US Television: Blue Bloods, Episode 1.18 "To Tell the Truth"

Blue Bloods
Season One, Episode Eighteen:  To Tell the Truth
Original Air Date:  April 1, 2011

Danny Reagan, who is at the right place at the wrong time, tries to stop and then witnesses a murder.  A routine investigation becomes something more when he is able to identify the shooter and the shooter turns out to be an important businessman, Raymundo Salazar, with suspected ties to a South American drug cartel.  After Salazar is arrested, Danny's wife, Linda, is placed in mortal danger by Salazar's men to guarantee Danny will not testify against Salazar.

On his way home from a late shift, Danny Reagan receives a phone call from his wife, Linda.  She called to tell him she loves him and to bring home milk.  He stops by a convenience store he frequents and chats with the proprietor about cookies his wife bakes as he shops.  Outside, two men are sitting in a black Hummer.  The man in the passenger seat, Raymundo, has a gun and is waiting for someone, wanting to kill him.  The driver tries to talk Ray out of the murder but Ray is unwavering.  Inside the store, Danny continues collecting the items he is going to buy and as he rounds an isle, he sees Ray outside with the gun.  He drops his shopping basket and orders the store owner to call 911 then draws his weapon and charges out the door.  Ray fires three shots at a man walking along the sidewalk as Danny rushes out the door identifying himself as a police officer.  Ray turns and fires in Danny's direction but misses him.  The driver pulls the Hummer onto the street and Ray backs toward it, firing his gun.  He gets into the vehicle and fires at Danny once more before it speeds away.  Danny rushes to the side of the young man Ray shot and calls in the shooting but the young man is mortally wounded and dies in Danny's arms.  Danny notices a yin-yang bracelet on the young man's wrist.

Frank Reagan awakens a few minutes after one in the morning with a feeling of dread.  He knows something bad has happened.  His phone rings and he is apparently given the details of what has happened involving Danny.  After he hangs up, he sighs in relief saying "thank God" now that he knows his son is alive.

Police and rescue personnel have arrived at the scene and Danny orders them to check every bodega along the street for surveillance videos and to collect any that are found.  He managed to get the last three digits of the Hummer's license plate but he wants to know if anyone on the street got a look at the plates or the men inside the Hummer.  Danny's partner, Jackie, arrives.  There was no sign of the Hummer yet but she did get an I.D. on the victim.  David Taylor was a twenty-four year-old man who lived not far from where he died.  As she and Danny are heading to David's home, Danny gets a call from his father who is concerned for his son.  He wants Danny to have the EMT's check his blood pressure as he feels Danny is amped up.  Danny declines saying he isn't amped up, he's angry, supporting Frank's point.  He assures his father he wasn't shot and that he's fine and wants him to tell the family he's fine and not to call him as he wants to do his job.  Frank tells Henry that Danny is alright but Henry's main concern is his son, Frank.  He knows that Frank is going to be thinking about the son he did lose to a shooting.

Jackie and Danny speak with David's mother.  She is positive her son had no enemies and wasn't into anything illegal.  He was a good son who taught children with learning disabilities and autism.  She didn't know where David was headed that night as she was sleeping due to having to work an early shift at the hospital.  Her eldest son, Mark Taylor, arrives home to comfort his distraught mother.  She introduces her son to Danny and Jackie and, after being asked, he tells them he didn't know of David having any problems with anyone then asks them to leave so his mother can have some time.  Jackie gives them her card and she and Danny turn to leave.  David's mother stops them and hands them David's favorite sweatshirt begging them to make sure it is put on her son as she doesn't want him to get cold.  Danny assures her that they will.

At their desks, Danny tells Jackie David's shooting wasn't the killers first murder because of his actions and even the vehicle and how he was dressed.  Jackie notes that David's phone dumps lead them nowhere.  Danny has looked over every felony arrest in the precinct and none of the pictures match the man he saw shoot David.  He had already checked the gang unit and suggests she check summons tracking on parking violations regarding Hummers as it isn't a common vehicle for that area of town.  When she does, one match with the last three plate digits comes up.  The Hummer is registered to The Peru Helps Foundation.  She checks out the Foundation and a news article comes up with a photograph and Danny is able to immediately point out the man who heads the Foundation, Raymundo Salazar, as the man he saw shoot and kill David Taylor.  Salazar, a self-described philanthropist who is believed to have ties to a South American drug cartel, donated $1 million to the Harlem Regeneration Project and is considered a "Harlem Savior".  Danny is certain Salazar is no savior, he is the shooter.

The next morning, Erin Regan briefs Danny on the known details of Raymundo Salazar's criminal activities.  He is a Peruvian drug lord that runs the largest cocaine smuggling pipeline into New York.  The D.E.A. estimates Salazar's take is $400,000 a week.  Lyle Green arrives at her office and she introduces him to her brother as a narcotics prosecutor who is very familiar with Salazar.  Danny immediately foregoes any pleasantries and tells Green he is very familiar and very unsuccessful.  Green informs them that Salazar has been on their radar for over a year when cheap Peruvian cocaine started flooding New York but they have not been able to directly link him to the drug supply or find a witness who will testify against him.  Danny tells him today is his lucky day.  Green makes a point of letting them know their Peruvian counterparts have given them information Salazar has a habit of torturing and killing potential witnesses in Peru and he shows them a photo of the body of one of Salazar's lieutenants in his organization who had agreed to testify against him.  The man was killed in broad daylight in Lima by one of Salazar's men and no one would come forward.  Green asks Danny if he's sure it was Salazar and Danny assures him it was even though it was dark and he was under fire.  Danny is also positive he will be able to find and lock Salazar up despite Green's doubts.  Green gives Danny the D.A. transcripts and tracking data on Salazar and the latter wonders why Salazar would go to the trouble of doing a hit on a clean kid like David Taylor.  Erin provides information that Mark Taylor was suspected of funneling money from Salazar's organization into money market accounts on Wall Street.  Green adds they never found proof of that and tells Erin to keep him posted then leaves her office.  When Danny leaves his sisters office, he promises he will be nicer next time.  She tells him she likes that he doesn't sugar coat anything and she's glad he's alright.  He gives her a hug and jokes that all the playing Superman as a kid paid off as he's bullet proof still.  She warns him that Salazar thinks he's bulletproof as well and he needs to be careful.

At the precinct, Jackie and Danny interview Mark Taylor after telling him they've identified Raymundo Salazar as the man who killed his brother.  They want him to help them find Salazar as they aren't having much luck.  He denies knowing Salazar but Danny confronts him about the money laundering.  Mark still denies having any involvement with Salazar but Danny pushes harder asking what other motive Salazar would have for killing David.  Jackie asks if he was stealing money from Salazar which he flatly denies.  Danny tells him he watched Salazar kill David and he died in his arms.  He asks if he wants to let Salazar get away with it.  He reluctantly admits that if Salazar knew he told the police anything, he would be dead too.  Danny tells him to do the right thing.  If not for the police or for his dead brother, he should do it for his broken-hearted mother.  He tells them Salazar sometimes stays with a girlfriend, Sylvia, in Harlem when he comes to New York.  She works at a barber shop on 125th Street.

Danny is waiting for Sylvia when she gets off work.  He identifies himself as a police officer and that he wants to ask questions about Salazar, who she claims to have never heard of.  He puts her in the back of his car and Jackie shows her a picture of Salazar.  She again claims to not know him.  He shows her photos of some of Salazar's victims including David Taylor.  She does recognize him and is visibly shaken by the photograph.  Danny sees she is wearing the same kind of yin-yang bracelet David was wearing when he died.  She admits she met David a few months ago at a party at Mark's place.  She wanted to get her GED and David began tutoring her.  Salazar starting asking questions about she and David and she told him David was only tutoring her but he told her not to see him anymore.  She thought she and David could keep their relationship a secret.  Danny wants her to tell them where they can find Salazar but she's afraid, fearing he will kill her.  He tells her he's going to testify against Salazar in court so she will have nothing to fear.  She tells them Lupino is Salazar's lieutenant and he called the barber shop that day to make an appointment for his boss.  Salazar is scheduled to come into the shop the next day at ten.

That night at home, Linda tells Danny she noticed he changed the subject every time she brought up Raymundo Salazar.  She is concerned for Danny's safety but he makes light of the situation.  He can't not testify since he watched Salazar murder David Taylor in cold blood.  He tells her that he will probably have to send her and their sons to Frank's house for a couple of days as a precaution.  He hugs her telling her not to worry; everything will be alright.

The next day, Salazar arrives as planned for his appointment.  As he's getting ready to leave, Jackie arrests his guard that is watching outside the barber shop and takes him away.  As Salazar leaves the shop, Danny arrests him for David Taylor's murder.  From the precinct, Danny calls Linda and tells her everything is going according to plan.  There are two detectives at their sons school who will pick them up and take them to the location they discussed the night before.  They will proceed with her pickup the same way they did in the 06 case.  They tell one another they love each other and hang up.  Danny goes in to speak with Salazar who Jackie has been talking with.  Salazar is confident he will not be in jail long and tries to intimidate Danny, something Danny promises him he will not be able to do.  Lyle Green is waiting on Danny as he, Jackie and Salazar leave the interview room.  He tells Danny he is convening the grand jury on Friday and to secure an indictment he needs Danny to be there.  Green tells him he doesn't put anything past Salazar but Danny calmly tells him Salazar has never run into a Reagan before.

Flanked by Lyle Green and other police officials, Frank Reagan holds a press conference announcing the arrest of Raymundo Salazar.  He gives details of the arrest then takes questions from the media.  A reporter asks if rumors the arresting officer was Daniel Reagan but Frank will not confirm that information.  Another asks if the history of intimidation Salazar's crew has worries him and Frank quickly answers "no".  It is asked when they expect an indictment.  Lyle Green says he'll answer that question.  He thanks the NYPD for apprehending Salazar and says that after Detective Reagan testifies Friday afternoon he expects the grand jury to swiftly indict Salazar.  Frank ends the press conference after Green speaks.  When he and Green walk away from the media, Frank tells Green that his grandstanding just confirmed the witnesses name.  Green apologizes saying he understands Frank's sensitivity since it is his son.  Frank makes it clear he is sensitive any time any of his people are put in harms way.  Green points out the reporter already all but named the witness and Frank makes issue of where that information come from assuring Green it didn't from the NYPD.  Green's office has a leak.

A car drives up in front of Danny and Linda Reagan's home and a man gets out.  He goes to the door and knocks.  When she answers, she sees a badge on his belt.  He takes her luggage while she locks the door.  She asks him what precinct he and his partner usually work out of and he tells her usually Midtown.  She asks north or south and he replies 'north' to which she replies "up on 67th, right?" and he replies in the affirmative.  His partner has gotten out of the car and Linda is clearly uncomfortable with the two men.  She turns back toward the house saying she forgot her wallet and the man she was speaking with grabs her.  As they struggle, the other man rushes up and grabs Linda and injects a drug into her then the men put her in the car along with her luggage and drive away.

At the precinct, Jackie receives a copy of the autopsy from the M.E. showing a 9mm slug was sent to ballistics.  Danny is looking over Lupino's criminal record on the computer.  Lupino was arrested in 2008 but the witness recanted.  Danny's phone rings and it is apparently someone telling him things aren't quite right with Linda.  He gets up from his desk to call his wife.  When her phone rings, one of her abductors, Lupino, answers it.  He tells Danny Linda is not available and will not be until he decides not to testify against Salazar.  Danny demands to speak with Linda.  Lupino tells him she's pretty and Danny should try to keep her that way and he shouldn't try to find her or they'll know about it.  Danny tries to threaten the man against hurting Linda but he's already hung up.  A drugged Linda is bound and duct tape put over her mouth then she is locked in a small bathroom in an old house.

At Frank's house, he and his father are preparing dinner.  Frank asks what Henry told the kids when they were picked up.  Danny bursts through the back door and asks where his sons are and his father tells him they are doing their homework and Henry assures his grandson the boys don't know anything.  The boys run into the kitchen and Danny gives them a big hug.  They ask where their mother is and Danny tells them she's spending the night at a spa as an early birthday gift.  Frank, knowing there is a problem, sends the boys to play video games so the men can talk.  When the boys have gone, Frank questions his son who says they got Linda.

The next morning, at his home, Danny tries calling Linda's cell phone but it goes to voice mail.  He leaves a message stating he wants proof of life.  They will call him back and let him speak to his wife or he promises Salazar will go down and he will then find them and make them pay.  Frank meets Jamie and Erin at a restaurant and tells them Linda has been taken by Salazar's men but the boys are safe with Henry Reagan.  Erin asks what they will do.  Frank feels if the information gets out to the media Linda won't have much of a chance of survival.

Danny and Jackie arrive at lockup but she doesn't understand why they are there.  Danny tells her he just wants to have a conversation with Salazar.  He goes in and asks where his wife is but Salazar plays dumb.  Danny promises him that he will testify and Salazar will spend the rest of his life in prison.  Once he finishes with him, he will round up the rest of his crew then spread the word that Raymundo Salazar cooperated.  Salazar warns Danny he's playing a dangerous game but Danny assures him he isn't playing then leaves.  Jackie asks what is going on and pushes for an answer.  Outside the jail, Danny tells her what has happened with Linda.

Baker enters Frank's office with the information he had requested.  He immediately questions her if the phone dumps were isolated from the throwaway phone.  They have and she places several thick folders down on his desk--the phone dumps from the phone confiscated from Salazar.  She places several more thick folders down--cross-reference data from all of Salazar's known associates.  A final pile of folders is pertinent data from all personnel involved in the Salazar case.  She begins to give him the rest of his daily schedule but Frank interrupts her to confide in her that Linda has been abducted.  She tells him she will clear his schedule and leaves his office.

Jackie is working but having trouble focusing when Danny arrives back at their desks.  None of the leads he had been following panned out but one did confirm their suspicion that Salazar is getting his information from the inside but he didn't know who it was.  Jackie was able to pinpoint the pings from his calls to Linda's cell phone, however, they lost the second ping.  A detective walks by and asks what the two are working on and Danny immediately becomes defensive since he has no idea who the leak to Salazar might have been and trusts no one.  Frank calls to tell him Salazar's Hummer was found under the 59th Street Bridge and there is a female body in the car.  Danny and Jackie leave immediately and Frank leaves his office for the scene as well.  Danny and Jackie arrive and he goes to the Hummer to find it burned out.  Frank tells him the woman's body isn't that of Linda's.  Preliminary information indicates the woman in the Hummer is Sylvia Montoya, Salazar's girlfriend.

At Frank's house, Henry and Erin are going over the numerous cell phone records Frank acquired for the case.  When he arrives home, he sits down to help go through the records.  Erin has an idea about researching where the phones were purchased.  At the precinct, Jackie brings dinner in for her and Danny.

The next morning, Frank and Jamie talk about the case over breakfast.  Jamie tells him he got the 5's with the information about the Hummer.  The vehicle had very high-end security features on it.  Of all five boroughs, Jamie could pinpoint the work to only one shop that does that sort of work for high profile people and he gave that information to Danny.  Frank congratulations his son on his good work and says he thought Jamie was working a tour that day.  Jamie says he called in sick.

At the body shop, Danny and Jackie question the man who worked on the Hummer but he claims he didn't do the job.  Danny wants to know where dropped the Hummer off after customizing it.  The man turns on his blow torch not wanting to speak with them further.  Danny grabs the torch and holds it close to the man's face demanding to know the address.  He gives them an address for a Benz he dropped off at 36 West 128th.  Danny turns off the torch and tosses it to the man warning him if he's lying he will be back to finish the job.  As he and Jackie are leaving the shop, Danny calls Frank to let him know they have a good address in Harlem.  Frank assures him he'll have back up standing by.  He gives the order to execute the raid if the location looks good.  The police, including Danny and Jackie burst into the location and Danny asks a man they find where Linda is.  He tells Danny she isn't there.  Danny hits him and again asks where she is.  The man gives him the address 2064 5th Avenue.  Danny and Jackie move out to the new address.  As they search the premises, Danny is jumped by Lupino and the two men struggle for Danny's weapon.  Danny gets the upper hand and holds his gun on Lupino while more police move in.  He calls out to Linda and he and Jackie can hear her trying to yell to them.  Danny finds her and removes the tape from her mouth and unties her.

At the courthouse, with Salazar present, Lyle Green tells the grand jury he is sorry to have inconvenienced them but the witness is a no-show.  As he is preparing to release Salazar due to lack of evidence and witness testimony, Danny enters the room to testify.

Erin and Frank are in his office when Baker escorts Lyle Green in.  Frank tells him he and Erin were going out to celebrate and Green agrees the indictment was a great thing for the NYPD and the D.A'.s office.  Erin is confident there will be many indictments out of the Salazar investigation.  Frank tells Lyle he's proud of his daughter.  Erin explains the phone calls made from Lyle Green's throwaway phones, which he claims to know nothing of.  She reminds him of the phones he bought at Bleecker Street Electronics.  Green paid cash but the owner was able to make an identification.  She was able to track the phones to him by finding the location of purchase for the throwaway phones used to call Salazar.  When they found the proximity to Green, they concentrated on him.  Frank assures him they'll get an indictment and, at trial, they will produce a key witness against him:  Raymundo Salazar.  Green gets up to leave but Baker enters with two officers and places him under arrest for bribe receiving and official misconduct.  Erin does the honors of reading him his rights.

That night at Frank's house, the family brings dinner in to the table.  Danny and Linda arrive late.  Everyone welcome's Linda back warmly and her sons ask how her time at the spa was.  Keeping a brave face for her children, she tells them fabulous.  After some chit-chat between the boys and Henry, Frank tells his family he feels very lucky to have them all there and he knows his late wife would feel the same way.  He knows people don't make time for family dinners these days but he is glad they do as family is what makes them strong.  He tells Linda he's glad she had a nice time at the spa and he thought she might like to say grace, which she does.

Blue Bloods airs on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on CBS.
For more information:
Blue Bloods Official Site:  http://www.cbs.com/primetime/blue_bloods/
The Internet Movie Database:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1595859/
TV Rage:  http://www.tvrage.com/Blue_Bloods