All language subtitles for The Detectives - 02x08 - Master Manipulator (English)

It's hard to explain
how this case made me feel.

It showed me the depths
that people can go

to manipulate others.

And it quickly became one of the
strangest cases of my career.

A lovely mother and daughter come home

from an evening in Niagara Falls...

What?

What's wrong?

Tell me! What's happening?

It's Bruce. I think he's been attacked.

- Bruce?
- No. no. no.

What if they're still inside?

It made me sick.

What kind of a person would attack

an elderly gentleman in his own home?

There's all kinds of evil out there.

- Sync and corrections by ByDem -
- www.addic7ed.com -

I was the first female investigator

in our homicide unit with
Niagara Regional Police.

This case was my first
as a lead investigator.

Being a woman adds
a little bit of pressure.

I'm not gonna lie. I certainly felt it.

- Hey.
- Hey.

You want me to canvass
while you check the scene?

It's your call.

The boss wants you as lead.
Says you're ready.

I'll be your file manager.

Victim's in the garage.

The crime itself occurred

in this cute little house
on this quiet street.

Nice place to live,
a wonderful community.

Not a lot of crime.

And yet, here we have

an elderly gentleman attacked
in his own garage.

It's shocking to see
someone die like this.

Do we know who he is?

Bruce Firman, 72.

Cause of death?

Coroner's not here yet.

It looks like a blunt force
trauma to the head.

- You saw the pipe wrench.
- Yeah.

Whose car is this?

The victim's step-daughter,
Elizabeth Gatenby,

visiting from BC. It's a rental.

Well, it's part of the crime
scene now so let's impound it,

get a warrant and then
start the canvass.

- Will do.
- And who found the body?

Elizabeth and her mother.
Um, Margaret Benesch.

Bruce's wife. They're at a neighbor.

Were they inside the house
when it happened?

Apparently not.

Well, let's make sure.
So take them to the station,

test them for blood spatter
and I'll talk to them there.

Somebody killed this elderly gentleman

in his own home.

And they're still out there.

What has happened here?

Elizabeth had seen Bruce Firman
lying on the floor

which is a difficult thing to see.

Margaret was kind of in shock.

There was no blood spatter
on either of them.

If they were at the scene,
there would have been.

Please have a seat.

Was there anything
missing from the house?

We haven't... been inside yet.

We ran next door as soon as I
saw what had happened to Bruce.

It was horrible. It could've been us!

It's traumatic for anybody

to come home to find a loved one dead.

I felt like Elizabeth was
very protective of her mom.

She shielded her mother from
seeing the body on the floor.

That's what somebody
should do for their mother.

You know, it's that bond
between a mother and daughter.

- Was it a robbery?
- We don't know yet.

Was the garage door tampered
with when you entered?

Is there any other way to get inside
the house without breaking in?

There's a key hidden
in the flower pot in the back.

Do you think that's how it happened?

Don't worry. We'll figure it out.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

The picture that we get of Bruce

is that he's a decent guy,

JUST DOING WHAT HE DID EVERY SINGLE DAY:

coming home, putting his bike away

before he went in to watch
the news and then go to bed.

And on this day, he never
got into the house.

The fact that the key is there,

well, it either tells us
that somebody used the key

to get in and then they went
through the trouble

to put it back.

Or the key wasn't in play at all.

We're looking for signs.
We're looking for signs

of forced entry, broken
window, jimmied door,

but there was none of that in this case.

The house was secure.
There weren't signs

of someone ransacking the house
or anything like that.

I felt that uh, this was
maybe not going to be

an easy case to solve.

- Hi.
- There you are!

Find anything?

The key was still in the flower box.

There was a laptop in the kitchen.

Did they find his wallet last night?

Yeah, back pocket. Cash
and cards were still inside.

The door to the house was still locked.

No marks.

I don't think this was a robbery.

Look, from the position of the body,

I'm guessing he was
standing right inside

the garage door when he was hit.

Yeah, I agree.

Maybe a few steps in.

So the killer was
probably already inside.

Bruce might've been targeted.

Has somebody targeted
this older gentleman

and why would they want
to do this to him?

Because I was the first
female investigator

in our homicide unit,
I want to show that, you know,

I'm dedicated. I can do this.
I wanna do a good job.

In some sense,

you're wanting to prove
to the others that...

I can do this.

Um, isn't that your job, Harrison?

Very funny, Gamble. Sit down.

Congratulations.

OK, so here's what we know so far.

Bruce Firman, 72, retired
real estate agent,

returned home after his
nightly bike ride at around

8 pm. Bludgeoned to death upon entry.

Bruce had the same routine every night.

Gone at seven on the bike,
back at eight.

Neighbors say you could set
a watch to him.

So what are we thinking? Robbery?

Sounds like an easy mark.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too but

there were no signs of forced
entry. His wallet was untouched.

There was nothing missing
from the house.

There's a laptop in the kitchen

and the hidden key was still there.

So it's a targeted attack.

It sure looks that way.

Someone was waiting
for Bruce inside the house.

What do we know about him?

Uh, Bruce was living in the house

with his common-law wife,
Margaret Benesch.

She has a daughter, Elizabeth
Gatenby. She lives in B.C.,

but she's in town visiting.
They found the body...

after having dinner in Niagara.

How do we know
they weren't in the house?

Forensic tests found no blood
spatter on either of them.

So, it's unlikely.

And we'll be checking their alibi.

Did you pull up his record?

Yeah. No criminal record, no
previous calls to that address.

But... Bruce and Margaret
were suing each other.

Court records go back months.

Looks like they were on the outs.

Margaret's
withholding important information here.

And I wondered why.

Firman had two sons and a daughter

from a previous marriage.
Have they been notified?

They're all out of town.

One of the sons is close by.

I'll go.

No! I'll take care of it.

Don Firman, he had a close

relationship with his dad.

He knew that it wasn't a good situation

between Margaret and Bruce.

He knew something bad was gonna happen.

Their relationship had fallen
apart months ago.

- What happened?
- He met someone else.

He was up front about it
with her, though.

Told her he wanted
out of the relationship.

Then why were they still
living together?

Dad was scared if he moved
out, she'd change the locks

and he'd never see any
of his things again.

They were suing each other over
the house, everything inside it,

spousal support. It was ugly.

I mean, he wanted out,
but she wanted everything.

Did Margaret ever threaten your father?

You kidding?

After the last court hearing?
She was so furious,

when they got home, she threw
an ashtray at his head.

Said she'd kill him before
she ever paid him a dime.

His dad actually said to him

"if something happens to me,

you need to look at Margaret."

When Don talked about Margaret,

he talked about her as a cruel woman.

She was so furious, when they got home,

she threw an ashtray at his head.

Said she'd kill him before
she ever paid him a dime.

I knew there was more to

this story than what she was telling me.

Yes, we had our problems, we fought.

I couldn't wait to get out
of the relationship.

But I wouldn't kill him.

You threatened to.

I said a lot of things I didn't mean.

And he deserved to hear
every one of them.

Bruce Firman was a cheat,
a liar and a con artist.

He started off so charming and romantic.

And then he turned on me.

And all he wanted was
my money, my things.

He didn't care about me.

Is that what happened?
The money ran out?

He met some woman in the neighborhood

and then he decided to leave.

But he wanted me to pay him first.

He said he owned half the house.

He didn't?

No! I paid for it in full.

But he made me put his name on the deed.

Said it would prove I trusted him.

I can see he made you pretty angry.

Well, I wasn't gonna
let him get away with it.

I was going to drag through the courts.

Not kill him.

That woman he was seeing...
she could have him.

Do you know her name?

Of course! Joan.

She lives three blocks away.

Where do you think he was going
every night on his "bike ride"?

Ask her if you want
to know what happened.

Better still, ask the ex-wives.
There were eight of them.

What? I don't know anybody

who had eight wives.

Margaret's anger towards
Bruce bordered on hatred.

Maybe he was walking away

from every relationship with a
significant amount of assets.

Is he lovin' 'em and leavin' 'em
and takin' half of their stuff.

Bruce and I had a real connection.

At my age, that isn't easy to come by.

So when he left,

I got depressed.

I couldn't understand it.

As I've gotten older,
I've come to appreciate

the importance of having
someone there for you.

For a while, I thought
I'd found that with Bruce.

But I guess he didn't.

Why not?

He said he didn't feel
the spark anymore.

And he met someone else.

Why did he leave?

Why does anyone leave a relationship?

I think he'd just had enough. Moved on.

There's nothing malicious about it.

He was honest about it.
He told me what had happened

and that he wanted out.
And so we moved on.

Were there ever any issues with money?

No. We took good care of each other.

I didn't get that love 'em and leave 'em

and take everything sense from him.

The women had nothing but
nice things to say about him

and it just so happened that the
relationships didn't work out.

We went and met Bruce's
girlfriend, Joan.

Can you tell me about Bruce?

What can I tell you?

He was a wonderful man.

So kind. We'd just started
seeing each other.

You really loved him.

Joan was the woman that he was seeing

at the time of his death.

My impression was that
she was smitten with Bruce.

He saw you that night, didn't he?

Every night. He used to come over,

we ate dinner together
and then he'd leave.

Did anything seem strange or off?

No. It was like every other night.

How did you two meet?

I was walking the dog in the park

four years ago. Just like that.

We became best of friends.

Confidantes.

And then, when things started
to get difficult with Margaret,

we became something other.

Did he ever talk to you about Margaret?

All the time.

He was frightened of her, Detective.

To sleep, he'd prop up a chair against

the bedroom door just in case.

When I think of what that poor
man must've gone through.

You can call me...
every day if you like.

Joan was the total opposite of Margaret.

It seemed pretty clear
she didn't have any reason

to kill Bruce.

We checked the laptop.
It belongs to Elizabeth.

- Find anything?
- Nothing much.

What about Bruce's real estate clients?

Everyone we spoke to
seemed happy with him.

Besides, he hasn't worked
as an agent in years.

Bruce seemed to leave
things off amicably.

Except with Margaret.

That fits with the case files.

Bruce's lawyer sent them in.
It's a lot to go through,

but they definitely were not amicable.

In the end, it seems like
he was just trying to get back

a few things that he paid for.
She wouldn't accept.

Margaret made it sound
like he was trying

to take everything from her.

- Where you going?
- To check on their alibi.

We don't even know for sure
they were actually in Niagara

the night Bruce was killed.

You look at Margaret and she's a petite,

older lady.

So you kind of wonder
how could she have done this,

but definitely wondering if
she had something to do with it.

I do remember her.

They sat right over there.
The mom was facing outside.

I'll have a tea.

Coffee for me and a tea
for my mother, please.

OK.

Do you remember all
your tables that well?

No, they were just...

the daughter needed a lot of attention.

Oh, and by the way, um,
about the water for the tea,

is it freshly boiled
or is it from a spout?

It's from the machine.

Oh, well, that's not acceptable.

The water needs to be freshly boiled

before you put a tea bag in it.

She wanted the water freshly boiled

instead of from a machine.
Something like that.

Do you remember what time
they were here?

They left around... 7:45 pm?

Thank you.

We clearly know that
they were in Niagara Falls...

but we also needed to look
at how long it would take

to get back to St. Catharines.

So I timed the drive from
the restaurant to Bruce's home.

And we did the drive
a few times actually.

We wanted to make sure that
the time line we were looking at

was accurate.

There is no way that Elizabeth
and Margaret could have been

in St. Catharines at the time
of the homicide.

It was impossible.

At this point, the investigation
is not really progressing.

We don't have a strong suspect.

Margaret has a solid alibi.

She couldn't have been at the scene.

But something still wasn't
sitting right with me.

Where do we go from here?

I want to bring Elizabeth in.

Why lean on her?

It isn't gonna look great, a
family member with a solid alibi?

Something isn't right about it.

I thought several
witnesses saw them there.

Well, that's just it. Everyone I
spoke to in Niagara remembered them.

Even though they were strangers.

Especially Elizabeth.

They all said she needed
a lot of attention.

Attention.

Yeah, it's like... it's like
she was putting on a show.

Well, that's not acceptable.
The water needs to be

freshly boiled before
you put a tea bag in it.

It's like she wanted to be remembered.

You can't always explain the hunch,

but you can never discount it.

I think you have to trust your gut.

So we brought her in.

Detective Sergeant Gamble was
a former polygraph analyst.

You're in from BC, right?

I run a youth center there.

Good at reading people.

That must be demanding.

It's a 24h a day, that's for sure.

There's always someone in crisis.

Always someone who needs help.
But we do what we can.

I was interested in what
he felt she was all about.

Is she trustworthy?
Is she telling the truth?

I can't imagine it was easy
getting time off

for a trip out here.

But still, you made that happen.

My mother needed me.

Enough for you to drop everything and...

get on a bus for what? Three days?

I was um, a tough kid to handle.

I got into drugs young.

It was really rough on my mom.

I got clean a few years ago now, but uh,

I'm trying to make it up to her.

That's why I came. I need her
to know that I'm here for her

when she needs me.

But still, it must've been
pretty important for you

to get away from the youth center,

spend three days on a bus.

Elizabeth, if there's something
you're not telling us, anything.

My mother is a strong woman.

But this whole situation

with Bruce, it was just
too much for her.

She couldn't cope.

She tried to kill herself.

Have you ever tried to kill
yourself, Detective?

No.

Me neither.

But can you imagine?

The desperation you must feel?

I was scared!

I got here as quickly as I could
before anything worse could happen.

She was very upset, almost distraught.

But something still wasn't
sitting right with me.

And, I, I can't tell you
exactly what it is.

But Gamble was the guy
with the experience.

His opinion mattered a lot.

As far as I can tell, she's
being truthful. She's being

a good daughter and trying to make up

for what she put her mother through
when she was young.

And she's got a rock-solid alibi.

And the fact that Margaret
attempted suicide also tells me

she's got nothing to do with this.

Inward violence.

Exactly. She's more likely to
kill herself than anyone else.

I'm sorry. I know it's not what
you want to hear, but here's

my advice.

Get them on your side.
They're the victims.

And you're gonna need
their trust to solve this case.

Good luck.

Being a lead
investigator, you really do need

to trust your basic instincts.

There was just something that still
troubled me about Elizabeth.

How are you holding up?

It's been hard.

I still haven't been in the garage.

Thank God for Elizabeth!

She really cares about you.

She's come so far.

So far?

She had addiction problems.
She had it tough growing up.

But she's turned her life around and uh,

she's learned from her mistakes.

Ah! My angel. Angel.

Is that my laptop?

Yeah. I thought you might want it back.

Thank you.

The house must seem a lot
quieter now that Bruce is gone.

I guess we didn't interact much.

He spent most of his time
in the basement,

with the door locked.
Watching television.

Mmmm. That's uncomfortable.
Living that way.

I tried playing mediator.
I tried to get them to agree

on how to move on with their lives.

But it was impossible.

He was so bull-headed.

That must've been frustrating.

Try travelling three days
on a bus to find that out.

Now that's frustrating.

Ah, I get antsy spending
an hour on the bus,

so I can't imagine what
three days must be like.

It's not great, but you get used to it.

Mmm.

Did you make any friends along the way?

Well, there was this um, young cowboy.

I think he got on in Calgary.

He sat with me the whole way here.

This cowboy have a name?

Dell.

Last name?

Ah, I don't remember.
I belong to an anonymous group,

I don't really do last names.

What else can you tell me about Dell?

How old was he?

Uh, he was eighteen, I think.

I remember he needed a bath.

He had this big cowboy hat on
with metal studs in it.

What did you talk about?

Well, you know, we
covered a lotta ground.

It seemed like he was having
a bit of a tough time.

He sounded a lot like me at his age.

Mmm.

Did you tell him about Bruce?

I might've told him a little bit about

some of the troubles Bruce was causing.

All the arguments over money with Mom.

You have any idea where I can find Dell?

Why are you asking so many
questions about this kid?

He has nothing to do with this.

Of course. I'm just
gathering information.

Any idea where he is?

No!

According to Elizabeth, Dell was

a young kid that had fallen
on some hard times.

He fit that mold of the kind of
person that could take advantage

of a vulnerable senior.

What's this? Is this Dell?

The one and only.

Suddenly, when we saw the hat

on the video, you know,
from the bus terminal,

we were thrilled because
"There he is! There's Dell!"

Dell and Elizabeth left
in the rental car together.

I certainly was very surprised by that.

We pull any prints off the vehicle?

Yeah. Several. It's a rental.

A rental we now know
Dell's been inside of.

Send them all in,
see if we can get an ID.

Send this out to every hotel
and motel in the area.

Dell's from out of town.
He's gotta stay somewhere.

Elizabeth wasn't telling me everything.

We needed to find Dell.

Elizabeth and this young man
named Dell got into a vehicle

together.

We knew that he was coming to
St. Catharines to look for work,

so we began checking
every motel in the area.

It's the off season.

You tend to remember your
customers' faces better.

Especially a kid in a cowboy hat.

Was he with a woman?

Nah. He was with some guy.

Actually, they both
looked like teenagers.

So, two young
men were staying in this room,

but at this point,
they have left, checked out.

What did the other guy look like?

Big fella. Had a baby face.

Any names?

I'd have to check the receipts.

It's been a couple of days.
The room's been cleaned out.

They left a lotta stuff behind, though.

You still have it?

Could be with housekeeping.

Thanks.

Would you mind getting
those receipts while I do this?

Sure.

The containers were exactly the same

as in Bruce Firman's house.
What the hell was goin' on here?

Found it. Here.

The room was paid for
by an Elizabeth Gatenby.

So she clearly
rented a room in her own name,

using her own credit card.

I was thinking "OK, we got ya!"

I told you, Detective, I
don't know much about Dell.

We just sat together
on the bus. That's all.

He was coming looking for work, he
seemed friendly, we got chatting.

He seemed like a really good kid,

just needed a little help, that's all.

Do you know where he went
after the bus station?

The QE motel.

- How do you know?
- Cause I drove him.

You drove him.

Yeah, he needed a ride.

I paid for his motel room, too.

Poor kid didn't have a credit card,
so I got him checked into his room.

Brought him some food, too.

Elizabeth, very calmly and clearly,

told me, yes, she did rent
that motel room for Dell.

And I was kind of shocked at that.

And you didn't think any
of this was worth telling me.

Look. Dell had just gotten clean.

He was looking for a fresh start.

All right? So I just didn't want to
get him mixed up in all of this.

So you lied.

No! I was just trying to help.

Where's Dell now?

I don't know.

I work for a youth center.
That's what I do.

I see kids like Dell all the time.

Kids who are running from something

and need a fresh start.

If I can help, I do.

So I did.

Her whole life was this youth center

that she runs and I thought,
maybe she's not only

talking the talk, but
she's walking the walk, too.

Yeah, well sometimes kids like
Dell hurt the people that help them.

If you hear from Dell,
let me know right away.

Elizabeth is very convincing.

You know, this is kind of
her mission in life

right now, is to help young
people who are down and out.

She was just carrying on in her role.

Maybe she was a nice person.

Or maybe she was lying.

Harrison!

The prints came back from the rental.

And?

Only one hit, but it's a good one.

Tommy Nicol!

Male teenager. And look where he's from.

Kimberly, BC. That's just east
of where Elizabeth lives.

It doesn't look much like Dell.

Could be the other guy
from the hotel room.

It was really
a turning point for the case.

Not only did we get a print,
but we ran it

through the fingerprint
identification system

and we got a hit.

Tommy Nicol.

So why'd you bring me here?

To St. Catharines?

You mean, why did we bring you back?

Never been here before.

He denied ever being in St. Catharines,

which was good for our investigation

because we have his fingerprint
on the rental car.

So, we clearly know he was lying.

We know that's not true, Tommy.

We have your fingerprints.

How old are you? Seventeen?

Eighteen in a few weeks.

Well, that's pretty close.

Especially for a judge
deciding whether or not

to try you as an adult.

There's a big difference.

Telling the truth now
could go a long way.

Were you robbing the old man and
then he came home and found you?

Were you alone?

Was it Dell's idea to kill him?

Dell?

Remember the kid
you were with at the motel?

Pfft.

The one with the cowboy hat?

That's not his name.

No? What is it?

Byron.

Byron who?

Byron Gatenby.

Dell was actually Elizabeth's son.

Unbelievable. This was becoming one

of the strangest cases of my career.

Him and I, we uh...

we killed that old man.

Tommy identified Dell as Byron Gatenby,

Elizabeth's son.

Byron was in Whistler.

We picked him up and brought him back.

Just to look at Byron,
he's not a big guy.

He seems pretty meek and mild.
Just doesn't fit the character

of someone who could kill somebody.

I hate flying. It terrifies me.

Is that why you took
a bus to kill Bruce?

You're gonna tell us, Byron.

And you know how I know that?

When I met you, I thought
I was gonna meet a killer,

but you're not a killer.

A killer wouldn't leave that
much proof around. There was

the surveillance video
from the bus depot.

Fingerprints in the rental car.

There was Tommy's confession.

And there was the receipt from the motel

that was paid for by your mom.

I met your mom. You know that?

I got to know her, actually.

I think she did what she
thought she had to do.

I think she thought she had two choices:

she could either sit back and
watch your grandma get destroyed

by Bruce

or do what she thought was right.

And you know, she wasn't
good at sitting back.

She has nothing to do with this.

Yeah, good. Then you're gonna
have to tell us who does, Byron.

It was hard to believe

that an 18-year-old kid is gonna
come up with this whole plan

on his own just to help his grandmother.

It certainly looked like Elizabeth
was pulling the strings.

But I needed to get more evidence.

You're not gonna believe this.

I got the receipts from the bus company.

Elizabeth used her credit card
to buy three tickets

from BC to St. Catharines,
two of them under the name Dell.

One from Whistler.

The other one from Kimberly.

It's where Byron and Tommy are from.

Yeah.

Elizabeth made it all happen.

But she clearly was not
at the scene of the murder.

For us to get a first-degree
murder conviction,

Byron had to come clean
and tell the truth.

We needed him to testify
against his mother.

Who killed Bruce Firman?

Me and Tommy. We killed Bruce.

Why? Did your mother put you up to it?

No, it was my idea. All of it.

I saw Bruce was hurting Grandma, so
I decided to do something about it.

I'm sorry, Byron. I know
that that's just not true.

I already know that your mother
was involved in this.

You see, Byron?

Your mother used her credit card
to purchase your ticket.

And Tommy's too.

I'm going to hell for this.

My mom told me to kill Bruce

and she paid me.

She got our bus tickets.
Put me in the hotel.

Tommy too.

She told us to wait until the right
time. And then one night, she...

she called me.

And she said that she was having
dinner with Grandma.

Me and Tommy drove to Grandma's house.

How'd you get in?

Hidden key in the back.

Went inside the garage and waited.

When Bruce walked in, Tommy just...

whacked him in the face
with a pipe wrench.

And I was supposed to strangle him

with a guitar string I brought.

But... But I just started kicking him.

- Why?
- I don't know.

Felt good?

As I'm kicking him,

he just rolled over and
looked me straight in the eye.

I just froze.

Tommy just started yelling
"Finish him! Toast him!"

And I couldn't so Tommy hit him
in the head until it was done.

While her son was killing Mr. Firman,

Elizabeth was sitting in this
restaurant in Niagara Falls

with her mom, complaining
about the tea, making a scene.

She was concerned
with covering her tracks.

And she let her son take the fall.

I told her that Bruce wouldn't
be bothering Grandma anymore.

She kissed me and she paid me 400 bucks.

- Did your grandmother see you?
- No.

I'm going to hell for this, aren't I?

Byron said his
mother paid him to kill Bruce.

It was unbelievable.

I don't know that I
could ever understand

how a mother could ask that of her son.

- Hello.
- We found him.

Byron. We interviewed him. He confessed.

We know you planned the murder.

We know you paid him, too.
Four hundred dollars.

Elizabeth Gatenby, you're under arrest

for the murder of Bruce Firman.

You destroyed his life.

Byron did what he did because
he loves his grandmother.

No, he did it because of you!

Because he looked up to you
for the right thing to do.

And you manipulated him.

You tapped into his weaknesses
until you succeeded

in turning your own son into a murderer.

How do you even call yourself a mother?

Elizabeth never confesses to the murder.

From that point on, she really
never says anything to us again.

I had closed my first case as a lead,

but I felt terribly sorry
for Bruce's family.

For Mr. Firman to meet his end this way

is... is really tragic.

- Sync and corrections by ByDem -
- www.addic7ed.com -