(grunts)
What the hell?
Just something to help you relax.
(salinger gasping)
You really don't have any idea who I am,
Do you, mr. Salinger?
Save your breath, sweetheart.
(salinger gasping)
You're gonna need it.
Vanessa: It's me. I'm back.
How was chicago? Oh, god, you know,
All these conferences are such a waste of time.
You, how was your day? How was work?
Fine.
Except for carlton. Again?
He keeps leering at me, gives me the creeps.
He's your boss. Sooner or later you have to report him to hr.
I'm so glad you're back.
I have a surprise for you.
You're giving me a drawer?
Only if you want it.
I mean, it it's too soon...
I just thought it might be nice.
(speaks spanish)
What you're asking me to do...
I appreciate that you turned yourself in.
You came back for me.
Liz, I'm in danger.
I need the passports... I can't!
I just can't.
Liz, please!
Turning myself in to save you, saved me.
And not because the judge let me go.
I've been running since I was 14.
It's all I've known.
And in that moment, when the judge let me go,
I thought, "maybe there's a world
"where I don't have to run,
"where I could just..."
These germans want me dead, my handler too,
So please, I need your help. I need the passports...
They're not just passports.
You put them in a box
Under the floor in our home.
They represent everything I'm trying to forget.
I know! I wouldn't ask unless it was important.
They're locked up in evidence.
That's exactly why they should still be clean.
I'm not going to walk into evidence and steal them for you.
Why would I do that? You want me gone?
Do this and you'll never see me again.
You need to leave.
Go, now!
No.
Get out.
I was out. Remember?
You're the one who brought me back in.
Get out.
Perhaps, I haven't made myself clear.
I came home and tom was here.
He's back in your life.
He's not in my life.
I understand what it's like to be
Drawn to something that is unhealthy,
To a part of yourself that you are afraid of.
But I want you to remember
What your life really was with him
And imagine all that it could be without him.
I don't have to imagine.
Good.
Because I have a case.
Toshiro osaka, a japanese entrepreneur
Indicted in 2009
And knifed to death by an aggrieved business partner.
Miles chapman, he was gunned down in algiers
While avoiding extradition for insider trading.
Lester charles conway, his ponzi scheme was so massive
He's now serving up to 30 years.
Their crimes cost hundreds of people their life savings.
Pensions gone, homes in foreclosure, families torn apart.
Why would I feel bad for them? They're criminals.
According to reddington, they're innocent.
Framed after months, sometimes years of planning
By a woman with a deep-seated hatred for the 1%.
She doesn't just take their money.
She takes their reputations, their freedom.
Sometimes, their lives.
Her latest mark was declan salinger,
A flamboyant venture capitalist who specialized in biotech.
He was found last night in a hotel bathtub,
Needle on the floor, dead from an apparent overdose.
His personal laptop was taken into evidence.
Csi uncovered corporate withdrawals in excess of $27 million.
Navabi, go see salinger's wife.
Ressler, keen, the man in prison, talk to him.
If we was framed, I want to know how.
Liz: We spoke with your attorneys, mr. Conway.
You claim to have been framed by a woman named claudia sanchez?
Or whatever her name really was.
She made everything up.
She make up the ponzi scheme,
Or the $128 million you stole
From your clients to fund your lifestyle?
The ranch, the private jets...
Look, I've told this story a hundred times.
We were sleeping together.
She had access to everything,
My phone, computer, passwords. If you don't believe me...
We want to believe you. We do.
Tell us what happened.
She was a seasonal worker at the ranch.
Undocumented, one of many. My wife had no idea.
The affair lasted exactly 6 months,
And one day she just disappears.
Three days later, I'm arrested.
Ressler: They also found a packed bag in your car
And your passport and a plane ticket to beijing.
Conway: She planted it all.
That woman, she was diabolical.
From the fingerprints on the suitcase
To the airline ticket she purchased
Using my computer,
She got into my life.
Clerk: Abby issa.
Conway: But that was nothing.
The way she moved the money...
Her knowledge of how it worked,
Issuing false statements,
Creating shell companies...
I hired the best defense money could buy
And after they looked at the evidence against me
They recommended I cop a plea.
Beretta 21 a bobcat. Packs a nasty bite.
If I ever have to use it, that's exactly what I want it to do.
Conway: I pled guilty to a crime I didn't commit.
That's how good she was.
And the money she took,
Most of it belonged to my clients.
Teachers, doctors, pension plans,
Over 278 people
Lost everything because of some ghost.
It never went to trial, but your lawyers,
You said that they gathered a lot of evidence.
We need to see it.
Hello, roger.
The director called for a vote.
When? Tomorrow.
I've been quietly lobbying on your behalf.
I appreciate that.
No you don't. You expect it.
Where do things stand?
I've spoken to mitchum. He's with us.
That means that brazil and south korea are as well.
The likely position is jasper is the deciding vote.
If we can't secure his vote,
The director will have a majority to act against you.
Then jasper will have to be persuaded.
These are powerful men.
They don't respond to threats.
No,
With powerful men,
One must appeal to their vanity.
Listen to me, red.
The fulcrum, if you have it,
If you can prove you have it,
Do it now. Your life depends on it.
Set the meeting.
Samar: Mrs. Salinger had a private detective follow her husband
And his assorted mistresses for two months
But he found nothing on this particular woman.
Partial prints, burner phones, inconclusive selfies
Taken from the victim's phone.
Conway's lawyers did three months of discovery before copping a plea
And all they got were payroll records from his ranch
And a lot of fake green cards and social security numbers.
The lawyers interviewed as much staff as they could find
But no one could or would positively I.D. The woman
Conway alleges framed him.
Two different cases, two sets of professional investigators
And this woman didn't leave a trace.
Guys, check it out.
The detectives and the lawyers
May not have found anything conclusive on their own,
But if you put the photos they found together...
Our ghost has a face.
(beeps)
(keyboard clacking)
Okay, so I have this friend, osborn, in the forensics lab,
Freaking osborn... Aram.
Right. So, I scanned over 40 partial prints
Conway's investigators found at his ranch,
Another 53 partials found by mrs. Salinger's private detective.
I fired them off to osborn.
He is a wizard with whirls, loops and arches.
He managed to stitch together three partials
Into a gorgeous,
Crystal clear left thumb print.
Ran it through afis, and bang.
Her name is vanessa anne cruz,
36 years old
Last known address, her mother's place in edison new jersey.
Get there, now.
(music playing)
Abby?
Shh.
Drink it.
Take off your clothes.
(winces)
(moaning)
(door opens)
(door closes)
Abby.
Abby!
(grunts)
Who the hell are you?
Andy, from the front desk.
Uh, she gave me 20 bucks
And told me this key belongs to you.
(woman coughing)
Ari hernandez,
Special agent donald ressler, special agent keen.
We're trying to locate your daughter, vanessa cruz.
My daughter?
She's dead.
It's my fault.
Vanessa never really had a good male role model.
Her father was a creep.
So, I wasn't surprised when she married one.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Excuse me?
Some women make the same mistakes with men, over and over again.
Hernando was a young broker.
Worked at a big firm.
Turns out he was a real crook.
Was doing insider trading, and when they caught him,
He jumped off the george washington bridge.
Liz: And what happened to vanessa?
Oh, she thought they set him up.
She adored him till the end.
Never questioned his innocence.
I tried to reason with her, but...
(coughing)
Take your time.
They found her folded clothing at rockaway beach.
They never found the body.
But I know she was dead.
She would never abandon me.
She looked after you?
She was such a beautiful person.
Never thought of herself, always of others.
Since she's been gone...
Vanessa made sure I'd be well taken care of.
How did she do that?
She had an insurance policy.
I kept up with the mortgage and made ends meet.
Do you still have the policy?
I never saw the policy.
But I have a letter that came with the check.
I'm sure I can find that.
It turns out it's a fake.
What is? The entire company.
Minnetonka bankers health and life was incorporated in 2006.
In nine years, the only policy it issued was to cruz's mother.
It's a shelf corporation.
You mean "shell" corporation.
No, "shelf," with an "f."
Criminals file incorporation papers,
They pay all the fees,
It's totally legitimate.
Then they put them on the shelf for years, sometimes decades.
They pay the minimum corporate tax, build up a credit rating,
Comply with filings
To create an established, credit-worthy business
That can be used to launder all kinds of transactions.
Including phony insurance payments.
Guys, it looks like this isn't the only way
Vanessa cruz has used shelf companies.
At least six other victims were all accused of funneling money
Through shelf corporations they say they didn't know existed.
Samar, you said these corps are being sold to criminals.
If we can find the person who sold them to cruz...
Then we might find cruz.
Liz: I need you to put me in touch
With someone who brokers shelf corporations.
Good.
I need the fulcrum.
Our ghost has a name, vanessa cruz.
If I could find the person who brokered her...
Agent keen, I'm loathe to play tit for tat
But unfortunately, due to present circumstances,
I must insist on the fulcrum.
I'm afraid it's become
An immediate matter of life and death.
I know how much it means to you.
I don't think you do.
Then you know how much it means to me to know
What part I play in all of this,
But you told me it's a blackmail file
And I'm a federal agent.
I can't just hand over information to you
That might give you leverage over people
Who, for all I know, run our government.
Those people launched
A missile strike on the factory to kill us
In order to keep their secret a secret.
This is about tom, isn't it?
(chuckles) no,
This is simply about me trying to survive.
I'm perfectly happy to put you in touch with someone
Who deals in shelf corporations,
But I need the fulcrum. Think about it, lizzy.
Sorry, man. Sorry.
(cell phone ringing)
Yeah? Liz: It's me.
I need your help.
Liz: The case I'm working on,
Our perp funneled money through a shelf corporation
Called minnetonka bankers health and life.
Now, I'm sure you must know people
Who provide
These types of services to people like...
To people like me. Yes, to people like you.
Isn't reddington your ci?
Why isn't he here? Is he still upset about last night?
I told you if you helped me with this case,
I'd get you those passports.
My relationship with reddington is not up for discussion.
What we need to talk about is the case.
Now, these are two other shelf corps our unsub set up.
Andrusia industries, middle leaf properties...
Are these supposed to mean something to me?
All three of those shelf corps are named after minnesota lakes.
When I was sifting through your lies, I found the shelf corp
Where you had the money parked berlin was paying you,
Owasso inc.? Also a minnesota lake.
All right. I'll talk to my contact, see what I can come up with.
No, I'll talk to your contact.
How about we go together?
What's so urgent?
I wanted to talk to you about raymond reddington.
The vote's not until tomorrow afternoon.
The vote's all but taken, not officially
But I spent the last six hours speaking
With all the major players.
You're back-channeling.
You're damn right.
If reddington has the fulcrum,
His death triggers a protocol for release.
We will be exposed.
Then why am I here? You're the swing vote, kenneth.
You're the one that will make this decision.
You know I lean towards the director.
Why should I change that position now?
Because, mr. Jasper, you strike me as a man who would prefer
To pitch, rather than catch.
What the hell have you done?
Just hear him out. It's all I ask.
Reddington: Roger is quite right.
The director's latest stratagem is hubris.
Has very little to do with me
And everything to do with
The consolidation of his power.
If he succeeds,
You'll become nothing more than his trusted servant.
He needs to go. He will go.
Tomorrow, after the meeting.
After you win this vote,
With everything that your head
And your heart tell you are true.
You're talking about assassination.
Yes, mr. Jasper.
"ambition's debt must be paid."
Julius caesar.
One of my favorites.
The play, not so much the man.
The man was a bit full of himself.
He did have a brilliant military mind
But he couldn't smell a plot to save his life. Intentional pun.
And why is that? Pride.
The subtlest, and yet, most deadly of the seven sins.
Like the director.
He couldn't be saved.
Which part do you play in all this?
Cassius? Oh, no.
I'm the rubicon.
You simply need to determine
Which side of history you want to end up on.
Who are you, mr. Jasper?
The subordinate who remains slavishly obedient to his master,
Or the presumptive leader of an organization
That will be
Far more powerful than it has ever been.
(telephone ringing)
Diamond drive properties.
Oh, my god.
(chuckles)
Billy! Tom: Hey.
Come here, you.
Tom: How you doin'?
Ziggy, this is liz. Liz, this is ziggy.
What brings you two here?
Big favor, my friend here was a gull in a con game
And she lost a lot of money.
Oh, that's too bad, baby.
Turns out she was hustled by one of your clients.
You know better than this. I know. I know.
But I need an address.
The people we work for are serious.
And if we don't get that money back...
You his woman?
I'm more like his ball and chain.
(chuckles)
Yeah. So, what do you say, can you help us?
Please?
Hey, how about a thank you?
Ressler, I've got a mailing address for cruz.
(door bangs open)
Clear.
Agent 1: Clear.
Agent 2: Clear.
Agent ressler.
I've got dozens of files, photos, dossiers.
She's going through the trash, hacking the network...
I mean, listen to this, copies of declan salinger's
Bank statements,
Medical records, there's even surveillance photos,
And every book and video he's ordered for three years.
Hang on, did you say dozens of files?
This goes way beyond the names mr. Reddington gave us.
I'm looking at people she's framed,
People she's thinking of framing...
Aram, you wouldn't believe this place.
Hair, threads, lint, bits of carpet, cigarette butts,
All collected, categorized
And filed under each victim's name.
Trace evidence to be planted at crime scenes.
Huh!
Drew roberts, he was one of cruz's victims.
He worked at oakside investments.
Aram: And?
That was the firm that employed cruz's dead husband.
Aram, I might have an idea of what this is all about.
You know, I'm no worse than your buddy reddington.
He's not my buddy.
And you are worse. You don't get it.
Even after all this time.
Reddington is dangerous, and he's playing you.
I think he's more dangerous than you give him credit for,
But he has a moral code.
I don't like it but at least I know what it is.
And it does not include lying to me. Whatever you say.
You wanna know what I'm gonna do?
No. I'm gonna buy a boat.
A boat? Mmm-hmm.
Diving boat.
Gonna run it down to micronesia,
Open up a charter business.
You ever heard of chuuk lagoon?
It's an old japanese naval base
Down in the south pacific.
February 7th, 1944, some 12 warships, 32 support vessels,
And now they're just lying at the bottom of the ocean.
It's a diver's paradise.
You don't even know how to swim.
I know.
But I can learn.
Hi. Hi.
Sorry, I'm late.
I did it. I talked to an attorney...
About carlton? Yes.
And they think I have a case,
That I should file a claim with hr for sexual harassment.
You did the right thing.
Well, this only happened because you gave me the courage.
Thank you.
We're gonna celebrate.
I'll book a room at the wolverton
And we're just going to order room service
And watch movies all night.
I love you.
Abby... No.
I mean it.
I know that we said we weren't going to get
Super serious,
But I can't help it.
I love you.
What is it?
I love you, too.
Well, I'm assuming you don't want me to walk you to your door.
Thank you.
Hey, can I ask you something?
Do you think it's possible
For someone like me
To start over,
To become something else?
Isn't that what you do for a living?
Yeah.
But you know what I mean.
Can you be honest?
You have to be honest.
Tom.
Our entire marriage,
Everything that happened,
Our fights, the baby,
Your laugh,
It couldn't have all been pretend.
You're not that good an actor.
That's why I didn't see it,
Because so much of it was real.
You are my greatest failure as a profiler.
You're my greatest success.
You made me feel,
For a moment,
Like I had a life,
And that somebody cared.
So, this is me, being honest.
Can you be honest about the passports?
Passports?
They're real, government issue.
Where did you get them?
Berlin had a guy.
Guess not.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. I can't.
Not about this.
That's not how the truth works.
You don't get to pick and choose.
Not if you wanna learn how to swim.
It's gonna be a nice boat.
What was that?
That was goodbye.
That won't be necessary.
Mr. Hobbs here is one of the good guys.
How are faye and the boys?
I don't think I've seen them since dylan's wedding.
They're fine.
Mark and his wife just had a baby girl.
No! Grandfather.
Suits you well, wisdom of the ages and all.
Where is everybody? I thought I was late.
Vote's already been taken.
The director: Roger...
Roger, roger, roger.
I always treated you with respect.
We may not have seen eye to eye
But I always heard you out.
Look, I don't know what he's been telling...
The director: I brought you in. Roger: I know.
I was your sponsor. Yes.
Look, I told him that reddington...
Reddington did not make you!
We made you!
Have you forgotten what this organization
Has done for you?
Government contracts,
Silver stone, r&d grants.
We put you in the game,
And you betray us?
You betray me? I treated you like family.
I supported...
Listen, just hear me out. (shushing)
There is a car waiting for you outside.
You are going to the airport... Please...
You are leaving the country tonight.
You are not to call your family
And you are never coming back.
It's not about money.
It's about revenge.
Aram, can you put up all the files?
Hernando cruz jumped off that bridge
After being accused of insider trading.
He purchased 10,000 shares of stock in rudman pharmaceuticals
One day before it got approval from the fda to market
A new cancer drug.
That stock doubled overnight.
Toshiro osaka, our japanese entrepreneur,
When hernando cruz made the trade, osaka was the cfo
At rudman pharmaceuticals.
Miles chapman, he was the regulator who approved the drug,
And drew roberts was cruz's co-worker
Who oversaw all of the trades.
You think they were in on it with the husband?
I'm saying maybe the husband wasn't in on it at all.
Maybe they set him up.
It makes sense. Vanessa cruz is a frame-up artist.
Maybe she got the idea from seeing how easy it was for these people
To frame her husband.
Wait, the evidence you found in cruz's loft suggests
She's been targeting dozens of victims.
All one-percenters,
People who personify the same greed
That cost her husband his life.
Assuming that she's going after everyone who was involved
In framing her husband, the question is, "who's left?"
I don't know,
But I do know someone who can tell us.
Liz: Before you made your fortune in the private sector,
You worked for the division
Of corporate finance at the sec.
Yeah, so? Did you look at the research I gave you?
Tell us about hernando cruz.
Did you find anything? Hernando cruz!
He was a trader for oakside investments in 2008.
He killed himself after you were about to
Open an investigation into him for insider trading.
So, what does that have to do with...
I thought you were looking for the woman who set me up.
It was his wife who set you up,
And now we know why.
Along with toshiro osaka, miles chapman, and drew roberts.
Tell us about hernando cruz.
He didn't jump off that bridge, did he, lester?
Liz: Don't look so depressed.
Today's your lucky day. We found out who framed you.
Cruz.
It was his wife?
Maybe we could help you.
Maybe you can talk to us and maybe we can make a deal.
It was 2007.
Before the crash,
Height of sub-prime mortgages, bundling,
Things that really hurt people,
But this, it was a victimless crime.
We had every angle covered,
The trading floor, the regulatory agencies...
You made the sec look the other way.
I want a lawyer. No, no, no.
What you want is a deal,
And the only way you're gonna get that
Is if you keep talking,
So talk.
Everyone was going to look the other way,
Except that kid, cruz.
He found out, went to his boss,
We tried to keep him quiet but he refused.
He was too idealistic.
Liz: So, you were a part of a conspiracy,
And when cruz tried to go against you,
He was murdered,
Thrown off a bridge, to keep him from blowing the whistle?
That's when you framed him.
Which is why she framed you.
When I knew her, she was nobody,
A ranch hand. How did she...
If cruz went to his boss, like you said,
Why was it never reported?
Because his boss was in on it. What was his name?
Mason carlton, thunderich capital.
Cruz has taken revenge on everyone but this guy.
Find him, aram.
(beeps)
I called carlton's office and nobody's picking up.
His cell is going straight to voicemail.
But get this,
I accessed his cell records
And I found a ton of inappropriate messages with his assistant.
Her name is abby issa.
Either this girl is having an affair with her boss...
Or he's being catfished.
You said she was his assistant?
Which means she'd have the keys to the kingdom.
Passwords, financials, credit cards.
There's a hit on mason carlton's amex.
He reserved a room for tonight at the wolverton hotel.
Hello?
Abby?
How long have you been here?
Hello, mr. Carlton.
Who the hell are you?
Hernando cruz. Surely you remember him.
The young day trader you and your colleagues framed and murdered.
There were six of you.
Pigs.
Too good to work, too refined and elegant to sweat.
So, you and all the other useless greedy pigs instead
Gorge yourselves,
Grow fat on the sweat of the other 99%.
So, little piggy.
I will tell you how this is going to work.
You and abby have been having an affair.
There's a digital paper trail of texts and pictures.
Your fingerprints and dna are in her apartment.
You reserved this room.
I've arranged it so the police will
Believe you've been to her apartment,
Just like I've arranged for them to believe
Abby discovered you were embezzling from your firm
And was gonna blackmail you unless you pay her to keep quiet.
(shatters)
They'll confirm she's gone to a lawyer,
Prepared a sexual harassment lawsuit which she threatened you with,
So you shot her,
With a gun she bought to protect herself,
Before turning it on yourself.
Abby...
She has such a big heart.
She's so innocent,
So unsuspecting.
Just like...
But this is the only way.
You have to pay for what you did.
(phone beeps)
Hey, I'm here. Sorry, I'm late.
What is this?
(telephone ringing)
Hello, this is security calling.
I have a gentleman and a lady from the fbi here
Who would like to have a word with mr. Carlton.
I'm sorry, abby.
(sobbing)
I'm so sorry.
Follow me, please.
Hands where I can see 'em.
Ressler: Hands in the air!
She said she made a mistake.
She said she made a horrible mistake.
Radio security and have them lock down the hotel!
And call an ambulance!
Liz: Ressler!
(sirens blaring)
Liz: You wanted to see me?
I thought you should know
Mason carlton's gonna be charged in the murder
Of hernando cruz.
(sighs)
We lost her.
Yes, and we will find her.
What matters now is that
The innocent people she framed
Are gonna be set free.
This, here.
You, there.
You have no idea how happy that makes me.
I wonder what his angle is.
Sir?
Cooper: Reddington.
Why give us this case? Thank you.
Cooper: What's his interest in this cruz woman?
(indistinct announcement on pa)
Mrs. Cruz, my employer is a longtime admirer of yours.
Who are you? He understands
Your gambit has run its course.
The fbi knows what you're up to.
They're looking for you now,
Which means you have one of two choices,
Run and hide, or accept his help.
What help? And who is this employer?
(knocking on door)
I got your message.
What is this place? Reddington.
Tom, what are you still doing here?
I've been thinking about what you said
About needing to tell you the truth.
So, I'm gonna tell you the truth.
I don't understand.
The passports, the passports came for reddington.
Liz, there's more.
It's me. It's done.
I'm listening.
The vote went your way.
The director wasn't
Very happy but a vote's a vote.
And hobbs?
He wants to meet.
Yes, I'm quite sure he would have.
But he can't, can he?
What are you talking about?
Hobbs was to contact me after the vote was cast. He didn't,
Which means he's dead, which means you betrayed him.
Betrayed me.
That's not true.
He specifically asked that the three of us should meet
So that we can discuss the future.
You need to run, jasper.
Run like the prairie wind, because I'm coming for you.
And when I find you,
I'm gonna cut out that forked tongue of yours
And deliver it to the director myself.
It's time to go away, dembe.
Agent keen wants to meet, regarding the fulcrum.
What's wrong?
I just spent the last 42 hours dealing with a man
Who is a lifelong, habitual, pathological liar.
Tom? Yes. Tom.
Lizzy... Don't give me advice.
This man, this liar,
He told me something.
Something that I need you to confirm.
Now, before I ask, I want you to understand
That I expect you to give me the dignity of a yes or a no.
Do you understand?
Yes.
I'm the one who hired tom keen
To enter your life.
Can I explain? No.
No, you cannot explain.
Here, this is all you wanted.
Now, you have it.
Lizzy, when I hired tom...
I said please do not attempt to explain why.
I don't care why. I just want this to stop.
I want it all to stop, right now.
Take it!
Lizzy... Lizzy!
(gunshot) liz: No!
Raymond! Dembe!
(gunshots)
Liz: Reddington!
(liz grunting)