The Listener Episode 1.12 My Sister's Keeper

Driving fast, Oz is happy to get to another crime scene before the cops. Now Toby owes him another $10 for a whopping total of $250 -- but who's counting? Building superintendent Prystanski lets the guys in. He didn't hear the gunshots from apartment 14B, though he knows the loft belongs to young, beautiful singer Leslie Cahill. Leslie put in her own lock, so Prystanski can't open the door. Oz calls police requesting assistance for forced entry, stat. Toby reaches out for a flash, and Leslie appears behind him to whisper, "I'm frightened," freaking Toby right out.

Toby grabs a fire extinguisher. Despite Oz's protests, Toby bashes in the door to find Leslie lying in a huge pool of blood, cell phone at her side. Six months later, Toby is on the witness stand at a preliminary hearing for Leslie's murder trial, being questioned by prosecutor Marianne Fielder. Toby explains that paramedics aren't allowed to code, so he and Oz did what they could until the medical examiner arrived.

After the judge adjourns court for the day, Toby asks Oz if he sounded stupid. Oz reminds Toby that the prosecutor wouldn't try to make him look stupid, that's the defense lawyer's job, and that will happen tomorrow. Back on duty, the guys get called to the scene of a hit-and-run. An elderly man has been struck by a car, and continues to lie on the ground disoriented. Even though the man doesn't know his own name, he's sure that he knows Toby -- but is Toby sure that his name is really "Toby"?

Since Toby's accident victim has been in the hospital for 24 hours without identification, Olivia has dubbed him "John Doe." Despite his head lacerations, John Doe has no apparent head trauma, but he still doesn't remember who he is. On his way back to court, Toby bumps into Charlie, who explains that high profile celebrity murder trials usually make for a circus. The accused murderer, Peter Garvin, is a big time record producer with a record of illegal drug possession and tax evasion.

In cross examination for the defense, Garvin's lawyer Dennis Lynch lays into Toby, forcing him to admit that he broke protocol by not waiting for the cops to open Leslie's door. Toby claims he thought he heard Leslie cry out, and he was trying to save her life, i.e. doing his job. Lynch has Toby read from the incident report that Leslie was dead when they arrived. Although Toby claims there are plenty of cases where people are brought back from the "dead," Lynch insists that he hopelessly compromised the crime scene.

Fielding calls a musician to the stand, who describes the recording session that occurred shortly before Leslie was murdered. Leslie and Garvin started arguing in the middle of a take. Leslie threw her drink at Garvin and stormed out, and he left a few minutes later. Fielding has the musician positively identify the murder weapon as Garvin's gun. Charlie testifies that the gun was found in a dumpster near Leslie's building, and it definitely fired the bullet that killed Leslie. What makes Charlie so certain that Garvin pulled the trigger? Because Leslie said so. Phone records indicate that she called her sister Rebecca twice on the night of her murder.

Lynch rips Charlie apart, establishing that she's a rookie homicide detective, and forcing her to admit that the paramedics contaminated the crime scene. Fielding calls Leslie's sister Rebecca to the stand. On the night of the murder, Leslie called to tell Rebecca all about the fight and her intention to walk away from Garvin. When he knocked on her door, Leslie promised to call back - and when she did, she said Garvin had shot her. Toby senses the thought of an oddly emotional guy sitting in the gallery. In his thoughts, Cooper pleads with Rebecca not to cry. He's so sorry, because her sister didn't have to die.

Lynch rips into Rebecca. Isn't it true that Leslie had a serious problem with substance abuse? And doesn't Rebecca in fact hate Garvin? Rebecca admits that Garvin lied to her sister, cheated on her, got her addicted to drugs, and finally killed her, so yes, she does hate him. In the gallery, Cooper thinks, "It's okay; you don't have to tell everything." Fielding objects, but Lynch succeeds in making the record show that even though Leslie called Rebecca, no will ever know what was said, and Rebecca clearly has contempt for his client. Claiming the prosecution's case is purely circumstantial, Lynch requests dismissal based on an unmitigated lack of evidence.

Toby visits Charlie at the station to ask if the judge will dismiss. Charlie explains that it's only a preliminary hearing so he won't, but Fielding wants more conclusive evidence. Toby tells Charlie about the guy in the gallery (Cooper) whose strange thoughts made him think Rebecca might be lying. Worried because most of the defense case rests on Rebecca's testimony, Charlie reminds Toby to stick to their arrangement. If he sees the guy again, he can point him out, and sit tight, leaving all follow-up to Charlie.

Olivia visits with John Doe. Did he have any problems with his memory prior to the accident? John Doe doesn't know but he can quote all of Emily Dickinson's poems with no problem. Olivia tells him she wants to run more tests, but later confides to Toby that he probably has Alzheimer's. Toby confesses to Oz that he can't get a read on John Doe just as Ryder shows up to deliver a subpoena for Oz to appear in court. Ryder is annoyed by the preliminary hearing. He already covered this six months ago, and now he has to go before the review board again! Nevertheless, he backs Oz and Toby's decision to smash down Leslie's door 100%.

On the stand, Oz stands behind Toby's account of what happened, and no, he doesn't think Toby acted impulsively. Lynch pulls up an internal document wherein Oz described Toby as "displaying behavior that is often impulsive and erratic." Oz claims that was different. Although he didn't hear Leslie cry out, Oz insists that Toby's hearing is much better than his own. Feeling tarred and feathered, Oz is dismissed, as Toby is pelted with negative mental whispers from the gallery.

In the lobby, Toby gets another flash from Cooper, who recognizes him and flashes back to the night of the murder. Through a camera lens, Toby and Oz can be seen entering Leslie's apartment. Realizing Cooper must have been watching from a nearby apartment, Toby and Oz proceed to his building, determined to knock on every door until they find him. Cooper doesn't want to talk, but when he leaves his door open, Oz quickly scoots inside to comment on his lovely camera with zoom lens.

Toby flashes on Cooper, realizing that he must have been taking photographs of Leslie for a very long time. Toby lays into Cooper as Oz discovers an entire wall filled with photographs of Leslie. When Toby asks if Cooper saw what happened, he shakes his head no, so Toby takes a different tact. If Cooper had called 911, he and Oz could have got there in time to save Leslie. Cooper's eyes fill with tears and he runs off. Knowing they're in enough trouble as it is, Oz prevents Toby from giving chase. Still Toby is convinced that Cooper either saw who did it, or murdered Leslie himself.

Oz and Toby return to the hospital to check on John Doe. They turn a corner to find John Doe dressed, yelling at a nurse that he wants to leave. Toby steps in, and again, John Doe instantly recognizes him, but doesn't remember his name. Toby gets a flash of himself at five years old as he accesses an alarm keypad. A younger John Doe tells him they can't stop, then drives him somewhere. There's only so much time before. Back in the present, John Doe mentally retreats into an Emily Dickinson poem: "The door as sudden shut, and I, I lost, was passing by."

Charlie has been unable to locate Cooper, but she has blown up his photos from the murder night to discover that Rebecca was lying -- Rebecca was in Leslie's apartment at the time she was supposed to be home receiving a call from Leslie. Charlie drags Toby into a meeting with Fielder and Rebecca to explain all about Cooper. Rebecca sticks to her story, while thinking, "Oh God, did he see what she did?" When Toby butts in to ask what Leslie did, Rebecca finally admits that she drove to Leslie's apartment after the first phone call, only to find her dead with the gun in her hand and a suicide note nearby.

Blaming Leslie's misfortune entirely on Garvin, Rebecca decided to frame him. She cleaned the gun and threw it where she knew it would be found, and used Leslie's cell phone to call herself, because she wanted to make sure she'd be a witness. Later, Charlie tells Toby that Rebecca will likely get a deal, since Garvin seems surprisingly uninterested in going after her. The judge will meet with the lawyers in the morning to wrap up the case.

Olivia asks Toby to try to make some headway with John Doe, but he's interrupted by Ryder. A 911 caller is requesting to speak with Toby. Filled with booze and pills, Cooper calls. He saw everything -- it was Garvin. Toby keeps Cooper talking while Oz and Ryder trace the call. They locate Cooper by the time he passes out, so Oz and Toby race to the scene. Toby gets a flash to confirm that Cooper did see everything, then gets to work saving his life. Cooper has to live, since he's the only one who can avenge Leslie's murder.

Charlie barges into Garvin's recording studio with news. An eyewitness has come forward, who saw Garvin shoot Leslie point blank in the chest. Garvin's bail has been revoked. Slapping on the cuffs, Charlie hauls him off to jail. Back at the hospital, Olivia informs that John Doe is still convinced he knows Toby -- will Toby please visit with him? This time John Doe remembers Toby's name. He also knows Toby is Maya's son, and he has "the gift" just like his mother.

Blown away, Toby asks John Doe to talk about his mother, then flashes to Maya holding him in the back seat of a car with John at the wheel. John confirms that Maya changed Toby's name, but can't recall where he was taking Maya and Toby, or even his own name. Toby runs through a confusing and disconcerting series of flashes on his five-year-old self. John Doe breaks in to reassure little William that everything's gonna be alright. And yes, William is Toby's real name.

Drained, Toby returns home to his loft. He grabs a beer and his laptop, typing "William Logan" into Google. The only problem? Toby knows his last name isn't really Logan. All he has to go on is "William"