who is austin blair? a 26-year-old single white male. i found missing persons had a month-old file on him. and you want major crimes to take over a missing-persons case? why would you do that? look, will, you're the one who's always preaching that we're one department. [ exhales ] uh... look, i-i've been asked to... keep austin's name under the radar. it's a special request. special request? what are we, a karaoke bar? special request from whom, regarding what? what's wrong? [ voice breaking ] i just, um... i just forgot to take kitty out of my purse this morning. out of... where is she? [ whimpers ] she's... she's here. oh.

i gather she took a turn for the worse. look, i-if you -- if you don't want me to take this missing-persons case -- no. no, no, no. look. [ clears throat ] tell you what. why don't you just go back to your office, and i'll have commander taylor go down to missing persons -- no, i'm perfectly capable of going down to missing -- no, no, no, no. no. you're too, you know -- you're a little too... high-ranking. oh. and, uh, you said you want to keep this quiet. i did. okay, thanks. [ sniffles ] uh, don't, uh... oh. [ chuckles ] sorry. thanks. mm-hmm. [ door closes ] and this is where it all happens. uh, this is the -- this is major crimes. my desk, right here. lauren: very nice. ah, look. [ chuckles ] there he is. he looks exactly like you. [ chuckles ] um...ah, here. [ clears throat ]

lauren, i would like you to meet sergeant gabriel, soon to be detective sergeant gabriel. well, i've got to pass the test first, but, wow, it is a pleasure to meet you, lauren. [ chuckles ] oh, and this is my go-to guy. this is andy flynn. andy, i have heard so much about you. really? because, to me, you're a complete surprise. [ chuckles ] uh, lauren, would you just excuse me for one second, please? ah, commander taylor, please meet miss lauren hines. chief. oh. taylor's here with the file you wanted. uh, lieutenant flynn, who is that woman with lieutenant provenza? his girlfriend. you are kidding me. mnh-mnh. her name is lauren. she's a buyer for men's clothes for a high-end department store. so ends the mystery of the new suits. mm-hmm. oh, commander taylor, thank you so much for going down to missing persons. they were anxious to know why the sudden interest

in austin blair. i hope not too anxious. what'd you tell them? i played dumb, which was easy, seeing as how i don't know anything. apparently, neither does missing persons. all they have here are dental records and vehicle registrations. where are the follow-up reports? uh, there wasn't any need. if you look, austin was reported missing by his boyfriend. [ chuckles ] travis myers, 22, who last saw austin leaving -- gosh -- a month ago for an after-hours dance party. what does that have to do with the absence of a follow-up report, exactly? well, gay boy austin goes out for the night, doesn't come back. his boyfriend, this travis kid, comes in mad and wants us to find out who austin is sleeping with. it's a familiar pattern, chief. well, gentlemen, let's see if this convenient stereotype y'all have cooked up to avoid actual police work holds up under closer scrutiny. lieutenant flynn, uh, would you please run a master inquiry on austin blair? but, uh, do it quietly. just...offline, off the radar, off the grid.

like it never happened, chief. thank you. anybody know why we are looking for this austin blair? because the chief asked us to? [ telephone ringing ] o-oh, chief. chief, uh, this is, uh... my... lauren hines. i'm so pleased to meet you. i'm so glad to meet you, too. since things were slow, lauren came by to see how our division works before... i take her to lunch. oh, good. how nice. [ chuckles ] [ chuckles weakly ] so, lauren... how old are you? detective sanchez! you never ask a lady how -- oh, excuse us, lauren. [ chuckles ] we kid a lot around here. you know, always teasing each other. you know, cops. uh, detective sanchez,

what can you tell me about austin blair? uh, i ran the registration on his mercedes s.u.v., and his name pops up with dope. brought in twice for questioning but never arrested. yeah, well, his credit card's been active all over the place -- new york city, miami, new orleans, fort lauderdale -- all within the last year. but since he went missing a month ago, nothing. checked his address. nice place in silver lake. no liens, current on his mortgage. okay. all right, well, good news -- i mean, depending on how you look at it. that was dr. morales. he says he has four matches in the morgue. oh, good. all right, then. uh, sergeant gabriel, why don't you and i pop over to the burrito room, and the rest of y'all keep poking around about austin blair, but on tippy-toe, please. thank you. shall we? it's funny you're here. missing persons called earlier looking for bodies dating back -- missing persons called? bye-bye tippy-toe. oh, for heaven's sakes.

what was that date again? uh, 25th of last month. according to his boyfriend, he went out to a dance club and never came back. boyfriend? wait. 26 years old, 25th of last month. he wasn't just going to a club. he was going to hell-a. say what? hell-a. get it? "hell-a," as in "l.a."? big circuit party! circuit party? ah. okay. gay culture 101. circuit parties are kind of like gay raves. they go on for three or four days. there's like one a month all over the place -- a white party here, a black party there. hell-a in los angeles. uh, anyway, every year during hell-a week, we get a spike in o.d.s. most of them get claimed right away, but every once in a while, we have an out-of-towner that hangs out for a while. yep. i think we've got your john doe here. [ door opens ] oh. fritz! uh, i mean, special agent howard. uh, what a surprise.

deputy chief brenda leigh johnson, this is special agent jerry moore. what are you people doing? apparently, someone in your missing-persons division called around to find out why your sudden interest in austin blair. i tried to keep it quiet. dr. morales: hey, hey, guys, guys. that's him. that's austin. damn it. oh, man. damn it. [ sighs ] well, look at the bright side. at least he's not missing anymore. ♪ hands, for holding. ♪ feet, kicking. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill

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aspirated vomit in the lungs. typical in an o.d. i ordered a tox screen of the common trail mix of drugs -- "x", ghb, meth. what'd you say, trail mix? a lot of circuit party boys like to deejay their own high. "x" for dancing, ghb and meth for sex, "k" for the comedown. in this case, though, it was only ghb and alcohol in the vomit.

hmm. most likely died in the alley where he was found. why do you say that? hell-a has a medical staff on site. first thing they prevent is someone drowning in their own vomit. they plan on treating overdoses? more like they plan on covering their asses if someone dies. dr. morales: exactly. thank you so much for the, uh, background here. much appreciated. the fbi looks forward to your full report. well, hold on. is the doctor working for us, or is he working for you? i work for the county. this morgue is neutral territory -- like switzerland, withouthe money. well, the l.a.p.d. found austin blair. we deserve to know why we were looking for him. all right, but we need to keep this inside the fbi. how do you intend to do that? pope: so, due to a recent crossover with a federal investigation, the bad news is we have to sign these forms and be deputized into the fbi. and, uh, once we're formally included, they have to tell us what happened to this austin blair

and why it's apparently our problem. what's this? flynn: we're joining the fbi. but it's only temporary, like love. sanchez: do we get badges? they have really cool badges. lauren, this is, uh -- this is some really top-secret stuff. very hush-hush. um, uh, buzz, would you mind, uh, escorting lauren into the electronics room while we have our briefing? buzz: not at all. thanks. oh! oh, and, buzz... [clears throat] why don't you, um -- why don't you show her one of my old interviews? sure. how about the one with you and john wilkes booth? uh, was austin's death a murder or an overdose? sign, and we'll tell you everything we know. moore: this agreement is binding and shall in in effect for 48 hours, during which time we expect you all to behave like fbi agents. i solemnly swear to act as stupid as possible. fritz: okay. are there any questions? brenda: well, yeah. how did austin blair end up dead? we don't know. gabriel: wait a minute. wait a minute, wait.

we track this guy down, we find the body, and you guys tell us nothing? i mean, this -- this -- this is our big briefing? yeah. welcome to the fbi, everyone. fritz: right hand in the air, we do not know if austin's death was a murder or not. but let's say it was a homicide. what would you guys do next? notify his next of kin. his father's already on his way down here. sounds good. hmm. thank you for your, uh, cooperation. uh, hold on. hold on, hold on, hold on. hold -- am i working with my husband or the fbi? yes. on an overdose or a murder? maybe both. the second we know more, we'll let you know. so far, i find being an fbi agent very...frustrating. [ sighs ] oh, lauren. lauren, i -- i am so sorry, sweetheart, but, uh, it looks like i am back on duty.

mm, i understand. it was great to meet your friends. really? [ chuckles ] [ grunts ] okay, you be careful out there. oh, tell that to the bad guys. [ chuckles ] [ exhales sharply ] isn't she beautiful? yeah, you should watch how you kiss her. your gun almost went off. you have no idea. dr. blair, thank you so much for coming down. we would have been happy to come to you. no, i'd rather not have police in my waiting room. and just so you know, i'm -- i'm not getting austin another attorney. if he's still involved with drugs, that's his problem. all right, then. why don't you have a seat? we have a couple questions we'd like to ask you

about your son. my stepson. i adopted austin when i married his mother. one good thing about losing my wife -- she didn't live to see what became of him. why was he arrested? oh, we haven't arrested him, sir. can you tell me the last time you saw or spoke to austin? yeah, about a month ago. little longer. i spoke with him on the phone. my god. what happened? sir, can you tell us why it's been so long since -- did you not hear what i asked you? what happened to austin? sir, i-i'm sorry to inform you that your stepson passed away over a month ago. [ exhales ] austin's dead? how? well, uh, it appears to have been an overdose. [ breathes deeply ] you people.

gabriel: wait. can he just -- uh...sir?! doctor?! sir?! dr. blair, please wait! i have surgery across town in an hour. just call me with how i should go about arranging for his funeral. you may be in shock. not even warning me what this was about. don't talk to me about shock! you don't think i know about shock? sir, we need to know if austin had any enemies or anyone who might have had a reason to -- you're looking for a why? my god. drugs don't give you a why. [ elevator bell dings ] you want to know about austin's life? try talking to that kid that's answering the phone at his house. [ sighs ] you mean his boyfriend? how should i know who he is? [ exhales ] sit down! now, what's your name? travis. travis myers. what's going on? w-what's going on here? did you find austin? hey, w-will you put that down? i don't have permission to -- flynn: we don't need permission, okay? we have a search warrant. is there anyone else in this house? no. do you know where austin is?

h-have you found him? is he in jail or something? when's the last time you saw him? i reported him gone a month ago. hey, will you stay away from there?! hey, get out of there. y-you can't -- sit down. hey, buzz, up here! lieutenant! oh. party time! the fridge is full of these. i brought my test kit. my guess is ghb. provenza: all right, so we know your boyfriend is doing drugs. is he selling them, as well? will you get out? get out of my house! first off, this is not your house, so you're the one who's getting out. i'm not going anywhere until you tell me where austin is. yeah? okay. you want to know where he is? we found your boyfriend in the morgue. he died a month ago. what? provenza: all right, all right. that's how you tell people? we're arresting you for possession... you bastards! ...of a schedule-1 substance... let go of me! ...and the murder of austin blai [ travis crying ] [ cellphone rings ] uh, yes, chief.

let go of me! did you find anything? uh, yeah. we -- we found the boyfriend with lots of loose cash and a fridge full of, uh, ghb. chief, i-i-i don't think this was just some guy that the fbi wanted to talk to. why do you say that? well, sanchez found a business card. whose business card? special agent fritz howard of the fbi. hi. oh, my goodness! so, the fbi asks you to find this austin blair, who turns out to be a dead drug dealer who has your husband's business card. so, your fellow fbi agents, [clears throat] i.e. your squad and me, are wondering if he might have been a government informant, maybe. if you're asking me if i knew that going in, i did not. okay? so... we'll discuss it later.

so, the fbi has an operation t, and they expect us to fix it for them. [ cellphone rings ] you know, maybe you should just not bring your dead pets to work. [ exhales ] hello? fritz: are you alone? [ sharply ] no. what do you want? step into the back hallway. look, i-i'm gonna figure this out. i promise. i just have to... excuse me. hi. what? why did -- why didn't you just tell me you were missing an informant?! first of all, we didn't know austin was missing. he could have just run away. and looking for him ourselves could have jeopardized a major drug investigation. look, your team finding him makes it look more...ordinary. oh, wonderful. my wildest dreams achieved. we're ordinary. hey, look, look, the good news is

everything is going very well. what is "everything"? and how's it going well? look, ju-- this is what i can tell you. we caught austin dealing ghb at a circuit party. we offered to let him go if he would help us with an investigation i can't talk about. but then he disappeared. disap-- he didn'disappear! he died! well, granted. it's not ideal, but you have retrieved vital evidence from his house for us. you have a potential suspect in custody. suspect in what? dr. morales assumed it was an o.d. his stepfather assumed it was an o.d. why shouldn't i? okay, but let's just pretend austin's death looks just a little more like murder. and you found some boy living in his house with lots of drugs and money. what would you do then? i would treat the boy like a murder suspect. well, if that's your instinct... tao: we found $30,000 worth of ghb, plus another $80,000 in cash. and when missing persons asked you

if austin had a drug or alcohol problem, what did he say, lieutenant? he said, "not that i know of." all those drugs, all that money, and you still didn't know that austin was a drug dealer? he wasn't a user. that's not what the autopsy said. what else, lieutenant? he said he last saw austin going out at night. when asked where, travis answered, "i'm not sure." look [sighs] i was afraid that if you guys knew where he'd gone, then you'd just think he'd been partying and you wouldn't look for him. but he would have called if he wasn't coming home. home. his home, where you sure made yourself comfortable. living his life, selling his drugs, maybe, spending his money. i only use it to pay his bills for him. i have a job of my own, okay? i'm saving up to go to college out here, establishing my residency. oh, i'm not sure i see college in your future. i-i might be able to find a permanent spot for you in a california facility, though. look, i was afraid to throw the drugs out be-- because i didn't know who might come looking for them

or -- or who might show up asking for the money. did you fill out this useless missing-persons report so that you'd look more innocent when we found austin's dead body? no! 'cause you don't look innocent to me. what do you want me to do? in fact, you look guiltier by the second. what do you want?! what i want is for you to tell me exactly what happened the last night you saw austin! start cooperating! [ bangs table ] i am cooperating! i'm cooperating! i'm cooperating! what do you think that i'm doing?! god! so, travis... ...would you describe yourself as the jealous type? did you call the police because you thought that austin was cheating on you? [ scoffs ] in fact, come to think of it, how do we even know that the two of you were a couple? we were! then why did he go to an after-hours dance party and leave you at home? [ sighs ] austin... austin didn't want me with him because... he said that he had this big meeting with his boss at hell-a, and that just sounded lame. so, yeah, when he drove off and left me at home, i was jealous. and when he didn't come home that morning,

and when he didn't pick up his cell... i called to see if there really had been a meeting. and his boss told me that austin left the party with somebody else. so i just didn't know what to believe anymore. hang on, hang on. so you're telling me that austin was an employee of hell-a? he wasn't just dealing drugs? dealing drugs was his job. austin flew all over the country -- everywhere that his boss held a party. now we're getting somewhere. tao: now, at all these different parties, austin flew in with a supply of ghb to sell? no. you can't take all that "g" on a plane. those are the rules. whose rules? peter benjamin's rules. he was austin's boss. stop the interview. stop it. but she's not done yet. buzz, pull the plug.

i don't work for you. chief johnson, stop. we have what we need. fbi rules. you signed an agreement. travis: wait. is -- is that what you needed to know? that's all for now, travis. thank you. can i see him, please? austin. can i see him? e-excuse me. if peter benjamin had something to do with austin's death, i should be conducting the interview. we've invited you to observe. [ exhales sharply ] and do everything the stupid fbi way, without any recorders or cameras. can i at least take notes? you know we only have one person taking notes during an interview. well, i'm perfectly happy with that person being me. [ sighs ] look, do you want noodles or rice? are you gonna let me ask peter benjamin questions or not?

you can participate with follow-ups! [ exhales ] look, this is our very first crack at this guy! [ sighs ] which, which, which? rice! [ container thuds ] okay. now, while we eat... i am moving kitty over here. no, no, no, no! i hate this feeling of not knowing everything you know. [ crying ] and on top of everything that happened to poor kitt.. that is so not gonna work. fine. one fbi agent to another... [ sighs ] ...are you using this investigation to get back at me for some reason? no. my first loyalty is to you, just like i am sure your first loyalty is to me. right? right? of course it is, yes.