Show: The Closer - 6x5
Hey, no skating inside.
Ruben...
Where's that game thing I bought you?
I left it at home 'cause I didn't know you were gonna take me out of camp.
Camp?
You have him in camp?!
Not anymore.
What?
Hey, kid.
Hi.
Yeah.
Listen up.
Uh...
Look, I want you to go over there with buzz, and he's gonna pull something up on the Internet for you to do.
Hmm?
You're bossy.
Get.
Huh?
Ruben!
I said no skating inside!
Look.
E-emergencies happen when you have kids.
Well, you don't have kids, Julio.
Tao has kids.
I have kids.
You have someone else's kid.
That's completely different.
W-what's this camp?
It's all-day sports.
I-I just thought that I would find a safe place where Ruben could play all day.
But get this.
The camp's soccer coach was convicted of shoplifting two...
wait, wait, wait!
Are you...
are you telling me that you did an illegal background check on this guy?
No.
His car looked suspicious, so I ran his plates.
Oh, bullshit.
No, I...
how stupid do you think I am?
I got to look after this kid until I find his mother!
Well, what about finding his mother?
Why is that taking you so long?
What's the hold-up?
I don't know.
I'm calling Mexican law enforcement.
I'm doing Internet searches for family members.
I'm trying everything that I can!
All right.
You know what, Julio?
J, uh...
I think you need some help.
Lieutenant Andy Flynn.
Major crimes.
How can I help you?
Oh, hey, Mikki.
How you doing?
Oh.
Is this like...
Body parts from one person?
Body parts?
Call the chief.
So, um...
...Human remains in a bag?
What kind of bag?
Give me one second.
Okay?
Oh.
Thank you, Detective Mendoza.
My pleasure, chief.
Hmm.
You are looking better than ever.
Oh.
Thank you.
Uh...Thanks.
Sorry to call you out on something like this, but I think the circumstances demand it.
What circumstances?
Two months ago, a few blocks from here, we found a trash bag in a dumpster with a hacked-up body inside it.
Except the head and the hands were missing.
We entered murder details into VICAP.
Some good matches with some cartel killings in San Diego and Phoenix.
Wait.
So the cartel filled garbage bags with hacked-up bodies?
Without the hands and head?
The hands were there...
And the skulls, but the faces had been cut off.
And three weeks ago, we found another bag like this one.
No head.
No hands.
This one here makes three.
Lieutenant Tao, did you find a head in there or some hands?
Definitely no head, but not sure about the hands.
Okay.
I can do that for you, ma'am.
Oh...That's not necessary.
So, did you take DNA samples from the other bodies?
Yes, ma'am.
No hits yet.
Okay.
So, three victims.
I assume the others are still at the morgue?
No head, no hands, no funeral service.
So, San Diego, Phoenix, and now Los Angeles.
Sounds like the cartel activity is headed north, and this is gang territory.
Is the gang in this neighborhood even connected to cartels?
Where's Detective Sanchez?
And lieutenant Provenza?
Checking on another missing person.
Still?!
I know the local gang.
The six points.
No cartel connections, but maybe they're seen as competition.
Mendoza!
Who do you think you are?
Excuse me, sir?
You have no authority to transfer cases to major crimes without going through me.
Our watch commander told us to contact you, but no one could find your office.
The clock was ticking.
I thought...
Uh, excuse me, commander.
One second.
Detective Mendoza, just to be clear, in the last two months, you found three victims hacked up into pieces and tossed into trash bags in local dumpsters?
Yes, ma'am.
I think it's fair to call this a major crime, commander, don't you?
Well yeah.
But I should have been the one to tell you, not her.
Detective Mendoza, thank you so much for your help.
We'll take it from here.
Glad to help you, ma'am.
And always, good to see you.
Thank you.
Oh, by the way, good luck on the chief sweepstakes.
You'd look even better sitting behind the big desk.
And what did she mean by that?
I don't know.
Oh!
I applied for chief of police.
You applied for chief?
That's not how I should find out about that, either.
Right now we should be concentrating on what I want to find out.
Okay?
Uh, lieutenant Flynn, would you please organize a grid search to find the missing body parts from that bag?
The last thing I need is for some dog to show up dragging a head down the middle of the street.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Thank y'all so much.
What on earth made you apply for chief?
I told her to.
She was drafted by the L.A.P.D.'S women's work group, and I thought she should go with it.
So now, she's one of the 27 billion other people who have applied for the job, which means I'm not the slam dunk we all hoped I'd be.
And the last thing I need is for hacked-up bodies in garbage bags to be the lead story on tonight's news.
Well, lucky for us, the press doesn't care about murders in that neighborhood.
Yeah, and to keep it that way, here's a list of words I'd like to not hear during this investigation...
Mexican cartel murders, bag of bones, serial killer.
I don't want these cases sensationalized.
But the M.O.
here is very similar to the Mexican cartel murders.
Look, they're called Mexican cartel murders because they happen in Mexico.
As of now, you don't even know where these victims are from, let alone who they are.
Meet Juan Doe 102, 106, and 107.
From what I can tell so far, all of them adolescent males.
I didn't conduct the original autopsy on your other victims, but let me see if I can put something together for you.
Do the bodies have any identifying characteristics?
Based on their skin color, I would say they were Latino, but I don't want to be accused of racial profiling.
They could be gang members.
No.
But...
No.
I don't see tattoos.
So, what...
you're saying there's - there's nothing.
Oh.
Not so fast.
I looked over the x-rays from the first victim that Mendoza brought in a couple of months ago, and I found something the other doctor missed.
What is that?
A radiolucent ankle pin, made from material easy to miss on an X-ray.
FDA just approved it last year, and it's not the kind of medical treatment you're likely to find in Mexico yet.
Okay, and which suggests that at least one of our victims is from here.
Thank you, doctor.
Ohh.
All I need is for one of these missing persons reports to mention a broken ankle or...
or a twisted foot or something.
Are you done eating yet?
Because these autopsy photos of the victims from San Diego and Phoenix are bad.
Trust me...
after what I saw today, nothing will faze me.
Look, why...
why don't...
...You start sorting through these missing persons files, and I'll start sorting through these?
What is that?!
What?
Oh, that's a soccer ball with one of the victim's faces stitched onto it.
An FBI source gave us that photo after the ball was found rolling around city hall in Juarez.
Ohh.
Detective Mendoza didn't say anything about that.
What did Sanchez say about the gangs in the area?
Sanchez wasn't there.
He's still allegedly looking for Ruben's mom.
Might have been easier for him if I hadn't killed the kid's dad.
Any way I can help?
Talk to Provenza about it.
Would you?
Please?
I'm staying out of it, if I can.
What's that?
Missing 17-year-old boy.
There's a little box checked there, indicating a scar on his ankle.
His name is Pedro Mota.
Reported missing 10 days ago by his mother.
The body was found in six points gang territory.
But this is Detective Mendoza's first victim, picked out of the trash two months ago.
Why'd his mother wait so long to call it in?
Maybe she thought Pedro was in jail.
He has the résumé.
Last year, Pedro was arrested in the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl.
For some reason, she couldn't testify, so Pedro walked.
Charmin'.
Well, maybe I should...
Maybe I should talk to this mother.
I had her picked up, chief.
She should be here any second.
Well, that's one mother you found awfully quick.
Thank you, lieutenant.
Chief, if this is a gang or a cartel thing and Pedro is the victim, then something's weird.
And what would that be?
Well, the six points deal prescription drugs...
Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet.
They stay away from cartel product.
No coke and no pot.
Whatever Pedro's done, it's not my fault.
Mrs.
Mota?
Thank you so much for coming in.
I'm deputy chief Johnson.
Why don't we go into my office to talk?
Detective Sanchez?
Detective Gabriel?
Right this way.
You know, I can't believe she didn't mention the whole "chief" thing.
Well, it's...
it's all politics.
Which means we're not gonna get involved.
I don't want to hear another word about this from anybody.
I-is that clear?
You're not even gonna ask her about it?
No.
And neither are you.
We have enough problems around here as it is.
I don't care if you find Pedro or not.
Things are better without him.
Then why did you file a missing persons report?
The money.
What money?
That nosy welfare lady showed up again, unannounced, doing her little "inspection."
She asked where Pedro was, and I mentioned I haven't seen him in a while.
So the bitch threatens to cancel my monthly check if I don't report him missing?!
She's like, "he's only a teenager.
He shouldn't be gone like this."
So, I called the police.
Now I, like, still get my check, and I don't have to look at Pedro's stupid face.
And when was the last time you saw your son's "stupid face"?
I don't know.
Right after school ended.
Something like that.
That was two months ago.
You didn't think that was worth mentioning to the police?
Oh, look.
I tried to make good with Pedro, but he don't listen.
I'm not dealing with his crap no more!
So what do you think happens to this welfare check if your son turns up dead?
Dead?
Pedro wasn't dead.
He was just...
Bleeding a little.
What do you mean "bleeding"?
He got into some stupid knife fight, and I had to stop everything I was doing to take him to that clinic.
Would this be the same clinic where he got a pin put in his ankle?
How'd you know about that?
I-I need the name of this clinic, please.
Pedro Mota.
Um, yeah, yeah, I did.
I treated him just for a knife wound.
And there was something odd about it, too.
I-I can't remember what it was.
Is Pedro a regular patient here?
See, I'm also interested in a pin that may have been put into his ankle.
I see.
And I understand you have to comply with HIPAA regulations.
So I brought this, as well as the patient's mother.
Yeah, um, can we discuss this privately, please?
Of course.
Thank you.
Please.
Excuse me.
Uh, Eva, can you pull up for me, uh, Pedro Mota's medical chart, please?
Thanks.
You never reported Pedro's knife wound to the police.
This is a volunteer clinic in a tough neighborhood.
I-I-I call the police, and my car won't be here when I leave.
Doctor?
Pedro Mota's file.
Uh, thanks.
Okay. "
Mota, Pedro."
Yeah.
Yeah, he did.
He had a nasty cut on the right side of his torso, just above his liver.
You said there was something odd about the wound?
You know, it looked to me as if his mom might have had a go at him.
An attempt at attitude adjustment?
Did you ask him about that?
No, I-I've learned...
hi.
I've learned not to be overly curious with the teenagers here.
They, um, they can take it the wrong way.
Right.
It was a really nasty cut, though.
I made a follow-up for him, um, but...
He never came back?
No.
You know, and every time I called, his mom hung up on me.
Chief?
Mama's getting antsy out here.
Oh.
Uh, just one second.
Um, you know, I...I really don't want the mom to know that I've been...
oh.
Don't worry about her.
I'm not gonna tell her anything.
Um, what about Pedro's ankle?
Is there a pin in it?
Right.
Um...Yes.
And it was put there by our orthopedic surgeon...
it was last year.
Dr.
Scott.
Well, he's not in today.
Do you want me to call him?
Uh, no, I-if I could just take the X-ray of the ankle, if you have that?
Yeah.
As well as Pedro's chart.
I'm trying to identify his body.
Um, yes.
Here is the X-ray and, um, the chart.
Oh, thank you.
I can also get you Pedro's dental records.
Wouldn't that be better in terms of...
uh, that's...
Dental records won't help in this instance.
I mean, the whole face...
Uh, the chart will do!
Thank you so much, doctor.
Definitely a match.
Did you happen to see a scar on Pedro's torso, from a knife wound, maybe?
Not on the left side.
And the right side of his abdomen was missing, along with a lot of other things.
Like what?
Your three victims also had a few organs removed.
Organs?
What organs?
When I started examining what was left of these bodies last night, I noticed the first one we identified here...
Pedro...
had a kidney and a liver missing.
Maybe also a heart...
although I don't have that part of his body.
But his head and his hands were also gone.
So I didn't know if that meant anything.
Then this morning, I started in on the second bag of bones.
No organs.
A-and the body from yesterday?
Heart, liver, kidneys...
all gone.
Doctor, are you telling me you think these boys were murdered for their organs?
Officially, the cause of death is still undetermined.
But...I've - I've looked very closely at all three bodies.
And...
...The piñatas are empty.
Yes, sir?
Where's Ruben?
He's in the break room watching television.
He's not in the way.
Any progress on finding his mother?
Um, well, sir...
Ruben says she's from Manzanillo.
My uncle has a close friend there who did some digging around.
No trace of a Maria Hernandez...Yet.
But I'm trying new searches every day.
Huh.
Well...
Let's see what these, uh, searches of yours have...
Turned up.
You dumped my computer, Tao?
I'm trying to help you, Julio.
You haven't been trying to find Ruben's mother.
You've been trying to find babysitters and new day camps and schools for the fall.
There's not a single search here for a Maria Hernandez.
Not one.
We dragged your office phone logs.
You have not called Mexico once...
In two weeks.
Now you listen to me, Julio.
Ruben deserves to be with his mother, and his mother deserves to be with him.
She had four years to come back, and she hasn't done it.
Julio, you don't even know her.
She's not here, Tao!
Hey, what else do I need to know?!
She was deported by an ice agent who was a...A murdering rapist!
She was probably too afraid to come back!
When you have a child, you find a way!
No.
Ruben's better off with me and my family.
And I am not giving him back.
All right, Tao.
Manzanillo.
Check it out with Ruben.
If it's true, then we've got a starting point, and it'll get easier from there.
How do we get her back into the country?
Well, I've got that covered.
What if Julio's right?
I mean, how do we know what's best for Ruben?
We're following the law.
That's how we know what's best.
Chief, we got a DNA hit on the second victim.
Did you get a name?
No, but I matched some open case files.
Dead guy number two left a baseball cap at the scene of a robbery last year.
And then two months ago, he cut his arm on a glass door after killing a security guard.
Okay, so our first bag of bones contains a child-molesting rapist, and the second one holds a murdering armed robber.
Sounds like someone is doing the city a favor.
With what Dr.
Morales told us, maybe it's a sign that gangs are getting into the organ-selling business.
Yeah, you know, chief, I was doing some research.
A kidney can go for over $10,000 on the black market.
A heart is off the charts.
I mean, ounce for ounce, it's better than dealing cocaine.
What are you guys talking about?
These are gangsters.
They're not interested in organs, and they're not doing brain surgery on the side, either.
It's only a theory, Julio!
Well, your theory's stupid, Tao!
Hey, that's lieutenant Tao!
You knock it off!
And I mean it.
Okay, so, the autopsy results from the San Diego and Phoenix bodies show the organs still in place.
So, our murders aren't connected to them.
And I think Detective Sanchez has a point.
I seriously doubt that local gang members have the resources or the knowledge to start trading kidneys and such on the black market.
But who does?
That is the question.
Who does?
The organ distribution network is pretty strictly regulated.
Now, each state has a federally designated organ procurement organization, an O.P.O.
Now, each time they harvest, they report to the united network for organ sharing, who in turn tell them where to send the hearts, the livers, and stuff.
The whole system is actually designed to keep track of every single organ.
Well, clearly...
...It's not working very well, is it?
So, the O.P.O.
here in California...
does it have a name?
Life group alliance, like all o.P.O.'S, is a non-profit organization.
It's against the law for anyone to sell us organs.
Well, I appreciate that it's against the law, Ms.
Reid, but most killers don't care about that.
Besides which, you can't just place any heart into any body.
Donors have to be matched with recipients.
You people.
You never do anything but make things harder on us.
Harder in what way?
Let's start with a potentially great source for healthy organs - homicide victims.
Well, a murder victim's organs might be used as evidence.
And the guidelines under which we operate...
guidelines aren't laws.
The police aren't compelled to keep those organs.
And patients die because you don't give them to us.
Ms.
Reid, so far I've got three victims who have been murdered and cut up for parts.
And if this case requires it, trust me, I will hold back every organ I can find, including those you're supposed to be monitoring.
Life group alliance could not be involved.
We have an elaborate set of checks and balances to prevent undocumented organs from entering our system.
Wait.
Wait.
So are you saying there is no way to get a transplant without waiting in this line of yours?
Well, it would have to go through our database, but there are directed donations.
People who want to donate a kidney or bone marrow to specific patients.
It's rarer, but there are some angels among us.
My victims didn't have wings.
So this database of yours...
it would include everyone who's out there searching for an organ donor?
Is that correct?
I suppose you want to see who's on that list.
No, Ms.
Reid.
I want to see who isn't.
What are you doing?
We're cross-referencing a database of people who were looking for transplants in southern California two months ago.
And eliminating those still waiting today.
Why?
Because kidneys, livers, and especially hearts don't last very long.
So whoever took those organs from our victims had to transplant them pretty quickly.
And those people wouldn't still be on the waiting list.
All right.
Here we go.
Over the last two months, a total of 319 people fell off the list.
74 of them died before getting a transplant, eliminating them.
Okay, so that leaves 245 people in the L.A.
area who received organs.
38 of whom were recipients of direct donors.
Okay, so let's look 48 hours on either side of the day that Pedro was found.
We need to find someone who matches him pretty closely.
How about Oscar Garcia, age 16?
Roughly the same age as Pedro Mota.
Same ethnicity.
Oscar got a kidney.
Okay, uh, lieutenant Flynn, would you please bring Oscar down here and a parent?
So, if you've identified your first victim, why haven't you notified his mother yet?
She waited over a month to report him missing.
She's in no rush to know anything.
And what...
What is the matter now?
I asked you not to sensationalize this case.
Now you're making it look like people are being hunted down in the streets of L.A.
for their organs.
If this Oscar kid has a stolen kidney, what are you gonna do - ask for it back?
Thank you for coming in, Mr.
Garcia.
We are so low on funds right now that every tank of gas really counts.
W-what is it you think the hospital might have done wrong?
Well, um...
Hopefully, nothing.
After you, sir.
Thank you.
Deputy chief Johnson, this is Jorge and Oscar Garcia.
Pleased to meet you.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for coming in.
Pleasure.
Thank you for coming.
This is David Gabriel from the state medical board.
He's here to help us today.
Hopefully, this won't take too long.
We just need to do a follow-up on transplants here in southern California.
I don't have to tell you how hard these organs are to come by.
And we've had a few complaints, so, better to be safe than sorry.
Before we start, Oscar, how are you feeling?
You doing all right, buddy?
I'm doing great.
And I felt like that right away, too.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
He's...
he's doing a lot better.
Thank God.
You'd never know how bad he was before.
No.
I wouldn't.
And you were very lucky to find a direct donor.
And just in the nick of time, I understand, too.
Now, the local registry lists your donor's name as a...
Sancho Ruiz?
Is that correct?
Mm-hmm.
Oscar's second cousin...
on his mother's side of the family.
Okay.
And does...
does Sancho reside here in Los Angeles?
No.
No, no, no, no.
He...
he lives in Mexico.
We'd never even heard of Sancho.
Can you believe that?
But when we found him, and it turned out he was a match for me, Sancho said he'd be honored to help.
Isn't that wonderful?
Doing my job, I don't meet a lot of people like Sancho.
I can tell you that.
How on earth did y'all find him if no one had ever heard of him before?
Ancestry.com.
See, a lot of our extended family still lives in Mexico.
Hmm.
And you contacted Sancho how?
For example, did you speak with Sancho on the phone?
No.
I didn't even know about him until we were headed for surgery.
Dad didn't want to get my hopes up.
After we were through it all, I wrote him a letter thanking him.
Didn't I, dad?
Really?
Where'd you send it?
The letter, I mean.
I mean, what's Sancho's address?
We would all really love to talk with him.
No.
Mr.
Garcia...
...I need you to give me Sancho's contact information.
These are not follow-up questions to Oscar's surgery.
I mean, what...
what the hell is going on here?
Mr.
Garcia, why don't we start over?
Only this time, I need to advise you of your rights.
You know what?
Don't bother.
'Cause I am not answering any more questions until I speak to an attorney.
Okay?
** Great.
So Mr.
Garcia's lawyer already contacted the hospital where Oscar got his organ transplant.
He threatened him with legal action if they divulge any of the boy's medical history to us.
How about the heads?
Sst!
Have you found any of the heads yet?
I think it would be interesting.
It would, wouldn't it?
Detective Sanchez, what about Oscar's so-called cousin, Sancho?
He doesn't exist, period, chief.
Ruben, you don't need to be hearing any of this.
Go watch television with Buzz.
Buzz!
Oh...
I'd give one of my kidneys to Julio if he needed it.
But Ruben couldn't just give Julio a kidney.
There would have to be some kind of an exam to make sure that they were a good match for each other.
Wouldn't they?
Uh, where's Pedro Mota's chart from that clinic?
Oh, I have it, chief!
Is there any kind of test in there that doesn't go with a knife wound or a broken ankle?
Well, let's see.
Right after the surgery, where the doctor put a pin in his ankle, there's a...
Wow...
A CT angiogram scan?
Now, what would that have to do with...
Ooh.
Luminex flow bead DSA determinations.
English, Tao.
English.
These are medical assessments used to determine the size and viability of organs for transplant, ordered by a Dr.
Navarro.
Dr.
Navarro?
But he only volunteers at the clinic.
What's his day job?
Uh...
Dr.
Luis Navarro - surgery and transplant medicine.
Admitting privileges, St.
Sebastian Hospital.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Witten?
All right.
It's gonna be okay.
All right?
Everything's gonna be okay.
Ophthalmology, please call optics lab.
Ophthalmology, please call the optics lab.
Excuse me.
A-are you waiting for Dr.
Navarro?
Yes.
Yes.
I am.
Is he here?
Uh, not yet, but we expect him any minute.
I've just got a few more questions for you.
Oh, my God.
You're kidding me.
They're very basic.
Uh, your daughter's name, the organ she's receiving, and how long she's been - Mary Witten, a heart, and she's been waiting for months.
Months.
I mean, in fact, we'd almost given up.
And then Dr.
Navarro calls us this afternoon, out of the blue, and tells us to get ready.
I...
I hate to think about what some other family is going through right now, but for us...
for us, it's a miracle.
If that heart can just get here.
Chief.
Dr.
Navarro's still not...
Yes, David.
I know. "
Chief"?
Who are you?
When did Dr.
Navarro tell you about the heart?
A couple of hours ago.
Why?
What's wrong?
Uh...
Excuse me.
I'm...
I'm sorry.
Excuse me, sir.
No, you can't do anything to interfere with this surgery!
Please, sir!
This is my daughter's only chance!
Keep walking.
What is it?!
Why do you want to talk to Dr.
Navarro?!
Please, tell me!
I'm begging you!
Please don't do anything to hurt Mary!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Dr.
Navarro, put your hands up, and step away from that table!
Sorry, I can't do that.
This is a sterile environment.
Opening that door could compromise my procedure.
That's the point, doctor.
Put your hands in the air and move away from the table, or I'm going to shoot you!
Well, aim for my head, would you?
I'm an organ donor.
Look.
This boy is gone.
His brain, such as it was, is dead.
And his heart...
...Has stopped.
I've already removed his kidneys and liver, so the boy's prognosis is terminal.
Please don't try and come in through...
Oh, that's Plexiglas.
If you're gonna start shooting, try not to hurt yourselves.
Look.
The boy is dead.
And there's a numeric code on that door.
So good luck with that.
Detective Gabriel, stand on that chair, and check out the body.
A young girl's life depends on what we do here tonight.
You mean Mary Witten?
If these men manage to break in here before I'm finished, she dies.
Chief.
That heart's not beating.
He's...
the kid's dead, chief.
He's dead.
Get out your cellphones, gentlemen.
I want video of this.
You're in a world of trouble, doctor!
Really?
What kind of trouble are we talking about?
In addition to killing Pedro Mota and removing his organs, we just watched you murder this young man.
Are you sure you have a proper cause of death?
Because from where I'm standing, it looks like this boy died of a brain hemorrhage.
That's all your medical examiner is gonna find.
I promise you.
All right, then, doctor.
You want to stall me?
I can stall, too.
How long is that heart you've been working on good for?
Three hours?
Four?
We'll just wait here until you decide to be more forthcoming.
And remember, a young girl's life depends on what we do here tonight.
Chief, chief.
Look.
This decision is way above my pay grade, but those organs are evidence.
Let me handle this my way.
You want Mary Witten to get that heart, you better answer my questions.
I want a list of all the people that you've killed and all of the people who are helping you distribute these organs.
Well, you are asking for the wrong lists.
What about the list of all the victims these young men left behind them?
Detective Gabriel, call for back-up.
I want this door knocked down now!
Wait!
Please.
I'll talk to you.
Just promise me that Mary Witten will get her heart.
All right.
You answer my questions truthfully, and I'll see what I can do about your patients.
How many people have you operated on like this?
Miguel here makes five.
Now, the first one was a homicide victim from six points.
I couldn't save him.
But he looked like he might be a match for a patient of mine, so I kept him alive long enough to make sure.
And then I took his liver to save another's life.
And I found myself inspired.
Now, I really don't expect you to appreciate the difficulty of what I'm doing here, but there are not that many doctors who could single-handedly...
how'd you get around the double-blind system to direct this heart to Mary Witten?
Well, that was forgery, and friends from the 11 transplant hospitals all over southern California who are exhausted from watching decent people die every day...
I need names, doctor, not a sermon!
Everyone helping me thinks I'm giving them organs from homicide victims.
Doctor, you are!
You are still stalling, doctor.
I can play this game all night!
How long can Mary Witten play it?
On my laptop behind you, there's a file with every name that you want, including the precise measurements of all my potential recipients and their donors.
Other donors?
You're planning to do this to other people?!
Two more.
Yes.
So you started out using someone else's murder victim, but that's not how Pedro Mota came to be here.
Pedro Mota had a knife wound, like you were told.
But he had been here before after breaking his ankle.
Yes.
Pedro Mota...
...Led the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Her mother came home from work to find in her backyard six teenage boys taking turns on her only child.
But while she was calling 911, she noticed one of them hurt himself, limping away.
So, while I was treating her daughter for...
For unspeakable things, who should walk into our clinic with a broken ankle?
Pedro Mota.
You know, with the proper anesthetic, I made Pedro extremely talkative.
So, before he was transformed into a useful member of society, he gave me the names of all his little rapist friends.
And this ax?
It was necessary to the...
To the post-op procedure I used to make these boys look like cartel victims.
My hope was to misdirect you.
Once I knew you had Pedro's chart, I knew I was running out of time.
I'm still running out of time.
And this victim...
He...
he was also part of that gang rape? "
Victim"?
All right.
Yes.
He was.
I called Miguel to tell him that he might have been exposed to an STD.
And while he was here complaining about the neighborhood whores, I stuck a needle in his arm.
Now, I really shouldn't have to explain to law-enforcement professionals how that works.
I don't understand.
Why didn't you just call the police?!
You don't understand because you didn't struggle...
...To save a little girl's life!
Watch her head swell to twice its size!
She can't even identify her own mother anymore, let alone the six teenage...
Animals who mutilated her!
You know, there was no DNA on her.
And I checked everywhere.
There wasn't any. "
Call the poli... "
What were you gonna do?!
You're not in charge out here!
Where's the line for you, doctor?
Ruben...
Where's that game thing I bought you?
I left it at home 'cause I didn't know you were gonna take me out of camp.
Camp?
You have him in camp?!
Not anymore.
What?
Hey, kid.
Hi.
Yeah.
Listen up.
Uh...
Look, I want you to go over there with buzz, and he's gonna pull something up on the Internet for you to do.
Hmm?
You're bossy.
Get.
Huh?
Ruben!
I said no skating inside!
Look.
E-emergencies happen when you have kids.
Well, you don't have kids, Julio.
Tao has kids.
I have kids.
You have someone else's kid.
That's completely different.
W-what's this camp?
It's all-day sports.
I-I just thought that I would find a safe place where Ruben could play all day.
But get this.
The camp's soccer coach was convicted of shoplifting two...
wait, wait, wait!
Are you...
are you telling me that you did an illegal background check on this guy?
No.
His car looked suspicious, so I ran his plates.
Oh, bullshit.
No, I...
how stupid do you think I am?
I got to look after this kid until I find his mother!
Well, what about finding his mother?
Why is that taking you so long?
What's the hold-up?
I don't know.
I'm calling Mexican law enforcement.
I'm doing Internet searches for family members.
I'm trying everything that I can!
All right.
You know what, Julio?
J, uh...
I think you need some help.
Lieutenant Andy Flynn.
Major crimes.
How can I help you?
Oh, hey, Mikki.
How you doing?
Oh.
Is this like...
Body parts from one person?
Body parts?
Call the chief.
So, um...
...Human remains in a bag?
What kind of bag?
Give me one second.
Okay?
Oh.
Thank you, Detective Mendoza.
My pleasure, chief.
Hmm.
You are looking better than ever.
Oh.
Thank you.
Uh...Thanks.
Sorry to call you out on something like this, but I think the circumstances demand it.
What circumstances?
Two months ago, a few blocks from here, we found a trash bag in a dumpster with a hacked-up body inside it.
Except the head and the hands were missing.
We entered murder details into VICAP.
Some good matches with some cartel killings in San Diego and Phoenix.
Wait.
So the cartel filled garbage bags with hacked-up bodies?
Without the hands and head?
The hands were there...
And the skulls, but the faces had been cut off.
And three weeks ago, we found another bag like this one.
No head.
No hands.
This one here makes three.
Lieutenant Tao, did you find a head in there or some hands?
Definitely no head, but not sure about the hands.
Okay.
I can do that for you, ma'am.
Oh...That's not necessary.
So, did you take DNA samples from the other bodies?
Yes, ma'am.
No hits yet.
Okay.
So, three victims.
I assume the others are still at the morgue?
No head, no hands, no funeral service.
So, San Diego, Phoenix, and now Los Angeles.
Sounds like the cartel activity is headed north, and this is gang territory.
Is the gang in this neighborhood even connected to cartels?
Where's Detective Sanchez?
And lieutenant Provenza?
Checking on another missing person.
Still?!
I know the local gang.
The six points.
No cartel connections, but maybe they're seen as competition.
Mendoza!
Who do you think you are?
Excuse me, sir?
You have no authority to transfer cases to major crimes without going through me.
Our watch commander told us to contact you, but no one could find your office.
The clock was ticking.
I thought...
Uh, excuse me, commander.
One second.
Detective Mendoza, just to be clear, in the last two months, you found three victims hacked up into pieces and tossed into trash bags in local dumpsters?
Yes, ma'am.
I think it's fair to call this a major crime, commander, don't you?
Well yeah.
But I should have been the one to tell you, not her.
Detective Mendoza, thank you so much for your help.
We'll take it from here.
Glad to help you, ma'am.
And always, good to see you.
Thank you.
Oh, by the way, good luck on the chief sweepstakes.
You'd look even better sitting behind the big desk.
And what did she mean by that?
I don't know.
Oh!
I applied for chief of police.
You applied for chief?
That's not how I should find out about that, either.
Right now we should be concentrating on what I want to find out.
Okay?
Uh, lieutenant Flynn, would you please organize a grid search to find the missing body parts from that bag?
The last thing I need is for some dog to show up dragging a head down the middle of the street.
Okay.
Okay.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Thank y'all so much.
What on earth made you apply for chief?
I told her to.
She was drafted by the L.A.P.D.'S women's work group, and I thought she should go with it.
So now, she's one of the 27 billion other people who have applied for the job, which means I'm not the slam dunk we all hoped I'd be.
And the last thing I need is for hacked-up bodies in garbage bags to be the lead story on tonight's news.
Well, lucky for us, the press doesn't care about murders in that neighborhood.
Yeah, and to keep it that way, here's a list of words I'd like to not hear during this investigation...
Mexican cartel murders, bag of bones, serial killer.
I don't want these cases sensationalized.
But the M.O.
here is very similar to the Mexican cartel murders.
Look, they're called Mexican cartel murders because they happen in Mexico.
As of now, you don't even know where these victims are from, let alone who they are.
Meet Juan Doe 102, 106, and 107.
From what I can tell so far, all of them adolescent males.
I didn't conduct the original autopsy on your other victims, but let me see if I can put something together for you.
Do the bodies have any identifying characteristics?
Based on their skin color, I would say they were Latino, but I don't want to be accused of racial profiling.
They could be gang members.
No.
But...
No.
I don't see tattoos.
So, what...
you're saying there's - there's nothing.
Oh.
Not so fast.
I looked over the x-rays from the first victim that Mendoza brought in a couple of months ago, and I found something the other doctor missed.
What is that?
A radiolucent ankle pin, made from material easy to miss on an X-ray.
FDA just approved it last year, and it's not the kind of medical treatment you're likely to find in Mexico yet.
Okay, and which suggests that at least one of our victims is from here.
Thank you, doctor.
Ohh.
All I need is for one of these missing persons reports to mention a broken ankle or...
or a twisted foot or something.
Are you done eating yet?
Because these autopsy photos of the victims from San Diego and Phoenix are bad.
Trust me...
after what I saw today, nothing will faze me.
Look, why...
why don't...
...You start sorting through these missing persons files, and I'll start sorting through these?
What is that?!
What?
Oh, that's a soccer ball with one of the victim's faces stitched onto it.
An FBI source gave us that photo after the ball was found rolling around city hall in Juarez.
Ohh.
Detective Mendoza didn't say anything about that.
What did Sanchez say about the gangs in the area?
Sanchez wasn't there.
He's still allegedly looking for Ruben's mom.
Might have been easier for him if I hadn't killed the kid's dad.
Any way I can help?
Talk to Provenza about it.
Would you?
Please?
I'm staying out of it, if I can.
What's that?
Missing 17-year-old boy.
There's a little box checked there, indicating a scar on his ankle.
His name is Pedro Mota.
Reported missing 10 days ago by his mother.
The body was found in six points gang territory.
But this is Detective Mendoza's first victim, picked out of the trash two months ago.
Why'd his mother wait so long to call it in?
Maybe she thought Pedro was in jail.
He has the résumé.
Last year, Pedro was arrested in the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl.
For some reason, she couldn't testify, so Pedro walked.
Charmin'.
Well, maybe I should...
Maybe I should talk to this mother.
I had her picked up, chief.
She should be here any second.
Well, that's one mother you found awfully quick.
Thank you, lieutenant.
Chief, if this is a gang or a cartel thing and Pedro is the victim, then something's weird.
And what would that be?
Well, the six points deal prescription drugs...
Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet.
They stay away from cartel product.
No coke and no pot.
Whatever Pedro's done, it's not my fault.
Mrs.
Mota?
Thank you so much for coming in.
I'm deputy chief Johnson.
Why don't we go into my office to talk?
Detective Sanchez?
Detective Gabriel?
Right this way.
You know, I can't believe she didn't mention the whole "chief" thing.
Well, it's...
it's all politics.
Which means we're not gonna get involved.
I don't want to hear another word about this from anybody.
I-is that clear?
You're not even gonna ask her about it?
No.
And neither are you.
We have enough problems around here as it is.
I don't care if you find Pedro or not.
Things are better without him.
Then why did you file a missing persons report?
The money.
What money?
That nosy welfare lady showed up again, unannounced, doing her little "inspection."
She asked where Pedro was, and I mentioned I haven't seen him in a while.
So the bitch threatens to cancel my monthly check if I don't report him missing?!
She's like, "he's only a teenager.
He shouldn't be gone like this."
So, I called the police.
Now I, like, still get my check, and I don't have to look at Pedro's stupid face.
And when was the last time you saw your son's "stupid face"?
I don't know.
Right after school ended.
Something like that.
That was two months ago.
You didn't think that was worth mentioning to the police?
Oh, look.
I tried to make good with Pedro, but he don't listen.
I'm not dealing with his crap no more!
So what do you think happens to this welfare check if your son turns up dead?
Dead?
Pedro wasn't dead.
He was just...
Bleeding a little.
What do you mean "bleeding"?
He got into some stupid knife fight, and I had to stop everything I was doing to take him to that clinic.
Would this be the same clinic where he got a pin put in his ankle?
How'd you know about that?
I-I need the name of this clinic, please.
Pedro Mota.
Um, yeah, yeah, I did.
I treated him just for a knife wound.
And there was something odd about it, too.
I-I can't remember what it was.
Is Pedro a regular patient here?
See, I'm also interested in a pin that may have been put into his ankle.
I see.
And I understand you have to comply with HIPAA regulations.
So I brought this, as well as the patient's mother.
Yeah, um, can we discuss this privately, please?
Of course.
Thank you.
Please.
Excuse me.
Uh, Eva, can you pull up for me, uh, Pedro Mota's medical chart, please?
Thanks.
You never reported Pedro's knife wound to the police.
This is a volunteer clinic in a tough neighborhood.
I-I-I call the police, and my car won't be here when I leave.
Doctor?
Pedro Mota's file.
Uh, thanks.
Okay. "
Mota, Pedro."
Yeah.
Yeah, he did.
He had a nasty cut on the right side of his torso, just above his liver.
You said there was something odd about the wound?
You know, it looked to me as if his mom might have had a go at him.
An attempt at attitude adjustment?
Did you ask him about that?
No, I-I've learned...
hi.
I've learned not to be overly curious with the teenagers here.
They, um, they can take it the wrong way.
Right.
It was a really nasty cut, though.
I made a follow-up for him, um, but...
He never came back?
No.
You know, and every time I called, his mom hung up on me.
Chief?
Mama's getting antsy out here.
Oh.
Uh, just one second.
Um, you know, I...I really don't want the mom to know that I've been...
oh.
Don't worry about her.
I'm not gonna tell her anything.
Um, what about Pedro's ankle?
Is there a pin in it?
Right.
Um...Yes.
And it was put there by our orthopedic surgeon...
it was last year.
Dr.
Scott.
Well, he's not in today.
Do you want me to call him?
Uh, no, I-if I could just take the X-ray of the ankle, if you have that?
Yeah.
As well as Pedro's chart.
I'm trying to identify his body.
Um, yes.
Here is the X-ray and, um, the chart.
Oh, thank you.
I can also get you Pedro's dental records.
Wouldn't that be better in terms of...
uh, that's...
Dental records won't help in this instance.
I mean, the whole face...
Uh, the chart will do!
Thank you so much, doctor.
Definitely a match.
Did you happen to see a scar on Pedro's torso, from a knife wound, maybe?
Not on the left side.
And the right side of his abdomen was missing, along with a lot of other things.
Like what?
Your three victims also had a few organs removed.
Organs?
What organs?
When I started examining what was left of these bodies last night, I noticed the first one we identified here...
Pedro...
had a kidney and a liver missing.
Maybe also a heart...
although I don't have that part of his body.
But his head and his hands were also gone.
So I didn't know if that meant anything.
Then this morning, I started in on the second bag of bones.
No organs.
A-and the body from yesterday?
Heart, liver, kidneys...
all gone.
Doctor, are you telling me you think these boys were murdered for their organs?
Officially, the cause of death is still undetermined.
But...I've - I've looked very closely at all three bodies.
And...
...The piñatas are empty.
Yes, sir?
Where's Ruben?
He's in the break room watching television.
He's not in the way.
Any progress on finding his mother?
Um, well, sir...
Ruben says she's from Manzanillo.
My uncle has a close friend there who did some digging around.
No trace of a Maria Hernandez...Yet.
But I'm trying new searches every day.
Huh.
Well...
Let's see what these, uh, searches of yours have...
Turned up.
You dumped my computer, Tao?
I'm trying to help you, Julio.
You haven't been trying to find Ruben's mother.
You've been trying to find babysitters and new day camps and schools for the fall.
There's not a single search here for a Maria Hernandez.
Not one.
We dragged your office phone logs.
You have not called Mexico once...
In two weeks.
Now you listen to me, Julio.
Ruben deserves to be with his mother, and his mother deserves to be with him.
She had four years to come back, and she hasn't done it.
Julio, you don't even know her.
She's not here, Tao!
Hey, what else do I need to know?!
She was deported by an ice agent who was a...A murdering rapist!
She was probably too afraid to come back!
When you have a child, you find a way!
No.
Ruben's better off with me and my family.
And I am not giving him back.
All right, Tao.
Manzanillo.
Check it out with Ruben.
If it's true, then we've got a starting point, and it'll get easier from there.
How do we get her back into the country?
Well, I've got that covered.
What if Julio's right?
I mean, how do we know what's best for Ruben?
We're following the law.
That's how we know what's best.
Chief, we got a DNA hit on the second victim.
Did you get a name?
No, but I matched some open case files.
Dead guy number two left a baseball cap at the scene of a robbery last year.
And then two months ago, he cut his arm on a glass door after killing a security guard.
Okay, so our first bag of bones contains a child-molesting rapist, and the second one holds a murdering armed robber.
Sounds like someone is doing the city a favor.
With what Dr.
Morales told us, maybe it's a sign that gangs are getting into the organ-selling business.
Yeah, you know, chief, I was doing some research.
A kidney can go for over $10,000 on the black market.
A heart is off the charts.
I mean, ounce for ounce, it's better than dealing cocaine.
What are you guys talking about?
These are gangsters.
They're not interested in organs, and they're not doing brain surgery on the side, either.
It's only a theory, Julio!
Well, your theory's stupid, Tao!
Hey, that's lieutenant Tao!
You knock it off!
And I mean it.
Okay, so, the autopsy results from the San Diego and Phoenix bodies show the organs still in place.
So, our murders aren't connected to them.
And I think Detective Sanchez has a point.
I seriously doubt that local gang members have the resources or the knowledge to start trading kidneys and such on the black market.
But who does?
That is the question.
Who does?
The organ distribution network is pretty strictly regulated.
Now, each state has a federally designated organ procurement organization, an O.P.O.
Now, each time they harvest, they report to the united network for organ sharing, who in turn tell them where to send the hearts, the livers, and stuff.
The whole system is actually designed to keep track of every single organ.
Well, clearly...
...It's not working very well, is it?
So, the O.P.O.
here in California...
does it have a name?
Life group alliance, like all o.P.O.'S, is a non-profit organization.
It's against the law for anyone to sell us organs.
Well, I appreciate that it's against the law, Ms.
Reid, but most killers don't care about that.
Besides which, you can't just place any heart into any body.
Donors have to be matched with recipients.
You people.
You never do anything but make things harder on us.
Harder in what way?
Let's start with a potentially great source for healthy organs - homicide victims.
Well, a murder victim's organs might be used as evidence.
And the guidelines under which we operate...
guidelines aren't laws.
The police aren't compelled to keep those organs.
And patients die because you don't give them to us.
Ms.
Reid, so far I've got three victims who have been murdered and cut up for parts.
And if this case requires it, trust me, I will hold back every organ I can find, including those you're supposed to be monitoring.
Life group alliance could not be involved.
We have an elaborate set of checks and balances to prevent undocumented organs from entering our system.
Wait.
Wait.
So are you saying there is no way to get a transplant without waiting in this line of yours?
Well, it would have to go through our database, but there are directed donations.
People who want to donate a kidney or bone marrow to specific patients.
It's rarer, but there are some angels among us.
My victims didn't have wings.
So this database of yours...
it would include everyone who's out there searching for an organ donor?
Is that correct?
I suppose you want to see who's on that list.
No, Ms.
Reid.
I want to see who isn't.
What are you doing?
We're cross-referencing a database of people who were looking for transplants in southern California two months ago.
And eliminating those still waiting today.
Why?
Because kidneys, livers, and especially hearts don't last very long.
So whoever took those organs from our victims had to transplant them pretty quickly.
And those people wouldn't still be on the waiting list.
All right.
Here we go.
Over the last two months, a total of 319 people fell off the list.
74 of them died before getting a transplant, eliminating them.
Okay, so that leaves 245 people in the L.A.
area who received organs.
38 of whom were recipients of direct donors.
Okay, so let's look 48 hours on either side of the day that Pedro was found.
We need to find someone who matches him pretty closely.
How about Oscar Garcia, age 16?
Roughly the same age as Pedro Mota.
Same ethnicity.
Oscar got a kidney.
Okay, uh, lieutenant Flynn, would you please bring Oscar down here and a parent?
So, if you've identified your first victim, why haven't you notified his mother yet?
She waited over a month to report him missing.
She's in no rush to know anything.
And what...
What is the matter now?
I asked you not to sensationalize this case.
Now you're making it look like people are being hunted down in the streets of L.A.
for their organs.
If this Oscar kid has a stolen kidney, what are you gonna do - ask for it back?
Thank you for coming in, Mr.
Garcia.
We are so low on funds right now that every tank of gas really counts.
W-what is it you think the hospital might have done wrong?
Well, um...
Hopefully, nothing.
After you, sir.
Thank you.
Deputy chief Johnson, this is Jorge and Oscar Garcia.
Pleased to meet you.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for coming in.
Pleasure.
Thank you for coming.
This is David Gabriel from the state medical board.
He's here to help us today.
Hopefully, this won't take too long.
We just need to do a follow-up on transplants here in southern California.
I don't have to tell you how hard these organs are to come by.
And we've had a few complaints, so, better to be safe than sorry.
Before we start, Oscar, how are you feeling?
You doing all right, buddy?
I'm doing great.
And I felt like that right away, too.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
He's...
he's doing a lot better.
Thank God.
You'd never know how bad he was before.
No.
I wouldn't.
And you were very lucky to find a direct donor.
And just in the nick of time, I understand, too.
Now, the local registry lists your donor's name as a...
Sancho Ruiz?
Is that correct?
Mm-hmm.
Oscar's second cousin...
on his mother's side of the family.
Okay.
And does...
does Sancho reside here in Los Angeles?
No.
No, no, no, no.
He...
he lives in Mexico.
We'd never even heard of Sancho.
Can you believe that?
But when we found him, and it turned out he was a match for me, Sancho said he'd be honored to help.
Isn't that wonderful?
Doing my job, I don't meet a lot of people like Sancho.
I can tell you that.
How on earth did y'all find him if no one had ever heard of him before?
Ancestry.com.
See, a lot of our extended family still lives in Mexico.
Hmm.
And you contacted Sancho how?
For example, did you speak with Sancho on the phone?
No.
I didn't even know about him until we were headed for surgery.
Dad didn't want to get my hopes up.
After we were through it all, I wrote him a letter thanking him.
Didn't I, dad?
Really?
Where'd you send it?
The letter, I mean.
I mean, what's Sancho's address?
We would all really love to talk with him.
No.
Mr.
Garcia...
...I need you to give me Sancho's contact information.
These are not follow-up questions to Oscar's surgery.
I mean, what...
what the hell is going on here?
Mr.
Garcia, why don't we start over?
Only this time, I need to advise you of your rights.
You know what?
Don't bother.
'Cause I am not answering any more questions until I speak to an attorney.
Okay?
** Great.
So Mr.
Garcia's lawyer already contacted the hospital where Oscar got his organ transplant.
He threatened him with legal action if they divulge any of the boy's medical history to us.
How about the heads?
Sst!
Have you found any of the heads yet?
I think it would be interesting.
It would, wouldn't it?
Detective Sanchez, what about Oscar's so-called cousin, Sancho?
He doesn't exist, period, chief.
Ruben, you don't need to be hearing any of this.
Go watch television with Buzz.
Buzz!
Oh...
I'd give one of my kidneys to Julio if he needed it.
But Ruben couldn't just give Julio a kidney.
There would have to be some kind of an exam to make sure that they were a good match for each other.
Wouldn't they?
Uh, where's Pedro Mota's chart from that clinic?
Oh, I have it, chief!
Is there any kind of test in there that doesn't go with a knife wound or a broken ankle?
Well, let's see.
Right after the surgery, where the doctor put a pin in his ankle, there's a...
Wow...
A CT angiogram scan?
Now, what would that have to do with...
Ooh.
Luminex flow bead DSA determinations.
English, Tao.
English.
These are medical assessments used to determine the size and viability of organs for transplant, ordered by a Dr.
Navarro.
Dr.
Navarro?
But he only volunteers at the clinic.
What's his day job?
Uh...
Dr.
Luis Navarro - surgery and transplant medicine.
Admitting privileges, St.
Sebastian Hospital.
Mr.
and Mrs.
Witten?
All right.
It's gonna be okay.
All right?
Everything's gonna be okay.
Ophthalmology, please call optics lab.
Ophthalmology, please call the optics lab.
Excuse me.
A-are you waiting for Dr.
Navarro?
Yes.
Yes.
I am.
Is he here?
Uh, not yet, but we expect him any minute.
I've just got a few more questions for you.
Oh, my God.
You're kidding me.
They're very basic.
Uh, your daughter's name, the organ she's receiving, and how long she's been - Mary Witten, a heart, and she's been waiting for months.
Months.
I mean, in fact, we'd almost given up.
And then Dr.
Navarro calls us this afternoon, out of the blue, and tells us to get ready.
I...
I hate to think about what some other family is going through right now, but for us...
for us, it's a miracle.
If that heart can just get here.
Chief.
Dr.
Navarro's still not...
Yes, David.
I know. "
Chief"?
Who are you?
When did Dr.
Navarro tell you about the heart?
A couple of hours ago.
Why?
What's wrong?
Uh...
Excuse me.
I'm...
I'm sorry.
Excuse me, sir.
No, you can't do anything to interfere with this surgery!
Please, sir!
This is my daughter's only chance!
Keep walking.
What is it?!
Why do you want to talk to Dr.
Navarro?!
Please, tell me!
I'm begging you!
Please don't do anything to hurt Mary!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Dr.
Navarro, put your hands up, and step away from that table!
Sorry, I can't do that.
This is a sterile environment.
Opening that door could compromise my procedure.
That's the point, doctor.
Put your hands in the air and move away from the table, or I'm going to shoot you!
Well, aim for my head, would you?
I'm an organ donor.
Look.
This boy is gone.
His brain, such as it was, is dead.
And his heart...
...Has stopped.
I've already removed his kidneys and liver, so the boy's prognosis is terminal.
Please don't try and come in through...
Oh, that's Plexiglas.
If you're gonna start shooting, try not to hurt yourselves.
Look.
The boy is dead.
And there's a numeric code on that door.
So good luck with that.
Detective Gabriel, stand on that chair, and check out the body.
A young girl's life depends on what we do here tonight.
You mean Mary Witten?
If these men manage to break in here before I'm finished, she dies.
Chief.
That heart's not beating.
He's...
the kid's dead, chief.
He's dead.
Get out your cellphones, gentlemen.
I want video of this.
You're in a world of trouble, doctor!
Really?
What kind of trouble are we talking about?
In addition to killing Pedro Mota and removing his organs, we just watched you murder this young man.
Are you sure you have a proper cause of death?
Because from where I'm standing, it looks like this boy died of a brain hemorrhage.
That's all your medical examiner is gonna find.
I promise you.
All right, then, doctor.
You want to stall me?
I can stall, too.
How long is that heart you've been working on good for?
Three hours?
Four?
We'll just wait here until you decide to be more forthcoming.
And remember, a young girl's life depends on what we do here tonight.
Chief, chief.
Look.
This decision is way above my pay grade, but those organs are evidence.
Let me handle this my way.
You want Mary Witten to get that heart, you better answer my questions.
I want a list of all the people that you've killed and all of the people who are helping you distribute these organs.
Well, you are asking for the wrong lists.
What about the list of all the victims these young men left behind them?
Detective Gabriel, call for back-up.
I want this door knocked down now!
Wait!
Please.
I'll talk to you.
Just promise me that Mary Witten will get her heart.
All right.
You answer my questions truthfully, and I'll see what I can do about your patients.
How many people have you operated on like this?
Miguel here makes five.
Now, the first one was a homicide victim from six points.
I couldn't save him.
But he looked like he might be a match for a patient of mine, so I kept him alive long enough to make sure.
And then I took his liver to save another's life.
And I found myself inspired.
Now, I really don't expect you to appreciate the difficulty of what I'm doing here, but there are not that many doctors who could single-handedly...
how'd you get around the double-blind system to direct this heart to Mary Witten?
Well, that was forgery, and friends from the 11 transplant hospitals all over southern California who are exhausted from watching decent people die every day...
I need names, doctor, not a sermon!
Everyone helping me thinks I'm giving them organs from homicide victims.
Doctor, you are!
You are still stalling, doctor.
I can play this game all night!
How long can Mary Witten play it?
On my laptop behind you, there's a file with every name that you want, including the precise measurements of all my potential recipients and their donors.
Other donors?
You're planning to do this to other people?!
Two more.
Yes.
So you started out using someone else's murder victim, but that's not how Pedro Mota came to be here.
Pedro Mota had a knife wound, like you were told.
But he had been here before after breaking his ankle.
Yes.
Pedro Mota...
...Led the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl.
Her mother came home from work to find in her backyard six teenage boys taking turns on her only child.
But while she was calling 911, she noticed one of them hurt himself, limping away.
So, while I was treating her daughter for...
For unspeakable things, who should walk into our clinic with a broken ankle?
Pedro Mota.
You know, with the proper anesthetic, I made Pedro extremely talkative.
So, before he was transformed into a useful member of society, he gave me the names of all his little rapist friends.
And this ax?
It was necessary to the...
To the post-op procedure I used to make these boys look like cartel victims.
My hope was to misdirect you.
Once I knew you had Pedro's chart, I knew I was running out of time.
I'm still running out of time.
And this victim...
He...
he was also part of that gang rape? "
Victim"?
All right.
Yes.
He was.
I called Miguel to tell him that he might have been exposed to an STD.
And while he was here complaining about the neighborhood whores, I stuck a needle in his arm.
Now, I really shouldn't have to explain to law-enforcement professionals how that works.
I don't understand.
Why didn't you just call the police?!
You don't understand because you didn't struggle...
...To save a little girl's life!
Watch her head swell to twice its size!
She can't even identify her own mother anymore, let alone the six teenage...
Animals who mutilated her!
You know, there was no DNA on her.
And I checked everywhere.
There wasn't any. "
Call the poli... "
What were you gonna do?!
You're not in charge out here!
Where's the line for you, doctor?