he cares.

Maybe we should wait for the FBI.

We have no idea what we're walking into.

Calloway's already in there. I don't think we can

Help. Hi.

My name is Stella.

This is Kelly. We're firefighters, and we're gonna take you home. Do you want

to take my hand?

Oh, honey, it's okay.

I got you, okay?

I'm gonna get her out of here.

I'm gonna keep looking.

Okay, be careful.

Calloway!

Homer's here, Kelly!

Get away now!

Kelly!

Kelly!

Kelly, baby.

Kelly.

Come on.

I got you. Get up.

Come on.

Come on.

Here we go. I got you.

Where's the girl?

She's safe.

Hey.

Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm all right. I'm okay.

Okay, I'm gonna go check on Kaylee.

First off...

I want to say I'm sorry.

I know you and Callaway had history.

You just wish I could have stopped her.

He wanted to fix his mistake.

Clearly, that clouded his judgment.

But he did find Palmer in the end. We were able to recover his body from the

motel room.

So Palmer was Liddell's accomplice?

It all fits.

And Liddell?

Did he corroborate it?

We don't know.

When the state's attorney declined to make a deal, Liddell went back to

saying... He always worked alone.

He's not exactly a reliable source, Captain.

No, it's not that. It's... Why now? Why come after these guys after all this

time?

We found this in the auto shop.

It's about Calloway's commendation.

I think that's the reason behind all this.

Palmer wanted the last word on Calloway's storied career.

So what happens now?

That's it?

Just got witness statements for you to sign and you're free to go Be right back

Well

This wasn't the 48 hours we had planned to have

No But

I did see something in you that I haven't seen in a while.

A spark.

I can't do this at 151. I know.

But you also can't ignore what calls to you.

Captain Severide.

It's Gleeson, right? Yeah.

Captain Hinshaw asked me to find you.

O5 team is still stuck in the motel, so you may have to wait a couple minutes.

Any idea what Hinshaw wants to talk to me about? I'm assuming it's just to get

your statement on the motel fire.

Well, O5's processing the scene. He'll probably know more about it at this

point than I do.

So you haven't heard about Palmer? How they found him?

What do you mean?

He was sitting upright in a chair in the motel room, burned to a crisp.

No sign of struggle.

What did the ME say?

Tox screen was clean.

Palmer died of smoke inhalation.

Just like your sitter.

Does the FBI know? They do, but with everything they've got on Palmer,

they're just considering it an immaterial anomaly.

They shouldn't.

Yeah, I... Wait, what about your meeting with Hinshaw?

This a bad time?

Not at all. Come in.

It's good to see you, Kelly.

Good to see you, too.

Listen, uh, before anything else, I... I want to say I should have read you in on

the decision not to take OFI. I owed you that.

Stella told me why you did what you did.

I don't blame you.

But you could have said something.

I would have understood.

Guess I was afraid that you might try and talk me out of it.

Probably would have.

But only because I believe in you.

I'm not the only one.

Callaway called you in because he knew you could solve this case.

That's the thing, Tom.

I'm not sure I did.

There are definitely unanswered questions here, but you know, no case is

perfect.

I just can't shake the feeling that Palmer is not... He's not our guy.

Then who is? I don't know.

But I don't understand how the same guy who pulled off this arson at the judge's

home, that I can't figure out, could also fall victim to his own trap.

People make mistakes.

Fine, but why does the body show no signs of a struggle?

What do you think?

To me, it suggests that Palmer was incapacitated even before the motel fire

ever started.

By the real arsonist.

One problem with that theory, you saw Palmer at the auto shop. All I saw was a

guy in a mask. Same with the girl. Never saw his face.

Okay.

But still, you'd have to have someone with a grudge against Scanlan and

Calloway. Or maybe Scanlan was just a means to an end.

Think about it. A high-stakes arson against a big-time judge brings the feds

in. And an arson also all but guarantees Calloway runs point.

You think Calloway was the real target?

We all thought this message was for Scalin. I mean, after all, he's a judge,

right? Right.

I did some digging on the symbols, other places it shows up. Look at the name.

Nemesis. As in adversary.

What did Liddell say?

All arsonists need a worthy adversary.

What if that's the real motive?

Yeah, but you can't ignore the evidence against Palmer.

His connection to Liddell, the chemical used in the car fire?

Don't have to. That's what makes Palmer the perfect fall guy. Liddell's case is

public record.

Anyone who studies it could do this.

You pull in Calloway, frame Palmer, walk away clean.

Have you taken this to the FBI?

I did, but I can't prove anything.

Just have a feeling that maybe we got the wrong guy.

If this is true...

Then someone out there just committed a perfect arson.

And they got what they wanted.

A worthy adversary.

Callaway fell for the trap. How does it make him worthy?

He did.

But you didn't.

And if this arsonist is really out there, now he knows you.