[Jessica] Tonight on Murder, She Wrote...
The dramatic murder trial of Mr. Frank Fernandez
has ended with his acquittal.
There was no body because there was no murder.
I’m gonna rip your face off!
Sergeant, what is your reading of the Fernandez verdict?
Means, motive, and opportunity just weren’t enough.
Hasn’t there been enough killing?
Don’t do anything to get yourself in trouble, okay?
You better start watching over your shoulder.
He may need more than a crucifix
and a string of beads to protect him in the real world.
Okay, you guys, get out of here.
Mrs. Fletcher, I saw everything.
I saw the murder. And I saw who did it.
[chattering]
-Money. -In your dreams.
But what I don’t get, Mrs. Fletcher, is
where do you start?
Actually, Denise, one of the most effective ways
to build a mystery is to start with the ending
and work backward.
But not always.
[alarm ringing]
I wish I could give you a formula,
but the truth is that every mystery
that I write is different.
And about a third of the way into them
I am invariably convinced that this is the one
that I won’t be able to pull off.
So next week, I’d like to see
a three page procedural scene,
where your detective tries to get information
from someone who’d rather not cooperate.
Have a good weekend.
Okay, game.
Ah, come on, Father, one more game, man. We just got started.
Right, one more game
and these legs are gonna be total mush.
Tomorrow, guys.
So, Jessica, have you thought
any more about using a priest as a protagonist for one of your novels?
Well, I suppose I thought that a Holy Father
would have more divine mysteries to solve.
Are you suggesting that Father Brown’s mysteries
don’t work or Father Dowling by Ralph McInerny?
Oh, of course not. I think they’re wonderful.
Well, of course, there are the Brother Cadfael
and Sister Mary Helen stories.
And don’t forget Veronica Black’s Sister Joan.
Mm-hmm. Or Sister Mary Teresa by Monica Quill.
Cheating, that’s a pen name for McInerny. We had him.
Rabbi Small by Harry Kemelman.
Okay, okay, you win.
Anyway, they all go to show that a man or woman of God
can deal with a secular mystery.
People need to get rid of those dusty old stereotypes of the clergy.
Oh, I agree. The problem is as a character in a novel,
who will believe that a doctor of philosophy
who built a very successful software company
became a parish priest.
Hey, did I ever say it had to be about me?
What’s up, Tony?
Oh, the verdict’s in.
The jury’s coming back after lunch.
I’ll be there.
[reporters clamoring]
[reporter] And so, the dramatic murder trial
of Mr. Frank Fernandez has ended with his acquittal.
Although branded a slumlord and a killer by the District Attorney,
the jury declared him not guilty
in the murder of city councilman, Roberto Galvan.
Galvan disappeared 11 months ago,
leaving behind a devoted family
and hundreds of friends.
Galvan rallied for years against Fernandez
and his real estate holdings.
He led a tenants rent strike
which ended in several court orders,
forcing the cleanup and repair of Fernandez’s
numerous tenement buildings.
And since Galvan’s body was never found,
the case against Fernandez was never entirely completed.
There was no body because there was no murder.
I’m gonna rip your face off!
Hey, cool it. All right?
Is that what your father taught you, to fight like a street punk?
Stay with him, Joe.
Make sure he doesn’t do anything crazy.
Okay, Mom.
Wait, Tony.
They’re gonna be fine.
Well, Mrs. Galvan, you won the first round
when you persuaded the DA to bring this ridiculous case against me.
And now it’s over.
I don’t have to deal with your fantasies anymore.
Fantasies, Mr. Fernandez.
We both know the truth, don’t we?
[Jessica] I like the new twist ending, Mr. Dimacha.
Thank you, Mrs. Fletcher.
-And we’ll work together on the grammar. -All right.
Very colorful characters, Denise.
My family. I took your advice and used the tape recorder.
I like the way you introduce your suspects, Ruth.
Thanks.
Well, how did I do?
I enjoyed it, Joseph.
A "C"?
Look, I know how difficult it is to write when your mind is somewhere else.
But I felt that you weren’t quite as into it as you usually are.
Yeah, you got that right.
Your protagonist, the boy on the verge of becoming a man,
would he be your brother by any chance?
Tony, yeah.
You know, ever since the verdict, he just seems to get angrier every day.
All right.
Today, we’re gonna talk about research
and how it can add texture to your work.
Suppose you want information on stuff
that’s hard to get such as, say, rare poisons.
Well, now this is my personal bibliography
of my favorite reference books
and articles that I’ve assembled over the years.
I’ve left a copy of it at the research desk as a model,
so that you can begin to build your own.
Denise, you asked me about poisons.
Now, the most complete concise
work on the subject is The Toxic Handbook.
Denise, how do you plan to use poison in your story?
Well, it’s about my Aunt Ethel from Scotland.
And she’s kind of, you know, round.
She develops this intense hatred for this
gorgeous exercise lady in pink leotards on TV
and decides to poison her disgusting protein drink.
How am I doing?
Well, I’m hooked.
Have you decided about the Police Academy?
Yeah.
It scares Mom, but she says
if it’s what I want, then just go ahead.
Ruth, I get the feeling
that you’re not entirely convinced.
Marrying a cop wasn’t exactly one of my childhood dreams,
Mrs. Fletcher, but, yeah, it’s José’s decision.
Hey, babe, let’s go.
Piece of advice, my friend.
Keep your family out of our business.
Sergeant Davis, isn’t it?
That’s right. Good to see you, Mrs. Fletcher.
José, Ruth, listen, about Raymond Fernandez.
It’s nothing.
I would take him seriously if I were you. He’s a nasty piece of work.
And we know about him, Sergeant,
just like we know about his father.
Maybe if you spent a little less time giving out advice,
and a little more time investigating,
we wouldn’t have to worry about either one of them, now would we?
Well, I can’t really blame him.
Sergeant, what is your reading of the Fernandez verdict?
Off the record, Frank Fernandez
is a bottom feeder who wouldn’t lose
five minute’s sleep over killing Roberto Galvan.
The truth is with what little they had, the DA never should have gone to trial.
The means, motive and opportunity
just weren’t enough.
Not without a corpse or a smoking gun.
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
[speaking Spanish]
Amen.
[congregation] Amen.
Glad to see you.
I just want to tell you that I’m proud of you all.
I know you’re angry, but so far you’re showing
your love for Roberto by sticking together as a family,
not by doing something crazy to get on the wrong side of the law.
They know better than that.
Their father taught them how to fight a different way.
Through the community using the system.
Yeah, and look where it got him.
Tony, your father helped a lot of people around here.
People that don’t have the money or the power to stand up for themselves.
That was his crusade.
And I intend to carry on after him.
How do you mean that?
I’m gonna be running for his seat on the City Council.
Father, that’s great.
Absolutely.
We’ll back you up all the way.
Part of my platform will be to get Fernandez to clean up
his buildings and his act.
Then I got some advice for you, Padre,
you better start watching over your shoulder.
[Raymond] Those numbers aren’t too shabby, are they?
Best cost to earnings ratio we’ve had in three years.
Well, I got to admit.
You got to be doing something right.
There’s nothing you didn’t teach me, Pop.
Well, now that my legal distractions are over,
I’ll be able to spend more time on the company.
What’s the status on the Hudson Street buildings?
All four evictions completed.
The building is safe to put clean up orders on three of them.
Have Delgado get us a restraining order.
Maybe we can get the system to work for us this time.
Have you heard the latest about Father Michael?
You mean about running for Galvan’s seat on the City Council?
After what happened to Roberto, you’d think he’d know better.
Raymond, that’s enough.
Hey, look, all I’m saying is that he may need
more than a crucifix and a string of beads to protect him in the real world.
I don’t ever want to hear that again. Got it?
Yeah, save it for your tenants, okay?
I don’t know, Jessica, I think maybe
I’ve finally bitten off too much.
Well, it never seemed to bother you before.
Yeah, but this is different.
I mean, the church needs a new roof, new plumbing, a new heating system.
I feel like I’m losing the battle to keep our kids off the streets.
What it all comes down to is
I’ve got no business running for office.
Michael, if ever there was someone who was equal
to all of those challenges and more, it’s you and you know it.
Hello, Father. I want to talk to you.
Oh, I was just leaving.
Don’t bother, lady, it’s nothing personal.
I want you to forget about this Borough Council business
for your own good.
I’m touched by your concern,
but it’s a bit late, don’t you think?
I won’t let you destroy what I worked so many years to build.
What? An empire of substandard housing?
Like you, Father, I fill a need,
only mine at least keeps them warm in the winter
and keeps the rain off their heads.
That’s not exactly what I’ve heard.
All right, Michael.
Let me put it to you another way.
There are people who work for me who seriously do not look forward
to your interference.
You understand what I’m saying?
Tell me something, Frank.
This life you’ve chosen,
does it make you feel good about yourself?
I know I should pray for him...
and yet a big part of me doesn’t want to.
Michael, you and Mr. Fernandez,
you’re not exactly total strangers, are you?
No, Jessica, we’re not.
He’s my father.
[Jessica] Michael, how old were you
when you found out that Frank Fernandez was your father?
Ten years old.
But he knew about you.
Oh, yes.
And he never offered to help,
financially or otherwise,
not that she would’ve accepted it.
My mother was-- well, a very determined woman.
She was still in her teens when I was born.
She put herself through college and became a teacher.
I can certainly see where you get your energy from.
She told me about my father just before she died.
She warned me to stay away from him.
She told me it could only hurt me.
He never even acknowledged her death.
When he was talking to you just now, I had the feeling that he hadn’t come
-just to threaten you. -How do you mean?
Oh, for a moment I sensed genuine concern,
maybe even regret.
Perhaps, it’s difficult for me to get past
all our personal baggage.
He’s never even tried to contact me before.
He’s always behaved as if I don’t exist,
as if Raymond, my half-brother, was his only son.
[Maria] That’s right, Carmen, just make a list of all of your complaints
and we’ll present them at the meeting.
Good, I’ll see you there.
Bye.
Oh, Jessica. José said you might be dropping by.
Yes, he told me that the bromeliads have arrived.
Yeah, right here, Mrs. Fletcher.
Oh, they’re lovely.
Some people tried to buy them this morning
and Mrs. Galvan practically threw them out of the store.
Ruth, I didn’t know you were working here.
Mm-hmm, moonlighting while I get my degree.
In botanical science, since her trip to the Caribbean,
we are stocking plants that no one else in New York carries.
Yeah. And she gets to keep her eye on me.
Well, we’ve been busier than ever these last few days.
But I figure it is as much a show of support
as it is a sudden passion for potted plants.
I’m glad to see that José seems to be
taking things in stride.
Are you, Maria?
Oh, I don’t know, Jessica,
before Roberto and I were married,
I didn’t have any trouble making decisions.
But now I feel like I’ve got to relearn how to think for myself all over again.
That I can identify with.
One thing I know for sure.
Roberto isn’t ever coming back
and Frank Fernandez continues to be a slumlord
and make a fortune off people I grew up with.
[Raymond] Look, amigo, next week’s not gonna do it,
you promised me two keys by Friday,
you deliver as scheduled or I take my business elsewhere,
you understand?
What are you doing?
Taking care of business.
Narcotics are not my business.
Hey, lighten up, okay?
Don’t you ever tell me what to do.
Is this the way you repay me?
Selling drugs right out from my home, killing children!
Well, that’s rich. Big time slumlord gives his kid a morality lecture.
You want to see morality, Pop.
Here’s your morality.
You think our deadbeat tenants
are suddenly paying their rent on time? I don’t think so.
But they can always scrape together enough to narrow for a vial of crack.
Well, it stops now. You understand?
You don’t get it, do you, Pop?
You’re in the crack house business with both feet.
So you better learn to live with it.
I should call the police.
Yeah, but you won’t.
[telephone ringing]
Hello.
[Davis] I thought you’d want to know, Mrs. Fletcher.
Roberto Galvan’s body turned up this afternoon.
The old west coves. Flooding last week must have moved it.
Sanitation crew found it.
Is there evidence that he was murdered?
He was shot in the head. Ballistics has the bullet,
they’ll try and do a match from Fernandez’s gun.
It looks like he was killed about the time he disappeared.
Thank you, Sergeant.
But I’m not sure why you called me about this.
I’m--I’m going to see the Galvan family in the morning.
Yes.
Look, I’m kind of concerned about how they’re gonna take this,
especially the boys.
And well, they seemed to listen to you, so I thought that maybe...
I’ll be there, Sergeant.
Eight o’clock.
Hmm.
Come on, Sergeant.
And did the bullet that killed my father come from Fernandez’s gun?
-Ballistics says yes. -Well, then we got him, right?
-I’m afraid not. -What are you talking about?
I’m talking about double jeopardy.
What the hell is that?
[Jessica] It’s part of our constitution, Tony.
I mean, once someone has been tried for a crime
and found to be not guilty.
He can’t be tried again for the same crime,
even if there’s new evidence.
I don’t believe I’m hearing this.
You mean he goes free?
He’s been acquitted, that’s it.
Look, the DA wants Fernandez
as much as you do, as much as I do,
but even if we can prove he’s the shooter, there’s nothing that we can do about it.
Yeah, well, maybe there’s something we can do about it.
Now hold it. You listen to me and you listen good.
Any of you try to even this up,
and I’ll come after you as hard as I’d go after him.
You know, Jessica, it was all my fault.
Maria, this started with Roberto’s murder,
you can’t blame yourself of that.
No, but I’m the one who pushed for the indictment.
I stirred the neighborhood until the District Attorney
had no choice but to go to trial.
If he had waited, Fernandez would have been convicted.
That’s not necessarily true.
Even if he could be brought to trial now,
there’s no guarantee that they could actually prove that he pulled the trigger.
You know it’s ironic, Robert always said to me,
it’s always one person who can make all the difference.
And I certainly did do that, only it was the wrong one.
None of it would have brought him back.
I guess that’s what a lot of it was about, wasn’t it?
No. Come on, Ruth, tell me, what? What’s wrong?
I’m worried about you, that’s what’s wrong.
Tony does all the talking and you don’t say anything.
I know inside you’re all torn up.
What, about my father, Ruth?
That’s not true.
Well, you don’t think I know you so good, know the way you think?
José, if you love me,
please I beg you, just don’t do
anything to get yourself in trouble, okay?
I won’t, Ruth.
Now you got it wrong, okay?
I promise.
Here you go.
-Hey. -Hey, Raymond, what you got, man?
-Manny, let me ask you a question. -Yeah.
Suppose I told you you could have anything you want.
The Galvan brothers?
Now how did I know that?
Man, I thought you’d never ask me.
Come on, Ma. There’s nothing we can do now.
José, it’s not good,
keeping it all bottled up inside like that.
Okay, Ma, I’m angry!
Is that what you want to hear?
But it’s too late.
Mrs. Fletcher is right, the law is the law.
There’s nothing we can do now.
If we do something now,
we are no better than Fernandez, Ma.
Is that what our father taught you?
You’re just gonna sit there and take it?
Look, what I don’t need from you, Rambo, is mouthing off.
Yeah? Well, it’s not all just talk, hermano.
I’ll see you around.
Tony, I don’t want you going out, not like this.
If there was ever a time when I needed my sons around me, it’s now.
Go on upstairs, we’ll have dinner in a few minutes.
-Rambo. Rambo. -Oh, yeah, you’re tough.
Cool it. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.
We just want to talk to your boys, where are they?
I don’t know.
Don’t let her move.
Hey, wait, wait. You sure Mom’s gonna be all right?
Yeah, you heard them, they want us.
Here, put this on, you’re gonna freeze.
Look, I’m gonna go back and I’m gonna make sure that she’s okay.
You stay out of sight
and out of trouble, you understand?
Go on.
They’re gone.
Tell them if they’re smart, they’ll stay gone.
Hold it, Raymond, let me tell you something.
You touch either one of my boys
and I will kill you myself.
-Get busy, Father. -Get off of me.
What are you doing here?
I want you to call off your strong arms.
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
The Galvan brothers made open threats against my father.
We have the right to protect ourselves.
You sent him after them, they’re just boys.
Don’t you read the paper? Even ten-year-olds are packing guns.
Look, hasn’t there been enough killing?
Put it away, Raymond.
Raymond, put it away.
I promise you, there will be no more violence.
Explain yourself.
I was just giving them the fear of God, you got a problem with that?
I mean, either one of them could get crazy enough to take
a shot at you and even if they don’t,
what happens to our honor,
if we let them go around bad mouthing us?
Honor? Where does a drug dealer get off talking about honor?
Get out there and call your hoods off, now!
Before it’s too late.
[telephone ringing]
Church of St. Julian, how can I help you?
[Frank] This is your father.
-I want to come and see you. -Why?
I want to speak to my priest.
I want to confess my sins.
Can I come in an hour?
An hour?
Yes, I’ll be here.
I thought you had gone home.
I was waiting for a phone call.
So you’re gonna really let it all hang out, huh?
I have to make my peace...
with God and with my son.
You think either one of them will forgive you?
They’ll have to decide that for themselves.
Raymond, I gave you everything you ever asked for,
love, money, and what did you give me?
Shame and contempt.
God help me.
Tonight, I finally looked into myself
and I hated what I saw.
Who knows?
Maybe in the few years I have left, I’ll be able to make it up to Michael.
What I’m sure is that I want you out of my sight...
and out of my life.
When you go,
leave your key.
[speaking Spanish]
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
Michael...
forgive me, Michael, for I have sinned.
[speaking Spanish]
Amen.
[door opens]
[door closes]
Michael, I heard about it on the radio.
Are you all right?
He died trying to make his peace with God.
We were gonna meet in the confessional, but I got an emergency sick call.
When I got here, he was dying.
Father Michael,
when were you last in the confessional booth,
the one that your father would have used?
About 7:00 in the evening.
What’s going on?
It was a heart attack, wasn’t it?
Could you give me a minute, Mrs. Fletcher?
Do you remember seeing that stain at 7 p.m.?
No.
We’ll get a sample and send it to the lab.
Thanks, Father.
What was that all about?
I think it’s occurred to Sergeant Davis
that your father may not have died of natural causes.
Mrs. Fletcher.
Tony, no.
Give me that gun.
Look, just stay away from me.
Look, you’re only going to make things much worse.
Maybe, but I need protection.
Listen to me, Frank Fernandez died
45 minutes ago, right here in this church.
He died?
Or was murdered.
How long have you been here?
[Davis] It wasn’t a heart attack that killed Frank Fernandez.
Look, this is off the record for now, but we hit pay dirt with the stain.
Lab managed to isolate traces of a couple of alkaloid poisons
from plants that grow in Jamaica.
Lobel leaf and anasiclia wolffia.
Would you happen to know anything about them?
No, only that in combination they’re lethal.
And inhaled as a vapor,
they quickly paralyze the respiratory system
-and the symptoms resemble a heart attack. -Yeah.
According to the lab guys, they’re virtually untraceable in the body.
Now another thing, both plants can be bought at the Galvan’s store.
Oh, but I’m sure it’s sold in other plant stores.
Sure, but how many of them have two sons and an employee missing?
Ruth Nelson.
Plus, José and Tony.
Now Raymond told us that his old man only made the date with Father Michael
about an hour before he died.
Well, then how could any of them have known
that Frank Fernandez was gonna be there?
Come on, Mrs. Fletcher, they could have had him
staked out and followed him to the church.
Tell me something, was exotic poison
ever one of the topics in your extension class?
Oh, over the past several weeks, yes.
I talked about poisons in general.
Now the lab tells me there are half a dozen books
that cover poison pretty thoroughly.
Did you happen to mention any one book specifically?
Yes, The Toxic Handbook by Milner.
It’s available in the university library.
Thank you very much, Mrs. Fletcher.
I’ll be in touch.
Michael.
I brought you a gift for your church.
$25,000.
In memory of our father.
I can’t accept this.
What are you, crazy?
This could help you save some kids from the streets, for God’s sake.
Raymond, I know where this comes from.
It wouldn’t be right.
You’re making a big mistake, Padre.
Maybe.
So our father dies in your own confessional
and you won’t even accept a tribute to him.
Is this the Christian forgiveness you people are so famous for?
Christian forgiveness? No, it isn’t, Raymond.
But I’m afraid there are some things I can’t forgive.
Fine.
[door closes]
Yeah, over there.
Sergeant Davis.
Could I speak to you for a minute?
Of course, come in, Mrs. Galvan.
Father Michael said that you were looking for Joe and Tony in church today.
That’s right. Have they come home?
No.
He also told me that last night
you thought maybe Fernandez didn’t have a heart attack.
Today, we got proof that he was murdered.
What does that have to do with my sons?
Well, I don’t know yet,
but Tony was seen at the church
just after the murder and José may have had access to--
Excuse me.
I had my people check out a book over at the university library.
A book that Mrs. Fletcher recommended to her mystery writing students.
It’s called The Toxic Handbook
and it describes exactly the kind of poisons that killed Frank Fernandez.
According to this, the only one of her students
whoever signed it out was your son José.
I’m sorry, Mrs. Galvan.
I’m gonna I have to put out an APB.
Well, that won’t be necessary.
That’s what I came here to tell you.
While José had that book at home,
I made some notes from it.
I killed Frank Fernandez.
Jessica, I’m so glad you’re here.
I don’t know what to do.
They picked up José early this morning.
Listen, Maria, what you tried to do was very brave.
But not very smart.
When Sergeant Davis asked me what poisons I had used,
I could only guess and I was wrong.
Well, have you spoken to José?
Yes, he’d been hiding out at a bus barn over in the Bronx.
But he swears he hasn’t been near that church.
Did anyone see him the night of the murder?
Not that he knows of, but he insists
he never checked that book out of the library.
But according to the police, he signed for it, unless...
Excuse me, Maria.
What is it, Jessica?
[librarian] I’ve got the sign out sheet right here, Mrs. Fletcher.
But I thought the students used library cards.
Well, you know these kids.
Sometimes they forget their cards,
so we allow them to sign for the books instead.
Here we go, José Galvan.
That’s what I showed the police.
Do you recall seeing him sign it?
No, not really.
We get hundreds of students a day in here.
Any one of us could have handled this.
But if a student didn’t have a card,
you’d want to check to see that he was registered.
That’s right. Galvan.
There he is.
So he is.
Thank you.
Oh, just one other thing.
Would you happen to know if The Toxic Handbook has been returned?
We’ll know in a minute.
Yes, it has.
May I borrow it?
I have my card.
Jessica.
Ruth has told me something in confidence.
I can’t repeat it, of course,
but I persuaded her to at least speak with you.
Ruth.
I knew it was in him to do something.
And I begged him not to.
He promised.
Mrs. Fletcher, I was in the church the night Frank Fernandez was murdered.
I can’t...
Ruth, whether or not you say any more to me,
the police are certainly going to want to question you.
I mean, you can refuse to cooperate, you can lie, but for how long?
Mrs. Fletcher, I saw everything.
I saw the murder.
And I saw who did it.
It was José.
I don’t believe it. His own fiancée.
Maria, I hate to say this,
but things seem to be going from bad to worse.
Now she admits that she never saw his face.
So why does she think it was José? What do you think?
Well, according to Ruth,
the killer was wearing José’s jacket.
You know, the St. Julian jacket with the "i" missing on the back.
Now I saw Tony wearing that jacket
not long after the murder.
Jessica, are you telling me that you think Tony killed Frank Fernandez?
Oh, of course not.
All I’m trying to say is that it’s unfortunate
that they’re both under suspicion.
Oh, God in heaven.
This is worse than my worst nightmare.
Look, Maria, I don’t-- I don’t want to get your hopes up,
but things may not be as bad as they seem.
Tell me, you carry
the lobel and anasiclia wolffia, don’t you?
The lobel, yeah, it’s there.
And I have the anasiclia over by the fern.
Ruth found exporters for both when she was in Jamaica.
What does that have to do with anything?
Look, is it possible that you could identify someone
who might have purchased it here recently?
No, it’s too inexpensive and common,
we don’t keep records.
Well, what about the other plant stores?
-The same. -[Tony] Ma.
Ma.
I just heard, is it true?
They arrested José?
Tony, I want the truth.
Did you kill Frank Fernandez?
Me? Hell no. I wanted to.
But nobody would sell me any bullets for that stupid gun.
Tony, have you been wearing that jacket all the time?
Yeah, why?
No, forget it, all of you.
Look, I’ve got Ruth’s statement that she saw José.
José cannot account for his whereabouts at the time of death.
He hated Fernandez for killing his father
and he learned all about poisons in your class, Mrs. Fletcher.
The only thing I don’t have, is a confession.
And that’s just a matter of time.
That’s it, Sergeant.
What? What’s it?
Confession.
Sergeant, Frank Fernandez
was poisoned in the confessional,
-but he died outside it, in the church. -Yeah, so?
Yeah, but the newspaper reports said nothing about the confessional.
Yeah, that’s right. We never give all details to the press.
Then it couldn’t have been José that Ruth saw that night.
[Davis] Well, wait a minute.
Sergeant, I think I know who committed the murder.
[Raymond] I’ve got to hand it to you, Sergeant.
You nailed José Galvan in record time.
Now what can I do for you?
Well, Ray, Mrs. Fletcher thinks she’s got an insight or two.
I didn’t think you’d mind if she ran them past you.
Like I said, I think it’s high time
we got this community back together.
-Anyone care for a drink? -No, thank you.
Oh, I think that the community will be celebrating,
Mr. Fernandez, after you’re behind bars for the murder of your father.
Wait a minute, this is some kind of joke, right?
No.
Unfortunately it’s not.
You concocted a rather elaborate plot
to kill your father and frame José Galvan.
Get her out of here.
Put a sock in it, Raymond.
She’s just getting into it.
You relied on two things to frame José.
First, there was the jacket José always wore,
the one with a missing letter.
The second element was my writing class in which José was enrolled.
-You're reaching, Mrs. Fletcher. -Am I?
You knew we’d been researching
various methods of murder,
including the use of deadly exotic poisons,
the kind that are difficult to trace.
And how would I have known that?
By dating one of my students.
Denise Dillard, who was terribly flattered
by your interest in her and her writing
and didn’t realize your sole purpose
was to stay on top of the subjects
that we were covering.
Based on what she told you, you went to the library
and signed out The Toxic Handbook.
But you signed as José Galvan
and that was your first mistake.
I remember that he never used José
-on any of his papers. -Galvan.
[Jessica] Signing his work with the pen name Joseph Galvan.
José had anglicized his name.
That still has nothing to do with me.
It might not have,
except that you pointed the finger at yourself.
The police hadn’t said that your father was poisoned in the confessional.
But when you talked to Michael in the gym, you knew it.
So our father dies in your own confessional
and you won’t even accept a tribute to him?
Only the killer would have been under the impression
that that’s where he died.
And we fished this out of your car trunk,
along with a briefcase full of cocaine.
Hey, man, that’s illegal search and seizure--
Don’t worry, we’ve got a warrant.
The jacket was your second mistake.
It’s a duplicate of José’s down to the missing "i" in "Julian."
You wore it when you murdered your father.
What you couldn’t have known was that that night,
José had given the jacket to his brother Tony.
It’s all-- it’s all circumstantial
and you know it, besides why would I kill my own father?
Because you knew that sooner or later he’d admit
that it was you who had murdered Roberto Galvan.
Hey, hey, you’re one crazy lady, you know that.
You father couldn’t be retried for it,
but his testimony could convict you.
Wait a minute. There is no way that you can prove that I did this.
Yeah, but we don’t have to prove that you killed Galvan.
Forensics found your prints all over The Toxic Handbook.
You’re going down for your father’s murder.
Roberto Galvan found out I was dealing drugs
and came to my house.
Threatened to go to the cops if I didn’t stop.
I went after him to scare him off,
but he started arguing.
That’s why I did it.
With your father’s gun.
Yeah, yeah.
He said he’d protect me, but...
I knew that there were limits.
A man who was willing to spend the rest of his life
in prison just to save your worthless butt.
You’re a hell of a son, Raymond.
[Michael] How’s the press release coming?
It’s all done.
I’ll get it copied.
Since Maria took over as my campaign manager,
things have been going great.
Mom, we need some more envelopes.
You know, there’s one thing that worries me
-about all this, Michael. -What’s that?
Well, when you’re elected, it will make you even less
believable as a fictitious character.