[mysterious music]
* *
[siren wailing in distance]
- Do you really not see how sick this is?
- I really don't. - That you would appropriate
a missing child's thoughts, his fears
for your career advancement.
- How many times do I have to say this?
We were working on an essay.
- But why didn't you tell Nora and Leonard
that Vincent was having these feelings?
Why didn't you tell the police?
- I wrote the letters.
Donya, are you hearing me?
Donya?
Not Vincent.
[unsettling music]
- You wrote what he was saying and feeling and--
- What I perceived him to be feeling and thinking.
- You said you drew on him.
And for some of this stuff, he did write them, okay?
This is his handwriting, okay? For fuck's sake, Zack.
- We worked on an essay for his college applications.
I asked him to dig into himself, he did.
How many times do I need to tell you this?
* *
- Yeah, then you dug into him.
- Meaning what exactly, huh?
- Meaning that you had knowledge of his despair,
his urge to run away.
And you didn't tell his parents?
You didn't tell the detective?
- The detec--that detective didn't earn my trust.
- Didn't earn your trust?
Are you kidding?
Vincent could be out there lying in a ditch somewhere.
You withheld information.
I mean, you're still withholding.
I mean, what the fuck, Zack? - I did not and do not
have any actual information.
I have my perception of what was going--
- Oh, cut the shit! - Let me finish!
* *
Do you have any idea the pressure of fatherhood--
the oppressive fear of failure,
the--the desperation that comes along with that?
* *
- Yeah. It can make you wanna fuck me in the bathtub.
* *
- That was a mean thing to say.
And you're not a mean person.
* *
- Vincent's missing. He could be dead.
But hey, if it helps your writing--
- Shut the fuck up!
[baby crying]
* *
I do not like where you and I are at.
* *
- [exhales]
[crying continues]
* *
- Vincent appeared.
He came to me.
- Did he tell you where he is?
- Okay, we have looked at every security camera
on the route to Vincent's school, right?
The cameras show he walks the same route every day.
But not this day.
My feeling is that Vincent never left that building
on Tuesday morning.
He's contained, maybe still in there,
alive.
Perhaps not,
but there.
- And you got all of that from this?
[soft dramatic music]
- I felt from the start that the building is speaking to us.
* *
We need to search it.
- Ah, and we've arrived at the Avi
the captain doesn't want you to emulate.
- You're gonna need a warrant, which this won't get you.
Though it is lovely. What is that? A pike?
- Captain, I feel strongly that I'm right.
- Well, Avi, for now,
let's just check our feelings at the door.
Next time, bring me some evidence.
* *
- It is a bit bat shitty.
And should you turn out to be right,
it's even more bat shitty, right,
that you found the truth in a--is it a cod?
It looked like a cod.
- You have to allow for the truth
to take unconventional paths.
You've read "De Anima"? - Aristotle, yeah, in college.
- It talks about the five senses.
Well, he was wrong.
There are scientists today that say we have more than 20.
Some say more than 30.
Tongues can smell, our noses can taste.
Our eyes can hear, but we need to listen.
And we need to search that building.
- Well, we don't have enough for a warrant.
So we could try for a consent search.
- Yes. We'll get the occupants to invite us in.
I'm a nice person.
You're a nice person. - Okay, seriously,
do you think he's in there?
- All I know is the building speaks to me.
[children laughing]
[soft dramatic music]
* *
I'm Detective Avraham.
We met on Wednesday. - I remember.
- Do you know where Vincent is?
- Uh--if I did, why wouldn't I tell you?
- My sense is, you can choose not to be heard.
When your husband spoke of Vincent's father,
calling him mercurial, aggressive,
you neither agreed nor disagreed.
You stayed quiet.
You're not keeping anything from us?
- Detective, if you have something to ask me, ask it.
- Why did your husband stop being Vincent's tutor?
- I'm not exactly sure.
Eh--neither is Zack.
- Mrs. Miller, a boy is missing.
And for some reason, people who are close to him,
people who care about him, are withholding.
- According to Vincent,
his father had questions about Zack's sexuality,
which, of course, is ridiculous.
It--
he also had questions about Vincent's sexuality.
This, again, according to Vincent.
And he was worried about Zack's possible influence.
- These questions regarding his sexuality,
do you share them?
- About Zack? - Uh, Vincent.
- Uh, not really.
* *
- You know, I sit in Vincent's room,
which helps me to feel him,
which I hope will help me to find him.
- What do you mean?
- I can't explain the science of it.
Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
Vincent spent a lot of time in your apartment
during his tutoring.
Would you mind if I come and sit for a few minutes?
- Uh, I'll talk to Zack.
- Could Vincent have had a relationship with Zack?
- Donya just said that Leonard had concerns
about Zack's sexuality and also about Vincent's.
- Okay, and why didn't she say anything before?
- Well, she didn't think it was relevant.
- Wouldn't it just be easier if people told us everything
and let us decide what's relevant?
- You would think.
- Avi, can I ask you something?
- I'll just be a minute.
- Okay.
[door shuts]
- This store is on the same block?
- About 300 yards from his apartment building.
And look, you can see they're clearly
having a conversation, right there.
And then-- - What's the book?
- I--I can't tell. I can make out the word "push."
That's it.
- So Wentworth and Vincent know each other?
- Yeah.
After he told me they'd never met.
- And he's in interrogation now?
- He is. And I'd like to have a go at him first.
Avi can come in after, if we need him.
This guy lied to me.
* *
Thank you.
* *
- He wants to come here?
- He says it might help to feel him,
which in turn could help to find him.
He's a very odd person.
- He suspects me of something.
- My guess is, he suspects everyone.
His process.
- Right.
And your process?
- I have a hard time reconciling
you sitting on information,
however much it helps your creativity.
- We have a class tonight,
where guests are invited to come listen to our readings.
I'd really like you to come,
if we can find a sitter.
I'd like you to actually see
what my creative world is about.
Donya, one reason that people start to grow apart
and get lonely is that they stop
making a concerted effort to get each other.
Sometimes it doesn't come naturally.
Sometimes it takes work and effort.
My life is you, Luke,
and my writing.
I'd really like for you to come to my class tonight.
* *
- Sure, I'll come.
* *
- [humming softly]
- What did the minyan say?
Are we getting any closer?
- I actually do have a sense of humor,
but not when it comes to
making fun of a person's religion.
- First of all, you need to get over yourself.
And second of all,
we've pulled over twice, and counting,
on this case alone, so that you can pray.
So you kind of opened the door for me.
Is there a melding between Judaism
and Aristotle's sensorium that I didn't know about?
- You mean to be funny now? - No.
I'm trying to better understand my partner.
And I'd like to visit your temple.
- It's a shul, not temple.
- Okay, shul.
Take me.
- The men worship separately from the women,
so you'd need a woman to take you.
You'd also have to dress modestly,
covering your arms and legs.
The service is in Hebrew, and there is no participation.
You still wanna go?
- I'm sure there are less strict shuls
you could take me to, if you really wanted.
- If I wanted, but I don't.
- But you have to want to take me.
You're commanded to care for the stranger.
It's the most repeated commandment in the Torah.
36 different times the Torah says,
"You must welcome,
"feed, love, teach,
and worship with the stranger."
And here I am, a stranger.
So are you going to do the right thing
as commanded by God or not?
[soft music]
* *
Hm.
- This is exactly why I prefer to work alone.
- Mm.
- This pisses me off.
- So I encountered him in a store.
We live in the same neighborhood,
patronize many of the same establishments.
- Oh.
- What's the big deal?
- You met Vincent Conte, and you told me you didn't.
You even bought him a book.
- I'd like a lawyer. - Yeah, I didn't hear that.
'Cause if I did, I'd have to stop all this right now
and get you a lawyer and you know what'd happen then.
Your lawyer, he or she, would come in here
and tell you not to talk to us.
And that would leave us with the following:
We've got a 16-year-old missing boy,
last seen with you, a homeless man
of questionable mental health,
someone who was broomed from his previous teaching career
for teaching Heidegger and being a Nazi.
You don't exactly present well, John.
You see, when a child goes missing,
we have to offer up a suspect,
any suspect, if it comes to that.
And I got news for you, bro.
You'll do.
And if you lawyer up and you stop talking,
guess what?
[tense music]
You become the suspect.
* *
- I'm exercising my right to have an attorney present.
- Hang tight.
* *
[door opens]
- Olivia.
I was hoping to see you here.
- I was hoping you'd be looking for my brother.
- I am, in fact. Do you know where he is?
- My dad thinks you're hot for my mom.
Is that true? - It isn't.
What I am is drawn.
I get drawn to compelling people.
And what I find most compelling about your mother
is that I sense she wants to tell me something
she's not telling me. [door shuts]
And I find you to be a bit compelling too, Olivia.
[footsteps approaching]
- What the hell's wrong with you?
We're worried sick about our son, her brother,
and you come here--go ahead.
You come here and you taunt her,
and you bait us?
I think you're a sick person, Detective, sadistic even.
- A feeling I know, Mr. Conte. - I've had enough.
I want you off this investigation.
- It's not your case. It's mine.
If you'll excuse me,
I have an appointment with the Millers.
- Can I get you a water or some coffee?
- No, thank you. I'm just gonna sit.
- So you're looking to feel exactly what?
- Vincent.
- Okay.
- It helps to close my eyes. I don't mean to be rude.
- [quietly] Got it.
[light tense music]
* *
- So did you feel him?
- Some.
Mainly, I felt that she's still withholding.
- Donya? - Mm-hmm.
- Hmm.
- Thank you.
- At the risk of pissing you off
and getting to know you better,
have--have you always been super religious?
- That question is not suitable for work.
- I wanna learn how you do your job, how you think.
- I think like a cop.
You know, I'm not the only orthodox Jew in the NYPD.
- Why did you become a cop?
You know my origin story,
"Law & Order." - Mm-hmm.
- So what's yours?
- I'm a Jew.
I was taught my job on Earth is to do mitzvahs.
- Hmm.
- Good deeds help repair a broken world.
Tikkun olam.
So I became a police officer to do good deeds.
It's not the only reason.
My father was murdered.
[soft dramatic music]
It was never solved.
* *
- Yeah, I get the link between genius and madness.
But he's always drawing fish.
- Well, those drawings aren't really about fish.
Van Gogh used to paint flowers. They were never about flowers.
- Van Gogh chopped his own ear off.
- Yeah. [chuckles]
- So do you agree that Avi's crazy?
- No, that's not what I'm-- um--
Mortals like us aren't meant to understand it.
He's not divining anything. It's intuition.
He's got no direct line to God.
- Yeah, well, I bet Avi would beg to differ.
- My wife dragged me to The Met
to see this artist, Caspar David Friedrich.
And, uh, his art supposedly is about God.
But in looking at it, I--I don't know,
I didn't see a whole lot of God going on, all right?
But he uses his art to express Him.
And Avi uses his art to discover shit.
- That doesn't strike you as a form of insanity?
- [chuckles]
Everybody's insane.
Come on, you know that.
- "My earliest memory was wanting to fly,
"like a bird,
"to soar above and just feel the air.
"I think it was my first construct of joy--flight.
"And as I grew, desire became need.
"Need became compulsion,
"which became freedom.
"Fly, little bird, fly.
"I am free.
"Pain gives way to flight.
And I am free, at last."
[light applause]
- So this boy, he took his life?
- That's one interpretation.
- Well, is there another?
- Not to me.
He talks about flying and freedom.
He jumped.
- I'm not sure I like this piece anymore.
It's upsetting.
[soft dark music]
* *
- Why did you lie to us about never having met Vincent?
* *
I asked you a question,
and I think I'm entitled to an answer.
- I lied because of the very bigotry
your detective colleague tried to weaponize.
If I'm so much as deemed a suspect,
that's a bell that never gets unrung.
- You have made yourself a suspect by lying.
- You people have to stop
putting these thoughts into my head.
- What was the book? You gave him a book.
We could make out the word "push."
There was a movie of that book, "Push."
It was called "Pressure as a Child of Abusive Parenting,"
as I recall.
- Such splendid detective work.
Pushkin.
I gave him a book by Alexander Pushkin.
I'll probably get cancelled for teaching him as well.
- I like Pushkin.
He wrote a lot about revenge
and death.
- And sympathy.
You left that out.
* *
[monitor clicks]
[baby cooing]
[door creaking]
[dark tense music]
* *
- Hello?
Hello?
* *
[door creaking]
* *
[switch clicking]
* *
- Donya? - [gasps]
Zack.
You scared me.
- What are you doing?
- I just--
while I was feeding Luke, I thought about this book
that I had started and hadn't finished.
Just came down to look for it.
- What book?
- What are you doing?
- I woke up and you weren't in the bed.
I came out, and you were nowhere to be found.
So I came looking for you.
- And you knew to look for me in the storage unit?
- What book?
- "The Game" by Ken Dryden. It's a sports book.
- The hockey goalie.
- It's partly about hockey,
more about the pathology
of people who play professional sports
and how some of the people we admire,
sometimes even love,
how they can be pretty fucked up.
We can all relate to that, can't we?
People in our lives we love
that turn out to be...
compromised.
* *
- It's very strange,
you being in the storage unit
in the middle of the night.
- Well...
maybe I was also looking for Vincent.
* *
- I really do not like where you and I are at.
* *
- Avi, I wanna ask you about-- - Oh, God.
- It's not about God, and it's not about religion.
It's about Nora.
- What about her?
- Well, what she admitted,
the connection she feels with you.
In my experience, connections tend to be bilateral.
So it's more likely than not she felt something from you.
And at the risk of getting my head chopped off--
even though beheading is not in keeping with Judaism--
I feel a connection between you two.
- You're wrong. - Really?
- Really. - Well, have you ever had
a girlfriend or a significant other?
- Janine, do you wanna work with me or not?
Because this conversation is out of line.
- Avi, we are behavioral scientists at our core,
and I'm just-- - My behavior is not
the object of your focus.
Do I make myself clear?
- Let's go.
[horn honking]
- What is this? I'm under some kind of surveillance now?
- Why would you be under surveillance?
- Well, you showed up at the park, now here.
- Where's Zack?
- He's upstairs, watching Luke while I go to the market.
- I was wondering if we could talk further.
- Here?
- Actually, maybe at the station.
- The police station?
- Would that be too much trouble?
- Do I need a lawyer?
- I wasn't expecting that question.
- We just wanna talk.
About Vincent.
[soft energizing music]
* *
- She's in there?
* *
Why?
- We'll give her some time,
a chance to call her husband, should she choose to do so.
Roe is getting her some tea.
- What's the plan here, Avi?
- It'll come to me.
* *
- You suspect this woman?
- It's more like I don't unsuspect her.
* *
And there is something she's not telling us.
* *
[knock at door] [door opens]
- Hey. Here you go. A white tea.
Which is a form of black tea. Don't ask me.
But it's low in caffeine, okay? I know that.
- Thanks. - You're welcome.
- Hey, um, can you tell me what this is about?
- Oh, Avi will be right in. Yeah, he's on a phone call.
As soon as he wraps up, he'll be right in.
All right? Hang tight.
[door opens]
- I really don't understand why I've been brought here.
- I can see that you're very nervous.
I just wanna collect some more information,
maybe gain some more clarity
on why people haven't been totally forthcoming.
Tell me about your relationship with Vincent.
- My relationship?
- Mm-hmm.
- As good as he closes, he opens better.
- Shh. - Uh, he's my husband's pupil,
or was.
[pen scratching]
Do you seriously need to write that down?
- Does that fully describe the relationship,
your husband's pupil?
- He's also our neighbor
and a boy who we're both very fond of,
which we told you. - Yeah.
I'd like to focus specifically on your fondness for Vincent.
[soft tense music]
* *
Do you recognize this person?
- Yeah, I've--
I mean, I've seen him on the street.
I think he's homeless.
- You've never met him?
- No.
* *
- Has Vincent ever met him?
- Not that I'm aware.
- You've never seen this man, say,
sitting on a park bench with Vincent?
- No. - Would it be possible
that this man saw you sitting on a park bench with Vincent?
* *
Did you not hear my question?
- Uh, I've encountered Vincent in the park before.
Sometimes we've sat and chatted.
I mean, we're neighbors.
Is--what's so unusual about that?
- You texted him,
"If you ever need to talk."
* *
You also texted him on Sunday last,
"That never should have happened."
It seems Vincent told his friend Benjamin what happened.
I would like for you to give me your version
as to what happened, Donya. - I really don't
understand what-- I don't know what's going on.
- I would like for you to give me your version, Donya.
- Any idea where he's-- - None.
- What did this Benjamin say? - Mm-mm, mm-mm.
I'd like for you to give me your version.
I already know the what.
I wanna know the why.
[pen clicks]
Donya,
I'm a firm believer
that everybody,
every single one of us,
at some point in our life,
has a "what do I do?" moment.
What...do...I...do?
This would be your moment, Donya.
* *
- He--
I-- [sighs]
I could see that he was so upset.
- Vincent? - Yeah, last Sunday.
He had this upcoming date with a girl
who he thought liked him.
And it turned out to be a lark on her part.
He was beyond devastated.
- Where was Zack at this time?
- Uh, he went to get takeout.
- So it was just you and Vincent?
- Hey, can you look at me?
Yes.
Any girl would be lucky to date you.
Trust me.
It was nothing,
like how a mother would kiss a son.
Like, just--
I could see how devastated he was feeling.
And I just meant to bolster him some.
And then I--
* *
Hey.
[unsettling music]
* *
- This was not how a mother kisses her son?
* *
- No.
I was as surprised as he was.
I never made a decision to kiss him.
It just happened.
- You were sexually drawn to Vincent?
- No, not at all.
I mean, I--
I didn't think so.
* *
I can't explain it.
- Try to explain it.
* *
- Um--
I think,
in the moment, I was so...
Struck by his...tenderness...
* *
His vulnerability
at a time I was getting neither from Zack.
I had been so fragile.
And I saw this fragile boy.
And I think it...
maybe caused...
this, like, intense feeling of connection...
That I confused...
For desire.
* *
Also, uh--
- Also what, Donya?
- [sniffles]
- Also what, Donya?
- I might have kissed him again.
* *
The first time was because he was so lonely.
The second time was 'cause I was.
* *
[sighs heavily]
* *
- [softly] Oh, my God.
- I would really appreciate
none of this getting out.
- Donya,
because of what transpired between you and Vincent,
he could have very well run away.
I will have to bring this to his parents' attention.
* *
- Oh, my God.
* *
- How'd you know that Donya Miller sent those texts?
- I didn't know.
I had a feeling.
Benjamin seemed certain that Vincent had been kissed.
Haley Townsend said it wasn't by her.
I had an uneasy feeling from the beginning.
I didn't know if it was about Zack or Donya or both.
- Okay. So where does this get us?
Are you one bit closer to finding out
what the hell happened here? 'Cause I'm not.
- I am closer. I'm almost there.
- Well, hurry up.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Did you arrest her?
- Not yet. - Why not?
He's 16. It's sexual assault.
- It may come to an arrest. For now, we have leverage.
There may be more information to be gleaned from her.
- I can't believe it.
All this time, I thought it was him.
- Excuse me? - Her husband, the tutor,
he's always given me the willies.
But I thought she was the normal one.
I--I can't believe this.
- As I said, there's still information to be learned,
including from Olivia.
- But you already spoke to her. - Briefly, not in depth.
- She's not in a good place to be interrogated.
- You know, she's blaming herself already.
And you made her feel this.
You just have a way to make people feel guilty,
even when they're not, and I'm not gonna
let you do that to her. She doesn't deserve it.
- Yeah, we need to protect her.
- And believe me, if she had anything
to say of meaning, we would know.
* *
- And you would tell me?
* *
[stairs creaking]
* *
- What's going on?
* *
What's going on?
* *
- It had more to do with,
I think, with our estrangement
than any attraction I had for Vincent, which is none.
I--I mean, I have no attraction.
It just happened.
I wish I could explain it.
It just happened.
Can you please say something?
- What do you expect me to say?
"Honey, I French kissed your student.
We made out while you went and got us takeout."
You expect me to have some kind of articulate,
coherent response to that?
- I expect you to have at least a question.
- Questions I have,
like, why weren't you arrested?
Why the fuck-- what the fuck is--
Questions, I have plenty, Donya.
[unsettling music]
* *
- I never said I... French kissed Vincent...
* *
Or that I made out with him.
I said I kissed him.
Did the detective tell you I French kissed him?
* *
Vincent told you.
You knew.
* *
You've known.
Oh, my God.
You have done something.
- [chuckles softly]
Well played, Donya.
* *
For you to accuse me,
that would certainly preempt
my suspicion of you, wouldn't it?
Very well played.
* *
- You know, the fact that she's downstairs just a floor below,
I am tempted to go down there.
- And do what, Leonard? What are you gonna do to her?
- She knows more than she says.
If they were close, if they were intimate.
I knew something depraved was going on.
I just assumed it was him.
- You're a hypocrite.
What are you, if not depraved?
We stand here like this in all our grief and fear
and a fucking whore with our son gone,
at least in part because you're vile!
- Okay, well, why not arrest her?
If she has more to tell,
there's no better way to squeeze her.
And the boy is underage.
So at a minimum, we can search incident to arrest, right?
- Not the whole building,
only the area within her control.
- Well, what about if we can show the magistrate
that Vincent never left the building?
- We can't because we can't rule out the back entrance.
- What are you doing, Avi?
Are--are you drawing your little fish again?
- Please, Janine, I'm trying to concentrate.
- Uh, yeah, so am I.
- Certainly, there must be
an episode of "Law & Order" you can watch, huh?
- You know what?
[call ends]
[paper crumples]
- I do know what.
I know I hurt your feelings is what.
[soft resonant music]
* *
[dramatic music]
* *