Secrets & Surprises: Exposed, Accepted & Acted Upon

Chapter 20

In the Morgue

Lindsay: Is that what Denise would have looked like without all that plastic surgery?

Maura: Yes. I'm focusing on federal criminal trials in 2000. Detective Frost is looking at 2001.

Frost: It's a big search. She wanted to help. We're hoping to get a hit on facial recognition.

Maura: On any database we might be able to find a photograph of a woman who testified in a high-profile trial.

Lindsay: Listen to you, Columbo.

Maura: (Keys clacking) Oh, my goodness! Detective Frost, did I do it?

Frost walks over.

Frost: I think you did.

(Keys clacking)

Lindsay: Denise's real name was Debbie Brown.

Korsak: Her husband was a Miami drug trafficker. Roberto Gusano. Mexican national. Typical fed tactic -- they charged Denise with conspiracy to violate drug laws to get her to testify against her husband. Gusano got a 10-year sentence, and he still fought for custody.

Frost: That's why Denise wouldn't give up Dakota's real birth certificate to dance mom Kim.

Lindsay: Yeah, I bet she doctored it -- birth date and father's name -- so Dakota would be harder to find. Witsec won't forge documents, right?

Korsak: That's right. You can change your name, but not your birth date.

Lindsay: Ah. Poor Denise. She had to leave everything behind, her friends, her family.

Frost: Hide from Gusano for the rest of her life.

Lindsay: Where's Gusano being held?

Frost: Super-max penitentiary in Colorado.

Maura: He looks very mean.

Lindsay: I'm calling the U.S. Marshals.

Frost: I thought you said they wouldn't help.

Lindsay: They don't have a choice now that we have a name.

With the U.S. Marshal

Whitmore: I was assigned to oversee Denise Ryan's relocation from Florida to Boston. I check in with her once a month.

Lindsay: Well, how come we didn't hear from you when she was murdered?

Whitmore: There was nothing we could do. Your agency was already investigating.

Lindsay: We think Roberto Gusano may have called a hit on Denise from prison.

Whitmore: I am not at liberty to tell you how I know, but I know that didn't happen.

Lindsay: That's Gusano's daughter, isn't it?

Whitmore: I'm sorry. There really isn't much I can tell you.

Lindsay: Why are you protecting Gusano?

Whitmore: Again, I am not at liberty to say.

Lindsay: Prison records say Gusano's in super-max in Colorado. But you guys at the justice department control federal prison records. Gusano's a government witness, isn't he?

Frost: Damn. You think he's in Witsec?

Lindsay: Yeah, I do. That's right, isn't it? Where's Gusano now?

Whitmore: I honestly don't know, detective.

Lindsay: Are those photos of Denise?

Whitmore: Yes. Denise grew up in Florida. Danced with several professional companies. She met Gusano when she was visiting her sister.

Lindsay: They look close.

Whitmore: Inseparable, according to Denise.

Lindsay: What's her sister's name?

Whitmore: Her name was Gabrielle Radford.

Lindsay: "Was"? I'm assuming she's not dead, so, wh-- she's in Witsec, too?

Whitmore shakes his head yes.

Lindsay: You wouldn't tell me where Gabrielle was even if you knew.

Whitmore: Well, the rules of Witsec are hard, but it's the only way we know how to keep people safe.

His cellphone rings.

Whitmore: Please, let me know when you find her killer. Whitmore.

Lindsay: The rules of Witsec -- never speak to friends or family from the past ever.

Frost: What are you thinking?

Lindsay: Well, no one can do that.