In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups,
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
There's a reason you have an alarm clock. I'll take the subway to school.
Not by yourself, you're not.
Just sign for it right here, ma'am.
Nice day, huh? You don't have a 13-year-old daughter.
This, too, shall pass. Before you know it, you'll be crying at her wedding.
No doubt. Thanks. You bet.
Do we know a Mary Johnson? Who?
Vick name is John Byrne. Just delivered a package to this brownstone.
On the way back to his truck, somebody blew him away.
A robbery? Wallet's still in his pocket, along with the keys to his truck.
Anybody see anything? Woman that lives here called it in.
A Louise Hamilton. That's her up on the stoop.
Okay, get a canvass going on the block. We'll get her statement.
You got it. Thanks, Sarge.
Mrs. Hamilton, what can you tell us?
I was making breakfast for my daughter. I opened the door to sign for the package.
I went back inside, and the next thing I know, I hear gunshots.
Scared me to death.
Did you notice anybody hanging out around here while you were at the door? I wasn't really looking.
Tell them about the package, Mom.
First of all, I don't even know the woman who sent it to me.
Second, the envelope? It was empty.
Somebody had opened it? No, it was sealed.
Where's the envelope now? We're gonna need to take it with us. Sure.
It's right inside.
That's pretty strange. Guy delivers an envelope... there's no letter in it.
Something tells me the message was for him.
Victim was shot twice with a .38-caliber revolver, not recovered.
No eyewitnesses and nothing taken from the truck.
A random shooting? Well, that or a setup.
What makes you think that?
John Byrne worked for RME Express for six years.
He was on his regular route. The package he delivered was empty.
They knew where he'd be and what time he'd be there.
Ed's checking with the company about the package right now.
Have you told him yet?
Ah, I just haven't found the right moment.
So what's it been for you and me, 11 years? Something like that.
That's the longest I was ever with any woman.
Now, that's pitiful.
The sender was listed as a Mary Johnson.
- The return address on the airbill does not exist. - What a surprise.
Did Latent get any prints off the envelope?
Just Byrne's and the recipient. It was sent from one of their retail locations in the city.
So maybe they could track a payment or give us a description of this Mary Johnson.
You don't need an account or a credit card to send an RME package.
Nice to know someplace still takes greenbacks. You don't require I.D. either, right?
Right. So no questions asked.
Nope. Just like the post office.
Except we get it there faster.
Now, maybe you remember this woman... Mary Johnson. That doesn't 't ring a bell offhand
Let me see the tracking number.
Monday. Busiest day of the week.
We had over 400 walk-ins at this location.
Tell you the truth, the only thing I remember is this guy who spilled coffee all over the floor,
And this knock-out blonde... knee-high boots, fishnets.
I should really call her.
She gave you her number?
Got it off her package.
Ah, the male libido knows no bounds.
The dude I used to partner with when I was a rookie?
If he saw a hot girl in a car, he'd run her plates to get her number. That'd go over big with the I.A.B.
Anyway, cash payment, fake address, fake name.
This is sounding more and more like a textbook case of how to set up an RME delivery guy.
When you absolutely, positively have to kill somebody overnight.
It's unbelievable. Just a day like any other.
Then the call comes. Whole world changes.
We're real sorry about your husband, Mrs. Byrne. Thank you.
How long have you been married?
Seven years. Happily?
Very.
Any financial problems or romantic ones?
Romantic? You know, seven-year itch?
No. Just the usual married stuff.
Whose parents we were gonna visit over the holidays.
Nothing serious. Can you think of anybody that would want to hurt your husband?
I can't imagine.
John was the sweetest guy, really.
Everybody loved him.
- John owe anybody any money? - No, of course not.
Uh, just our car payments.
I mean, we weren't exactly on easy street. We both had to work.
You work for RME also? Parks Department.
You work for the city. We know what that's like.
John had to put in a lot of overtime for us to make ends meet.
He worked so hard.
Byrne was a real decent guy.
Everybody liked him, got along good.
As a worker, not the best, not the worst.
You sound like you had some reservations Nothing like that.
Just a tad lazy. You know the type.
Calls in sick when he gets the sniffles, can't wait to punch the clock every afternoon.
Wait a minute. His wife told us he worked his share of overtime.
Overtime? There's no such thing here. You're either on the early shift or the late.
Who was he tight with? I mean, somebody he might have hung out with after work.
Joe Rodriguez. He's out on his route now.
I can get you his 20 if you wanna talk to him.
You get the guy who did this to Johnnie? We're working on it, man.
Do me a favor... when you pick him up, give me five minutes with the son of a bitch.
You two were close, huh? I'm carrying the casket at his funeral.
Me and some of the other drivers.
Maybe you can tell us what he was doing in his spare time after work.
What are you talking about?
We know he was involved in some extracurricular activity that he was keeping a secret from his wife.
Really? News to me. Come on Mr. Rodriguez
If you're serious about helping us find your friend's killer, step up, tell us what you know.
Johnnie always played his personal life pretty close to the vest,
but I know he had a definite thing for one of the girls on his route.
One of the girls on his route?
One of the secretaries where he made a pickup every day You know her name?
Gloria. The Kent Foundation.
And they were getting it on?
Wednesdays and Fridays... whew... Johnnie couldn't wait to get off work.
Can I help you gentlemen? We're looking for Gloria.
Is she here today? Yeah.
Gloria, can you come up here a minute, please?
- What's this about? - It's just routine.
- Yeah? - This is about John Byrne.
- John Byrne? - Delivery guy, RME Express. He's here every day.
Oh, yeah. John. What about him?
He was shot yesterday. He's dead.
Oh, my God.
Could we go somewhere else?
- Where did this happen? - On his route.
From your reaction back there, I guess he was delivering more than packages.
You don't have to be crude about it.
So you were seeing him? For a while.
We'd go to a motel after work a couple of days a week.
We're gonna need the name of the motel. You married?
Yeah. Uh, look, I'm not proud of what I did.
- Where was your husband yesterday morning? - In Atlanta, on business.
And he doesn't know, okay?
Besides, I stopped seeing John two months ago.
Let me guess... the guilt finally won out over the excitement?
Not exactly.
I loved Johnnie, but he was a dog.
I found out he had another girlfriend.
And who would that be? I have no idea.
But I know that the scratch marks on his back weren't mine,
and from the way Johnnie talked about his wife,
I know they weren't hers.
I turn the same room around four, five times a day. How am I supposed to remember anybody?
This guy was probably a frequent flyer. No, I don't recognize him.
And I don't suppose you require I.D. to check in, huh?
Does this look like the Plaza?
Okay, your security cameras on the landings... do they work?
My rooms might be inexpensive, but I run a safe establishment.
Do you keep the tapes? Ninety days.
I want to thank you guys for all the cool videos.
Hey, anything interesting? There's a couple of things so far.
There's our boy John Byrne. Dog!
Can we go in tighter on that?
- Can we print that? - Wait. Here's where it gets exciting.
Nine minutes later...
Nine minutes? These young guys have no staying power.
On, look at the happy couple.
Can you freeze on where she's kicking him?
Yeah, back it up.
Now, how close can you get on her shoes?
What's the big deal with the shoes?
Those are Dada Vipers. They're limited-edition sneakers.
The only place you can get them here is on Amsterdam in the 70s.
Now I know where all your overtime goes.
We have an exclusive deal with Dada.
There was a line around the block when the Vipers came in.
We sold out of those puppies in a day.
You recognize her? Yeah, that's Blair. Boy, she looks pissed!
She one of your customers? She works here. She's in the back.
Yo, Blair. Uh, was Blair working here Tuesday morning?
We don't open till noon.
What?
We need to talk to you about your kicks.
You want to talk about my shoes? We want to talk about who you were kicking with them.
I don't know what you mean. John Byrne.
You know, the dude that you were wrestling with at the Twilight Motel.
What'd he say about me? He didn't say no thing. He's dead.
What? Dead? How?
Somebody shot him. So what was the melodrama about at the motel?
How do you know so much about this?
That bitch follow us?
What bitch? His wife.
Whoa, wait a minute. His wife knew about the two of you?
What do you think me and Johnnie were fighting about? Why don't you tell us?
Adele called my house. She was off her freaking rails.
I told Johnnie about it that day at the motel...
that I wasn't gonna keep doing him if that psycho ever contacted me again.
That charming little story leads me to ask, where were you Tuesday morning?
- I was getting a bikini wax. - Okay.
So she called you. What'd she say?
She said I'd better stay away from her husband.
And if I didn't, she was gonna do something about it.
The shoe salesgirl copped to sleeping with Byrne, but we had to cut her loose.
Her alibi panned out? In a manner of speaking.
Turned out she was getting a bikini wax. It was something called a Sphinx.
Don't ask. I wish I hadn't.
The upshot is Byrne's wife lied to us about the state of her marriage.
- Said it was all hearts and flowers. - Which moves her up to the top of your list.
Number one, with a bullet.
Don't bring her in just yet. Soft-sell it, see if you can lock her into a story.
I'm sure there are more lies where the first one came from.
Mrs. Byrne!
Are you making any progress, Detectives?
- It's still early, but we got some leads we're working on. - A suspect?
A pretty good candidate. Really? Who?
- On, your husband know a woman named Blair? - No.
Is she somebody John worked with?
Somebody he knew. Is she your suspect?
Well, it's a little too soon to tell.
- You said you were working the day your husband was shot? - That's right.
Where were you exactly?
Doing grounds maintenance here in Riverside Park, around 81 st Street. Why?
- That's where you were when you got the call about your husband? - My supervisor came and found me.
We're gonna need his name so we can verify that.
Do you mind if I ask why?
Our lieutenant's a stickler for paperwork.
By the way, do either you or your husband own a gun?
No.
I guess that about covers everything for now. We may need to talk to you again.
You think of anything else, you give us a call, all right?
Adele was definitely at work the day her husband got shot. I remember that.
Where was she around 10:00 that morning?
Working on one of the ball fields up here by the boat basin.
I got a call that the cops wanted to talk to her,
rode up there, brought her back to the office.
- How'd she take it? - How do you think? Pretty damn hard. Wouldn't stop crying.
Was anybody working with her at the ball field?
No. The way it works is my crew fans out in the morning.
They each do their assignments, and then they move on to the next one.
If somebody wanted to play hooky for an hour or two, there's nobody watching the classroom.
I suppose, but Adele's Miss Dependable.
Besides, earlier that morning, about 8:30, 8:45,
I cruised by the field she was working on with a new valve for one of the water fountains.
I saw her out there, grooming the infield.
Okay. Thanks, man.
If she did it herself, she'd have had to be on a pretty tight timetable.
Tight, but not impossible. Or maybe she found somebody that had a more flexible schedule.
What, a hired hit? Let's check her financials.
These people led the all-American life.
Two paychecks every two weeks, rent payments, utilities.
No two and a half kids and a dog.
- They didn't need a dog. The husband was one. - I can't wait till you get married.
Seeing as how we answer each other's phones, you'll probably find out about that before I will.
There is nothing unusual in these bank statements. Yeah.
There's not much in the Byrnes' credit card records either.
She eats three times a week at Gardner's Café.
He goes bowling every Sunday...
and buys his underwear from a sporting goods catalogue.
Wait a second.
Gas station charges on her account up and down I-91, three days apart.
Could have been visiting friends. Or making a down payment on a hit man.
There's a $500 cash advance from a private A.T.M. in Bennington, Vermont.
Be nice to find out to who, what and where.
Vermont's a four-hour drive. Not if we go lights and sirens.
You sure this is the right place? 50 West Main Street.
Home of Murray's World of Guns.
Of all the A.T.M.'s in the world, she picks one in a gun shop.
Let's see what 500 bucks buys in Vermont.
Her name is Adele Byrne. She came up here from New York. She used your A.T.M. a few months ago.
A lot of people drop in just to use the cash machine.
I don't pay much attention.
Well, start focusing. Her husband was shot.
I couldn't sell to a New York resident even if I wanted to.
Vermont law.
Then you don't mind if we take a look at your sales records for that day?
You guys got a warrant? No.
But we can get one. Ed, where do you think the A.T. F. regional office is around here?
See, Murray, it's not us you have to worry about.
An illegal gun sale could get you a federal charge.
What day was this?
March 17.
I sold a Smith & Wesson .38 to myself.
As a cutout for her? Yeah.
I wouldn't do something like this if she had a record, you know?
I told her I'd buy the gun in my name,
but she still had to wait a couple of days till I did a background check.
A lot of good that did.
Can you give us the serial number for that gun, please?
This is ridiculous. It's the middle of the night.
Funny. That's the same thing the judge said.
I don't know what you think you're gonna find. How 'bout the gun you bought in Vermont?
Why didn't you just ask? It's not here.
Don't be insulted if we don't take your word for that.
Lennie, the place is clean. You told us you didn't own a gun.
I don't. The gun I bought was stolen.
Somebody grabbed my handbag. I reported it to the police.
She filed a report with the 1-8 a month before her husband was shot.
She said a kid came out of nowhere, snatched her purse and took off.
She didn't say anything about a gun being in it.
Yeah, and just by coincidence, there were no witnesses to this event.
It doesn't mean it didn't happen.
You also said she was working the day of the shooting.
Yeah, and her work is roaming around Riverside Park by herself all day blowing leaves.
Riverside Park.
If she ducks out to take care of business, you know where she ditches the gun.
The Hudson River.
Underwater metal detectors.
Back when I got my gold shield, there weren't even such things as fax machines or cell phones...
or even computers.
Did everything with your own two eyes. Checked ballistics, fingerprints.
And a microscope like we used to have in junior high chemistry class.
Think I've stayed on this job just to see what comes next.
I hear we're getting blackberries next year.
Yeah, next year.
What is up with you?
I'm putting in my papers, Ed.
What? It's time.
Wha... Really? What are you gonna do?
I don't know. Play golf, shoot pool, lay around in the sun.
If I get bored, maybe I'll try the D.A.'s office,
pick up an investigation here and there.
Ahh.
Damn, Lennie, you...
Hey!
Same serial number as the one she bought in Vermont.
Three spent shells. Wow.
She hit him two out of three. Not bad for an amateur.
Adele Byrne. You're under arrest for the murder of john Byrne.
What the hell is going on? She'll take this to go.
Just because my husband slept with somebody doesn't mean I would kill him.
"Slept with somebody” doesn't 't do it justice.
Your husband had sexual narcolepsy. He kept falling into bed.
You found out what he was up to; then you took that little road trip to Vermont to buy that gun?
- I bought that gun because I didn't feel safe. - So why did you buy it illegally?
The same reason anybody does. An ordinary person can't get a gun permit in this city.
What about the spent shells in the cylinder?
I don't know who used the gun.
Probably the kid who stole my purse. It wasn't me.
You lied to us about your marriage. You didn't tell us about your husband's affairs.
Because I knew you'd bring me down here and accuse me of this.
And you lied about the gun. You asked me if I had a gun. I told you I didn't.
Right. It was stolen by some mystery punk, so you could cover your ass.
You know something? I don't want to say anything else until I talk to a lawyer.
The woman's got an answer for everything.
Well, there's one thing she won't be able to squirm out of...
ballistics.
The police spoke to Adele Byrne's supervisor.
She was at work the day of the murder. All morning?
He thinks so. It's not ironclad.
She may have had a window to slip away unnoticed.
And wait for her husband to deliver the phony package.
What about the gun the cops fished out of the river? It's hers.
She made a special trip out of state to get it through a straw buyer.
And the motive evidence is solid.
It's the oldest one in the book... a cheating spouse.
She denied knowing anything about it to the police,
but the girlfriend says that Adele threatened her and Adele's cell phone records show several calls.
More than enough to charge her.
Southerlyn.
I'll be right there.
Ballistics. This should sew it up.
We got a problem. I don't understand. It's her gun.
Okay. Now, here's the Smith & Wesson .38 you gave me.
It couldn't have been in the river more than a couple days at most. It's still operative.
This is a bullet I test-fired from it.
Five lands and grooves with a right twist. Standard on a Smith &Wesson.
And this is one of the bullets taken from John Byrne's chest, also five right.
So it's our murder weapon. Look at the striations.
They don't match.
Which means this gun wasn't used to kill Mr. Byrne.
Are you 100% sure? Look, striations don't lie, Ms. Southerlyn.
Odds are the murder weapon was a Smith & Wesson .38.
Just not this one. Right.
You have your doubts now? Don't you? Adele Byrne's got a solid alibi.
Her gun isn't the murder weapon. Maybe she got another .38 we ain't found yet.
Why would she travel out of state to buy a gun if she already had one?
Three spent shells in the cylinder. Somebody fired at something.
Or someone.
Any other shootings in that part of town recently? We'll check it out.
Later.
Hey. Ed Pachuco. He just got transferred to Manhattan South. He should be able to hook us up.
You mind running that one down by yourself?
I got some paperwork at One P.P I gotta take care of. Don't worry about it. I got it.
Sorry to duck out on you. Don't even worry about it, man. Go and do what you gotta do.
We've got drawers full of open cases. Depends on how far back you wanna go.
The gun we're looking at was purchased three months ago.
That should narrow it down.
All right, here we go.
This guy was capped during a drive-by.
Gunned down with a Tech-9. Dealer named Ramon Padilla. That's not it.
A 33-year-old black male shot three times while jogging in Central Park.
What'd the shooter use? A .38 revolver.
Vic's name is Randall Gardner.
Gardner. Gardner. You know anything about him?
He was loaded. He was into real estate.
His wife runs some kind of high-end coffee shop as a hobby.
Yeah. Gardner's Café. Right.
You look at her? The first thing we thought of.
But she was alibied real tight, and we could not make it a for-hire.
Let me get a look at the ballistics.
So, you familiar with this Belinda Gardner?
Yeah. We arrested our suspect in her coffee shop.
I'll fill you in, but I gotta give the D.A. a heads-up.
My husband and I left together that morning.
I went to my yoga class Randall went running in Central Park.
When I came back home, the police were waiting for me. It was awful.
Did he run the same time every morning? That's right.
I already told all of this to the police, Ms. Southerlyn. Three or four times, in fact.
There was a woman who was arrested at your café.
Adele Byrne.
Did you know her very well?
Not outside the cafe. She's a regular customer.
We chat.
She lost her husband too. Yes.
I gather the police think she might have had something to do with his death.
He was shot the same week that your husband was.
I know. Quite a bizarre coincidence.
Turns out her husband was having an affair.
What are you implying?
Just wondering if that might be another thing that you share with Ms. Byrne.
My husband was absolutely faithful to me, Ms. Southerlyn.
Neither of us ever strayed. We took our vows quite seriously.
Adele Byrne and Belinda Gardner knew each other from Gardner's Cafe.
Their husbands were shot four days apart.
I take it you think this can't be a coincidence.
By itself, maybe.
Adele Byrne's gun wasn't the one that killed her husband.
I had Ballistics run the slug that killed Randall Gardner.
That slug is a dead-on match. It definitely came from Adele Byrne's gun.
So Adele Byrne killed Randall Gardner.
A man she didn't know and had absolutely no occasion to cross paths with.
I'll bet you all a steak dinner that Belinda Gardner killed John Byrne.
Two women who don't know each other meet in a cafe and agree to kill each other's husbands.
It's something out of Alfred Hitchcock.
We know Adele's Byrne's motive... she caught her husband cheating on her.
Why did Belinda Gardner want Mr. Gardner dead?
That's the part we haven't figured out yet.
Randall bought me this place when he flipped the building.
It's pretty cool, right?
Your brother must have been a very generous man. He was the best.
Trying to make it as a painter, but I've sold, like, three pieces.
If it wasn't for Randall, I'd be living in a rented room somewhere in bridge-and-tunnel land.
Oh, and studio space? Yeah. Forget it.
Was he as generous with his wife?
Belinda?
Depends on who you ask.
Doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.
I'm sorry. I just never really liked that woman.
She married Randall for his money.
- How can you be so sure? - She met him in Vegas at a real estate developers' conference.
Happy coincidence?
Well, if you ask me, she targeted him.
For her it wasn't a marriage so much as it was a business transaction.
Do you think she was unfaithful?
She liked my brother's money too much. She wouldn't 't risk getting prenuppeed in a divorce.
She's one of those women whose real profession is shopping.
Clothing, jewelry?
And when she wasn't buying $800 sandals,
it was massages, facials, fancy spas.
How did she manage that regimen and her cafe at the same time?
Randall bought her that place to keep her out of Bendel's.
When that didn't work, he got fed up and put her on an allowance too.
Really put a crimp in her lifestyle.
She's gonna walk away with a big chunk of his estate now.
I'm sure you told all of this to the police who investigated your brother's murder.
Believe me, I did.
But she had an ironclad alibi. Sol guess the bitch just got lucky.
I talked to Randall Gardner's T&E lawyer.
Belinda stands to inherit half of his estate. Which is how much?
Her share comes to $13 million after taxes.
Okay, but it's not like she was cutting coupons while Gardner was alive.
Despite his best efforts. He was trying to keep her on a short leash financially.
So Belinda wanted off the leash, and Adele Byrne wanted to punish her cheating spouse.
They solved each other's problems.
Quid pro quo.
It's a pretty ingenious plan. I'll be damned if they're gonna get away with it.
Pick her up.
Jack, why drag me down here if you're convinced Adele didn't kill her husband?
That doesn't mean we're not gonna prosecute her.
She cut a few corners to buy her gun. Okay, we surrender. What's the fine? You take credit cards, right?
We're charging your client with the murder of Randall Gardner.
I didn't even know Randall Gardner.
Why would Adele murder a man she doesn't know?
She conspired with Belinda Gardner.
They murdered each other's husbands.
The slugs in Mr. Gardner came from your client's .38.
I've never even met the man. I don't know anyone named John Byrne.
His wife is a regular customer of yours.
And that's a crime?
You don't have a murder weapon, and you have absolutely no forensics.
For the last time, that gun was stolen from me.
You have absolutely no proof she's the shooter.
Our motion to dismiss will be on your desk end of business.
This is a house of cards, Your Honor.
The prosecution against Adele Byrne is predicated on the one against Mrs. Gardner.
And the prosecution against Mrs. Gardner is meaningless without Mrs. Byrne.
You seem to have a catch-22, Mr. McCoy.
You can't prove one murder without proving the other first.
But we can prove them both at the same time.
C.P.L. 200.40 permits joinder of defendants where there's evidence of a common scheme.
Two murders, one trial.
You can't consolidate two cases that couldn't have been brought individually.
We can if we add a conspiracy count to both indictments.
Where's the criminal agreement, Mr. McCoy? Where's your proof?
He has none. It's all speculation.
- You're gonna dismiss two murders? - Who said anything about dismissing?
Apart from the defense lawyers, I mean.
If Mr. McCoy thinks he can prove one murder independent of the other, I'm more than willing to let him try.
Separate trials.
- Your Honor... - Let the games begin.
Can you convict 'em if you try each woman separately?
I can prove Adele Byrne shot Randall Gardner.
You can prove somebody used her gun to shoot him.
The bigger problem is the gun that Belinda Gardner used to shoot John Byrne.
You don't have it.
Because she did a better job ditching it.
Which is why I'll try Mrs. Gardner last.
That case will go a lot easier after Adele Byrne gets convicted.
What if she gets acquitted? Have you thought about that?
I mean, if you lose there's not a jury in the world that'll convict Belinda Gardner.
You think I'm putting all my eggs in one basket.
Consecutive trials make the first one an all-or-nothing shot.
So why not try them simultaneously?
Just explain to me how I can be in two courtrooms at once.
Keep it as simple as you can.
Adele Byrne's bullets ended up in Randall Gardner.
What about you? At least I have a murder weapon. I have motive and opportunity.
The circumstances speak for themselves.
Did you notice an Arnold Barker on their witness list?
The director of the Kent Foundation. Why is he on their list?
That's where John Byrne's girlfriend worked.
Belinda Gardner's lawyer's gonna make an issue out of John Byrne's infidelities.
Create reasonable doubt?
When all else fails, blame the other woman.
Do you recognize what's been previously introduced as People's six, Mr. Gundrozach?
Yeah, that's the gun I sold. A Smith & Wesson .38.
Is the person you sold the gun to in the courtroom today?
She's sitting right there.
Let the record reflect the witness is indicating the defendant, Adele Byrne.
Do you have sales records reflecting this transaction?
Kind of. My records show that I sold a gun... to myself.
Why did you do that?
She really didn't want to buy it under her own name,
so I bought it for her.
Did you recommend this model to her?
She came in asking for that particular gun.
S&W .38.
She was real specific.
Initially, we suspected the victim's wife, Adele,
because she purchased the Smith & Wesson .38 in Vermont.
But you didn't charge her with Mr. Byrne's murder.
Our ballistics established that her gun didn't match.
It did, however, match the bullet found in Randall Gardner.
The husband of the defendant.
How did this change your theory about John Byrne's murder?
Well, we considered the possibility that the two wives killed each other's husbands.
What connection, if any, were you able to establish between the defendant and Adele Byrne to support that?
Well, one thing is,
Mrs. Byrne goes to the defendant's café three times a week.
The other thing is, the defendant's husband was killed the same week as Mr. Byrne.
- How? - He was shot.
Also with a .38.
So, Detective, by your logic,
since I also frequent Gardner's Cafe,
if my wife turns up dead I can expect a visit from the police.
You can if you purchased a murder weapon.
Well, did you find the gun...
that you allege my client used to kill John Byrne?
No.
Oh, so, in other words, the only evidence that you have against my client...
is that Adele Byrne bought a gun,
a person who is not on trial in this courtroom.
Tell me, Detective,
um, did Mrs. Byrne offer an explanation for that purchase?
She said she bought it for protection.
There's been a lot of stuff in the papers lately about home invasions, rapes.
John worked late a lot. I was home alone. I was scared.
Had you ever fired a gun before? No.
And I still haven't. The gun was stolen a few weeks after I got it. I reported it to the police.
The prosecution contends you used it to shoot Randall Gardner
I never even met the man. And Belinda Gardner?
Sure, I... I went into her café.
But the only time I ever talked to her was to order coffee.
Mrs. Byrne, did you conspire with her to kill each other's husbands?
Absolutely not.
And where were you at the time Randall Gardner was shot?
I was at work in Riverside Park.
Where the police found the murder weapon?
It's a big public park, Ms. Southerlyn.
So it's just a coincidence that Randall Gardner was killed with your gun.
It's a violent city. That's why I bought the gun in the first place.
The gun that you claim was stolen. It was.
I filed a report with the police.
Yeah, you covered all of your bases. Objection!
I don't know what you're talking about.
There's nothing in that report about a gun. You reported that your purse was stolen. Why didn't you mention the gun?
I didn't want to admit that I'd bought a gun illegally.
So that's one felony you admit to lying about.
Does it get easier the second time around? Objection!
Sustained.
Manners, Ms. Southerlyn.
Actually, that's not the only lie you told, was it?
You also told the police that you didn't know your husband was being unfaithful to you.
I didn't think John's infidelities had anything to do with his murder.
Except to give you a motive to kill him.
Your Honor!
Do you know a woman named Gloria Regelson, Mr. Barker?
She's a secretary who works with me at the Kent Foundation.
And, um, what was her relationship with the victim, John Byrne?
John delivered packages to our office on a daily basis.
I've since learned that Gloria was having a romantic relationship with him.
Did you ever see them together, Mr. Barker?
I saw them leaving the building together once.
I didn't think much of it at the time, but in retrospect they were acting... rather friendly.
Ah. I, um, want to direct your attention, Mr. Barker, to April 20.
That's the day after the victim in this case was murdered
Anything unusual happen at the Kent Foundation?
A member of our custodial staff came to me...
and reported that he'd found a gun in a trash can.
It had been stuffed in the bottom of the can, wrapped in a brown paper bag.
Did Gloria Regelson have access to this trash can?
- Of course. - I see. What, if anything, did you do with this gun, Mr. Barker?
The only thing I could think to do. I reported it to the police, and they took it.
Your Honor, at this time the defense moves to compel the People to produce the gun...
seized by the N.Y.P.D. at the Kent Foundation.
- Defense hasn't established relevance. - A simple ballistics test will do that.
However, since I do not have access to the gun and the police do...
The People will see to it that the gun found at the Kent Foundation's offices...
will be produced for ballistics testing.
So, where the hell is this gun? We were able to locate the gun at the property clerk's office.
A .38 Smith & Wesson.
Great. What'd the ballistics test show?
Just what the defense wanted.
The gun found at the Kent Foundation was used to shoot John Byrne.
- Can we tie it to Belinda Gardner? - Believe me, I tried.
The trash can where the gun was found...
was in an area open to the public that got a lot of foot traffic.
So Belinda Gardner could have planted the gun.
If only I could prove it. None of the staff remembers seeing her.
I'm sure the gun's untraceable.
The serial number was filed off Probably bought on the street.
You gotta give these girls credit for one thing... they sure weren't standing behind the door when the good Lord handed out the brains.
Gloria Regelson is the perfect patsy.
She had an affair with Byrne, and now the murder weapon turns up at her workplace.
A fact that I'm sure you'll address on cross. For all the good it'll do.
I hope your trial's going better.
It'd be hard for it not to.
How about a continuance to buy yourself time to prove that Belinda Gardner planted the gun?
They don't grant continuances just because you're getting your butt kicked.
It's time for both of you to face the music.
Mr. Foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?
Yes, we have, Your Honor.
We find the defendant, Adele Byrne, guilty...
of second degree murder.
- Has the jury reached a verdict? - We have, Your Honor
In the matter of the People v. Belinda Gardner,
we find the defendant not guilty on all counts.
I suppose you're about to say the glass is half full.
You knew it was gonna be a tough case from the start, Jack. Don't count me out yet.
I've still got one more at-bat.
The ink on the verdict is barely dry and here you are gloating.
We're not here for that. This isn't quite over yet.
You're damn right it isn't. I've informed Adele she has numerous grounds for appeal.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a single one.
The only hope your client has is leniency at sentencing.
Belinda Gardner, on the other hand, is celebrating at the Four Seasons.
We're not conceding any relationship with Mrs. Gardner.
Too bad.
I was hoping to get a question answered.
Specifically, how'd they choose Belinda Gardner's gun as the one to plant at the Kent Foundation...
when they could just as easily have planted Adele's?
How'd that work, Ms. Byrne?
Belinda Gardner gets the patsy, while the working girl gets 25-to-life?
Does that seem fair to you?
I suppose...
you can always take your chances on appeal.
What do you want to know, Mr. McCoy?
Your Honor, this is outrageous. Double jeopardy protects my client from further prosecution.
Jeopardy only attached as to John Byrne's murder.
We're indicting Mrs. Gardner for the murder of her husband.
Which is even more ridiculous, considering Belinda Gardner didn't murder her husband
A jury just concluded Adele Byrne did.
Mrs. Gardner didn't have to pull the trigger.
In fact, we're going to up the ante. We're charging her with murder, first-degree.
Oh, this should be good In fact, it'd better be.
First-degree murder includes murder-for-hire...
and applies to both the shooter and the contracting party.
Where the murder is for, and I quote, “pecuniary gain," which means money.
Or did the laws change while I was asleep?
People v. American Motor Club, and I quote:
“The benefit of pecuniary value need not be money. It includes any service with monetary value
Oh, so murder-for-hire is a service? Is that what you think?
No. I've prosecuted enough hit men. I know for certain.
And there is no requirement the service be legal.
Contract killings in exchange for drugs, for example.
I have to agree. Motion granted.
They've got you, Mr. Solomon.
When Adele Byrne comes up for sentencing, we're recommending 20-to-life.
What's good for the goose.
Sure beats life without parole.
Fine.
Twelve people still acquitted me.
Yeah.
That's gotta burn.
Once that guilty verdict came in...
Belinda Gardner had to know that Adele Byrne was gonna give her up.
That was the fatal flaw in their whole scheme... they were strangers.
Well, it's nice to go out on a win.
Lieu.