Criminal Minds (TV Series)

Submerged (2018)

Lou Diamond Phillips: Sheriff Clifford Mason

Quotes 

• Sheriff Clifford Mason : Small town like ours, we're not used to this. Folks are jittery as hell.

  Emily Prentiss : Understandably.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Robbery's one thing, and Lord knows we've had a lot of that around here lately. But these murders...

  Emily Prentiss : You've had an increase in robberies?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Yes, ma'am. Burglaries, petty thefts. It's on account of the drought.

  Matt Simmons : Well, why would lack of rain cause an increase in burglaries?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Our local economy has taken a hit. A big chunk of our revenue is from tourism and outdoor recreation; fishing, boating. But everything's drying up. We had to shut down the marina up at Lake Palmer and close it off from fishing. I don't suppose you folks brought some rain-making secrets with you?

  Matt Simmons : Well, the BAU has a variety of skill sets. Unfortunately, that's not one of them.

• Emily Prentiss : Any information on the first two victims?

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Not much on Ben Stiles. His wife died ten years ago and he pretty much kept to himself after that. He had health issues. Barely went out.

  Matt Simmons : So that should make it easier to narrow down who had access to him or knew about that coin collection.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : Which was just some silver dollars, by the way. Not worth much. But it was more of a hobby with Stiles.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [entering]  I just got a call from up at Lake Palmer. Ben Stiles' coin collection is scattered all along the shore.

• Luke Alvez : Is that a body bag?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Damn. Another one.

  Dr. Tara Lewis : What's going on?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Remember I said this town is on pins and needles? This is what kicked it off.

  Emily Prentiss : There are bodies in the lake?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Old bodies. Skeletons, more like. Lake Palmer is a man-made reservoir. Before it got flooded, all of this out here was just rugged canyon. So if someone drowns, they tend to get tangled in the submerged trees. Hardly ever make it back up to the surface. But with this drought...

  Emily Prentiss : The surface is coming down to them.

• Jennifer Jareau : Lake Palmer's a good ten miles from our crime scene, and that's a long way to go just to dump some coins.

  David Rossi : The killer might work or live there. What's the population of Lake Palmer, Sheriff?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : It depends on the season. Year-round, a couple of thousand, I'd say. Less, maybe.

  Emily Prentiss : There's a disconnect with this unsub. I mean, on the one hand, the crime scenes are extremely organized. That would suggest a killer with maturity and skill. But then he grabs these bright, shiny items of little monetary value; the silver dollars, costume jewelry, bowling trophies.

  Jennifer Jareau : Yeah, it's like he suddenly reverts to immature and impulsive behavior.

• David Rossi : The thefts could be purely symbolic, but of what?

  Jennifer Jareau : It might be about the lake, I mean, with everything going on there.

  David Rossi : Human remains fished from tree limbs? As unsub triggers go, that's hall of fame material.

  Emily Prentiss : How many have drowned there in the last years?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Nine, that we know of.

  Emily Prentiss : Sheriff, when they were pulling the body in, you said "another one."

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Yes, ma'am. They've pulled five out of there so far.

  Emily Prentiss : When was the first body retrieved?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [as he talks, Prentiss writes on the murder board]  November 22nd. I remember because I was getting my Thanksgiving turkey when I got the call.

  Emily Prentiss : Any other retreivals?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [checking his phone]  Well... the next was pulled out of the lake on November 28th. The other two bodies were recovered on December 3rd.

  [seeing the retrieval dates line up with the day before each murder] 

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : I'll be damned.

  David Rossi : And that is what we in the serial killer business refer to as a pattern.

  Emily Prentiss : We need to notify every homeowner within a twenty-mile radius who has a backyard pool. This unsub will strike again within the next twenty-four hours.

• David Rossi : I just got off the phone with Reid. That stitch through the nose, it's an ocean-burying tradition from centuries ago. It was especially common among pirates.

  [something clicks in Prentiss' mind, and she turns to look at the crime scene photos on the murder board] 

  Jennifer Jareau : Lovely. And the reason being?

  David Rossi : To make sure that the body they were about to throw overboard was really dead.

  Emily Prentiss : So, death by drowning, pillage and plunder, now this pirate burial tradition. I think I know why the unsub is choosing these pools over others.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [she points to the photos]  Diving boards.

  Luke Alvez : They all have a plank to walk.

• David Rossi : Everything all right?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : They just identified the most recent set of remains. Tyler Hart, college kid who got killed in a jet ski accident back in 2003.

  David Rossi : Did you know him?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : No. But every time they bring in someone new, it's like playing Russian roulette.

  David Rossi : Well, it can't be Russian roulette unless there's a bullet in one of the chambers.

• Sheriff Clifford Mason : Her name was Holly Freeman. She was my high school sweetheart. She drowned out on the lake a couple years ago while boating with her family.

  David Rossi : I'm sorry.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Me and Holly ended up marrying different people. Didn't work out so well for me, but hers did. Nice husband. Had three beautiful daughters. Wasn't in the cards, Agent Rossi, but... I always felt like she was the one who got away. Crazy, right? The girl you took to the prom.

  David Rossi : No. Not so crazy.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : I hold my damn breath every time they bring in someone new, afraid it might be her.

  David Rossi : The chance for a proper burial might not be the worst thing. It gives her loved ones some closure.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Closure. You wanna hear my idea about closure? Let the dead rest in peace. I want to remember Holly like she was.

  [showing Rossi a picture of skeletal remains] 

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Not like this.

• David Rossi : So, which one of us tells them Peters is not our unsub? He doesn't remotely fit the profile.

  Emily Prentiss : I know. It doesn't mean he's guilt-free, though. Peters is tied into this somehow.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [approaching]  Escondido P.D. just called. Casey Peters was locked up over there November 20th through the 24th on a drunk and disorderly.

  Emily Prentiss : Means he was in custody when Ben Stiles was murdered.

  David Rossi : Convenient. Happy accident or part of his plan to build an alibi?

  Emily Prentiss : Why don't we ask him?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : I gotta warn you, he's not in a very talkative mood.

  David Rossi : Ah, that's okay. We specialize in mood adjustment.

• Emily Prentiss : Officers canvassed the crime scene neighborhoods, nobody's recognized the photo.

  David Rossi : It's six years old. Jess Carney could look a lot different now.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : [approaching]  It might not have anything to do with this, but a twelve year old kid's just gone missing. His name's Timmy Kane.

  David Rossi : When was he last seen?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Yesterday afternoon. What's got me worried is parents say the boy spends a lot of time up at Lake Palmer.

• Sheriff Clifford Mason : Chopper found Jess' boat drifting in the middle of the lake, empty.

  Matt Simmons : Was there a cinder block on board?

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : No, sir. Nothing. We're searching the perimeter of the lake now just in case he swam to the shore and made a run for it.

  David Rossi : He didn't. Jess went back to a place where you'll never find him. It's over.

• Sheriff Clifford Mason : Appreciate everything you've done for us, Agent Rossi.

  David Rossi : I'm just glad the boy's safe. It's a beautiful lake.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : Yes, it is. I have to remind myself of that now and then.

  David Rossi : [shaking hands]  Take care.

  Sheriff Clifford Mason : You, too, sir.