Original subtitles

Take for instance last week. A woman's going to visit her mother.

She has a bag of groceries and a bouquet of flowers...

...to brighten up the place.

Mom.

Mom? Mom?

What she doesn't know is...

...three days prior, her mother's fallen off a footstool...

...busted her head open and broken her neck.

By the time she gets there, her mother's body...

...is bloated with bacterial gases.

There's fluids leaking from her eyes, ears, nose, mouth.

You get the picture.

Well, death is tragic.

But it's also big business.

Some people deal with it spiritually.

Others deal with it legally.

But what most people don't know...

...is that when someone dies in your house...

...it's up to you to clean up the mess.

Well, sure, the city will come and take the body away.

But what they leave behind...

...is your own personal little souvenir.

Now, most people don't have the stomach for that.

That's where I come in.

Now, cleaning a body is...

...actually a lot like cleaning any other household spill.

There are three basic steps.

First, get rid of all the bugs.

HIV, herpes, tuberculosis, adenovirus, hantavirus, E. Coli.

Now, I assume all those things are present, so I spray everything...

...with my own personal little cocktail of antivirals and disinfectants.

And just between you and me, I also throw in a little Listerine.

The original flavor.

It has an enzyme that liquefies coagulated blood.

You gotta use the original flavor, not that new blue or orange shit.

Well...

Tom, that's... I... I mean...

I'll be right back.

Didn't you use to be a cop? Yeah. Yep, I did.

Didn't have the stomach for it.

So, Jeff. Well, what's going on with you?

Well, I'm still in the mortgage game.

Doing good there.

Of course, there's Laura and the kids, all great.

Laura's mom, she's getting up there. She's been sick.

She's staying with us now in the back bedroom.

There's some days she doesn't come out of there at all.

Tom, you wouldn't happen to have a card on you, would you?

Oh, yeah, sure. Sure. Yeah. Here you go.

Can I have one? Oh, yeah, definitely.

There's enough here for everybody. Yep, this is good. Call me.

That's Steri-Clean. That's me. Gee, it's great to see y'all.

Quit stalling. Get the typewriter. Pound out a lead.

How much do you want? All you got.

Hello, give me Duffy.

Call the mayor a bird of prey? Anything.

How about the time he had his house painted?

Give him the works. Hello, Duffy? Get set.

We got the biggest story in years. "Earl Williams..."

How was it?

It was...

...funny.

Funny how? Oh, you'll see in about 30 years.

Rekindle any old flames?

No, baby. That candle burned out years ago.

I'm beat. I'm going to bed. Good night.

You're gonna stay up and watch this movie...

...with these people talking like:

Yeah. I wanna see how it ends. All right.

Rose, I'll love you until the end of time...

...because you're the girl I've wanted, and you're the girl of my dreams.

Love you, baby.

Is she there? No, I can't hear you.

Where'd she go? Out someplace.

Last night... Last night I dreamed I was...

...changing my baby's diaper, and it was filled with blood.

And when I looked up, I mean, he was fucking dead.

You know, and then I had to come in and...

I had to come in and clean the crib.

I gotta clean it up before the mama comes in.

You want something? Gum, mints?

Aspirin? I could use a drink.

How about we start with the aspirin?

Hey, you got a little girl.

What do you tell Rose? What do you tell her you do?

She knows what I do.

There's nothing to be ashamed of. We don't clean up blood.

We clean up anger and grief, heartache.

Looks like blood.

Just tell yourself that our clients are in trouble.

We help them out.

Well, I hate to see you go, Miguel. I don't wanna burn you out either.

Say you come in a couple days a week, restock the vans...

...and give Cherie a hand around here, lighten her load, okay?

Yeah, man. Yeah, I... Yeah, thank you, brother.

Thank you, man. Look, I owe you one. You don't owe me shit. We all good.

Go spend the day with your family. All right.

He quit?

No. He's gonna help you out around here.

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. These two are yours.

Forty-five cats? Give this to Paulie. We're short-staffed.

Paulie's sick. Freddie and Jose are in that meth lab in Howell. Miguel quit.

No, he didn't quit.

And Victor's allergic.

Hey, at least nobody died there. Probably smell better.

Good morning, Steri-Clean.

Please hold. Lorenzo's on 2.

I'm in the field. Again?

I'm in the field.

You're gonna have to take it sometime.

Okay.

I'm so sorry, Mr. Lorenzo. He's in the field.

Thank you.

Can I take a message?

Steri-Clean. Anybody here?

Initial recording.

This is Tom Cutler. On April 6.

Case number three-Mary-four-four- five-Charlie-three-seven-eight.

Personal residence.

Homicide. No one home. Key was left on the front porch.

Blood and tissue on the sofa...

...wall...

...tile floor...

...glass coffee table.

Blood, soft chip, approximately one day old.

Something smells good.

How was your day? Long.

Why is your mom's box out? It's a surprise.

Are your eyes closed? Yeah, they're closed.

Okay.

Open.

I found the recipe in her old book.

I can't remember, but is this how it used to look?

Yeah. Yeah, it's exactly how it used to look.

Why'd you take the box out? It's... It's interesting, actually.

I have to do a history report on a historical figure from the last 50 years.

Really? So who are you doing?

Mom.

Your mom's a historical figure? My teacher thinks it's a good idea.

She said it's original. Yeah, it's original, all right.

You know who would be really good? I kind of already started.

Maybe if you have time later you can help me?

Sure, but not tonight. I have to do payroll.

I don't have to do Mom.

Who were you gonna say? Nobody, no. Mom's a good idea.

I got a call from your math teacher today.

Says you've been sleeping in class.

I nodded off, like, twice because he's so boring...

...and he's making this huge thing out of it.

Well, bottom line is it's gotta stop. Now.

So no more of those mocha things after 5 and I want you in bed by 11:30.

We clear?

Hey.

I'm not punishing you, I just want you to get your sleep, okay?

Now, you know if there's anything bothering you...

...I'm here for you, right?

I know.

Is there? What?

Anything bothering you? No, it's the mochas. I'll cut back.

One thing's for sure. You're just as good a cook as she was.

Dad.

Dad. We're gonna be late.

Come in.

Hello.

Surprise!

Hang on. Hang on. It's not him. It's not him.

Hi. We thought you were my little nephew...

...not that you look like you're turning 10 today, but...

Can I help you? Yes.

Is?

Is this your house? Yes.

Well, I'm Tom Cutler. I run the cleaning service you hired.

I'm sorry. We have a housekeeper and we're really happy with her.

No, no, no. We're not that kind of cleaning service.

I was saying, we did a job here yesterday and inadvertently we...

Excuse me, sir. We weren't home yesterday.

What kind of cleaning service are you?

Oh, is your husband home? Perhaps I could talk to him.

No, he's out for the moment. You can talk to me.

Okay.

We cleaned up after what happened.

After what happened?

I'm sorry, Mrs? Norcut.

Norcut.

Not Collins? No.

Is this Ridgecrest Lane? Ridgewood Way.

See. There.

There's the mistake right there. Once again, my office got things mixed up.

I'm sorry to have taken your time.

Three-Mary-four-four- five-Charlie-three-seven-eight.

Hey. Sign these. I'm going to Betty's. You want anything?

I'm sorry. There are no matches for that case number.

Who called this in?

West Trenton P.D. Who, exactly?

Right there. Jones. Sir?

Detective Jones, please. There's no one by that name, sir.

Oh, thank you.

What happened? They stiff us? I'm just trying to sort some stuff out.

All right.

What do you want from Betty's? I'm not hungry.

Police Commissioner Robert Vaughn stepped down in disgrace last year...

...following allegations of widespread corruption and bribery.

Earth to Dad.

The grand jury is expected to hear...

I said, next Tuesday is Take Your Daughter to Work Day.

No. Ain't gonna happen, sport. I'm totally joking.

Eddie Lorenzo, Line 1. In the field again?

No.

No, I'll take it.

Well, it must be a full moon.

What the hell's going on, Tom? You think I'd never find out?

Rosie makes the playoffs, I gotta read about it in the sports section?

I'm gonna be there.

I already marked it down. That would be really great.

She'll appreciate that. If she remembers me.

Of course she remembers you.

You think you'll be thirsty tonight?

Oh, I think I can probably be persuaded.

Vic's? Hey, yeah, Vic's.

Eight o'clock? All right. Vic's at 8.

Just like old times. Excellent. See you there, man.

She worked at a movie theater.

She used to sneak me in and we'd watch movies.

Well, she'd watch them. I'd watch her.

It was a very small wedding.

Just me, her, her parents, her friend Jules, and Eddie.

We went on vacation in Mexico...

...and nine months later, you showed up.

That's the short version, and that's all you're getting.

How much more?

Just a couple.

I wanna talk a little bit about what happened to her.

Where'd you find that?

It was in the box. So, what happened to him?

I thought this was about your mother. I'm supposed to be thorough.

He was killed, right?

Yes, he was killed. How?

In prison, where he should have been for what he did to her.

I know, but how?

I don't know, Rose. It's prison. Prison's a dangerous place.

Look, I really don't think you ought to be putting all that in there.

I'm sorry.

Any more questions?

That's all for now. I guess.

I have to go out for a while. You gonna be okay?

Yeah, I'll be fine.

Yo, Vic. Coming up.

Hey, where you been hiding, Tom? Oh, I've been around.

Are things as bad down there as they say in the paper?

Worse. Thirty-five guys filed for early retirement this month alone.

Everyone's afraid they're gonna find the trail and start naming names.

IA's everywhere. The DA's subpoena happened.

You brush by Robert Vaughn in the hall, they wanna know about it.

You think he'll go down? You know how it is, Tom.

He's got a lot of guys around, loyal guys. He's protected.

When she came home, she found his clothes and car gone.

The police have recovered his car at the Berkeley Square train station.

But security tapes show that he never boarded a train.

Know anything about that?

Rumors of foul play...

Yeah, that came down today. So, what's the story?

No story. Some guy skipped out on his wife.

Why? No reason.

You better catch up. I'm gonna kick your ass here.

I'm still working on this.

How am I gonna know what's on your mind if you don't get hammered?

You know, something happened at work has got me a little turned around.

Considering the work you do, it must have been something.

Vic. Turn that up.

Fears for John's safety. Turn it up.

What can you tell us about Norcut?

We're treating this as a missing persons case.

Thank you very much.

Can I have your autograph?

Man, I spoke to that asshole for 15 minutes, man.

Holy shit. Here he comes, Tommy.

Tom Cutler. Jim Vargas.

Hey. Holy shit. How you doing?

Good, man, good. Good to see you.

Lorenzo. Regular class reunion, huh?

Hey, somebody told me you're cleaning up stiffs?

That's right. No shit.

Man, I thought they were yanking my chain.

Of all the crazy rackets, huh?

Hey, we can't all be TV stars like you, Jim.

Come on. When you go to Missing Persons?

Missing Persons? I'm Homicide, baby.

Oh, that. That's for the press, man. Fuck the press.

Technically, it's a missing persons case.

I'm just getting a head start. What makes you think he's dead?

His bags were packed, they found his car at the train station.

You sound like you know more than Jim.

Well, you know, the paper doesn't tell you everything.

And I get that old Columbo feeling every now and then, you know.

Come on, Jim, help me out. Throw me a bone. Off the record.

All right, all right. Off the record.

The neighbor saw a plumbing van there day after he disappeared.

If he'd left his wife, why would he hire a plumber, huh?

Wow, Detective Jim. That's some crack police work there.

What's your badge made out of, chocolate?

Solid brass, Lorenzo.

You wanna come by sometime and polish it?

Oh, you mean the IA's letting you keep it?

Hey, hey, we're just talking here, okay?

Good to see you, Tom.

Good to see you're doing well after all that shit.

What are you drinking? I'm good.

You good? All right.

Next time.

What's wrong with you? He's a fucking asshole.

Wanna hear something that won't make the papers?

Yeah. This missing guy, Norcut?

He knew Vaughn.

The word is he cut a deal with the DA to testify.

How'd you come by that? I didn't.

I don't know shit. All I know is, before the grand jury convenes...

...Norcut goes missing...

...this asshole's put on the case.

But, Tommy, it was that domestic on 36th...

Hey, hey, hey, where you going? Come on, get under here.

I'm not letting you drive. Come on. We are parked in a red zone.

That's not the only thing that's in the red zone. Come on.

All right, all right.

How old is my goddaughter now? Thirteen, 14?

Fourteen. Buckle up. It's the law.

We're getting old, brother. You had the right idea, though.

Family first.

Man doesn't have a family, he doesn't have shit.

I'm doing that outreach stuff now.

You know, after-school programs? It's the only thing keeps me sane.

What? What's so funny? After school, outreach?

Who are you and where did you put Eddie?

I'm a very complex man, Tom. And I'm fucking starving.

Let me buy you some waffles. All right.

Hey, what happened at work today that you wanted to talk about?

Nothing. I can handle it.

Hey. Anything pressing?

No, but... I'll be in the office.

There's someone waiting for you.

Mr. Cutler.

I'm not sure if you remember me. You came by my house.

Oh, yeah, yeah. The birthday party. Sorry about the mix-up, Mrs...

Arms for Hope Ann Norcut.

Norcut, Ann Norcut. Not Collins, as you could see.

Yes.

You wanna sit? I'd rather stand.

How can I help you?

I asked a question back at my house and you never answered me.

What kind of cleaning service do you run here?

Biomedical and biohazardous abatement and sanitation.

You clean crime scenes.

Yeah, but that's only a part of what we do.

Cherie give you our brochure?

I'm not sure if you've read your paper yet, Mr. Cutler...

...but my husband is missing.

That's your husband? I'm sorry.

The day after my husband disappears...

...a crime-scene cleaner shows up at my door...

...talking about a job he did at my house.

What am I supposed to think about that?

I explained to you why I came by your house. Sorry for the mix-up.

If you have information that'll help police find your husband, go to them.

What makes you think I haven't done that?

Well, if you had, I'd be talking to them and not you.

I'm a retired police officer, Mrs. Norcut.

In my line of work...

...I'm in regular contact with the police.

If there were anything questionable about a crime scene...

...I'd be the first one to step up.

Look, I know what you're going through is rough.

I lost my wife a few years ago.

So I understand... Should I be grieving?

No, no, no. Of course not.

Then why would you empathize with me?

Well, I'm just saying that your concern is understandable.

You said you mistook my house for one on Ridgecrest Lane?

What kind of work did you do there? I'm afraid I can't discuss that.

I'm afraid I checked, Mr. Cutler. There is no Ridgecrest Lane.

So yes, I'd say that my concern is more than understandable.

Look, my husband made his share of enemies...

...but I have a feeling you're not one of them.

Please. I won't repeat anything you tell me.

I just need to know for myself:

Did you do any work at my house?

Look, I would love to be of more assistance to you.

And I hope the police find your husband.

Now, if there's nothing else, I have a really full day.

I'm glad you're so friendly with the police.

Any time.

Mr. Cutler. The police are here. Thanks.

Stay on the plastic.

Did you hear me say stay on the...?

That's one way to skip out on your bill.

You got a second?

Oh, what a dump.

If I was gonna off myself, I think I'd go to the Four Seasons.

Yeah, a lot of people do.

I'm sorry I got a little drunk last night.

I know you wanted to talk. I'm kind of busy.

Maybe you could find some time.

Forensics searched the Norcut place yesterday.

Floor to ceiling.

Not a drop of blood and no sign of a struggle.

Nothing.

What they did find was chemicals, cleansing agents.

Lots of them.

And I'm not talking Ajax.

So I hear this...

...I remember you asking me about the case last...

You following a lead here? It's not my case.

It's not my department. And right now, if you want, I'm not even a cop.

The last time I asked for your help, you almost lost your job.

Yeah, it got a little choppy back then.

But I survived. So did you.

I don't regret what we did. Do you? Does it matter?

Still gotta live with it. Yeah, I've lived with it pretty good.

What's on your mind, Thomas?

And why didn't you call it in?

I don't know who Vaughn's got working there.

I call it in to the wrong person, I'm the one that goes missing.

You could've told me last night... I tried, I wanted to, but...

I wasn't supposed to know about it, so I decided not to know.

Old habit.

You still got all the papers, right?

Yeah. Release forms, crime-scene photos, everything's at the office.

Hang on to everything, it's your alibi.

That just proves I was there, not that I didn't do it.

You were just doing a job. No one can hang a case on you.

But I had opportunity and ability.

But not the motive, right?

We never took a penny from Vaughn.

Right, Tom?

Tom.

You want me to help you out, you're gonna have to tell me what's going on.

You ever wonder why they stopped questioning us...

...about Hill getting shanked in prison?

Vaughn comes to me, he says he can make the whole inquiry go away...

...if I just do a job for him.

I'm thinking about Rose, and she's already lost a parent...

...so I do the job.

Then I get tapped out by the funeral.

I need money to start the new business, so I do another job.

And another.

I shake somebody down. Look the other way.

Pull some evidence. That was years ago, Tommy.

Jury's gonna see an old soldier marching to orders.

Ain't gonna be any jury.

Everything Norcut knew, you think Vaughn's gonna let anybody find him?

Vaughn's not running things. But his guys are.

This case was closed before it opened.

The whole investigation is a show.

You remember how things were.

I panicked as she soon as she told me her name was Norcut.

I remember the name from back then. Norcut was the money man.

I looked her in the eye and lied to her face.

Just straight-up lied.

What, Vaughn ever try to get to you?

Yeah, after you left.

I told him where he could insert his offer. I've been riding a desk since.

The price of honor, right? Right.

Listen, sit tight and I'll find out where Vargas is steering this...

...and I'll let you know.

Eddie. Yeah.

Thanks.

Fuck "thanks. " Fuck "you're welcome. " This is you and me.

I'll talk to you soon.

That's the old redhead.

No bitterness. No recrimination. Just a good swift left to the jaw.

Oh, thank you, Edward. Come, Seth. We have so much to talk about.

There's this thing. Alexander Graham Bell invented it.

Things ran a little late, I'm sorry. Dinner smells good.

It's not okay to leave a child home alone. Anything could happen.

Wanna start staying at Anita's again? I want you to be home.

I am home. Hey, what's going on here?

You're the one always saying how you can take care of yourself.

Rose, this school project...

Hey. Hey, I'm talking to you.

This project about your mom got you thinking...

At least someone's thinking about her.

Three, four, five.

Seven, eight.

Nine, ten.

I told you he's out.

Then call him. Jim.

Is there a problem? Tom, how you doing, buddy?

This is my partner, Darrin Harris.

I've heard a lot about you. Well, you know, Jim likes to talk.

How can I help you?

They wanna search the place, but they don't have a warrant.

We don't wanna search the place. Look, Tom, I'm in a bit of a bind, okay?

Forensics found industrial cleanser at a scene.

They need samples to match them against.

I figured you're in the business.

Why didn't you give the OSHA list? He didn't ask for it.

Instead, he came in here, barking like a damn dog...

...without a warrant. Cherie, Cherie.

Could I please have the OSHA list? Of course.

Do any work in Ewing County?

No, not a lot. You know, rich people tend to die in hospitals.

Maybe you could check Ridgewood Way about a week or so ago?

Last name Norcut.

Ridgewood Way?

Norcut. Yeah, I read about that case.

No, no.

Sorry. No Ridgewood Way.

Think we could snag a few samples? Yeah, sure. No problem.

Come on.

It's right here, guys.

Nice ink.

Where you get those? Miguel?

Would you go out to the van and get me some of those red bags, please?

No problem, Tom.

You ever heard of "excuse me"? Is that English or Spanish?

When did he get out?

Six months ago. I know his probation officer. He's a good kid.

What was he doing last Thursday night?

How the hell should I know? Ask him.

What about you?

Home. I'm home every night.

Credit card records say you were downtown at the Ivy...

...Thursday night.

Oh, yeah. High school reunion. High school reunion, huh?

I skipped mine. Fuck them.

What time you leave? Eleven-thirty.

Why you checking my records? I'm just following up.

What about Friday afternoon? Downtown. Feline infestation.

You wanna see Polaroids of the litter boxes?

Maybe some other time.

Is that it? I gotta go back out.

No. No, you've been very cooperative. Make me happy...

...if you wrote that down too.

Happy?

As a pig in shit.

Miguel, give these guys a hand, would you?

Oh, hey, I'm not done with stocking this one yet.

You can do it later, okay? Okay.