Synopsis
In Richmond, Virginia an FBI agent is investigating
the disappearance of a Senator's daughter, Susan Fisipari.
The agent, Peter Morgan, phones a contact at the FBI (John)
and informs him that his investigation suggests that individuals
illegally harvesting organs have murdered nine people and
that he believes that the Senator's daughter was a victim.
He requests that John set up a meeting with the Senator's
people to discuss his findings.
After he finishes his phone call he is approached
by an attractive blonde who wonders if he's looking for
some company for the evening. They move to his room, where
Morgan is overcome with dizziness. As he moves into the
bathroom, the blonde leaves the room, letting two men in.
Morgan collapses as one moves to inject him with a syringe.
When Morgan recovers consciousness, he is
lying in the bathroom in a bath filled with ice. Sellotaped
to the wall is a message which reads 'Call 911 or you will
die'. However, before he can reach the phone he collapses
(1).
CI5 become involved when Malone learns of
Peter Morgan's death. Backup does some investigating and
determines that while there are 40,000 organ transplants
a year within the United States, there are only 25,000 donors
annually. While multiple transplants (more than one organ
being donated by one donor) could account for a large part
of the discrepancy, this still leaves about 1,000 organs
unaccounted for, suggesting that a black market in organs
does exist.
Malone contacts the Director of the FBI, but
is forced to deal with Deputy Director Louis Dupris instead,
who is less than sympathetic to CI5 interest. Backup has
hacked into the FBI database and found that Morgan filed
no case reports, or if he did they aren't on file. She assures
Malone that her hacking will not be discovered. Frustrated,
Malone instructs Backup to pull Curtis and Keel from New
York and send them to Richmond to investigate. When Backup
asks if they should inform the FBI that they are investigating,
in line with agreed interagency procedures, the answer is
no.
Curtis and Keel make their way to Richmond,
and discuss relative linguistics (the 'all y'all' conversation).
Making their way to the morgue, they read the coroner's
report which says that Morgan's kidneys were removed, which
killed them. Keel points out that the cuts were made with
surgical precision, and therefore made by a doctor, and
that he was good, to which Curtis replies, 'He can't have
been that good. He killed the patient!' Curtis also notes
that there are no bruises on the body, which suggests Morgan
knew his attacker.
Meanwhile Backup asks why CI5 are investigating
when this is obviously within FBI jurisdiction. Malone yells
at her, before apologising and explaining the reasons for
his actions. Twenty six years ago Peter Morgan's father,
Jack Morgan, was on assignment with Malone in Chicago and
was killed by terrorists in a tatty little apartment building.
He died in Malone's arms, and Malone still feels responsible
for his death, as he was in charge of the assignment, even
though the official inquiry cleared him of all blame. Since
then he has done what he can for the family, and now he
can do something concrete - find Peter Morgan's killer.
Curtis and Keel check out Morgan's hotel room
where they find the note attached to the wall in the bathroom.
They encounter a local police officer, Big Jim Conway, attached
to the Sheriff's Office, who is intrigued by Curtis' accent.
Keel explains that his partner is British, to which Conway
replies, 'So was Jack the Ripper wasn't he?' Curtis explains
that 'It's hard to say since they never caught him!'
Curtis and Keel discuss the case so far and
come to the conclusion that someone came to Morgan's room,
probably invited there. Curtis decides to do some recon,
telling Keel that he's taking his accent for a walk. He
visits the hotel bar and tells the bartender that he's from
out of town and that he's 'looking for some company'. After
much persuasion the bartender tells him about a blonde who
works the bars.
Curtis and Keel track down the blonde prostitute
seen with Morgan earlier and when they find drugs in her
apartment they persuade her to tell them what she knows,
which turns out not to be very much. She tells them that
the men were Morgan's friends and that they sent her to
him to show him a good time. She tells the two agents that
she can't give them a good description as the men were wearing
rain slickers and she didn't get a good look at them.
Curtis and Keel know that she's lying to them
but cannot tell if she's lying because she's scared or lying
to protect someone. The return to the car, and as they are
driving along Jessop Street Malone phones Curtis on his
mobile. He tells them to drive two blocks past Blaydon Street
and join Backup.
Back at the prostitute's apartment she is
busily packing when the two men who killed Morgan come in
and kill her.
Malone has a plan. There is a billionaire
industrialist who is a recluse and has a rare blood group,
Rh+ (2), just like Keel's. Keel points
out that his blood group is O. Malone's plan is that he
will go undercover as Sir John Grover, since there are no
photographs available of him, and Keel will go undercover
as a homeless man, registering as Rh+ with the local blood
bank. Backup attaches a virus to the blood bank so that
they'll be alerted if anyone pulls Chris' records.
Curtis drops Keel off at the Richmond Center
for the Homeless (although the sign on the door reads '4th
Street Center'). Keel switches off his mobile. As Curtis
watches Keel walk to the Center's door he receives a call
from Backup to tell him that while they were monitoring
the local police frequencies they heard that a female body
has been found. Curtis heads off to investigate.
At the Southside Surgical Center, the Principal,
Dr Elizabeth Shepherd places a call about sending organs
on the Medivac flight to Cleveland.
At the homeless center Keel meets Matthew
7:12, who runs the Center. Keel correctly remembers that
Matthew 7:12 reads 'Do unto others as you would have others
do unto you' (3).
At the crime site Curtis runs into Conway
again. He recognises the corpse as that of the prostitute
he and Keel interviewed earlier. Conway knows that the woman
worked as a prostitute, but when Curtis asks if he knew
her, he replies that he'd never met her before in his life
but that he 'knows a hooker when he sees one'.
Meanwhile Malone and Backup, in the guise
of Grover and his nurse (4), pay a visit
on Dr Shepherd at the Southside Surgical Center, where Malone
persuades her that he will pay handsomely for a matching
kidney. The price is $2m.
Matthew talks to Keel, informing him that
there is money available from the kitty if he needs it.
When Keel refuses, Matthew informs him that if he's too
proud to take charity there's always the blood bank which
will pay him for donating blood. Keel informs him that he's
already signed up.
Malone and Backup leave Shepherd's office
and she promptly makes a phone call to inform an unknown
party that she requires an Rh+ kidney.
A short time later someone accesses Keel's
file at the blood bank. Backup traces the interested party
to the Public Library, but by the time Curtis reaches the
scene no-one is there. Malone instructs Curtis and Backup
to keep Keel under surveillance, but they are unable to
find him. No-one at the homeless centre has seen him for
more than an hour.
Darkness has fallen and Keel is making his
way through the less salubrious parts of Richmond when he
is waylaid by two attackers wearing balaclavas. He fights
back but one man manages to jab him with a syringe. He collapses
and is dumped in the boot of a car. He recovers consciousness
long enough to locate a jemmy in the boot and attempt to
free himself.
Meanwhile, Curtis and Backup are cruising
the streets looking for him. Backup spots Chris' broken
mobile phone on the ground.
Chris manages to free himself. By that time
the car is outside of the city, and he hides in some undergrowth,
crawling through it to avoid his pursuers before finally
succumbing to the effects of the drug in his system.
Malone informs Curtis and Backup that there
is nothing they can do. They cannot go to the local police
because they have nothing to go on but the location of Keel's
mobile, and no clues as to the whereabouts of the agent
himself. Backup correctly guesses that Keel is to rely upon
his own resources.
The following morning Keel recovers consciousness
and hitchhikes his way back into Richmond in a pickup truck,
consigned to the back as the farmer driving the truck has
reserved the front seat for his pet pig.
Conway pays a visit to Shepherd, and informs
her that the person that he and 'the doc' attempted to grab
the night before was a cop - he recognised Keel from the
hotel. When he tells Shepherd that Keel escaped, and that
'the boy sure could fight', Shepherd acidly points out that
Conway is an ex-green beret and should have been able to
deal with it. Realising that the whole scenario must have
been a set up, she sends him after Malone and Backup.
To Curtis' and Backup's relief he turns up
fit and well at their HQ. Backup's background check has
revealed that the dead prostitute was treated for drug addiction
at the same homeless centre as the Senator's daughter by
a Dr Hall. Keel correctly identifies this as Matthew 7:12.
Meanwhile Matthew pays a visit to Shepherd,
and reveals that he is Shepherd's ex-husband and that she
approached him to assist in the scheme she had for organ
harvesting to help him pay off his debts following his alcohol
addiction and resulting debts.
Curtis and Keel raid the homeless centre,
and while they find that Matthew has already flown the coop,
there is an operating table set up in his office (5).
Back at the temporary HQ Backup is on the
phone to Curtis when the lights go out. They hear sounds
from above them and open fire into the roof. Conway is on
the roof and pours acid into the water sprinkler system
before turning it on. However, Malone and Backup have already
left.
Worried by the fact that the phone went dead,
Curtis and Keel rush back to HQ only to be forced back by
the acidic fumes as all of their equipment dissolves. Keel's
mobile rings - it's Malone to tell him that he and Backup
are on their way to Shepherd's office to confront Shepherd
about her activities. Rule number seven, comments Curtis
- always have an escape route.
By the time that Curtis and Keel arrive at
the Southside Surgical Center Malone and Backup have already
arrested Shepherd and Hall. Conway, however, is not willing
to go without a fight and rushes out firing an automatic
weapon at the two agents. Curtis takes him out with a single
head shot.
Deputy Assistant Director Dupris turns up
and it is revealed that the FBI were aware of the situation
all along, suppressing Morgan's reports to avoid embarrassing
the Senator, as any publicity would reveal that Susan Fisipari
was a drug addict and prostitute. No-one will be charged
with murder for the same reason, but Shepherd and Hall will
be charged with kidnapping and attempting to murder Keel,
and serve at least 10 years.
The CI5 agents are left to digest the fact
that because of the Senator's connections no one will be
punished for the crimes committed in Richmond and the murder
of people for organs will continue to be dismissed as an
urban myth.
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