Waking The Dead : What Happened and Why in
Multistorey

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Multistorey revolves around two men who were never able to define themselves beyond their perceptions' of their parents' expectations. For most people, this would result in nothing more than a spending spree or perhaps an ill-advised liaison. For Carl MacKenzie and Andrew Cross, the decisions each made caused the deaths of 16 people and left countless lives in shambles.

On Saturday December 7, 1996, a special tactical unit responded to shots fired from a multistorey garage. Nine people were killed on the street below. One woman was shot while in her car in the garage. Nick Patterson, a member of the tactical firearms unit, and a bystander were shot in the garage stairwell.

The tactical unit trapped Carl MacKenzie in the garage and shot him. He survived to be convicted of the murders which came to be known as the Whitewater massacre. That same day as the shootings at Whitewater, someone using the same gun used in the massacre, killed Carl's mother and father. Carl was convicted of those murders as well. Carl maintained his innocence throughout.

The gun which killed Nick was a standard police issue and was never recovered at the scene but it was found seven years later by two boys playing ten miles away. The gun is delivered to the Cold Case Squad for them to figure out how Nick was killed and where the gun has been all this time.

Boyd expresses his pleasure to the team about the prospect of investigating the Whitewater Massacre. He bellows that the team should send the gun back. What he does not tell them is that he and Nick were friends and that he has no interest in doing anything that might free the man being held for Nick's murder. Yet, it should surprise no one that the gun and case remain with the squad.

Boyd pays a visit to Nick's old team. Andrew Cross was partnered with Nick that day but now is a weapons instructor. Andrew's father, Robert Cross is the head of the unit. Robert tells Boyd that the Whitewater investigation was handled poorly and if it is reopened it will not stand up to the scrutiny. This is Robert's first appearance on WTD and thus he can be excused for not realizing that telling Boyd not to do something is the same thing as telling him to do something. At least he kept it as a suggestion and did not try to insist too strongly.

Certain of only the fact that he does not want Carl Mackenzie to be released from prison, Boyd returns to the office. He asks Frankie if she returned the gun, to which she replies, of course not because she knew he did not really mean it. That's one answer, but what about those times when Boyd does mean it but they ignore him anyway. No matter. For some reason, Boyd goes to visit Nick's widow, Sally Patterson. The discovery of the gun created major headlines and so perhaps as a friend, Boyd went to see her to see how she was handling the stress. They talk but it's not very interesting.

The team does a walk-thru of the MacKenzie's old house, where Carl's parents were murdered. They then go to the garage to review the events that took place there. Boyd is definite about what Nick Patterson would and would not have done that day and the team figures out that he knew Nick. Boyd tells them that it makes no difference that Nick was a friend. Basically, that's a lie.

At the office, as Boyd watches through the glass, Mel and Grace interview survivor and witness, Martin Corgan. He and his wife had been shopping that day and were just returning to their car when the sniper was setting up shop. Martin repeats his testimony that he was in the passenger seat of their car when a man with a shotgun came up the car and fired through the windshield killing his wife. Martin said he fell over his wife and thus avoided being shot himself. Martin confirms that the man he saw was Carl MacKenzie. Yet, when Mel asks some basic follow up questions, it turns out that he is more survivor than witness. Boyd becomes distressed when Mel pushes Martin further and tries repeatedly to get her to end the interview. Maybe she ignores him because she knew he did not mean it.

Almost as rare as a Spence and Grace interview, is Frankie about and about interviewing the living. Frankie goes over to the special tactical unit and meets chipper Andy Cross and downer Beth Downing . Andy happily tells Frankie about the gun used in the massacre. (you can check in the reference section soon for the information) Beth gives her a similar gun to try it out for herself. Frankie apparently has missed her calling because I do not believe we have ever seen such a wide grin as that she had when firing off the clips from the rifle. Beth is glum but satisfied that Frankie has proved the point that it requires no experience to be able to use the weapon. Andy is unconvinced. He also believes that it would be very difficult for someone without connections to get the weapon.

Grace has been busying herself learning more about convicted killer, Carl MacKenzie. She finds out that Carl was engaged to marry Monica Reynolds, a very wealthy woman who was several years older than Carl. Carl also used to tell people that his name was Oscar and that he was descended from royalty. She also mentions that two years before the massacre he was diagnosed as having a paranoid personality disorder and a dependent personality disorder. Basically, he has a need for nurturance and an overwhelming fear of abandonment. As an aside, have you ever noticed how Grace will chase after Boyd through the office to get his okay on some crackpot theory, almost as if she fears being left alone and that she needs to be told that she is doing a good job. But I digress, but not really very far. Anyway, Grace continues by explaining that familial opinion is absolutely critical to Carl. Keep in mind that Carl is currently in prison for killing both his parents. At this stage, the only opinion his parents can express is in a session with the likes of John Edward and they can tell Carl what they think of him killing them.

Grace speaks with Carl's younger sister, Fiona, to try to get a better sense of him. Fiona was upstairs when her parents were killed and she has always staunchly denied that Carl was the killer. Pretty much no one believed her. Grace and Spence interview Fiona (how many times have you seen that happen) and she tells them life with the MacKenzies was grand. The only nuance she mentions is that Carl thought that his father was having him followed. Not much point to being paranoid if you don't think someone is following you. In this instance, it was more of who wanted him followed. Fiona says it was more likely Carl's fiance's son, Guy Reynolds. She said Carl was thrilled when Guy said Carl was like a brother to him. But if Carl was marrying Guy's mother then wouldn't he be like a father to him - let's not think about it. Fiona is convinced Guy was lying anyway. She's right.

They bring the man himself, Carl MacKenzie, along with his attorney, Stephen Markland, into the office to tell his story. Carl is quite a charming psychotic. For some reason, the more people they kill the more the murderers the squad encounters attempt to be engaging. Compare crude, rough and innocent Ricky Taft to suave, solicitous and murderer Thomas Rice. No matter, Boyd is unimpressed with Carl and Grace is apparently saving her charms for later.

Carl tells Boyd that on the morning of the massacre he was walking his dog Fred across the Whitewater commons. Fred ran off to his favorite spot in the woods, and Carl noticed a blue camper van nearby. Moments later he heard a gunshot and went running towards it to check on Fred. Fred was dead with a bullet in his head. Carl says he saw a man and that the next thing he knew he blacked out probaly from being hit over the head. He woke up in the camper which was now in the garage. He says he held up his hands and Beth Downing shot him anyway. Carl is considerate enough to provide Boyd with a sketch of the man he said hit him on the commons.

Boyd still does not believe a word of Carl's story but tells the team to investigate. Frankie searches the commons and finds Fred's remains.

Mel and Grace go to the Reynolds' home to interview, Monica. Her son, Guy interrupts his lunch with Janice, to tell them that his mother is busy and should not be disturbed. Guy provides essentially no information and when Monica appears at the top of the stairs he makes sure that she does not speak with them. Monica defers to her son. Guy says he is only concerned with his mommy's well being but his behavior suggests that he is trying to hide something.

Andy Cross drops by Frankie's lab to point out that the bullet hole in the passenger seat of the Corgan's car would have gone through anyone sitting there. Martin Corgan insists that he was sitting there but if he were he would be dead or injured, he's neither. For some reason, the investigating officer, Nesbit, failed to notice. Boyd takes the information from Andy knowing that even an idiot can upon occassion hit upon a useful idea. Boyd is somewhat more receptive to the elder Cross who comes to the office to give his account of the massacre. Robert says he and Beth were going up the ramp of the garage while Andy and Nick were making their way up the stairwell. Robert heard shots coming from the stairwell and then Andy screaming "Man down." He resolved that whoever was responsible would not make it out of the garage alive. Robert cannot really explain how Carl managed to be in the starirwell shooting Nick and moments later cornered up on the top floor without passing any of them. Robert also cannot explain how Carl was shot through the hand if he were holding the gun.

Spence shows Carl's sketch of the mystery man to the car dealer, . He says that he told the original investigator, DCI Robert Nesbit, that the van had been stolen the night before the massacre. Spence, perhaps fearing another dressing down by his irrascible boss, pushes Tony King to tell him the truth. King admits that the van had not been stolen off the lot but that he sold it. Spence shows him the sketch and just as you would imagine he identifies it as the man who bought the camper van. He says it was Nesbit's idea to lie about the van being stolen.

Later that night, well maybe it's night, hard to tell because it is always very dark in the office, Boyd escorts Martin Corgan into the interview room. Mel spots them and ducks around the corner to hide. I cannot really tell you why Mel is sneaking around. It could be that she is not expecting Corgan to come in for another interview but she cannot really expect by this point for Boyd to tell her everytthing he is going to do and why he is going to do it. Plus, it is not as if she had not interviewed a witness without consent from the big guy. In any event, Boyd usss his best brow beating technique to get Martin to admit that he was hiding and did not really see anything. There was really no need to brow beat Martin since he was probably going to tell Mel and Grace everything when they asked earlier. Martin is concerned that by telling Boyd what he has that the case against MacKenzie will fall apart. Boyd says he doesn't know what he will do. When Martin leaves, Mel watches Boyd take the interview tape and put it in his pocket.

Boyd must realize that if Corgan is lying about being in the passenger seat, then so was Robert Cross when he said he also saw him in the passenger seat. Boyd must be wondering if Carl's far fetched tale of a mysterious kidnapper isn't so far fetched after all. If he is, he does not confide in the rest of the team. But really, when does Boyd confide in the rest of the team, they know no more about his thought process than they did in the first episode. What is cute to watch is how they always seem shocked when they figure out he has been misleading them.

The next morning the team groups together to review what they don't know about the case. Mel quietly suggests that perhaps Carl MacKenzie is innocent. Boyd shoots her down by stating that she is forgetting that they have an eyewitness, Martin Corgan. It is not the first time she has tossed out a theory that counters Boyd's, so for his part Boyd treats it as he would any other time. He yells that she is way off base and tries to intimidate her with facts he knows are untrue. Frankie, ever the scientist, tries to introduce logic into the discussion. Spence, ever the pragmatist, sides with Boyd. Grace, for once, is quiet.

The team, in particular, Spence and Boyd do not trust Nesbit but where they are mistaken is that they seem to think that they should trust Robert Cross more than Nesbit. It is unclear why they resist the notion that both officers are lying. Nesbit is put on the interview hot seat and tells Spence and Boyd that he thought he and Cross were working towards the same goal of putting Carl MacKenzie away. Nesbit accepted that Carl was extra motivated because he lost one of his team. It seems that Nesbit accepted Cross' word that Carl was the killer and therefore any evidence that did not confirrm his guilt was merely something that might get Carl released on the dreaded technicality. Nesbit tells them that Cross insisted on meeting with Corgan. Nesbit says that Cross was all over the crime scene and Boyd asks if that means that Cross had the opportunity to get rid of the gun that was used to kill Nick. As we will see later, this does not really account for what happened to the gun. After the interview, it seems that the balance of police wrongdoing is switching from Nesbit and sliding back to Robert Cross.

Cross, the younger, pays another visit upon Frankie. It is unclear whether it is Frankie he is coming to see or whether he likes to wear those nifty white lab coats. This time he tells her again that he does not believe that someone without training could have used that gun to kill that many people. Is Andrew lying? Does he really believe it? Is he just a really bad weapons instructor?

Boyd pulls Andy into his office to grill him on what happened in the garage stairwell. Boyd says that there is no way his friend would have stayed behind to babysit while the action was going on upstairs. Boyd says he could see Andy doing that. Andy does not like the attack upon his character but does not have much to counter Boyd's assessment. Andy tells Boyd that Nick was in a bar fight the night before and thus was not "match fit." After Andy leaves his office, Boyd flashes back to seeing Andy visit Nick's widow, Sally with a bouquet of flowers. He then notices his desk drawer is open. He immediately begins searching for the tape he put there from the late night Corgan interview. Boyd races out of his office and yells down the corridor for Andy. He tells Andy to empty his pockets and then he frisks him. Andy lets out an "ooohoo" in response to the pat down. Boyd must believe that Andy got into his office before he went to see Frankie. That could happen but how on earth would Andy know that the tape existed? Boyd goes back to his office and tears it apart looking for the tape. Of course, he cannot find it because Mel took it earlier. Why she took it is unclear. There is not much she can do with it. I forsee the possibility of endless speculation, so why start. I'll leave that for the forum.

Over at the Reynolds house, Guy has a mysterious vistor whom he calls Ollie. Okay he's not so mysterious but he does bear an uncanny resemblance to the mystery man in Carl's sketch. He asks what happened to him but Ollie is not interested in providing answers. Ollie definitely does not want to answer Guy's inquiry of whether he killed the people at Whitewater. Guy says he feels guilty. Ollie makes a reference to Guy having been in Africa by way of saying Janice is a stunner. Ollie says he wants money because Stonegate Security has suffered great losses because of Guy. Guy says he did not finish the job but Ollie responds that he could not finish because MacKenzie is in prison. Guy says he could be out in a couple of weeks. Ollie still only wants his money.

Frankie reviews Nick's autopsy report and finds evidence that he was beaten but she does not believe that it was a bar fight. Boyd, a divorcee, goes to see Nick's widow. Sally says that Nick and Beth Downing had been having an affair for months before he was killed. Sally did not know what to do about it, so she asked Robert Cross to handle it. The night before the massacre, Nick did not come but unlike other times he stayed away all night, he was not with Beth. It turns out that Nick was with Robert that night. Robert had given Nick a warning but he did not heed it and continued to see Beth. The second time he beat him so badly he could not get up from the floor. Robert justifies his action by saying that it would have been worse for Nick to kick him out of the unit. He also utters some nonsense about two people on a tactical unit being in love being dangerous. Apparently, Beth had been engaged in this affair against her will because there is no indication that she was similarly disciplined. Robert also does not seem think that there is any conflict with having his son serve on the same team, doesn't he think that he or his son might feel a greater attachment to one another than to the other team members. Well maybe the Crosses are a bad example.

At this point in the show, we have about all the information that we need to figure out what happened. There's one more piece and Grace, of all people, stumbles upon it. Notably, she's back online doing something that approximates real research grounded in facts. She finds an article written by Howard Boorstin about a massacre that took place at a mine near Kenya owned by the Reynolds family. It happened a few years before the Whitewater Massacre and Grace is convinced it cannot be a coincidence. At least her methods were logical, there's no reason for her conclusions to have to hold up as well. After overcoming his initial suspicion, Howard is more than happy to help his new phone pal Grace. He recalls that mercenaries, thinly disguised as a security company, were thought to be responsible for the murders. Howard tells her that his notes are in storage and lets her go there to find more information about the Kenyan massacre. At the storage facility, Grace finds a brochure for the security comany. Luckily, these criminals have kindly provided photographs of themselves. Grace pulls the sketch of Carl's mystery man out of her purse and lo and behold, it's a match. Now she has a name to go with the face, Oliver Lewis.

Boyd tells Robert Cross that Martin Corgan has withdrawn his testimony and that at some point they will have to make this information available to MacKenzie's attorney. Carl's bid for freedom will take on new life in the absence of an eyewitness to the shooting. Worse yet, Martin will say that he saw Beth shoot Carl unarmed. Cross says not only did they shoot Carl unarmed they threw him over the side of garage. Cross' only regret is that McKenzie survived the fall.

The team find Oliver Lewis, remember he is not big on hiding, and follow him to the Reynolds household. They see that he is armed. Robert Cross and his tactical unit are called in but not before Lewis holds a gun to Guy's head and demands that he transfer money into his bank account. Mother Monica is shocked to hear that Guy paid Lewis to do something to her former fiance, Carl. The tactical unit rushes into the room and in an instant Oliver levels Robert with a single bullet through his skull. Oliver himself is subsequently shot to death.

Frankie blocks Andy from seeing his slain father at the scene but allows him to view the body in her lab. Frankie isn't a coroner so I wonder why she gets first crack at the bodies. Andy does not care about such things, he only cares about helping or so he says when Frankie asks why he is always trying to help her. Andy invites Frankie to Robert's funeral and she agrees.

The autopsy on Oliver Lewis showed that he had been stabbed repeatedly in the past. Spence recalls that they found a blood stained knife on Whitewater commons near where Carl said he had been kidnapped and put into the van. The blood on the knife is Oliver's. Guy admits that he hired Oliver Lewis to kill Carl. Apparently, Carl got the best of the mercenary and stabbed him. He then stole his van and more importantly his gun. Oliver probably did shoot Fred, there's nothing to say that Carl did it and it makes sense that shooting his dog was a way to draw Carl into the woods.

Things are quickly disintegrating for Carl. Boyd and Grace convince his sister Fiona, to retract her statement that she heard a stranger shoot her parents. Grace asks if Fiona is afraid of what Carl will do if he gets out of prison. Fiona has been protecting Carl since the beginning, she saw him in the house right after he murdered their parents. It is unclear why Fiona is now afraid of Carl, nothing has changed. Carl's lawyer breaks the news to him about Fiona. Carl is so enraged he flips the table over and pins the hapless counselor against the wall. Prison guards rush in to drag Carl away and as he goes he says he wants to speak with Boyd, "please." It's good when psychotic spree killers remember to say, "please."

Boyd meets with Carl and Carl quietly admits to killing his parents and everyone at the Whitewater multistorey; that is everyone except for Nick and the girl he was protecting. Carl does not explain why he killed his parents or anyone. He says he is sorry that he thought that his father was having him followed.

There really is only one other person who could be responsible for Nick's death. Boyd has probably suspected it all along. The team gathers at the Whitewater stairwell with Andy Cross in tow. Realizing that no one believes his lies any longer, Andy tells them that he shot Nick. The Whitewater operation had been Nick's first outing with the tactical unit. He and Nick were going up the stairwell when he was startled by a figure suddenly appearing out of the shadows. He fired his gun before realizing that it was a teenaged girl who had come into the stairs to hide from the sniper. Nick was appalled that Andy had killed an innocent girl. Andy said he could see the disgust in Nick's eyes and he would not be able to bear to see that same look in his father's eyes. Andy's solution to avoiding disappointing his father, was to kill Nick.