The Chicago Code - Ep12 - Greylord & Gambat

When I became Chicago's Superintendent of Police, I vowed to fight not just crime on the streets, but crime in city hall. Some great police work led to city trash truck driver Ronald Underwood transporting illegal drugs, which we connected to Irish mobster Hugh Killian, and then to Alderman Ronan Gibbons. What seems like a slam-dunk case to the cops, though, still needs to be heard by 16 grand jurors before it can go to trial. And in Chicago, when it comes to prosecuting corruption, you don't take anything for granted. Now, remember, ladies and gentlemen of the grand jury, this is not a trial. The secret proceeding is simply a fact-finding mission in order to prove that a regular trial is warranted. And later this afternoon, Mr. Ronald Underwood will give testimony, and you will hear a sordid tale of drug trafficking, racketeering, bribes, money laundering, and murder. And it starts down in the city garbage dumps and ends way up in the pristine offices of City Hall, a trial we will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Hugh Killian and Alderman Ronan Gibbons, the killer and the politician, were complicit in all of it. Now, Superintendent Colvin, would you please describe for the grand jury, in what capacity is Mr. Underwood employed by the city? He works for the Chicago Department of Waste and Sanitation as a garbage truck driver. And what was he arrested for? Possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Narcotics you suspected were distributed by Hugh Killian and his Irish organized crime syndicate. Yes. How is it that a criminal organization gets access to city garbage trucks? With the cooperation of Alderman Ronan Gibbons. Alderman Gibbons controls the city contracts for waste management. City contracts that weren't awarded, but were actually sold by his office to the highest bidder. Yes, that's correct. And all of this will be corroborated by Ronald Underwood this afternoon. Yes, since Mr. Underwood's arrest, he's been cooperating with the police to gather evidence against his employers. He's got quite the story to tell. You said four, right? Yeah, four. Mr. Underwood, it's Detective Osaki. You didn't tell him we're coming down, yeah? Yeah, this morning he said he'd be here. Better be a listener now to get this guy in front of the grand jury. Come on, Ronnie, let's go. You're looking for Ronnie? Yeah. Ronnie's gone. When? A couple hours ago. Where? Vacation, I suppose. Rushed off with a couple bags. Gave me his dog to watch. Thank you. You advised me not to put Underwood into protective custody. I could have had sheriffs. So that everyone could see the police posted outside his house. Come on, the best way to keep the grand jury investigation a secret was to let Underwood live his life and continue working the killing organization so he could feed us more information. I promised those jurors and the witness. If we don't produce him, we both look like idiots and this never even goes to trial. What if I have more than just Underwood? We've had an undercover police officer embedded in the Killian organization for over a year. And your officer actually works for Killian, isn't that right? The investigation is still ongoing, so I'm not at liberty to give many specifics. But yes, this person is on Killian's payroll. But this officer has been an eyewitness to a variety of criminal activities, correct? Yes, a very long list of felonies. The most grave of which is first degree murder committed by Hugh Killian himself. That undercover officer actually witnessed a murder firsthand? Yes. Hugh Killian shot a man in cold blood to protect his illegal interests and those of Alderman Ronan Gibbons. Is the officer going to come in and talk to us? No. We need to protect the identity of the police officer until we get an indictment and go to trial. He must miss his family. I think that's probably true. All right, listen up. The reason I've called you here is because I know you're all good police that I can trust. We're looking for this guy, Ronnie Underwood. He lives here. I'll forward this picture to all you guys, okay? That's the guy we pulled over with the meth this time. Yes, it is. What did he do now? I can't tell you that. You just said you trust him. I did. But right now, you have to trust me. The less you know, the better. As a matter of fact, nobody, nobody outside of this group can know we are looking for this guy. As far as the department is concerned, we are looking for his car, which I just called in stolen. What do you want us to do when we actually find him? You grab him, you call me. He's originally from Cleveland. His neighbor said he left with some bags. So check the bus station, check the train station. Someone get out to the airport before he can skip town, okay? Evers. Joiner, I know it's unorthodox, but it's the only way it's going to work. Good? Yeah, I'm good. Ronnie's got a brother. I'm about to get his address and his place of work down on the south side. I'll take it. Let's go. The rest of you guys, happy hunting. All right, Evers, you're driving. Let me see the small one. Yeah, Ramona. Yes. I'm not sure I like this image. I look too serious. People want their marriage to be serious. Not all the time, man. Lily, what do you think? You look strong, determined, but you've already got my vote. Alderman, I need a word. Ellis, come take a look at these campaign materials, would you? This can't wait. We'll pick this up shortly. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. I'm not going to need a drink for this. I just talked with Ken Watson, our friend in public health. About? Well, his wife has a friend who was summoned for jury duty. Apparently, she was assigned to a grand jury. Teresa Colvin testified this morning. What are they investigating? You. They have a witness that can tie you to Killian. That can't be true. I'm afraid it is. No. I would have heard about it, Ellis, from one of the thousands of people that I have given jobs to in this city. They would have warned me that snakes and vultures are descending to try to destroy my life's work. Ronan, that's not all. Teresa Colvin told the grand jury that there's a undercover cop in Killian's crew. You get Roger Killian in front of me right now. You need a driver today? Oh, well, yes and no. I need a driver, but I also need a date. Waiting for you to ask is taking way too long. Excuse me? I'm taking the day off. I want to go on a date. I assume you've heard of those. Yeah. I've also heard that your father doesn't like the hired help hitting on his daughter. He doesn't decide who I spend time with. No, but he does sign my paycheck. And he's probably just trying to protect you. From what exactly? You do have some idea what me and the rest of the crew do, don't you? Do you have any idea what I do? You think my father sent me to business school, had me study accounting to do grind work for some firm in the loop? You do the books? The real ones, anyway. So you see, I know everything that's going on a lot more than you. My father's not protecting me from the family business. He just wants to keep me his little girl. How do I look? Amazing. Okay, what would you like to do today? I want you to come over here. Closer. Oh, block call. Girlfriend? No. Hey, this is Liam. Hi, Daddy. Um, no, no, no, I'm fine. Yeah, he's right here. Okay. I love you, too. Mr. Killian, I... Sure. I'll be right there. You Milton Underwood? In the flesh. Yeah? Let me guess, y'all looking for Ronnie? As a matter of fact, we are. Don't tell me that damn fool went off and ran. Where? What would he be running from? From testifying against those Irish boys. What, Ronnie told you that? I know that grand jury's supposed to be secret, but he was soliciting opinions on what to do. Wait, who else did he tell this to? Just the fellas at the poker game. How many fellas would that be? Four, not including me. Hey, listen, we really appreciate you being so cooperative. We don't usually get this kind of help from people. Hell, I've been trying to keep Ronnie out of trouble most of my life. If you want to take over, be my guest. All right, do you think any of the other fellas from the poker game might have some idea where he is? No? You got a lady? Yeah, yeah, he's got a lady. Anybody know where he's hiding? Pennywood. What's Penny's last name? I don't know, but I know the happy ending place she works at. His name is Ronnie Underwood. Some of you guys know him. One of our drivers, and we need to find him before the coppers do. Why do the police want him? They're trying to make him testify against some people in this room. So bring him here so I can get him out of town. Out of the country if I have to. Check every bar, bus stop, hotel in the city. No stone unturned. Work in pairs. And keep an eye on each other. Cops got tentacles everywhere. That's it. I got something for you, Mikey. Came from our friend downtown. Apparently Ronnie applied for a marriage license at City Hall a couple of weeks ago. So start by paying his fiancée a visit. And take my daughter's friend with you. Here's the address. Some grease for the wheels. Call me when you know something. This is it, Hennessey. Six years. This is finally my shot. I get this right, I'm a made man. Osaki calls, you find me no matter what. Yes, ma'am. 10-4. Roger. Sorry I'm late. I thought we were scheduled for noon. Yes, it's my fault. I got stuck on the Eisenhower. Hello, everybody. My apologies. I didn't know you had a meeting on the west side. I don't remember putting that on your schedule. It's a personal matter, Johnny. May I have a glass, please? Okay, then. Just some quick housekeeping issues. I agreed to a sit down with the Fraternal Order of Police next week. They want to get those contract issues hammered out. Okay. And we promised Alderman Sanchez that you'd go over his caps initiatives this afternoon. Today is not the best day. Well, we already rescheduled three times. Fine. As long as we make it quick. Excuse me. Superintendent Colvin. Phone call you've been waiting for. Sorry, Roger. I need to take this. Pick this up in one minute. Please tell me you found him. Not yet. We're headed over to where the girlfriend works right now. But get this. The brother knows all about the grand jury. What? Yeah, apparently Ronnie's been shooting his mouth off at his weekly poker game. So our secret grand jury's not so secret. I've been trying to get Liam on the phone to see if news is at Killian's crew yet, but he's not picking up. The state's attorney has given us 24 hours to find Underwood and present him before the grand jury. That's it. We don't have a witness. We don't have a case. All right. I'm doing everything I can. Do more. If a grand jury had been convened, I would have heard about it. I'm Teresa Colvin's chief of staff, for God's sakes. Take your coat off my furniture. And there is a grand jury and it is targeting me. So what does that tell you about the quality of your relationship with Superintendent Colvin? You told us that the superintendent was no longer investigating the Alderman. Because that's what she told me. So while running you around in circles on her various errands of the day, she played you and you allowed her to play me. I'll find out what's going on. Yes, you will. And you will find out the identity of this undercover inside Killian's organization. Those records are sealed. Cleaned. There are ways for you to unseal them, am I right? Before we go pushing those buttons, we need to breathe. I don't have time to breathe, Ellis. I need to find out who this undercover is, so Killian can tell me how bad this exposure is. Wait a minute. You want me to reveal an undercover officer's identity to the Irish mob? You got a better idea? There are forces amassing. Now you think it's a coincidence that all this is happening when I'm about to run for mayor? You have any idea of the plans I have for Chicago? The great things I can do for the people of this city. Now they killed the last, the only black mayor of this town. Now what do you think they're willing to do to stop me? Mayor Harold Washington died of a heart attack. Please don't insult my intelligence. Can you get the identity of this undercover or not? Not without risks. Risks that I'm assuming you are more than willing to take to protect yourself and your family from the repercussions of all this. Officers? You have an appointment with Penny Ling. Penny isn't working today. I just called and set up an appointment with her. I didn't realize you were police. April is covering for Penny. You want to talk to her? No, we want to speak to Penny. I'm sorry, I can't help you. You have no idea what Penny is? No idea. So it's not going to make any difference if I go back here and start looking around and seeing what type of massages you and your girls are giving, huh? See what kind of bones are being squeezed. See whose bones are being squeezed. All right, okay. I write down her address. Then you leave. Right? Then we leave. Penny Ling? Who are you? Friends of Ronnie. He around? You're not friends of Ronnie. We work with him. In his outfit. Whatever. He's split. Haven't seen him for days. He does that sometimes. Look, can we just talk to you a minute? It's important. Maybe inside? A little cold out here. Oh, sorry. Ronnie mentioned you guys are getting married. He told you? Yeah. You help us out. We might have a little wedding present for you. Okay. But I only got a minute. How about we be straight with each other? We all know Ronnie's in trouble. I know about the cops looking for him. What do you want him for? We want to help him. Here's two G's. So you and Ronnie can get out of town for a while. I don't know. Ever think of tying the knot? Maybe someplace a little warmer? Gotta tell you, Mexico's off the hook. I'm pretty sure we could get you another 20 grand for the honeymoon. 20,000? You can live like royalty down there till this whole mess goes away. I'll have to ask Ronnie. Great. Get him down. Let's ask him. Yes, we can. We'll just have to push your dinner with Congressman Reggio. Is 830 okay? Do it. Ronnie. Kelly says that he'll meet us there. Good. David. Ronan. Theresa. Good to see you. Good to see you, too. What brings you down there to the woods? Well, Alderman Sanchez wanted to discuss his new CAPS initiatives. I'd like to see those sometime. When we do lunch. Better yet, when we do a Bulls game. Lily, would you set that up? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Well, look, I hate to be rude. I've been running late all afternoon. You take care. You too. Smug son of a bitch. You know, he's announcing he's running for mayor any day now. I've heard. Probably pull it off, too. I guess that means little Miss Hottie's a shoo-in for Mrs. Mayor. Of course, those are just rumors. But I suppose I shouldn't be spreading them. Ma'am, we should get going. It's gonna take us a while to get down to 18 this time of day. Don't let me hold you up. Thank you so much for coming down. You bet. Get on to everything right away. I appreciate that. David's his assistant, Lily. Lily Beauchamp. They'll want to know everything about her. Consider it done. Sure. No problem. My boss says as soon as Ronnie shows up, we'll drive both of you to the airport. Got a couple plane tickets. You two will be lying on the beach drinking Mai Tais by tomorrow. Really? Yeah. Start packing. We're not gonna have much time. Change of plans. When Ronnie shows up, Killian wants us to finish them. Finish them? And he wants you to do it. What happened to getting them out of town? Hope you're happy, Hennessy. Stealing my thunder. This was my shot. Hey, I didn't ask for this. No, I did. And now I gotta watch you get all the juice for it. Here, use this. What? No guns. Middle of the day, too loud. It's gonna be a pretty big mess. Killian sent over Mac and Tommy to help us clean up. So let's make this quick. Hey, hey! Thanks for playing. I thought you guys were here to help. We are helping. Can't you tell? You were first, I guess. She didn't have anything to do with it. You guys need to shut up! Let's get this over with. How? I swear! I've never stabbed anyone before. Oh my god! So under the ribs. Right to the heart. Skin and straight up. Please don't do this! I swear! Shut up! You need to listen. You need to listen carefully. And we have to move fast. I'm the police and I'm here to protect you. But you're gonna have to do exactly as I say, all right? Where the hell have you guys been? Get your asses in here. Ronnie and his girl killed Mikey. I took a shot at them, but they got away. Oh man. We gotta call Killian. I just did, genius. Now listen. Take these keys. Get Mikey's car out of the city. Take it to our guy across the border in Gary. What about Mikey? I'll take care of it. And listen. Some stuff is going down right now. Killian says no more phone calls. Cops got taps on everything. Go to Gary. Drop Mikey's car off. Go back to McGowan's. That is the gospel. Are we clear? Yeah. This is the car. Radio silence. I got it. Then what the hell are you still doing standing here? I gotta go. You two stay put. Do not open this door. Help will be on the way. Beautiful. So we get to the election. We'll have to connect on exactly how you'll pump up the Irish and the Polish votes. That's all I'm saying. Election. Yeah, it's election, Hugh. That's five months away. We have to be in jail tomorrow. Ain't nobody going to jail. We all going to war. Sorry. Took longer than I thought. Hugh. You remember this? Yeah. Lieutenant Kelly. So what do you got? Well, you can't look for information on undercover officers. There's nothing there to find. Instead, you gotta look for what's not there. So I went back and I pulled names and social security numbers of every cop who's done undercover training in the last 10 years. Then I looked to see which ones fell off the grid. Of the 10 I found, only four could pass for Irish. That leaves us with these guys. Officer Chris Collier. Son of a bitch. It's Liam Hennessey. Well, I haven't done anything in front of you. You can hang on me. At least know about you. How bad is it, Hugh? Bad as it gets. It's Liam. I don't have much time. Listen up. What, you don't answer your phone? Where are you? I'm on my way to see Elizabeth Killian. But listen, I just came from a place in Logan Square. You need to get over there. No, no, don't worry. I'm here. Did you, uh, did you forget a couple of things in the closet? Mikey told me to kill the two of them. He had a gun. I didn't have a choice. I had to. And who gave the order? Killian. Yeah, that's it, all right? You're coming in. It's over. No, no way. Liam, it's not a request. If they know about Underwood, it's only a matter of time before they find out about you. Look, I got one more play to make. I'm looking at your last play right now. You're not listening. I got something on Elizabeth Killian. She is the key. And if it all pans out, we're gonna have all the proof we need to put Killian and Gibbons away. Liam, Underwood may not testify, all right? He is scared out of his mind. So that leaves you as the only witness we've got. Liam, Liam, you stay on the phone with me. I gotta go. Liam. Lily. What's wrong? Listen to me. I need you to buy a plane ticket. Where are you going? I'm taking the tickets for you. You're going to South America. Somewhere for the next month till I can get all this ticket. What are you talking about? I'm talking about the fact that I'm surrounded by cows and Judas's, Lily. Police trying to take advantage of the situation now. I can't let you get tangled up in any of that, all right? If you are in trouble, I need to be here protecting you. Don't you know I love you too? Now, listen to me. There's $10,000 cash in that safe. Lily, buy the ticket. Your father's in trouble. The cops are after him. Let me call him. Wait, no, no, no. Your phone may be bugged, okay? He said he'll call you when he can. What does he want me to do? He told me to get you, tell you to get all the records, move him someplace safe before the cops find him. Okay, everything's at a warehouse. Mr. Underwood. I already told him I'm not testifying, period. Are you completely aware of what's at stake here? Are you? If you renege on the deal you made, then, you know, we're gonna have to put you away for a very long time. I'd rather do my time and live. You think Killian can't get to you in the joint? You don't think that if he actually decides to let you live, one of his boys is not gonna put you in a dress, turn you into a prom queen? What, do you want to be somebody's prom queen? Is that it, Ronnie, huh? Huh? Well, why the change of heart? What happened? Them trying to kill me and my girls. What happened? We know that. Look, Gibbons and Killian are both going down right now, and I don't need you to make that happen, you understand me? This train is leaving the station with or without you, and all you've got to do to keep you and your girls safe is to hop on board. Let's do it, Ron. I'll take my chances. We got to arrest Killian. No, no, no, no. We don't have indictments on him or Gibbons yet. You pull the trigger now, and you might lose your one bite of the Gibbons apple. We have got Killian on murder. It's a layup. We've got an undercover cop saw him do it. We have a missing undercover cop, okay? He was not coming in, nor is he returning my phone calls, so at least let me bring Liam in first. Look, you bring Killian in, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone. Liam says he's got some unfinished business with Killian's daughter, Elizabeth. We arrest Killian, which leads us to the daughter, which then leads us to Liam. We hang the murder charges on Killian, which gets him to roll on Gibbons. Killian is old school, okay? Dinosaurs like that do not flip easy. I have spent nine months trying to make a case against Gibbons. I am not going to let it slip through my fingers now. You bring Killian in, you haul his ass down here, and I will interrogate him myself. Don, you take care of her today, okay? I know I will. You ready for this? It's been a while since you actually sweated a confession out of someone. It's just like riding a bike. This bike's not going to be so easy to ride. I'll be fine. There's a spirit. Yeah. I got Killian's daughter's number from the phone we grabbed off him. OCD pinged it, just got a hit. Go. Three ledgers, two black and one red. Red one is the master. Ledgers, old school. Old school can't be downloaded or copied. Oh, damn it. My dad put in an asylum alarm. It's probably the company calling for the password. Start packing up this stuff. I'll be right back. Who are you? What are you talking about? You killed Mikey? Who are you? Elizabeth? You're police, aren't you? Just listen to me. Tell me what is going on or I will shoot you in the heart. Okay. I am a cop. My real name is Chris Collier. I'm working on a case involving Alderman Ronan Gibbons. Your father is inconsequential. And if he cooperates, we will go very easy on him. You can't guarantee that. You're not the prosecutor. No, but I can help influence this case with what I know. This is going down one way or another. You want to be on the right side of this? You son of a bitch. You have no interest in you. And we can help your father, okay? Just put the gun down. Elizabeth? Put it down. Please, okay? I'll make you a... It's Liam. I just shot him. Find Hennessy. Move it! Timmy. You take her to Doc Quinn. Right now. Where are you from? What's it to you? I'm just curious. Where'd you grow up? Beverly. You're kidding me. How did an Irish no-name thug from Beverly hook up with a black alderman from the north side? Probably the same way your parents did. You're a mixed breed, aren't you? Oh, the two you met in high school and fell in love? That explains a lot. You got me. What do you say we turn this into a conjugal visit? See if you can't straighten me out. Watch your... A body like that, I bet you couldn't. I said watch your mouth. Ray, leave me alone with Mr. Killian, please. Let me cuff him. Go. Come on, Hugh. You know the drill. You've been in and out of rooms like these since you were 16 years old. Wasting your time. I'm not a rat. Maybe you're just not smart enough to realize that I am giving you a gift here. I have got you on murder. So you've got two choices. Either you can have a life behind bars or you give me something on Gibbons and I get you a reduced sentence. You're some kind of hot bitch. What's that perfume? You must be quite the ladies' man. I'm shocked your wife left you. Now what I don't understand is why you're so loyal. You and Gibbons can't be real friends. What has he got on you? Skeletons he's keeping in his closet. You know I'm gonna find him. Okay. I'll know the truth. If that black bastard got hit by a bus tomorrow, I wouldn't bat an eye. But see, if I gotta bet on who's gonna survive all this, him or you, my money's on him. I got him. This must be the place. How's that feel, huh? Give him some more. Oh, come on. You better give him some more. Before I'm hurting before he dies. Now, Johnny, you get in there. You get some. Hey. Time's up, Liam. Police! Shoot me in the head! I got him! Come on, get down on the ground! I got him! Come on, we've got a couple running. Don't shoot! Get down on the ground! Come on, man. Open your eyes. Who did this to you? Tell me, who did this? It's Beth Killian. Killian's daughter? Killian's? Keep your eyes open. It's Taka Kardik. Hang three units of Oneg and get him into trauma three. Detectives, you're gonna have to wait here. I'm sorry. Look, doc, just give me your opinion. What do you think? The bullet's still lodged in there somewhere and he's lost a lot of blood. We'll do what we can. What is that? It's Killian's book. It's got names, dates, payoffs, everything to do with Gibbons. The kid came through. We're gonna need Liam to authenticate that. Okay, yeah, he's a star witness. We're gonna need extra cops down here, okay? Get on the phone, get them down here, keep watch. You... You okay? Yeah. That wasn't a good shooting. That was a great shooting. You know that. Yeah, I know. I'm good. Really, I'm all right. I know the procedure. If you need to know what to say to the shrink, just ask, okay? Yeah. Call me the minute you hear anything. Yeah. I've got some interesting news. It seems Alderman Gibbons missed a big city council meeting. He's not in his office. He's not at home. He's not answering his calls. Really? It gets better. His assistant, Lily Beauchamp, she's on a plane to Belize in three hours. We'll have her picked up at the airport for questioning. Done. What about Gibbons? I can't arrest Gibbons until the grand jury indicts. And I can't stop him from running. But if he does, I want to know where he's going. So you keep looking. I'll turn up somewhere. Superintendent Colvin's line. Okay. Yeah, okay, got it. Ma'am, that was Misaki. An officer has been shot. Who? Liam Hennessey. What happened to you? How long has he been here? About half an hour. Has he said anything? Just that he needed to talk to you. Has he asked for anything? I mean, water or anything? Nothing. He's just been sitting at your desk waiting for you. What does he want? I don't know. Can you guys leave and give us some privacy, please? Would you like your niece to stay? No, she's leaving. Thank you. What can I do for you? You can drop the act. I know that you and Teresa Colvin are doing everything you can to destroy my career. To snatch my freedom. And I know about your grand jury. Then what are you doing here? Did you know that I authorized the funds for the renovation on this building? No, I did not. No, I cut the ribbon on this place. Found the money to staff it. Appropriated brand new squad cars. That was a long time ago, Detective. Yeah, it must have been. I'm not the monster you think I am. Come on, how would you know what kind of monster I think you are, Alderman? Chicago politics isn't for the weak, Detective. I didn't invent this system, but I sure as hell try to perfect it and make it work for everybody. If you ain't lying, you ain't trying. That's what they say downtown, huh? Come on, things get done, friend. People lead their lives. The garbage gets picked up, the streets get cleaned. You got a better definition for democracy? No, I don't. So what do you want to get done? I want this grand jury to go away. And I want this investigation dropped. And I believe that you're the man that can make those things happen. I want to complete my campaign for mayor where, believe me, I can really turn some things around in this town to benefit everybody. That's what I want. Okay, so if there was a grand jury investigation, do you think I could discuss it with one of its targets? I know that you had a brother, Vincent Wasaki, a fellow police officer who was killed in the line of duty 14 years ago. I know that. I know that his killer was never identified. And I know you never got justice in that case. Get out. I know this. I want to tell you who was responsible for the death of your brother. I want to give you justice, detective. Now, can we help each other? Get out of here before I shoot you in the head. There's a lot to process, I understand. I understand. Give it some more thought. You know what I think, Alderman? I think your back is to the wall. I think right now you will say or do anything to get out of the mess you were in, including bringing up my dead brother. But know this, when that indictment comes down, I'm going to be the one slapping the cuffs on you. And I'm going to be the one squeezing real. I be in touch, detective.