02x06 - Memento Mori

[bunniefuu]

[Sara] He seems very attached.

I've become quite fond of him.

[Hearst] I have heard no end
of complaints about this woman

and her investigative methods.

[Sara] She stood right in front
of me, and I didn't even see her.

You said she was involved
with the Dusters with Goo Goo.

[Goo Goo] You know
I'd do anything for you.

I don't want any baby.

- [baby cries]
- I want my baby.

[Joanna] It's Sara.
She's found Libby Hatch.

She's following her.

- [g*n clicks]
- Drop the g*n.

Sara!

[Sara] Libby...

[Moore] Libby's gone.

[baby crying]

[Moore] You were brave today.

Sara.

[takes deep breath]

In my mind, it was easy
enough to tell you how I felt,

what this has meant, but, uh...

but words fail me.

All I want is to be
worthy of you, Sara.

You're engaged
to be married, John.

It's just not that simple.

It could be.

[horse neighs]

- [people chattering]
- [metal clanging in distance]

[groans softly]

[man] Hey, lady. What
the hell are you doing?

That's for the horses.

I lost my baby.

Well, she ain't in there, lady.

She was stolen from me!

[theme music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[winch clicking]

[Paulie] There.

[crowd gasps]

[winch continues clicking]

[boy] Get some tickets
for the show tonight,

ladies and gentlemen!

He's the handcuff king, Houdini!

[crowd murmuring]

[crowd exclaims and applauds]

He's more interested in
going on capers with her

than with spending
any time at all with me.

It's only getting worse.

Violet, please. Sit.

Whatever my issues
with Mr. Moore,

I know that he
cares deeply for you,

that he loves you.

And remember, it is you who is to
become Mrs. John Schuyler Moore,

not Miss Howard.

Have you seen
how he gazes at her?

How he leaps out of his
chair when she enters a room?

How he laughs and
hangs on her every word?

It's so... unbecoming.

Why does he endlessly
consort with her?

Will she be as my
mother was to you?

Papa, I understand the
ways of men of your standing,

but John and I haven't
even begun a life together.

I promise you I will
bring Mr. Moore to heel.

I will not let you suffer.

As your wife has?

And my mother has?

Sometimes, it's as though

the whole of New York
whispers when I pass by.

"There goes that poor,
unwanted, misbegotten thing."

Oh, Violet. My girl.

You are so dear to me.

[sighs] If their friendship
is painful to you,

then I will put
a swift end to it.

And you might be
pleased to know that, uh,

Miss Howard's unusual lifestyle

has brought about some
unflattering publicity.

And will continue to do so.

[Sara] I've been thinking.

Yes?

[Sara] Where did
Libby keep the babies?

What?

Think about it. She
worked as a nurse,

she didn't bring them to the
hospital, so where were they?

I don't know.

- Sara...
- There were no diapers in that room,

no bottles, no infant food,

nowhere for the baby to sleep.

It was not set up as a nursery.

She must've kept them elsewhere,

somewhere we
have yet to uncover.

This is not over, John.

[knock at door]

Violet has a key,
but she wouldn't just...

[knock at door]

[Bitsy] Open up, Mr. Moore!

Bitsy, please.

Will you have a little decency

and not pound on my door like
some persistent woodpecker!

I don't think Miss Sara
will be too pleased with this.

What is it?

[Moore] I'm sorry, Sara.

Hearst's rag.

[Sara] He's making
this personal.

Byrnes had a hand in that.

I would not be surprised.

It does, however, mention
that you found the Linares child.

Even Hearst can't
take that away from you.

But the result is
quite the opposite.

We've been taking calls
since 8:00 this morning.

- Calls?
- For new cases.

Seeing if you're
available to take on work.

We need you at the office, Sara.

We're not done with Libby
Hatch. We've missed something.

You found the Linares
baby. The job's done.

She slipped through
my fingers, Bitsy.

If she strikes again, I'll
never be able to shed the guilt.

[train rumbling nearby]

[Goo Goo] That's the
best I can do, Libby.

You don't need no doctor.

If you want, we can go out.

- Do something fun.
- No.

[sighs]

You is missin' the
little one, ain't ya?

So maybe we get
you a better one.

The one you was eyeing?

Make you feel better.

[chuckles softly]

[children laughing]

[Stevie] Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[children shouting playfully]

[Dr. Kreizler] Where's Paulie?

Paulie?

[grunts] Paulie!

Stevie!

[grunting]

Come on. Cut him down.

[grunting]

Paulie. Paulie.

Paulie.

[wheezing]

It's me.

[gasping and coughing]

[Dr. Kreizler] Of course.

Get the children back inside.

Your presence is not
required, Captain Doyle.

Well, I'd say the circumstances
would suggest otherwise.

It was an accident,
nothing more.

A boy hangs
himself in your care?

Now, that's negligence at best.

And at worst, well,

that's for us to uncover.

[breathes deeply]

[officer] A crime scene
under active investigation.

I'm part of that
investigation, officer.

Oh, I've seen your name
and face in the papers, miss,

but you're not on my list.

We've checked the whole
house. There's no sign of her.

[man] Isaacson!

Is there anything to suggest

that's where she kept the
victims when she was away?

- They're calling for you upstairs.
- Thank you, officer.

We'll report back later.

If not here, then where?

She had to have cared
for the babies somewhere.

Perhaps there is more
here than meets the eye.

After all, it is owned
by Goo Goo Knox.

[boys shouting]

[Sara] We should go in.

[mice squeaking]

[doorknob rattles]

[water dripping]

[doorknob rattling]

[Sara, softly] Oh, my God.

[crying]

She kept them caged.

[cage thuds]

Sara.

- [Sara] Are they all dead?
- [Moore] Yes.

[flash powder popping]

[Sara] This one
is Martha Napp's.

Who are the others?

[Moore] Other
victims, I suppose.

And this seems to be
set up for another portrait.

[flash powder pops and sizzles]

For baby Ana.

It looks like we
found her just in time.

[Sara] This belongs to her.

[Moore] She stole
it from the house.

Meaning the night she
broke in to take the child

was probably not the
first time she'd been there.

[Sara] It's so frightening to
imagine her in the consulate at night,

like a phantom watching them.

[flash powder pops]

I'll go get Marcus and Lucius.

You had expectations
of me, Paulie.

Fair ones.

I got caught up in this case...

a matter of confounding
urgency that...

overtook me, and then...

Magic was the one thing
I sensed could reunite

Paulie's pre-traumatized,
childish, joyful self,

with the anxious, troubled,
young man he was becoming.

I thought it would permit him

to feel this lack of
understanding as a wonder,

not another source of fear.

And you succeeded.

Perhaps too well.

He began living in the wonder
and neglecting what's real.

I weaved for him a fiction

no different than the one Libby
Hatch has created for herself.

No, you're simply looking
for ways to punish yourself.

Truth is, Laszlo,
you did help him.

You helped him to look ahead,

and I might argue that it
is the absence of wonder

that molds a child into a
person like Libby Hatch.

You might take some time
to look ahead for yourself.

Grandiosity and
self-doubt are...

Fatal.

They can be.

I need to get back
to the Institute.

The police are bringing a
medical expert to see if I...

if I'm competent
to be its director.

[flash powder pops and sizzles]

Looks like something Stevenson
or Shelley might conjure up.

Everything about
this is disturbing.

It's Libby who's disturbed.

And growing more so by the day.

I'd rather not imagine
what else she's capable of.

[flash powder pops and sizzles]

Memory boxes, if
I'm correct, Marcus.

Each containing mementos
from the infant's earliest days.

Some are what the
child wore in death.

Baby's hair.

It's called a mourning brooch.

From an earlier infanticide, I
suspect, given the contents.

[Sara] Laszlo needs to see this.

[Moore] I'm curious as to
why he's not in his office.

I have called him several times.

Do you recognize this, John?

[Moore] It's a family
crest of some sort.

I don't know whose it is.

[train rumbles]

[steam hissing]

[sizzling]

[groaning]

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Sit down.

Sit down.

She's gone.

[crying] She's gone, Goo Goo.

I know, I know.

[continues crying]

We'll make everything better.

- [weakly] Mm.
- I promise.

[moans] I'm sore.

[groaning]

[moaning]

- Oh...
- [sucking]

We're gonna be happy, Goo Goo.

We're gonna be happy.

As a representative
for the Board

for the New York City
Medical Institutions,

I'm hereby informing you that this
institute is now under investigation.

For?

Possible criminal negligence
in the treatment of minors.

Will you be bringing your objectivity
to this investigation, Markoe?

You, Dr. Kreizler,

are suspended by the state
from practicing medicine,

advising professionally in
your capacity as an alienist,

until the board
completes its investigation.

Paulie is a complex patient,

and you are deliberately
mischaracterizing

what has caused his injury.

To deliver him to
a doctor like you

could do irreparable
harm to the boy.

A boy in your care tried to
strangle himself in your office

and you're lecturing
me about doing harm?

It is my judgment

that it wasn't an instance
of suicidal ideation.

Oh, so you've no
concern about the boy?

I did not say that.

I am concerned.

Well, that matter's
been decided.

You'll have your
chance to appeal.

Of course, you
know how difficult it is

to gather the board
in the summertime,

what with everyone away.

Still,

plenty of time to contemplate
your panoply of failings.

[Sara] How can they do this?

This is nonsense.

You have a history of championing
those who cannot care for themselves.

Surely, you can make an appeal.

There's no laboratory test to prove
the soundness of my judgment,

nor the safety of
my clinical methods.

[sighs] Well, if there's
anything I can do.

You should not have to
shoulder this burden alone.

I haven't. [clears throat]

I didn't.

There is someone who has
been a consolation to me.

Someone?

- A woman.
- Oh.

Not quite.

She's a formidable woman,
a professor of psychology.

Karen Stratton.

She's given me great counsel.

- A kindred spirit.
- Perhaps.

Yes... I think she is.

I'm happy for you, Laszlo,

that you found such an
agreeable companion.

And that John has, too.

Indeed.

[sighs softly]

[Moore] I'm sorry, V.
It's been a strange day.

There is something

I would like to speak with you
about which is troubling me.

Well, that can't stand, can it?

I won't let you be troubled when
you're with me. It's not permitted.

Please, look at me.

You know I love you, don't you?

Of course.

Then you know that is no
easy feat for someone like me,

for someone whose family
she's not allowed to acknowledge,

who's always aware of the
whispers when she enters a room,

who's never had a place
or a name to call her own.

And this is why I cannot wait

to be announced as
Mrs. John Schuyler Moore

on our big day.

In belonging to you,

I will finally belong.

[train rumbling nearby]

[footsteps]

[Libby] You can open
your eyes now, Goo Goo.

[chuckles] What do you think?

- Wow.
- [chuckles]

- [sighs]
- You look beautiful.

- [chuckles]
- Like a lady.

Like a proper high-society lady.

[people chattering]

Find any acorns in your stack?

Nothing yet.

[children shouting playfully]

[indistinct chatter]

My God.

Look.

Vanderbilt.

[Moore] We should warn them.

[child fussing]

[child crying]

[woman] There you
go. You're all right.

[carriage rattling]

[child continues crying]

[woman screams]

Help me, please!

Somebody help
me, there's a baby...

Somebody help me, please!

[woman screams]

We're closed.

We ain't here for
the swill today.

You brought them around here.

Snoopin', messing
with Goo Goo's girl,

takin' what ain't yours.

Nothin' to say now, huh?

I'd like you to leave.

[groans]

[yelps]

[breathing heavily]

[Joanna groans]

[Cyrus] You get
the hell out of here!

Ah, the main man.

We were just tellin'
your girl here...

I ain't gonna tell you again.

We were just leavin'.

Huh? You okay?

[Joanna] Mm.

[Moore] You can cross
off the Roald Vanderbilts

as they have moved to France.

[Bitsy] Done.

Frederick and his family have
been in Newport for a month already.

Sara, there's a very
fancy carriage outside.

One of the footmen
said to give you this.

He says you are
to come right away.

Oh, dear.

We're too late.

[Cornelius] Thank
you for coming.

Alice is distraught, of course.

We just received a
telegram from my son,

asking after his boy.

I'm honored that you'd
ask for me, Cornelius.

I want your reporters to keep
a lookout for my grandson.

They have leads,
informers, don't they?

Yes, yes, we...

we get to the
underbelly of this city.

- No one must know, of course.
- Obviously.

Now undercover all the way.

[Cornelius] I hired every
damn Pinkerton in the city.

We don't want the New
York Police Department

and the phony ransom
notes that come with publicity,

and I don't want
my son to know yet.

He's somewhere in
the Mediterranean.

Left that child with us for...

for one lousy month.

What do you know about her?

I'm not sure you want
another party on this search, sir.

It will dilute our efforts

and perhaps bring unwanted
notoriety to the case.

[Hearst] She's a
renegade, a man in a corset.

She's a bored society
girl who dabbles.

[Cornelius] Well, I
wanna find out for myself.

Miss Howard is on her way here.

[Byrnes] A slip of a girl can't
roam these streets, or these.

Now, you wouldn't
let your own daughter

go anywhere near
that place, would you?

Funny, I've just come
from those streets.

Assuming I'm
the "slip of a girl"

you're referring to, Mr. Byrnes?

Sara Howard, Mr. Vanderbilt.

- Mr. Hearst.
- [Hearst] Miss Howard.

So good to finally meet you.

Your exploits have been
wonderful for our circulation.

My grandson has been kidnapped.

I know.

How?

The Linares case
just wasn't over for me,

not when I let
Miss Hatch escape.

She had a secret room
where she kept the child,

and I went back and I found it.

And I also found these.

These items, they're our crest.

Miss Hatch clearly had
some design on your family.

She kept this jewelry box
and hairbrush in her lair.

Miss Hatch stockpiled
personal items

from the Linares family as well,

which suggested that
her collection of keepsakes

indicated malicious intent
towards certain families,

including your
own, Mr. Vanderbilt.

I will take on your case.

I do have some
conditions, however.

Oh, now the caveats come out.

Dr. Laszlo Kreizler was
suspended from practicing alienism

as the result of an
unfortunate accident.

The police are investigating
some negligence at the, uh...

Go on, Miss Howard.

Dr. Kreizler is most crucial to
the investigations that I conduct.

He has insights into the criminal
psyche that are invaluable.

Abstractions and hypotheses.

Kreizler meddles, sir,
for his own purposes.

He helped you get
that Spanish baby back.

I could not have
done it without him.

I will need him reinstated in
order to legally join my team.

There was another condition?

It involves the ex-commissioner.

I am the lead
detective on this case.

I do not work for Mr. Byrnes.
Mr. Byrnes works for me

and will follow my
directives at all times.

I have 30 years more experience.

You didn't find the secret room

or retrieve its
contents, did you?

That's agreed.

And you're hired.

Thank you, Mr. Vanderbilt.

[Sara] Laszlo.

How is the child?

He says he was trying
to emulate Houdini,

but I suspect otherwise.

But I assume it was a
desperate plea for affection.

I failed him.

[Sara] You did not fail him.

You did everything
you could for him.

Paulie does not yet know
the Institute is closed.

Where will he go should
it not be reopened?

I fear he will be sent
to an orphanage.

Well, there's only
one thing for it, then.

It is an exercise
in futility, Sara.

Even your Mr. Vanderbilt
does not have the power

to overturn the state
board without quorum.

Do not abandon hope, Laszlo.

Help me find the Vanderbilt
child and Libby Hatch.

And not only will we find them,

but I promise you I will
hold Vanderbilt to his word.

The Institute will be reopened.

Let us begin with what we know.

Libby Hatch.

Question is, who is she?

Who is she, and
where is she from?

I perceived, when we first
met, a bond of kinship...

as if were it not for
the circumstances,

we would've been friends.

You liked her?

Why?

[Sara] She was vulnerable.

Her manner apprehensive,
her actions tentative.

Yet there was an
intelligence there.

She wanted me to know her.

And yet, she deceived me.

[Dr. Kreizler] Liars
are like magicians.

We are deceived by what
we see, what we are told,

but beneath the sleight of
hands, there's still a simple trick.

I fail to see the comparison.

I believe what
Laszlo means is that

good liars and con artists
can make us believe them.

They combine the unalloyed
truth with the falsehoods,

something they
believe themselves.

Libby might well have told
you a truth about who she is.

Because you see,
Sara, unquestionably,

the bond you felt for her,
in her mind, was genuine.

So something she said
must've been the truth.

Her father.

There was a moment when

she saw the photograph of
my father in my pocket watch.

She asked me who it was.

Is that your boyfriend?

No, no. It's my father.

And I don't know why, but...

something about
her, her look, I...

I'm not sure, but something made
me confess to her how he had died.

He had an accident with a g*n.

What did she tell you in return?

She told me of her own father.

I know about that sort
of thing. My father, he...

he had an accident, too.

With him, it was a
rope over a bridge.

[Dr. Kreizler] This is
very significant, Sara.

[Moore] Such a public act would
doubtless have been reported.

We find out who the father
is, we find out who Libby is

and maybe where she's gone.

But I think The New York Times
archives might have that information.

Sara,

if you have no
prior engagements,

a spare pair of hands would
be very much appreciated.

Good day.

There was something else I saw
when I followed Libby that night.

I hadn't mentioned it before,

because we had already
found Ana Linares.

What was it?

I observed from afar
Libby and Goo Goo Knox.

She appeared to be nursing him.

He was feeding from her,

and yet it also seemed carnal.

Lactophilia.

It's most curious.

[indistinct chatter]

[Dr. Kreizler] It is
a fascinating case.

What disturbs
you about this one?

Well, it's an unexpected fetish

for a woman who uses her
breasts as deliverers of death.

What a dramatic turn of phrase

for something, I might argue,
might not be a fetish at all.

You wouldn't consider
this behavior a deviation?

I'm surprised to hear
such an argument.

From a woman.

The most recent studies suggest

a fetish is a means by which
a man reduces a woman

to a fraction of herself,

experiencing
sexual gratification.

The fetish is pleasurable
because it partializes a woman

and thereby renders
her non-threatening.

Has that been your experience?

Sorry?

If your gaze were attracted
by a shapely bosom,

do you forget about the woman
to whom these parts belong?

[chuckles]

Have you forgotten all of
me when you see my ankle?

[Dr. Kreizler smacks lips]

[gulps]

I don't categorize myself

among the sufferers
of this pathology.

Perhaps this type of attraction
is not the pathology at all,

and perhaps a woman might
enjoy her part in such a ritual.

With adult males, a woman's
breasts are life-affirming.

She doesn't use
them in this context.

She puts them in a position
to respond to pleasure.

[whispers] Breasts
are erogenous zones.

[chuckles]

I'm aware of that, of course.

But the public nature of it?

It's interesting, I agree.

I served this city
as a police officer.

I served the interests of
upstanding citizens like yourself.

I will not have my career
devalued by a dilettante.

She is a pox upon all of
us. On that, we can agree.

But the world works on a
system of patronage, Byrnes,

and Vanderbilt sits
at the top of the heap.

Like it or not, you need
his favor, just as I do.

I will not take orders from her.

Well, whether or not
you do is your prerogative.

But...

if I were you,

I'd see this as an opportunity

to show the upstanding
citizens of New York

exactly where they
should put their stock.

And this...

is '81 to '82.

Could this be her?

[Moore] "He is survived
by his wife, Malorie Hunter,

and his daughter, Elspeth
Hunter, of Brooklyn."

E.H.

Same initials as the doll
buyer at Siegel Cooper.

Elspeth Hunter.

This really could be her.

And where would
Elspeth Hunter go

if she was hunted by the
New York Police Department?

Somewhere out
of their jurisdiction.

Somewhere familiar
where she could hide away.

Or knows someone
who'd be willing to hide her.

[people chattering]

Look. [chuckles softly]

Look at the little sucking
motions he makes when he sleeps.

He's thinking of his mama.

[Goo Goo chuckles]

I hope he and I
don't come to blows.

I ain't losing out to the
likes of you, you little beggar.

What?

- [grunts]
- Show some respect.

Get to packing.

They're gonna be looking for us.

They already been lookin'.

- [baby fussing]
- [Libby] Aww.

- Where are we going?
- I know somewhere we can go.

[Dr. Kreizler] Miss
Hatch has so far operated

within a very narrow
geographical area,

returning time and
again to the same spots.

[Sara] We have taken
all those spots from her.

Her home, her workplace,
her hiding places.

And Mr. Byrnes is...

We have all of Manhattan
under surveillance for you, sir.

[Cornelius] Mm.

She hails from Brooklyn,
which is our next port of call.

[Cornelius] And how will chasing
her roots recover my grandson?

[Lucius] Fleeing Manhattan
is the logical next step for her.

[Marcus] She's been
deprived of most other options.

- [Goo Goo] Let's go.
- Ha! Come on!

[Dr. Kreizler] Her mind will
steer her to the next familiar place.

Which is Brooklyn.

We will find your grandson.
I'm quite certain of it.

Where are you going?

Sun's gonna be up
before you know it.

I just... I wanna show him.

Ah, Christ.

Remember that girl
stepped straight off the roof

thinking she was
headed to the toilets.

I'm not sleepwalking, fool.

[woman] Hey, would
you knock it off?

[Libby] In a minute.

[woman] People are
trying to sleep here, lady.

- [gulls calling in distance]
- [metal clanging]

You see...

my handsome boy?
Isn't she beautiful?

Huh?

It took a lot of very brave
men to build that bridge.

[foghorn blows]

The bigger that bridge got,

they just felt
smaller and smaller.

Most nooses usually
strangle a man.

Not my papa.

[chuckles]

His neck snapped right in two.

[baby fusses]

That's right, little boy.

One minute you're
here, and then...

and then... and then snap.

- [fusses]
- You're dead.

Right in the blink of an eye.