Look, it's not like I'm asking you to pick out china patterns, or anything.
I never said you were.
So why don't you spend the night?
Oh, my God. I'm so sorry.
Please tell me you didn't brew that coffee by yourself.
I mean, you're out all night solving murders,
you shouldn't have to brew your own coffee.
Wendy. We got it under control. Okay?
Right. Good. Okay.
Next pot's on me though.
I like my place.
Well, I don't like you driving home at 2:00 in the morning.
I have a gun, you know.
Yo!
Did ballistics change their extension?
Three-two-nine.
I don't have any of my stuff at your place
so I end up driving home to get ready for work.
It's a pain in the ass. That's it.
Is there coffee?
How come you feds call yourselves "special" agents?
We don't want to be confused with average agents.
No, I'm serious, what's so special?
Yeah, define special.
I mean, is it like how my cousin was dropped on his head as a baby is special?
What about this?
From now on you can call me "Remarkable" Detective Jesse Longford.
You guys are cute together.
No, seriously. What are you and the feds doing here?
I mean, did you find aliens living underneath Hart Plaza?
We're looking for Jimmy Hoffa's bones.
Really?
Guys, it is what it is.
I'm here to observe until the JTF gets up and running.
End of story.
You guys are so paranoid.
That's what Hoover told Martin Luther King.
Female bludgeoned to death.
Clifford and Bagley. You guys are up.
Take Harkins with you.
We're giving her the lay of the land.
Every detective has a different style.
Sanchez, Stone, I need you to take a witness statement.
Drive-by on Grand River a couple weeks back.
Records is pulling the file for you.
Stone, Homicide.
What?
Is it serious?
Uh-huh.
Okay, yeah. I'm gonna come down.
We gotta make a stop on the way.
Is everything all right?
I'll explain in the car.
So, what's on the menu?
Looks like blunt force trauma to the head.
Hermes.
Girl's got money.
Actually, it's a knock-off.
I hate to admit it, but she's right.
How can you tell?
How can you not?
No purse, no ID.
Killer either tossed the murder weapon,
or he took it with him.
There's a club around the corner.
Maybe she was coming from there.
Guys, I got something.
Not blood. Some kind of red paint.
You actually brought a flashlight?
It's a little one. Don't worry, yours is bigger.
Hold the presses, folks.
Yep. Dude looks like a lady.
Got ourselves a dead drag queen.
Well, if there was one thing they taught us at Quantico,
it was, always check for suspicious packages.
She was a valuable contact when I was undercover.
She hooked me up with a lot of people.
Okay, but why does she want you to come down here?
Maybe she doesn't have anybody else.
Excuse me.
Do you have a Riley Sullivan here?
Triage two. Right through the door.
Thank you. Listen, I have no idea why she called me.
Okay, so how does one refer to a drag queen anyways?
Is it "he" or "she" or what?
"She" in drag, "he" when he's not.
Okay.
I'm using "he."
One thing I can't overlook on a woman is a penis.
Good evening.
Welcome to the Mother Lode. Cocktails?
DPD Homicide.
The real deal? Wow!
I'm Christina Draguilera.
Yeah, we need to see your manager.
She's downstairs, I think.
Come with me. Come on, papi.
How's it going, Detective?
What's the deal with this girl?
A couple of guys jumped her outside of a bar.
Beat her up pretty bad.
She said she knew Stone, so we gave him a call.
Excuse me.
How can I help you?
I want to report a murder.
Oh, my.
Follow me.
Detectives. Yeah?
This gentleman would like to report a homicide.
Yes, sir?
I shot those men and I killed them both.
Sir, are you okay?
Look, I'm trying to report a homicide.
I understand that, sir. Why don't you have a seat...
Wait. Fitch.
Easy.
I need an EMS!
Now!
GSW above the left kidney. We're losing a lot of blood.
What's your name, sir?
Clarence Warrington.
The bodies are in an alley
off of Park between Elizabeth and Adams.
There's two of them.
Do you know the men who shot you?
They just rolled up and started shooting.
I had to defend myself.
Do you have any idea why you would be targeted?
We gotta go. Now!
I don't know.
That's her.
I could recognize those Tina Turner legs anywhere.
What was her name?
D-Twah. Like "Detroit," but French.
We need the real name.
That is her real name.
Sorry, girls. What does her W-2 say?
Donald Tupper.
Was Mr. Tupper here tonight?
Was D-Twah here tonight?
She was on stage till about 11:00.
She was supposed to do a private party in Troy later,
so she rushed out to catch the bus.
Yeah. D works all the time. She's a superstar.
When she does It's Raining Men
you literally feel like it's raining men.
She have problems with any of the other performers?
We're a family.
Civilians don't always "get us,"
but we take care of each other.
Yeah. D was the best.
Have any of your girls been getting harassed?
I'm 6'2".
Some drunk bigot come into my place, I turn him away pretty quick.
Did D have any overzealous fans?
Like Justin Bieber in a suburban mall.
There was this one guy.
The frumpy one.
Marcus. Yeah, he loved D.
He would come to every show. He was here tonight.
He'd always try to walk her to the bus stop,
and finally, she was like, "Enough."
Marcus have a last name?
I can check the credit card receipts.
Thank you.
So, our guy Clarence Warrington has a bit of a past.
He was one of the founding members of the 7 Mile Posse gang.
Yeah, looks like Clarence himself served 15 years for murder.
How long's he been out?
About three weeks.
That didn't take long.
Says he found God in prison
and spent the last seven years of his sentence as an anti-gang activist.
Even counseled new inmates.
What a heartwarming tale.
People change, man.
Yeah. Sure they do.
This is 9-7-0-4.
I have two gunshot victims
in an alley just off Park between Elizabeth and Adams.
Hey. That one have a tattoo of a pyramid on his right arm?
Yeah.
East Side Players.
Been at war with the 7 Mile Posse for years.
Looks like Clarence's past came back to haunt him.
Look, I met Riley when I was working the street.
We became friends.
More than that, I'm guessing.
I saw how you touched her.
Look, I didn't have anybody, okay?
No family, no friends.
And Riley was there for me.
I don't know what else to say.
Hey, it's over between me and her, okay?
Has been a long time.
Then we're good.
Troy Dillard, 19. That's Delaunte Carnahan, 43.
Both were armed.
Both look to be East Side Players.
Clarence used to be 7 Mile Posse. Those are rival gangs.
Maybe these guys recognized him,
rolled up and started blasting.
Then Clarence blasted back.
Squares with self-defense.
He's a convicted felon, what's he doing with a gun?
Maybe he knew they were coming for him.
Found a nine-mil over there. Also a lot of blood.
Probably where Clarence was when he got shot.
That's about 20-30 yards away.
These guys start shooting, Clarence gets hit,
then manages to take out both gunmen?
He'd have to be a hell of a shot.
Where'd that kid get hit?
Two in the chest.
Can you turn him over?
Yeah, see? There's stippling on the jacket.
Lift up his shirt.
Those are entrance wounds.
This guy was shot in the back at close range.
So it wasn't self-defense.
Clarence is lying.
I greatly admire D-Twah.
And I would never hurt her.
Maybe you admired her a little too much.
What, do you think I'm gay?
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
That's just so reductive.
You know, I have no interest in having sex with a man.
I simply appreciated D-Twah as an extraordinary entertainer.
I just loved her show.
I love La Dolce Vita,
but I don't watch it twice a night five times a week.
Yeah. Okay, I was there a lot.
You know, some guys get addicted to Internet porn,
some guys sit at the gambling table all night.
For me, when she was on stage,
everything just went away.
All the anxiety and the pressures.
I mean, is that... Is that wrong?
Not if it stopped at that.
But maybe you wanted a little more?
See, there you go with the gay thing again.
You were around so much,
she started sneaking out the back to avoid you.
She did that for my own good.
Really? How so?
She has a boyfriend.
This Jiu-Jitsu guy.
He's, you know... He just intimidates people.
What's his name?
Darren Riggs.
He owns a stereo store.
He try to intimidate you?
Yeah, indirectly.
I guess D-Twah once casually mentioned that this really nice guy,
myself, had walked her to the bus stop every night.
And he heard that, and that did not sit right with him.
What happened?
He accosted her, and it was violent.
And afterwards, she would not let me walk her to the bus stop anymore.
Fitch and Washington are going to interview Clarence at the hospital.
We need to dig into his gang connections.
Detective Stone, someone is here to see...
Yeah, I know. Thank you.
Come on.
Why are you here?
I was just sitting in my car for the last hour,
asking myself the same question.
This is my work.
Don't snap at me.
Please. I'm having a hard time.
When those guys jumped me,
I was lying on the pavement thinking about
how pissed you'd be if you knew this was happening.
It made me miss you so much.
When I got to the hospital, I just had to see you.
So, I asked that cop to call you.
Are you all right?
Not really.
Do you need some money, maybe, or something?
What? Look.
I am trying to understand you here, okay?
I mean, I haven't seen you in a very long time.
The man I love for two years says he's one thing,
and then turns out to be a cop.
Forgive me if I needed a little bit of time.
You know, all those people you screwed over,
those were our friends.
I still see them,
but they don't look at me the same, because of you.
Look, I can't get into this, okay? I'm sorry.
I know I'm not your problem anymore,
that I was just part of the job.
No, don't say that. Don't say that. That's not true.
Those guys that jumped me,
they have my purse,
and my driver's license.
They know where I live.
And I'm scared to go home tonight.
So, can you just walk us through last night?
Best you can remember.
I gave a talk to some kids down at the church on Cedargrove.
What was the talk about?
Family. Community.
Staying away from gang life and so forth.
So, you left the community center.
Which way did you walk?
Down Park towards Elizabeth.
Cut through the lot towards my place.
And that's when the Impala rolled up.
That's right.
Called my name, then started shooting at me.
I shot back, got the best of them, though.
One of the victims was Delaunte Carnahan.
Does that name ring a bell?
No. Not really.
You murdered his cousin 15 years ago.
Suppose that's why they started shooting at me then.
Clarence, we have a problem.
Your story doesn't match up with the physical evidence at the crime scene.
Look, I'm telling you all the way it happened.
No, you're not.
The other victim was shot in the back,
at close range, with your gun. That's not self-defense.
They didn't roll up on you. You were in the car with them.
What happened?
Was it a drug deal? Did something go wrong?
I'm done talking to y'all.
What happened, Clarence?
I want a lawyer. I'm done talking to y'all.
Now get the hell up out my room.
Go!
I never called him D-Twah. He was always Don to me.
How would you characterize your relationship?
Passionate.
Don was very emotional.
Darren, why is it that you're the only one
who calls D-Twah by her legal name?
Because his name is Don.
D-Twah was just a character he played.
Did you have a problem with Don working as a drag queen?
No. It made him happy.
Still, he's going to that club.
Getting all that love.
Meanwhile, you're at home alone, nursing a protein shake,
watching 300, waiting for him to call.
Did you get tired of waiting for him that night?
Did you go to the club?
No. I was at home.
Come on, Darren. You're a possessive guy.
Hell, we already know you smacked her around a little.
Maybe she wouldn't quit...
How would you feel if everyone was trying to get a piece of your guy,
pawing at him like crazed animals?
I didn't kill Don.
You should be looking at those other drag bitches.
They were jealous of Don because he was the best.
He was the only real draw that club had left.
So you think one of his co-workers could have killed him?
Don't let them fool you.
Some of those "ladies" are pushing 200 pounds.
They're men.
It was one of them.
I'm sure of it.
This is your place? It's funny to see it.
Why, what did you expect?
I don't know.
You seeing somebody?
You know, it's just getting started, really.
All right, there's extra towels in the closet, if you need them.
There's extra blankets in the bedroom.
I gotta get back to work, so...
These are from the hospital.
So how you doing with that stuff?
Got a little spun out after you left.
But I'm better now.
Six months clean, so...
That's good. That's very good.
Thanks for this.
It means a lot.
Okay.
Look, all I'm saying is that if you're here to observe,
perhaps you should just stay in the observation room.
I thought we had a good rhythm in there.
Yeah, we did.
Thing is, Vik and me like to get up, stretch our legs a bit.
Yeah, work up a nice lather.
Yeah, so, with you in the room, it can get a little tight.
The room is small. That's all.
That's really all we're saying.
Boys and girl, I got something.
See this bruising?
I think it's from a stiletto heel.
The killer was stomping on D-Twah's chest,
and I think those marks
that Special Agent Harkins found on the sidewalk
are actually red leather from the sole of her shoe.
Louboutins. Louboutins.
Yeah.
What the hell is that?
Louboutins are these crazy expensive women's shoe.
Mostly high-heels but they do make a flat
and a pretty nice mule wedge, too, actually.
Oh, come on, man.
Look. I've made love to a fair number of women,
and occasionally, I buy them shoes.
Stop talking.
He's right, though.
They cost a fortune and are very distinct.
Find the drag queen with expensive taste,
we'll find the killer.
Back to the Mother Lode.
All right. I'm ready.
Man, what is that?
It's the crime scene.
Fitch, I have no idea what the hell I'm looking at.
What are you talking about?
This is the car, these are the bodies,
this here is where Clarence said he was standing.
All right. You draw it, okay?
I don't even know why I'm up here.
Hey. Maybe I can help.
It'll take too long to bring you up to speed.
Lieutenant Mason briefed me earlier.
I heard your scene is a little wonky,
so I uploaded the case photos to a friend in the FBI crime lab.
He cobbled together a 3-D rendering.
Based on what we know, location of bodies,
bullet entries and exits, gun blast radius,
we can extrapolate a possible scenario.
I love this.
Clarence was standing exactly where he said he was.
Only way for that blood splatter to make sense.
But the exit wounds on the victims
indicate the person who shot them was right there,
not way over here where Clarence was.
No way he could've been in both spots.
There was a fourth person.
Clarence is covering for somebody.
Riley, you gotta eat when you take those pills, okay?
Just lay down, okay? I'll be at home as soon as I can.
All right.
Clarence Warrington is back in the game.
I got those from the Gang Unit.
That's Nate Collins.
He took over the 7 Mile Posse when Clarence went to prison.
When was this taken?
Two weeks ago.
Maybe this is who Clarence is covering for.
I'll have D-FAT round him up.
Where are you going?
I gotta take care of a couple things. I'll be back in an hour.
Look, Ariana, it's...
Go. Take the night. I got this.
I can come right back.
Don't worry. I'll see you in the morning.
Yeah, this is Sanchez.
Yeah, I need you guys to round up a suspect.
His name is Nate Collins.
All right. Thanks.
Man, I wasn't nowhere near Park and Elizabeth.
It ain't my neighborhood.
That's because you're 7 Mile Posse.
On the other hand so is Clarence Warrington,
and we know he was there.
Man, Clarence is out.
Then why is he still talking to you?
Man, ya'll take pictures of anything.
That's me talking to a old friend.
How long you two been friends?
Probably since we was in diapers.
Was it hard to see him go away for killing Delaunte Carnahan's cousin?
C caught a case. Got jammed up.
It happens.
Well, he's about to get jammed up again.
We're going to pin those two murders on him.
Now, maybe he's protecting you.
Maybe it's somebody else.
But if you don't help us out,
your friend is going to die in prison.
Who was the fourth person at that shooting?
Justin.
Clarence's son.
He's got a son?
He ain't but 16 years old.
Clarence didn't even know about him until six months ago.
His baby's mama reached out to him
when Justin got hooked up with the East Side Players.
He came to me after he got out, wanted to know if I knew anything.
If Clarence is taking a charge for anybody,
it's for that boy.
Where is he?
Laying low.
But I can point you in the right direction.
I know we can be catty, but nobody around here killed D-Twah.
Honey, please. You're making a mess. What are you looking for?
Louboutins.
Someone sent you on a wild goose chase,
'cause none of us can afford those.
Whoever killed D-Twah was wearing them shoes,
and this is the last place she was seen alive, so...
Well, last time I saw Loubis around here was when Cherry Pop left.
Who? Who?
Cherry Pop.
She was D-Twah before D-Twah.
My biggest draw for six years running.
The Cher of the drag world.
I thought Cher was the Cher of the drag world.
Cherry was nasty to everybody, but she was a star.
Every star fades, but she couldn't accept that.
D-Twah had become our headliner.
There wasn't room for two full-on divas.
Those two have words?
She slapped D-Twah once,
so we asked her to leave the club for good.
What's Cherry's name?
On her W-2.
Jacob Parker.
Hey. You're...
Ariana. His partner.
Riley.
I saw you at the hospital. Come in.
I love your name.
John went out to get me some food.
My stomach's been off from the pain-killers.
I thought you were him.
Can I get you something to drink?
Some wine?
He's so funny. John still doesn't do the dishes.
Should I wash a glass for you?
No thanks. I just came to drop this off.
Okay. I'll make sure he gets it.
I'm sorry, are you staying here?
Yeah. I guess I am.
For how long?
God, I don't know.
I wanted to go home tonight
but John thought it'd be better if I stayed.
He's great like that, always taking care of people.
Back when we were living together, my mom got sick once,
and he was so great.
I was a mess back then.
But John,
he really stepped it up.
Hey.
I brought your scarf back.
I didn't want your neck to get cold.
It was nice to meet you, Riley.
You ever get that feeling
you forgot to brush your teeth even though you know you did?
Every day you become more and more like background music.
May I help you, ma'am? Yes.
I'm here to see Detectives Longford and Mahajan.
I'm Detective Longford.
Hi. I'm Cherry Pop. Jacob Parker.
Yeah.
I heard you wanted to see me.
You should've told me she was staying with you.
Look, I messed up, okay?
But I promise you, there's nothing going on.
Stop. Just stop it.
Deal with your stuff, whatever that is,
and then, I don't know. We'll see how we feel.
What is that supposed to mean? I know how I feel.
No, you don't. And honestly, neither do I.
Word is Clarence's son Justin
is hiding out at a trailer park near Eight Mile.
I'm gonna go with Fitch on a suspect apprehension.
Wait, where's Washington?
He's got a witness statement he had to take in another case.
Let's go. Yeah.
Kinda wish she wore something a little fancier.
I don't feel like I'm getting the full Cherry Pop.
She dressed for the occasion.
Thirty plus years I've been a cop.
Never done anything else.
Never wanted to either.
Just give me a badge, a gun, a decent suit.
Nothing crazy,
just something with a little pop, little swerve.
Just give me that and I'm a happy man.
I understand.
This is the only skin I've ever felt comfortable in.
Yeah, it's who I am.
What I am.
I'm a cop, through and through.
Pardon me.
You're getting old, sweetie.
I am.
That's okay.
I know I'm almost done here, I realize that.
But I do worry.
Because who the hell are you, right?
Some old sick dog wandering out into the woods to die?
You hit it.
Yeah. My biggest fear is that I'll walk out of here
and just evaporate.
But I accept that, because I'm ready.
I'll tell you what, though?
Some young buck tried to take my desk,
I'd wring his skinny little neck.
I didn't kill D-Twah.
She was stealing your spotlight, Cherry.
Forcing you out.
Yeah, sure, I blamed her
and I was a bitch to her, I have that capacity.
But I didn't kill her.
Do you own a pair of high-heels with a red sole?
Louboutins?
Oh, God!
Those were heady times.
I sold them months ago.
You see, Detective,
I'm old and broke now.
When was the last time you saw D-Twah?
Well...
I was really awful to her before I left the Mother Lode.
I blamed her for ruining my career.
But time passed, it's not her fault I got old.
And so, I went looking for her,
you know, to apologize.
Did you talk to her?
No, I couldn't.
She was already getting an earful
from some other queen out in the parking lot.
It was heated.
You should check the security tapes.
They keep them for about two weeks.
We already checked the tapes from the night of the murder.
This wasn't on the night of the murder.
It was over a week ago.
Justin Lawton! Detroit PD. Open up!
Justin!
Go!
Relax!
Relax! Relax, Justin!
Man, I didn't do nothing!
I don't know, Cherry. I don't remember that.
You sure it was last week?
Yes, we gotta be close.
There, there!
Stop, stop!
Can we see her face?
That's her car. I saw her get in.
Okay. I got the license plate, I'll call it in.
So how's it feel to be back?
I remember that smell.
Make-up and aftershave.
I'll tell you one thing, though.
I don't miss it as much as I thought I would.
All right. Great. Thank you.
You're not going to believe this.
Car's registered to Marcus Wiler.
D-Twah's number one fan.
Guess he likes to play dress up, too.
Yes? Marcus Wiler,
we got a warrant to search your house.
What? Why?
Step aside, please.
How long have you been wearing dresses, Marcus?
I told you guys, I don't do that.
Got them.
Those aren't mine, those...
Honey?
Who are these people?
What are you doing with my shoes?
I wasn't in no car with no East Side Players.
We know there was a fourth person involved.
He don't look like me.
Who else would your father want to protect so much,
he'd confess to two murders he didn't do?
I got no father.
Everybody's got a father.
Everybody's got a guy who screwed their mother.
Yeah, well, it's not so easy being a dad.
I haven't been much of one to my kid.
Haven't been around for him.
Little league games and school plays,
I missed them all.
But if he ever needed me for anything,
I would be there in a second.
All he knows is you're not there.
Here's the difference, Justin.
After years of not showing up, Clarence finally did.
Ever hear "Too little, too late"?
He didn't know about you.
Clarence didn't know he had a son until six months ago.
Your mother kept it from him.
Why would she do that?
Because he was banging, and in prison.
She didn't want you involved in any of that.
Then, when you started to go that way,
she turned to him for help.
He started calling and sending me letters.
Said once he gated out, he wanted to fix things with me.
He never said he didn't know.
We know you're hooked up with the East Side Players.
What happened in that alley off Park?
They wanted me to handle something before I got my stripes.
I didn't know what it was till I got there.
So killing your father was your initiation into the gang?
"Blood in," they say.
He did Delaunte's cousin back when.
They wanted me to make it right.
When I saw him,
I couldn't.
There was only one way to stop it.
So I shot them both.
To save your dad.
Then he took the gun
and told me to go.
He'd take care of everything.
All of a sudden,
there he was.
Ends up doing five years.
Better than Clarence going away for the rest of his life.
Fitch ever tell you anything about his kid?
A little.
Is he okay?
Who, Fitch's kid?
Fitch.
You'd have to ask him yourself.
Hey. What's up?
I'm going to take off now.
See you tomorrow.
Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow.
So you've never been to the Mother Lode Club?
Marcus goes to drag clubs, not me.
That made you angry, didn't it?
Put yourself in my shoes, Detective.
You mean these?
Matches the scuff marks we found at the crime scene.
Plus, the blood we're gonna match to D-Twah.
It must have been a shock finding out
your husband was obsessed with a drag queen.
For so long, I was so confused.
I knew there was something wrong. Something missing.
Distance.
The lack of intimacy.
But I thought it was just, you know, middle age,
midlife crisis.
He was never home.
So I followed him
to that club.
And in one moment,
my whole life was a lie.
Why didn't you talk to him about it?
He wouldn't. He couldn't. I mean, what could he say?
That I was losing him to a guy in a dress?
So instead, you went and talked to D-Twah.
I wanted that man, and that is exactly what he is,
to understand that he was destroying my family.
But he wouldn't listen,
and Marcus wouldn't stop going there.
But you went back a second time, didn't you, Mrs. Wiler?
I just wanted to scare him.
So you brought something to show him you were serious?
A tire iron.
I told him to get out of our lives.
And then he said it wasn't his fault
that I couldn't keep my man at home.
He turned and walked away like it was nothing.
Like I was nothing.
And that's when you hit D-Twah.
I kept hitting him over and over. He never saw it coming.
I lost control. I just... Nothing made sense to me anymore.
I just wanted my husband back.
I gotta go make a phone call, okay?
Do you think it's too late?
No. I don't.
Riley?
What I said before,
it was a lie.
What?
Those guys who messed me up,
they weren't mugging me.
They did it because of you.
They're coming after you.