♪♪
- Spare five bucks for breakfast?
- Oh!
Elvis?
Elvis... Jones?
- Abby Knight! - How are you?
- I'm good, real good!
Uh... not really. I'm... not good at all.
- Elvis Jones. You took me to senior prom.
- I remember.
- You were a real gentleman. We had so much fun that night.
I lost track of you after school.
- Yeah, well, after school, I...
kicked around a little. Some bad choices,
then in and out of the system. Mostly in.
I just got back from a year of that.
- I'm sorry, Elvis. - Is this your shop?
- Yeah, it's new. But it's mine.
- Hey, you know what? I kind of look at life like, um...
lilies. They're perennials.
So if they don't bloom one year, they always have the next year.
They always have another chance.
- Yeah. Lilies. That's cool.
Thanks for that.
I'm optimistic. Things are gonna change for me.
- Hey look, here. Here's ten. - Thank you.
- Take care of yourself, Elvis.
- Let me help you with that. - Oh!
Thank you.
- Hey. - Oh, Nikki, in a million years,
you are never going to believe who I saw this morning.
- Elvis Jones. - Wha--how do you do that?
[laughing] - I saw him too.
- We dated. Model UN.
And now... he just got out of jail.
- Yeah, a year for breaking and entering.
- He asked me for money. - What, like a hold-up?
- No, like a handout.
He clearly needed it. I gave him ten bucks.
- Ten bucks?!
That's a nice breakfast.
- Man...
He was a good kisser. [laughing]
- Oh... Oh, wow!
Fifteen orders so far. That's pretty great
for a Tuesday. - Yeah.
Look, four of the arrangements are from...
that cheating dentist over on Sair.
- Guilt roses.
I almost feel guilty delivering them.
[laughing] - I gotta jump out at noon.
Mother-daughter lunch. - Ah, see,
I told you Mills College was a perfect choice for Sydney.
Far enough away to live on campus, but close enough for Mom to drop in.
[laughing]
- So, are you eating right? Exercising,
getting enough sleep? - Yes, I am, when I can.
I'm so busy with the flower shop,
the empty nest, the moving on...
- Don't make me worry about you.
- Oh, you're being the mom, I'm sorry.
OK, OK, look, I'm fine.
What about you, huh? How you doing? Semester's still tough?
- Some days I really wonder why I'm pre-law.
Right now, the only bar I can conceive passing is the kind with darts and a happy hour.
- I passed it; you'll pass it,
OK? It's a few years off anyway.
- What if I end up working in law as long as you did,
and then end up leaving it like you did?
- I left when I felt I had stopped making a difference.
Doesn't mean you will. And when Dad died,
none of it just seemed as important.
- I think you miss it a little bit.
- Just... [laughing]
- [Hi, it's Nikki. Please leave a message.]
- Hey, Nikki, I'm back. I'm just gonna run and get us some coffee,
so... call me if you... You know what?
I'll get you coffee, but--Oh!
[tires screeching]
84A1G...
You idiot!
Oh, no!
- So you didn't see who did this. - No, it all happened so fast,
him racing out of the alley... Thank you.
Maybe he was wearing a jacket
with some kind of a logo on it, and maybe he had, like,
curly dark hair. - That's a lot of maybes.
- I just came from New York.
I've had that car since before Sydney was born,
not a scratch on it, and now this.
- Just give the police a chance, Abs. Maybe they'll find the guy.
- I have a feeling I'd ID the guy faster if I put my mind to it.
- OK, Sherlock. But before you do that,
could you do me a favor first?
- Oh, I know that look.
What do you want me to do that you know I don't want to do but you'll get me to do anyway?
- Good. Do you remember my cousin Penny? - You've got so many.
- Penny! Penny, with the hair... - Oh, pixie? OK, yeah. - Yes!
- She was asking for some legal advice and I thought of you.
- I don't do that anymore. - Come on! You know you hate
to let all that amazing hard- earned knowledge go to waste.
- All right, tell her to stop by tomorrow.
- Great. I told her you would say that.
- Why do you even ask? [door opening]
- Hi, um, I'm just looking for the owner of the... dented Mercedes?
- Could be your lucky day after all. - That's me. I'm Abby Knight.
I'm also the owner of Bloomers. - Hi. Marco Salvare.
- Nice to meet you. - I'm the new owner of the Chicago Bar and Grill.
- Oh, excellent, we're neighbors!
Nikki Bender, assistant manager.
- Nice to meet you, Nikki Bender. That's quite a handshake. So, listen, Abby,
I saw you talking to the cop outside and I just wanted to make sure everything was OK.
- Well, it would be great if I had the complete license plate of the driver
who hit me. - I can help you get that information.
- Uh... how would you do that, if you don't mind me asking?
- Well, you know, once a private eye, always a private eye.
- You're a private... Abby was a lawyer.
- Was. - You would be a good team. - I have a friend at the DMV.
I can give her a call and she can help me with those numbers. - That would be great!
Um, can I tell you what the license plate--
- Sure. - It's in the message.
- [I'll get you coffee--] [crash] [Oh!]
[84A1G... Idiot!]
- Yeah, then there's a lot of bad words. - OK, I got it.
- So, how can I repay you?
- Oh! Um, how about a dozen roses? Purple, for passion.
- Well, purple's for enchantment. - Red's for passion.
Dark red if she's really special.
- Alright, then dark red it is. Can you guys deliver to my bar? - Sure.
- And if I don't find the name of the driver, trust me, you can bill me.
- Fair enough. - Great. Nice to meet you. - Thank you.
- You as well. All right.
Ciao, ladies. Have a good day. - Bye-bye!
Oh... my!
- You are married!
- OK, I was just window- shopping. You can actually buy.
[sighing] - Have you been talking to my daughter?
[police siren]
What's that?
Hold on just a second.
I'll be right back.
Officer Dunn? What happened?
- Would you come with me? - What? Where? - I'll explain on the way.
- What's going on? - We found a dead body on Tanner Street. Eyewitness saw a man
running from the old Hampton Arms headed up the alley, the one that lets out right there.
- When? - A few hours ago, around the time--
- My car was hit. Um, OK, let me get my coat and I'll be right back.
- OK. That's affirmative. We're on the way. Yeah, coming in.
- Thank you.
- Detective Corbison.
- So, you're the one with the hit-and-run. - Yeah.
- What can you tell us about the driver? - Not too much, but I believe
he was driving a black Escalade. I got a partial license plate and I've already given that to--
- We got that already. - Detective, I've got another witness.
She saw Elvis Jones leave this place around noon today. - Elvis Jones?
Is he a suspect? - Why, you know him? - For years.
In fact, I just spoke with him this morning.
- What time? - Um, right before
I opened my shop, so a little before 9.
- That would give him plenty of time to kill someone. - Trust me, Detective,
Elvis Jones was not the guy I saw coming out of the alley.
- I didn't say he was. Bring Jones in for questioning.
- I think you're making a terrible mistake.
- Thanks for your time, Ms. Knight.
If you think of anything relevant, give me a call.
- Look at you, just... business as usual,
as if you weren't just hanging out at a murder scene.
- Something doesn't fit, Nik.
And I hate mums, OK?
- Whoa, hey, easy! They're just flowers.
- Elvis is a disaster, but he's not a murderer.
- Well, he has a record,
he's served time,
he's broke...
It's not impossible.
High school was ages ago, Abs.
- Bring this over to Marco.
- Ha, ha, ha! Me? No, no, no.
You are gonna bring this over to Marco. Come on.
- I-- - Just-- - OK, fine. Traitor.
- Just fix your hair a little bit.
Oh, you look nice.
- Now this is what I call service.
- Oh! Here you go. - Thank you. They're beautiful.
Can I get you a drink? Let's say pinot grigio.
- Beer. Draft. - OK.
Hi, Emily. Can I get a couple pints, please? Thanks.
- Look, I can't stay very long. - But you look like you wanna talk about something.
- Can we sit? - I don't know, do you have a reservation?
I'm kidding. Of course we can sit. - Thank you.
- So what's up? - OK, here's the thing.
Getting information about that SUV might be a little bit tricky.
- OK, how so?
- Have you heard about the murder?
- Uh, yeah, I mean, that's what everyone's talking about.
Thank you. - Thank you.
- Alright, well, did you hear that a suspect was seen
coming out of the alley
just around the same time that my car was hit?
- Well, it could be a coincidence, Abby. - Or not.
- You like to meddle, don't you?
- OK, first of all, I hate that word.
And... where do we go from here?
- Oh, we are not going anywhere, but I'm gonna go down to the DMV
and see if my contact there found anything.
- Is that who the flowers are for?
- No, but that's not a bad idea.
- OK, so, uh... what's my assignment?
- Your assignment, Abby, is to go back to work
and stay out of trouble. - Cheers.
Latte, please. - Abby.
Hey. Our new florist out for a morning latte.
- That's what I love about small towns.
If you don't know what you're doing,
someone else tells you. - Oh, you love it here,
otherwise you never would've left that big bad city.
- Big, yes. Bad, no.
I'm glad to be back.
- So how's the flower game?
Blossoming? - Really?
That's the best joke a smart aleck like you can come up with?
It's great. How's the DA's office?
- Never a dull moment. - Like the murder at the Hampton Arms?
- Sure, for example. - Any updates for a curious florist?
- Opportunist. - Well, I might wanna send flowers.
- Well, we did just ID the victim.
His name hasn't been released yet.
Some 20-year-old kid who'd just moved into the building.
- Have you heard anything about a suspect
who took off in a black Escalade?
- Should I have? - Don't ask me. Ask Detective Corbison.
This is me.
- Well, hey, is there a chance that maybe we could
grab a drink one night, you know, talk about old times?
- Oh, uh, I'm really buried at the shop.
Things are really sprouting. I haven't "botany" time.
- Yeah, I get it. OK, no more. - I'll leaf you with that, OK?
- You're a tough woman. - No! Bye, Greg. - Bye.
- I am sorry. I'm late.
But...
I came bearing caffeine.
- Oh my gosh, thank you. I love you. - Thank you.
- Oh, uh... you got a phone call.
A Detective Corbison. - Hmm!
I hope he wants an arrangement.
"Detective Corbison
"leaving on vacation. Any info or questions,
call Detective Brand". He's going on vacation
in the middle of a murder investigation?
- Well, maybe he had
non-refundable plane tickets or something. - Yeah, or something.
Hey, can you tell me something?
Did everyone I went to high school with
move back? You're not gonna believe who I ran into at Twigg's.
OK, no, let me tell you. Greg Morgan.
- Gorgeous Greg? - Mm-hmm.
- I don't know who had the bigger crush on him, you or me.
- Oh, you, by far. You told me not to or we'd never be friends.
- I... I did? - Ha, yeah, you did.
[laughing] - Well, he's divorced.
- Honey, the only thing that interests me
about Assistant DA Greg Morgan is what he can tell me about the murder.
- So you areplaying detective.
- Well, I just wanna know who hit my car. - Mm-hmm.
- And why Elvis is a suspect, and...
why there was a murder.
[sighing] - Abs!
OK, seriously.
Just...
be careful, OK?
I just got my best friend back,
and I would really like to keep her.
- I promise.
Promise.
- OK.
- Seriously?
- Hey, neighbor.
- Oh. It's you.
- You don't seem so enthused. - I'm sorry, I just got a ticket when there was still time left.
- That's fine, just fight it. - I will. - Good.
- So, how'd it go with your friend at the DMV? Any news?
- Oh yeah, we're actually gonna meet tonight. I'll keep you posted.
- None of the gory details, OK? Just... if you hear something. - Will do.
- Did you know that the lead detective on the murder case went on vacation?
- I did, actually. Did you know they ID'd the victim?
- Yes. - Really?
- Uh-huh. Did you know his name? - Billy Ryan.
- Wait, what? When did that happen? - This morning.
- I think I win that round, didn't I?
I think I'm gonna like this game.
Have a good day, Abby. - Mm-hmm.
- OK, Penny, just tell Abby what you need, OK? She's here to help.
Thanks.
- It's simple: I want a divorce.
- Divorce is never simple. What does he say?
- I don't know, he won't discuss it. He won't discuss anything.
- Is there someone else? - I don't know,
but there's definitely something else. He's never home,
he's always working, always taking meetings,
and if I ask him what it is that he's so busy with, he just tells me
not to worry, that he's doing it for us.
There's no us. Not anymore.
Which is why I'm here.
- Where does he work?
- He owns Green Thumb Nursery. - He's thatTom?
He's... That's a great business. - Believe me, I know.
- Look, Penny, I don't practice anymore.
But I can call this lawyer, Dave King.
He's one of the best attorneys I know. I went to law school with him.
- See? I told you Abby would help.
- Your pork chops were amazing. - Don't get too used to them.
You just get them once a month. I have to watch you. - I love 'em.
Glad you picked up your mother's cooking ability, God rest her soul, and not mine.
Although I am king of the microwave.
- Dad, that's even worse. That's radiation.
- Oh, please.
[laughing] - I'm serious.
Hey, Dad, when you were, um, on the force,
did you ever work
with a Detective Al Corbison? - Corbison, sure. Good cop.
- Is he? - As far as I knew. Why do you ask?
- I, uh, I ran into him yesterday.
- At your flower shop? - At a crime scene.
Have you been following the Hampton Arms murder?
- What there is so far to follow.
I did my share of investigating at that place over the years.
What were you doing there?
- Technically,
I may be a material witness.
- To the murder? - It's complicated.
- Abby, what are you involved in?
- Nothing yet. My car was hit
by someone who may have been fleeing the crime scene.
- Is that Corbison's theory or yours? - Both. Neither. I don't know.
They could be connected. And get this.
Corbison skipped town. Allegedly went on vacation.
- He didn't "skip town". He probably is on vacation.
I did hear Elvis Jones is a suspect.
- For real? That's ridiculous.
Elvis Jones couldn't even-- - Abby, Abby, just stay out of this. Let the cops do their job.
- Fine.
- Oh boy...
- [Hi, I'm Tom Harding,]
[owner and founder of the Green Thumb Nursery,]
[family-owned for 17 years,]
[with the finest staff available]
[to serve your every gardening need.]
[So visit us today, and don't forget:]
[ask for Tom.]
- OK. Thank you very much.
That was the Lutheran Funeral Home.
They just ordered flowers for Billy Ryan's funeral.
Did you know that Billy's parents are Alice and Carl Ryan?
- The couple we did all those anniversary flowers for? - Yeah.
I didn't know they even had a son. - No, they never mentioned it.
- Maybe I should call that Detective Brand just to see if there are any new leads.
- About your car or about Elvis?
- OK, look, I just don't believe Elvis would've done it. He's a good guy.
He's made bad choices, but he's not a murderer.
Something else happened there.
- The saddest thing is...
we hadn't spoken to Billy in months.
- He pulled away from us. - I'm so sorry.
I have a daughter, I...
I can't imagine.
- The last year was really tough.
Billy changed. He dropped out of college, he moved out on his own...
- I just don't understand it.
Why would anyone want to kill Billy?
- Are you kidding me? What?
"Parked more than 18 inches from the curb."
- Seriously? - What? You're like half an inch from the curb.
What are you doing? - I'm taking a picture of it,
because... that's legal. Totally legal right there.
Hi.
I would like to appeal these two tickets, please.
- Fill this out.
- Oh no, actually, I would like an explanation
from the person who issued these, because they're clearly not right.
- Fill out the form. It's all in there.
- OK, but you see, what I have is a picture, and here in this photo
you can see that my car is actually almost parked onthe curb,
not-- - You can pay the fine, or you can fill out the form.
You'll hear back in about a month.
- Here you go.
- What's this? It's incomplete.
- Oh, that's my phone number.
Please have the clerk of courts call me or he will be hearing from my lawyer.
- Who is that? - Me.
Thank you for the pen. Dave King!
- Abby Knight. Hey, thanks again for referring Penny Harding.
- Oh, my pleasure. How do you think she's gonna do?
- Depends. Husband says he didn't want to divorce, but once we filed,
he hired Ed Feinberg. - The Terminator? - Yeah.
Abby got real serious real fast. - Makes sense, he's got a big business.
Have you started discovery yet? - We're putting subpoenas together as we speak,
but I'm short-staffed right now. It could take time.
- Well, you have set up an emergency provisional hearing, yes?
- Boy, you sure take the 'ex' out of ex-lawyer.
Look, the hearing's already set up for next week. It will get Penny
some temporary funds, at least. - You're the greatest.
Let me know if I can help in any way, OK?
- You wanna find out where Harding banks his nursery income?
- You got it.
- I was kidding. - I wasn't.
You said you were shorthanded. Consider me a hand.
- Thank you. - Bye.
- One pinot grigio.
- OK, so you were right about the wine.
I'm sorry, I just don't like when people think that they've figured me out.
- Really? - Yeah. Who's the tank commander?
- What's that? - Who's the tank commander?
- Oh, that's Sergeant Major Marco Salvare, 75th Army Ranger Unit.
- Wow! When? Where?
- First Gulf War, Somalia, Haiti... Yeah.
You know what they say: Join the army, see the world. - Well, that's impressive.
And I just thought that you were some guy trying to push moderately priced pinot.
- See, we're the same. You thought you'd figured me out.
- Well... - Hey, enough about me. How was the rest of your day?
- Uh, my day--nothing special. I repotted a coleus, I hit the flower mart,
I promised Billy Ryan's parents I'd find their son's murderer...
- Yeah, nothing at all, because you don't have enough on your plate, right?
- No, because I have never seen two such sad people,
and believe me, I've seen sad.
- And? - And I'm thinking,
Sergeant Major, that maybe you want to help me with the investigation,
you know, on a sort of official, as needed, basis?
- Because I don't have enough on myplate. - No, because I think
that we're actually pretty good at this. And I think that both of us
miss that part of our job that was...
a little dangerous.
- I'm free tomorrow.
So what you're telling me is you think Tom Thumb had something to do with Billy's murder.
- Tom Harding. Green Thumb Nursery. I don't know,
but given that Billy worked for the man whose divorce
I'm kind of involved with, I thought I'd do a little multitasking.
- And what does that mean?
- Tom's wife is a friend. She wants a divorce, needed a lawyer.
I hooked her up with a friend of mine. I'm just kind of keeping an eye on things.
- And this is sort of just typical behavior.
- Somebody hit my car;
I want to find out who, and for some reason, things just got
a little muddier.
OK...
I'm gonna be real cool, see if I can drum up
some intel, OK? Real cool. - OK. Real cool.
- Ah! Ah!
- Aw, man... that's a mess. - I'm really sorry.
I just... I kind of bumped it and it all...
I'm really sorry.
I'm so clumsy.
Hey, it's a real shame about what happened to Billy.
- Yeah, it's... it was a real bummer.
- Were you two friends? - I barely knew the guy. Him and Buzz
were pretty close, though. - Buzz? - The store manager.
- Oh, the big boss. - That's Mr. Harding. Buzz is like his right-hand dude.
And that's him. - Daryl!
Did you do all this? - No, this lady did.
- I'm sorry. - No, forget it. Is there something I can help you find?
- Yes, I was... - There you are, honey.
What happened here? - I did that. I already apologized,
no need to bring it up.
- Real cool.
- Hey, I'm really sorry
about what happened to Billy Ryan. - What's that?
- Billy? I was told that you two worked together. I'm so sorry.
- Yeah, no, it's pretty awful. How did you know Billy?
- Oh, well, I... we... know his parents.
- Well,
I guess no one's safe, even in a nice town like New Chapel.
- I heard he had a rough year. - I wouldn't know.
I only saw him here, never really got to know him.
Listen, I'm gonna get some help with this, but...
if you need anything else, you'll track me down, right?
- Promise. - Alright.
- Hi.
Just the plant.
"I'm gonna be real cool".
- How was I supposed to know the whole thing was gonna fall over?
- That's 9 dollars and 26 cents. - Oh.
Oh, can I write you a check? - Sure. - OK, great.
Thank you so much. - Check, huh? - Yep.
I write a check, they cash the check, and then bam! I have their account number.
- Ah! - Money trail.
The old canceled check ploy. - Follow the money, I like it. - Mm-hmm.
- I don't know if you noticed, but that Buzz guy said he knew nothing about Billy's life,
yet that Daryl kid said that they used to hang out.
- I did notice, and either Daryl is as dumb as a rake,
or Buzz is a lying sack of manure. - I think he likes you.
- Oh, great. - I'm just saying, if you're interested, I could set it up.
- Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine.
[laughing] What about you?
- Oh, unfortunately he's not my type.
I'm kidding, I'm kidding. What about me? Um...
Well, I'm pretty simple really.
Married at 25, divorced by 35,
and flying solo ever since. You?
- My husband Chuck died two years ago.
I picked up the pieces, and here I am.
- I guess that's what you meant when you said "I've seen sad people", huh?
- My daughter, Sydney. Chuck's dead was very tough on her.
And...
Yeah, it was for me too.
- Well, shall we?
- Alright, well, thank you. That was that Detective Brand.
Elvis is still a suspect.
They have no new leads, zero to report.
Oh, and surprise, though: no progress on my hit-and-run.
- Well, maybe it is good that you're doing some digging on your own,
now that you've got GI Joe to protect you.
- Did you completely miss the women's empowerment memo?
It was sent when we were, like, ten.
- I am just saying. - I get it, OK?
Maybe it isn't the worst thing that one of us has seen combat.
- Morning, ladies. - Wow!
Hey, Marco, we were just talking about you! - No, we weren't.
- Wow, look at these. These are beautiful. - Yeah, except for the mums.
So, what's up? - Oh, um,
name and address on our mystery SUV.
- Good work! Thank you, Miss DMV.
- The power of a dozen roses.
- Actually, truth be told, Nikki, those roses and those flowers
were for my mom's birthday. Thank you very much, she absolutely loved them.
I unfortunately had to use my so very charming wit.
[phone ringing] - And she still decided to help you?
- Yeah, crazy, huh? So listen, as far as this DMV information goes, it's only half the battle.
Gotta make sure it's accurate, so I was thinking a stakeout.
- A stakeout? - Yeah.
You and me, alone in a dark car, for hours.
- Abby, if you don't go, I will.
[clearing throat] - Uh, what time...
partner?
- Wow! Did you pack for a vacation?
[panting]
- Well, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin. - OK.
- So, where are we going? - Uh, we're going to county commissioner
Louis Vertucci's house. DMV gave me two leads. I figured that was the best place to start.
- Yeah, but Vertucci's like 60. He's got gray hair. The guy I saw was young.
- So? Maybe he had someone else drive the car.
- Now we wait.
- We could be here for hours, you know that, right?
- Don't think I didn't take that into consideration.
I've got...
two meatball parm. Four stars on Yelp.
We can eat healthy.
Three bags of pistachios.
Shuck, and then just throw the shells on the ground. It looks really cool.
I've got two thermoses of coffee, black.
- Oh, thank you very much. - And newspapers
to litter the dash. - You're hysterical.
- Well, we could be here for hours. - Here's to teamwork.
- So, um...
why'd you ever quit being a private investigator?
- Oh... wow, um...
I actually fell into being a PI.
And then, uh... I was working solo, and then I ended up working for this company.
But to tell you the truth,
it was just... it was just the loneliest job in the world.
- I can imagine. - So I took a leap of faith,
grabbed my life savings, and bought the Chicago Bar and Grill.
- Oh, OK. - What about you? Why'd you quit being a lawyer?
- Well, I... I love the law.
Yeah. I love how it can help people,
how it can improve their lives,
but I hate it when it's unfair,
which, for me, started to feel
like too much of the time.
And then when Chuck died, I just decided life was too short.
So I followed my bliss, as they say,
and opened a flower shop.
[chuckling] - And here we are, drinking thermos coffee,
waiting for someone who probably has nothing to do with anything, to maybe show up.
- Well, clearly we're thrill seekers.
[chuckling] - Clearly.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Garage door's opening.
- What do you see? - I don't see anything yet. Hold on.
- Oh! Same car, it has to be! - Yeah, it's the Escalade. - I can't see who's driving.
OK, here. - The car's driver... - OK.
- You see it? - I see absolutely nothing.
- Abby, you've got the lens caps on! [laughing]
Let me try. Let me try.
[police siren] I can't see, these things are...
Oh, no! Cops!
Look, do me a favor, don't say anything, OK? Let me handle this.
Hi, Officer. Is there a problem?
- Just making the rounds. We've got some concerned neighbors calling.
- Oh no, we were just sitting talking, having some coffee.
- Having a picnic, Mr., um, Blasko.
- Detective. - Detective.
- You know, you're not supposed to be parked here. - Really?
I totally missed it, sir. So sorry. It'll never happen again.
- Good night. - Good night.
Well, he was a charmer. We'll be back, buddy.
Alright... OK, what?
- "Don't say a word"? What?
Were you afraid that the little lady was gonna flap her gums? - No.
I've been dealing with beat cops for years. I just thought I could expedite matters, OK?
- Good save. Don't do it again.
- OK. Roger that, soldier.
- Dave King. - [Dave, it's Abby.]
I found Tom's bank account info.
It's under "The Sprout Corp." I got a number.
- [Now I just issue that subpoena and see what Tom might be hiding from Penny.]
- OK. Bye.
- Hi. I'm from Bloomers.
I'm just delivering there. Is Greg Morgan around?
- I'll check. Can I tell him who's here? - Yes. Oh!
- Abby, hey. You shouldn't have.
- I didn't. [laughing]
Do you have time for me?
Uh, may I speak with you for a moment?
- Of course, yeah. Come on in.
Have a seat. - Thank you.
- So,
can I get you anything? - Yes, actually.
I... I need some information
about the Ryan investigation.
- Abby, you know I can't say anything about that.
- I'm just curious.
Why did Detective Corbison take his vacation now?
- It was a planned vacation.
With his family. A dead man isn't going anywhere.
By the way, I did ask Corbison about that black Escalade.
- And? - Dead end.
And why didn't you tell me about the hit-and-run? Maybe I could've helped you.
- Well, maybe you still can.
[knocking on door] Yeah, OK. I'm late for a meeting right now,
but how about we pick this up over dinner tonight?
- I'm having dinner with my father tonight, but how about lunch tomorrow?
- That works. Italian?
- Great. - Alright, I'll set it up.
- Abby, even if you're right, this is not worth getting mixed up in.
I've seen too many of these cases go south and drag everyone down with them.
- Dad, if you had seen the look in Billy's parents' eyes, you would want to help them too.
- Believe me, 40 years on the force, I know that look. You can't bring back their son.
- I know, but then there's Elvis. They wanna pin it on him!
- Abby, just leave it to the cops!
Commissioner Vertucci! - Please, don't get up. - Commissioner,
how are you, sir? - Detective Knight, I miss seeing that mug of yours.
How's retirement? - Oh, great for the golf game.
You know my daughter Abby? She moved back, opened up Bloomers.
- Oh, the flower shop! - Nice to meet you. - Nice meeting you. Fantastic.
Your shop's getting a lot of attention in town. - For the right reasons, I hope.
[laughing] - Good business is good for New Chapel.
This strapping young man here is my nephew Tony.
Just moved here from Chicago, helping me out on a big job.
- What kind of big job, son? - CPC. County Paving Project.
- Tony is our crew supervisor. Good kid.
- I wonder,
what does a young hip crew supervisor drive these days?
- What does he drive? He drives me crazy, don't you, Tony?
[laughing] Anyways,
I'll let you folks get back to your food.
Abby, it was very nice meeting you. If I need flowers,
I'll know who to call. - Why in the world
would you ask Tony Vertucci what he drives?
- I was just being friendly.
- Oh. Mm-hmm.
- That was the car that hit me, and that was the guy driving it,
I am almost positive. - Well, I'm sorry, counselor, but that's not gonna hold up
in a court of law, I'm afraid. - Tony Vertucci
has been living and working with his uncle.
He could've been driving his SUV that morning. - OK, remember the DMV
had a second possibility? Turns out the driver of that Escalade was Father O'Shea
from St. Cecilia's Church, so... - Great.
Well, I'm not gonna stake out a priest. - Gentlemen, thanks.
Good night. - I do think that we should find out
where Tony Vertucci was the morning my car was hit-- rule him in or out.
- You'd like me to ask around. - Sure, and maybe my friend the DA can help.
I'll ask him tomorrow. We're having a... lunch... date.
- That's great. Just do me a favor and spare me the gory details, OK?
- Fair enough. - Actually, I have a great idea. Why don't you bring him here?
I can meet him and tell you if I approve. - Uh... not on your life.
It could get very romantic.
- Oh, I see.
- Bye.
- Elvis?
- Oh... - How's it going?
- Hi, Abby.
- Hey. - Hey. - Can I buy you a cup of coffee?
Why are you the lead suspect
in the Billy Ryan murder? - Lead suspect.
That's rich.
I was camping out in the basement of the Hampton Arms.
I used to live there, so I know
all the good hiding places. Bigmouth landlady saw me leave the next morning, told the cops.
- Did you know Billy? - I've done a lot of bad things, Abby,
but I would never kill anyone.
- Thank you.
- This is nice, Abby. - Yeah, it is. I love this restaurant.
Even as a kid, I loved it. - I...
I meant this. Us.
- OK. Uh, so...
should we pick up where we left off?
- What do you mean, like 10th grade, me asking to copy your homework?
- That's hysterical. No.
Um... I meant the Ryan case.
- You... you really wanna talk about that?
- Or we could talk about my case, the hit-and-run.
- OK, um...
What about it?
- I think the cops are giving us the runaround.
- And by "us", you mean Marco Salvare,
the bar owner slash failed private eye?
- Not failed,
just over it. And how do you know he was helping me?
- I guess I've just got my finger on the pulse of New Chapel.
- Oh, well...
I think the cops know more than they're letting on.
When I mentioned the SUV to Corbison, he was already trying to bury the information.
- You told me he knew nothing about it. - And you believed him!
- Any reason I shouldn't have? - I don't know. You're the one
with your finger on the pulse of New Chapel.
[sigh] - Look, Abby.
Around here, the police are the good guys.
- And you should remember that my dad was a cop,
so I know all about them, good and bad.
I know it's only temporary support
but I feel so much better! - It's a great first step.
- Yes, and Big Dave here sure got that judge to see
right through Tom's poverty act. - Once Judge Mead took a look
at those business statements, even the Terminator didn't
stand a chance. - Penny!
You may have won this round. Don't expect to win any others.
- Pleasure doing business with you too, Tom.
- And you.
You dragged my wife into this, didn't you?
- No. It was all Penny. - Really?
Because until she met you, there wasn't one word about a divorce.
- Don't blame Abby, Tom. Blame yourself. You made the business more important than us.
- I don't need you to tell me how to run my business.
- Fine. You're on your own now.
- I think it's best to stay out of other people's lives.
- Well then you should absolutely do that.
- Let's go, Tom. There's no need for this.
- Thank you. You're great!
- You're great! Come on!
[Dean Martin's Swayis playing]
He took one look at my car
and he panicked.
And the jacket logo matches
the one on the SUV driver! - Are you sure?
- Yes! As in very, definitely, yes, I'm sure.
I think... something strange.
I think they're connected!
I think my car, hit by Tony,
Tony running from the apartment building,
Billy Ryan found dead in said apartment...
- Hmm. How many reruns of Columbodid you watch
last night by the way? - Very funny.
They were Murder She Wrote.
- Okay! Speaking of Tony, I actually dug up
a little information on him. - Do tell.
- Turns out he was charged with aggravator assault last year
in Chicago. Bar fight, charges dismissed.
Two years ago, he was charged with four counts
of illegal gambling, also dismissed.
- I bet uncle Louis stepped in somehow.
Tony is bad news.
- You're not gonna' like this one.
I also heard that he was at a construction site
in Granville when your car was hit.
- Hearsay, your honor, and what about his reaction to my car?
- I don't know. Maybe he, uh, hates vintage Mercedes.
- The point is, we need to spy on Tony!
We need to gather some intel,
maybe even get a photo of him driving the SUV.
We need a stakeout! - Abby, don't you think
you're going a little too far with this? - Not on the street this time.
And definitely away from that bully Blasko. Look.
I Google map Vertucci's house and...
look! We can sneak up right up to it
from the lot behind.
- You're dangerous, you know that?
- I'm thinking tomorrow, late afternoon.
I checked and Tony's shift ends at 4.
Well? What do you say? You in?
- I... - Yes!
Okay! Should we just leave the car here?
- I don't know. At this point, I'm just following your lead.
- You're finally learning.
- Ha! Ha! Yeah. - Okay!
- What are you doing? - What do you mean?
- Stop crouching. You're crouching down like you're
chasing a bear or something. Just act natural. Calm down.
Alright, do me a favor.
Sit tight and I'll signal you when it's safe to follow.
- Hey, wait! - What?
- I thought now you were all about following me.
- What? - I'm kidding. Go. - Oh! Jokes. Okay, good.
- Okay.
- What do you see? - That's Vertucci's Bentley.
- If we're lucky, Tony's gonna' be in his uncle's SUV.
We'll catch him when he gets back here.
- Ah, fingers crossed! - Okay. Let's go over here.
Oh! There's a car. - Car?
- There's a car.
What do you see? - It's an Escalade.
- I know it's an Escalade. Who's driving?
- It's Tony and Vertucci in the Escalade.
- Really? - Yeah.
- Hey, buddy! How are you? Hey, come here. Come here.
Come here, buddy! What are you doing? Sit. Sit.
- I hate dogs, Abby. That's a big dog.
- Wait, there's another car!
- It's Blasko. - What is he doing here?
- Okay. They're talking.
Vertucci just handed him an envelope!
With money in it!
- Yup! - Hurry up!
- You know what, Abby? We just witnessed a pay-off.
Thank you, perfect timing! - Hey! Do you think
Vertucci paid Blasko to cover up the murder?
- Look, let's not get ahead of ourselves, alright?
All I got is Blasko accepting cash. Why is anybody's guess.
- Would it kill you to agree with me?
- I'm agreeing with you!
[loud barking]
- Oh! Oh! - Come on! Hurry up!
Hurry up! - I am hurrying!
[groan]
- Mom? You look beat.
Were you up all night watching a Lojak marathon again?
- It's not Lojak, it's Kojak.
And no, I was just out late...
with a friend.
- Okay. Who's the guy?
- Oh! He's... Alright, look, he's just a friend, okay?
It just started off as a business thing.
- [So you're taking my advice after all?]
[To think about dating again.]
[Mom, are you there?]
- Honey, I'm gonna' have to go. I'll, uh... I'll call you.
Have a good day. I love you, sweetheart.
- Police have arrested Elvis Jones.
Jones, a known transient,
parolee and drug offender
was taken to county jail today
and charged with second degree murder.
- This is wrong. Elvis Jones is being framed.
He's an easy target.
There's gotta' be more to it!
- Maybe you can get Gorgeous Greg to spill a thing or two.
Hey!
- Morning, ladies. - Hey.
- Looks like Elvis is gonna' be doing
a little jailhouse rock. - Yeah. What's your take on it? - I don't know, Abby.
It obviously looks a little too easy for me.
- Well, I think Detective Blasko framed him.
- Okay, uh, look. Just sit tight, okay?
I'll put my fielders all around town on Blasko
and see what we can find out. - And I'll, uh...
I'll see what I can drum up on other things.
- Cool! - And oh! Marco?
- Yes. - Um, "sit tight" is second only
to "don't say a word" on the offensive scale.
- Okay!
Um, I'm gonna' go and uh,
sit tight and not say a word.
- Good idea. - Yeah.
Ciao!
- Ciao!
And one for Abby!
- On the house. Because, you know, as a proprietor,
you can never can give away enough free stuff.
- Ha! Ha! Yeah, but think about how happy it makes people.
- Is it making you happy? - Well, as a matter of fact,
it is! - Good!
- Oh! I got another
absurd parking ticket today. - Abby, I wanted to ask you.
You don't think you're being harassed, do you? - Somebody's trying to tell me
something and I don't think it's "you don't know how to drive". - Then who is it?
- Well, the tickets started after I reported
my hit and run, so maybe it's somebody
who wants me to forget all about it.
- Well, it could be somebody who's got some...
pull in local traffic enforcement.
- Like our county commissioner.
- Abby, for your sake, I hope it's not the case.
- That was great! - Yeah, it was fun!
- Ah! It's so nice to have a place to go to after work.
- Well, we love having you.
- Thank you.
- Uh, listen, Abby. I was just wondering if maybe you and I
could, uh, grab dinner sometime. You know, not connected
to the crime scene here in New Chapel.
- Oh! Um. That would be nice!
Let me think about it. - Okay, yeah. Sure.
No, absolutely. Alright! Have a good night!
- Thank you.
- What's wrong?
- I don't know. My...
- What's going on? - My brakes aren't working.
- Okay. Hold on. Don't move.
- Be careful.
- Okay. Abby, your brake lines have been cut.
- What? - Oughta' call 9-1-1.
Hi. Uh, listen. Can I get a police officer or somebody
to come down here to Chicago's Bar and Grill?
A friend of mine's car. Their brake lines have been cut.
- [radio announcer]: [Elvis Jones was arrested]
[in connection with the murder of New Chapel resident]
[William Ryan. He confessed today to killing]
[the 20 year-old garden nursery worker.]
- No! Wha... No!
Thank you!
- I know, okay. I just heard. - Do you believe it?
- I don't know what to tell you. The guy confessed.
That's a huge move, Abby. - Elvis Stone looked me
right in the eye and he said that he would never
murder anybody, and guess what? I believe him!
- Yeah. Did he tell you he loved you on your prom night too?
- Oh, you know what? A] That's mean.
B] I think Louis Vertucci paid off a cop to extract
that confession to cover up for Tony's involvement,
and that cop is Blasko.
- Why would Tony want to kill Billy Ryan, huh?
- Why would Elvis Jones want to? And it would not be Vertucci's first cover-up.
- Come on, Abby! It was a misuse of public funds and you know it.
That's far from murder! He was cleared
of those charges. I did my homework.
- But there is still precedent,
just like with Tony's assault charges
and all signs point to Tony hitting my car
after fleeing the scene of the murder.
- Abby, Tony's uncle gonna' get in protection
and there's nothing you and I can do to change that. Alright?
Just do me a favor: go back to your fantastic flower shop
and forget about this whole murder case.
- Fine. Then why don't you go back to your fantastic
watering hole, and I will send up a flyer if I need you.
Yikes!
They're everywhere!
- Help you?
- No! No, thanks. I'm fine.
I'm just buying a mum.
I love mums! They may be my favorite flower!
- What does a florist need with a mum?
- Why does a nursery manager need a gun?
- Well, you never know
what crazies might come into the store.
- Okay! Uh, on that note,
I'm going to leave.
And I'm gonna' go pay for this mum.
- You sure you don't want a fresher one?
That one looks a little wilted. - I like this one.
So, how's my favorite lawyer? - Intrigued.
I just got the articles of incorporation from the Sprout Corp.
It seems that Harding also has a sub-company called Roots Corp
and the CEO is Ed Feinberg. - Harding's lawyer?
- Hmm-hmm. - Well, that's convenient.
- Yeah. - Okay, but why have
a separate business from his nursery business?
What's he doing? Hiding money? - Don't know. There's no indication.
- Have you subpoenaed the records yet?
- You do realize it's only 9AM, right?
- Yeah. I'm gonna' go talk to my plants.
[telephone ringing] Check in with you later, okay?
- I'll talk to you soon, kiddo. Dave King.
- I am really enjoying this, Abby.
I'm glad you said yes. Again. - Well,
I believe everybody deserves a second chance.
- Tell that to my two ex-wives.
- Two? I thought it was only one!
- Some detective you are!
- Well, I actually am a pretty good detective
in my ex-lawyer turned florist way.
- Really? - Yeah. Uh...
Go ahead. Ask me about... the Ryan murder.
- You wanna' talk about the Ryan murder?
- Yes. Please. - Please, just be honest
with me. Is this payback for ignoring you in high school?
Because if you want an apology, I can do that. I've had therapy.
- This is not payback.
No apology needed,
but therapy is good.
Okay, look. I know that Elvis Jones confessed
to the murder, but did he give a reason why?
- I'm not at liberty to say. - Oh!
- But, bottom line,
his fingerprints were found in Billy Ryan's living room.
- And those were the only ones? - Yeah.
The only ones that matched any on file.
- Right. Look. Let's just...
suppose that Elvis was involved, okay?
What if I told you...
that he didn't act alone?
- Well, I'd say you're nosy,
but I didn't peg you
as a conspiracy nut. [throat clearing]
Okay, so, who's this co-conspirator?
- Tony Vertucci, the commissioner's nephew.
- Oh, please don't! - Come on! Listen to me!
Listen to me. My hit and run, the morning of the murder.
I would bet my shop that it's Tony.
He supposedly has an alibi. I don't buy it.
- Uh, please, Abby. - Fingerprint him!
Fingerprint him and I guarantee you
that there will be a match on file.
- Implicate the commissioner's nephew? You're asking me
to commit career suicide! - Okay!
- Alright, well, what if I...
told you that...
I have photos that prove
that the Vertuccis were involved?
- Photos? What kind of photos?
- No! Absolutely not! You can't just go flashing around pictures
making random accusations like that, Abby. You know that.
- I also know that right now, justice is not being served.
- Okay, look. Until we're 110% convinced of what we saw
[at the Vertucci's, those pictures are off-limits,
[alright?] - Well, you should be aware
that I called my insurance agent
and I told her to file the claim against Vertucci.
- See, Abby, right there. I mean, you just put your whole safety at risk.
You know what? I'm done. I don't know if I can do this anymore.
- Fine.
Bye.
- Bye.
- Thank you for choosing Bloomers.
- Our first wedding!
And at the country club, no less!
[squeals of excitement]
- Welcome to Bloomers!
How can I help you?
- County building inspector. Do you own the shop?
- Yes, but we had
an inspection a couple months ago.
- No record of filing. You just showed up on my schedule.
I'll just have a look around.
You have some violations. Unfortunately, I'm gonna'
have to shut you down. - What kind of violations?
How can this be happening?
This is harassment!
- Lady, I just go where I'm told.
- That inspector works for the county,
meaning he works for the commissioner...
who just decided
to play his trump card.
- So then, can you afford to be shut down?
- What do you think? - Alright, well, that leaves you
two choices, then, Abby.
One, you drop your insurance claim against Vertucci
or, two, you call his bluff and keep going.
- The key is why is it so important
to Vertucci that I drop the claim?
- Well, at the very least, it's a political embarrassment.
A close family member being charged with a hit and run.
- Right, and at worst, he's covering up
that his nephew Tony was involved in a murder.
- Look, Abby. Um...
You can't save the world.
- No, but I can get an interim stay
and sue the county for phony building violations.
- You wanted my advice, right? Okay, here it is.
Call off the dogs, Abby.
Re-open up your shop.
- Well, what happened to that army ranger
who made a career out of fighting back?
- I guess he figured there were certain things in life not worth fighting for.
- Well.
I wish he thought I was.
- Abby, come on.
- Thank you. - So, dear daughter,
would you like to tell me why
there's a "closed for repair" sign on your shop door
or do I have to guess? - Well, you could guess or...
I could just make something up.
- So in the very few months
you've been back here,
you're going after Vertucci for harassment,
your shop has been closed
for violations and you're involved
in a murder investigation? - Dad, I know
that have made a mess for myself, okay?
But I just... You know what?
I know that I'm onto something.
- You're just like your mother, Abby.
Heart of gold, spine of steel.
- What did I get from you?
- Oh, good cops need to see the bad guys pay.
Tough trade in this world of ours.
- So give me your professional opinion, huh?
Doesn't this all seem suspect?
- Yeah.
It is.
I just want you to be careful.
- I will. I promise.
[cellular ringtone]
- What is it, honey?
- Oh! Oh! Nikki.
She's locked out of her house and her husband's out of town,
and I'm the only one with a key, so...
- Go! Take care of your friend.
And I'll order some disgusting dessert
you wouldn't let me have.
Don't overdo it! - You too, sweetheart.
I mean it. Okay?
- [sports announcer]: And touchdown!
[patrons cheering]
[angry scream]
- Abby! What happened? - I was out with my dad. I heard the alarm and came to check.
Oh! Oh!
- We have got to stop meeting like this.
- What happened? - Looks like an intruder
forced open your fire escape door.
Your back area's kind of a mess.
It's hard to tell
if anything actually was taken.
- It's not exactly a leap to wonder that whoever
cut her brakes could have done this, right?
- Not a total leap, no, but typically,
they are very different crimes. - Ms. Knight, would there be
anyone looking to retaliate against you for any reason?
- No. Not offhand. I mean,
we don't get many disgruntled customers
if that's what you mean.
- Well, we noticed the "closed for repair" sign on the door.
Any trouble from that? - No.
Not at all.
- Gentlemen, we'd like to actually take some time
and look around, so if we find that there's anything missing,
we'll be sure to give you a call, okay?
- Please do. Goodnight, folks. - Thanks guys.
- I don't know why I was nervous. I didn't do
anything wrong. - Of course not, no.
- Oh, what? So this is my fault? - I didn't say that.
Not directly or anything. - Okay, well, I happen to know
that it's not Tony Vertucci because I saw him tonight
at the Elbow Room and he was sitting at the bar
and he was watching the game and then, guess what?
He went nuts when his team lost!
- He went nuts... - Crazy, smash-a-bottle nuts!
- Because he's a die-hard fan! Look, he's also a gambler.
He probably took a major hit. - Really? Or maybe this is
just another one of Blasko's specials!
- Abby,
how bad do things have to get before you realize
you gotta' back off on Commissioner Vertucci, huh?
- If you had just let me release those photos,
he could have been halfway to jail right now.
- You are impossible! - I like the word "committed".
- Good! I'm glad you like that word, because you should be. Committed.
Look. Um...
I got a bar to run, so just...
Goodnight. - Bye.
- "Elvis Jones dead"?
"In his cell"?
"Preliminary reports say that Jones died of hanging."
Oh no! No, no!
- Abby! Abby, slow down! Hey, hey, hey!
Hey, slow down!
What's wrong? You okay?
- Have you heard?
- No, heard what?
- Elvis is dead.
He hanged himself in his cell last night.
- Abby, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I'm sorry.
- He was killed, Marco!
Somebody murdered him.
- Okay, look.
Calm down, alright? Let's uh... Let's...
Let's just relax for a second, alright?
- He was a mess, but he wasn't suicidal.
- How do you know that, Abby? - Because I talked to him!
He was upbeat. He was optimistic.
- Well, he could have had a breakdown too.
- Don't play devil's advocate with me!
- Alright, alright. - The guy was murdered.
- Well, I...
I think I'm starting to agree with you.
- Oh!
Was that so difficult?
I keep coming back to Blasko on this.
On most things, really. I...
What does that mean?
- I do a little of my own research on our good friend Detective Blasko.
I found out that Gilbert Blaskovich
It turned out he was a cop in Ohio one time
before he was bounced on extortion charges.
- And yet he was still hired here?
- I guess he was running away from his past and he reinvented himself, yeah.
- What did he extort? - Money from a drug dealer.
- Do you think Commissioner Vertucci's in the drug business?
- I doubt it. It's too sordid. I mean, he might be involved
in something... or he might not be involved in anything.
You see, the fact of the matter is, you and I don't know.
And until we do know, we need to keep this to ourselves, okay?
Look, Abby.
We're partners, aren't we?
- Yeah.
- On the plus side, it's giving us a chance to get reorganized.
- Sweetie.
Thanks, but you don't have to put a happy face on this.
- What's wrong, Abs? - Have you seen the yellow mum
that I got from the nursery the other day?
- Yeah, I put it in the big fridge. It was looking a little droopy.
- It's not here anywhere!
[cellular ringtone]
- Well, hello, Dave King!
I hope you're having a better morning than I am.
- Actually, it's a great morning for Penny Harding.
Tom Harding, not so much. - Why? What's going on?
- [I just got the records from the Roots Corp subpoena.]
Harding is hiding over 8 million bucks in that account.
That's 4 times as much as what showed in his Sprout Corp.
- Wow, talk about deep roots! What kind of business is it?
- Well, there's still no info, but it's definitely lucrative and secretive.
- That's always a shady mix. - Exactly. Listen, I'll keep digging. I'll let you know, OK?
- Alright, I'll catch you later.
- New Chapel authorities have said today there will be no investigation
into the apparent suicide of Elvis Jones.
Jones was in jail for the murder of William Ryan.
- Well, isn't that convenient.
I was hardly cleaned out. An old laptop, 80 bucks...
Oh, and an ugly mum plant that I can't even swear the intruder took.
- Mum? Like chrysanthemum? - Yeah.
- It's a pretty common plant, right? - Yeah, really common, why?
- No reason, except one was collected from the Ryan murder scene.
Someone from Tom's Green Thumb Nursery came to claim it the other day.
I guess it was just a coincidence. - Why would they want
Billy's mum? They already have a ton of their own.
And wait--you released murder evidence?
- Not me. One of the investigators clearly decided it didn't matter to the case.
Abby, it's a crummy potted plant. It was half dead.
You alright? - Yeah, I'm fine.
I just have to get back to the shop. I'll see you around, Greg.
What if Buzz or Harding or somebody from the nursery wanted my mum for the same reason
they wanted Billy's mum?
And why were they bringing the mums out of the greenhouse
that day instead of in?
What is that? Is that some kind of reversed delivery process?
- I don't know. Maybe somebody ordered a whole lot of mums and they were just picking them up.
- Or maybe there was something about those off-limit mums
that made them extra special, you know,
really valuable and worth robbing or...
killing over. There's only one way to find out: I'm gonna storm the greenhouse
and get another one of those mums. Why does it have to be mums?
- OK, what is it with you and mums?
- OK. When Chuck died,
I was a mess. I was depressed, obviously, but...
you know, people came over and they hugged and they cried
and they sent flowers,
and there was this one huge arrangement of mums,
and they were mums, just wilting mums...
...reminding me that he was... dead.
- Abby, I'm so sorry-- - So, uh...
I'm good. I'm fine. And...
Do you want to come with me,
be my lookout or something? - Yeah, of course. What time? - Now. Let's go now.
- I can't right now.
It's almost lunch rush, I have to be here. Can I come after?
- Don't worry about it, it's OK. - You sure?
- I'm gonna go in by myself, I'll get in, I'll get out.
Just... keep your phone on you,
in case-- - Alright, I will. Good luck.
Orchid bulbs.
"As thousands of new plants can be reproduced from a single bulb,
"the rarest or most endangered of orchids can command up to $50,000
apiece on the black market."
[banging on door]
[loud banging]
[men talking]
- [911, what's your emergency?] - I need help. I'm at Bloomers, on Franklin.
[line cuts]
- Where are you? Come on, I just wanna talk.
- Put the lights on, for God's sake. Find them.
- Ohh... What do we got here, huh?
Come on, get up, get up.
Gimme the phone. - Take it easy.
Take it easy.
I'm curious.
What part of "stay out of other people's lives" didn't you understand?
- What do you want? - I'm pretty sure you know.
- I saw you leave the nursery today and you weren't empty-handed.
- Oh, that mum?
Well, I bought it. You want a receipt?
- You're about 50 grand short. - Enough. Where is it?
- It's behind those pots.
- Gimme the word, I'll end it. - Put that gun away, I don't want another mess!
- Hey, I told you that kid jumped me, alright? It was an accident!
- Shut up, you idiot. Now go and get the rope in my car, now!
Now!
- So, what?
Buzz killed Billy Ryan, huh? - What are you talking about?
- Billy found out about your little orchid scheme and tried to blow the whistle on you,
blackmail you, so you ordered Buzz to get rid of him.
- I wouldn't be so quick to defend Billy Ryan. He was no boy scout.
- Yeah, what was he into that you weren't? - He ran a sweet little
sports betting operation, if you must know. Very entrepreneurial, I'll give him that.
- So you weren't the only illegal businessman in town.
- Get up.
Let's go!
- Ah!
- You alright?
- Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. - When I called it went straight to voicemail, so I thought
I'd come around and make sure everything was alright. My hand hurts.
- Your hand hurts?
I just... - What?
Look at it. Look at it. - Oh, I can imagine.
- Don't worry about those two. They ain't going anywhere.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Officer. Have a good night.
Wow, huh? You OK?
- Yeah. "Wow" is right. Man...
I still cannot figure out
how the police pegged it on poor Elvis.
- Abby! - Greg?
What are you doing here? - Marco texted me.
Told me to get here ASAP. - What? You two don't even know each other.
- Actually, we do. As of today.
- Yeah, we talked this morning and it got me thinking about the Ryan murder.
Maybe a beat might have been missed, especially when it concerns Commissioner Vertucci.
- He came by the bar and he wanted me to show him the payoff pictures.
- What happened
to career suicide? - I figured I could be as brave as you.
And Marco added Blasko to the mix
and I confronted him.
He folded and admitted to harassing you,
the tickets, the dead flowers, the cutting of the brake lines--
all his handiwork.
- And Elvis' arrest
and confession, ordered
by the commissioner. - Yeah. He paid Blasko off for the whole shebang.
- And Elvis' death... - I suspect Blasko had a hand in it as well.
But believe me, this part of the investigation is just starting.
Thanks to you, Abby. - Abby,
Tony Vertucci did hit your car,
but he didn't kill anyone. He actually went over to Billy's--
- Tony went to Billy's to place a sports bet,
saw Billy dead, got scared and ran.
Harding told me all about Billy's side job,
so the Tony piece fits right in.
- Tony's got a huge gambling debt and his uncle tried to conceal it.
But with his visit to Billy and your hit-and-run,
he was afraid that it might place Tony at the murder scene.
- And it would give Tony a motive for killing Billy,
whether he did or didn't. Who wants that before an auction day?
So does that mean the inspector was all a part of the commissioner's plan?
And...
that means that I can open my shop again?
- Absolutely. You're back in business. - Congratulations, Abby.
- Yay! - Hug?
- Oh... - For old time's sake. - OK.
Nikki is going to be jealous. Alright, let go.
[laughing]
- See you soon. - Thanks, Greg. Have a good night, man.
- Alright, you too.
- Wow...
Nice work, partner.
- Well, I couldn't have done it without you.
As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have done it without you.
- Me neither. - You have to promise me one thing, though.
No more amateur sleuthing, OK?
Please.
- I cannot make a promise that I can't keep.
- OK, then can you promise to let me take you
on a proper date? No stakeouts, no fistfighting,
no fake plant shopping. Please.
It would be nice. - Now what would the fun in that be?
[laughing] Come on.
- You're terrible. - Alright, I can promise you something
regarding the date. - Mm-hmm?
- And I can promise you it'll be a date.
- Thank you.
Very much. - Don't you have a bar to run?
- Yeah, I do.
Ciao.
- What are you looking at?
You're not so bad.
[Van Morrison - Into the Mystic]
Closed Captioning by SETTE inc.