NARRATOR: 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.
BOY: Steven Leder takes the subway.
Steven Leder didn't move to New York six months ago.
Nobody else gets walked to school.
That's not true.
I know for a fact Stacy Lake gets walked to school by her mom.
(SIGHS) Stacy Lake is a girl.
So is her mom.
(BELL RINGING)
What's the matter?
It's sticky.
Let me see.
Wait right here.
What is it? I want you to go on in.
You're not gonna walk me in?
Do as I say. Right now!
Kid and his father found him this morning.
Do we know who he is?
No wallet. No ID.
Took a slug to the chest, near the neck, close range.
Looks like a second bullet grazed him.
ED: Stickup gone bad.
Well, let's set up a 100-foot perimeter.
Maybe we'll get lucky with ballistics.
There's a lot of this red dust on his clothes.
CSU OFFICER: Probably from this wall over here.
The school just finished sandblasting the facade.
ED: There's a key on the end of this chain.
BRISCOE: Don't suppose his address is on it?
CSU OFFICER: Make it easy, wouldn't it?
He looks too young to be a teacher.
Headmistress was at a board meeting this morning.
She's on her way.
Headmistress?
As schools go, Wilshire is the Ritz.
Yeah, well, somebody better tell 'em they just lost their four-star rating.
He's not from the school. Not a parent either, as far as we know.
So, how would he get on the school grounds?
Gate's closed around 5:00,
but the nighttime custodian keeps the side door open until just after 8:00.
Paul Miller, Justin Menkies. Your homeroom teacher's waiting.
Any discipline problems we should know about?
If there's any problem in this neighborhood,
I can assure you it's not at Wilshire.
Meaning?
Meaning we've had trouble since the city opened that residence around the corner.
A homeless shelter?
A transitional center for recovering substance abusers.
We had a teacher mugged not two months ago.
Maybe somebody had another relapse.
Every time somebody trips in this neighborhood
we get a visit from you guys.
We heard that one of your residents
got popped for robbing a teacher a couple of months ago.
How come nobody runs for cover
when they see our guys picking litter off the ground?
Maybe because people don't know who they really are.
How about last night? Anybody from the center out and about?
Curfew's 8:00.
So, you do a bed check? What?
It's not a correctional facility, Detective.
ED: Meaning what?
We work on the honor system.
We're gonna need a list of all your residents.
We're already into it, Chief. That's right.
Thank you.
Well, it seems that concerned parents
at the Wilshire School carry some weight.
Anything turn up at that shelter?
Transitional residence.
Almost all of their guys have sheets. Mostly drug related.
Well, I guess their concerns are justified.
The director swears they were all in for the evening.
What about the M.E.'s findings?
Kid was shot with a .38.
Alcohol level over the limit.
Ed, got that forensics report.
They might be able to lift a set of partials from that pack of smokes.
Also, may have gotten something on your key.
Not just a house key Detective. A Medeco.
Yeah, it's a good lock. So?
Every one of them is cut differently.
Some even require ID cards to replace.
See this stamp?
Means it's part of a master key system.
So, there's gotta be thousands of those floating around.
Yeah, but this one's a real granddaddy.
So, you're saying we can actually trace this back to its owner?
Maybe halfway.
I called Medeco. They say the key was part of a shipment
to Fields Hardware back in '72.
Here's a faxed copy of the order slip.
Look, can we make this quick?
I'm 30 yards short on a concrete pour.
Okay, we're just trying to track down a set of locks
you guys purchased through Fields Hardware.
Fields? Uh-huh.
My old man did business with them.
They've been out of business probably 20 years.
Yeah, we know. But we traced this order for some locks to you guys.
Look, the last time I cooperated with you guys,
I got 17 union violations.
Hey, we're not interested in who's buried in the meadowlands, Mr. Panero.
(SIGHS)
.72?
My old man ran the business then.
An order this small would have been for a residential building.
We put up a bunch of post-wars around that time. Mostly near Union Square.
Could have belonged to any one of 100 apartments here.
And that's just in this building.
You know, there's four others just like it in this neighborhood.
All of them use Medecos.
Yeah, we know. We've been.
Hey: Hmm?
You recognize this kid?
I can't say I do. I recognize the T-shirt.
ED: The T-shirt? The logo.
A few years ago, a theater group threw a benefit.
I helped them put up some posters. It looked just like that.
What's that lady's name, the one who runs it?
The one who lives down the block on Gramercy Square?
Mrs. Dubow? That's the one. Yeah.
They're called Booth Scholarships,
so underprivileged kids can study theater.
Edwin Booth. Greatest American actor of his day.
His brother killed Abraham Lincoln.
John Wilkes.
Never the actor Edwin was.
Yeah, but a better shot.
Is this kid one of the scholarship winners?
My God. That's Peter and Johanna Wilder's boy, Scott.
Peter Wilder, the real estate developer?
What happened to him?
You say Scott's body was found in the school yard?
ED: That's right.
Maybe he was coming home.
Scott attended school at Wilshire when he was younger.
The truth is, we haven't seen our son in some time.
This was him the day he graduated.
Good-looking kid.
(SIGHS) Why is it you haven't been in contact with him?
Scott dropped out of college a few years ago,
refused to take any real job.
He was having a hard time finding himself.
My wife liked to make excuses for our son,
but it was pretty obvious that by continuing to support him,
we were just preventing him from growing up.
So you stopped?
I don't know if either of you ever had a child
make decisions you knew were destructive.
It was the hardest thing lever had to do,
to tell him he couldn't stay with us.
It was almost two years ago.
Do you have any idea what Scott did to support himself?
The last time I spoke to him, he was working at a bike shop.
A place on Canal and Sixth.
I gave him this key the day he left.
I told him, no matter what, no matter what was happening in his life,
he could always use it to come home.
(SOBBING)
Scott? No, Scott hasn't been by in over a month.
Why? Something happen?
No, he just didn't show.
The way it worked was, he'd come by mostly weekends,
re-valve a few shocks, straighten out a few derailers.
I gave him cash all the time,
depending upon how many bikes he did, but it wasn't a regular thing.
Do you have a number for him, some place you could call?
I think he lived with a girlfriend, but I never got a number.
What about these guys back there? Anybody friendly with him?
Maybe, check it out.
So you don't even know his girlfriend's name?
No, man, we just worked together sometimes.
So the subject of chicks never came up?
Yo, man, if he's getting buck, you know, why am I gonna want her number?
This guy's like a real gentleman.
Yeah, his piece, right?
Besides, Scott was real personal.
I don't think he'd even like me talking about it.
I don't think he'd mind too much now.
Oh, yeah?
ED: Scott's dead, Adam.
So if you do know who he was hooked up with,
we'd appreciate it if you told us.
Her name is Karen.
I don't know where she lives, but I know where she might work.
How? How'd it happen?
BRISCOE: He got shot.
You don't seem too surprised.
I knew something like this could happen.
Now why would you think that?
When I first met Scott, he was a mess.
His dad kicked him out of his house, did you know that?
From what we heard, Scott was pretty much responsible for his own problems.
Scott did things to get back at his father.
ED: What kind of things?
He used drugs, sold drugs.
Scott thought his father was this big fake.
A guy who pretended to be a big family man, a big charity giver,
but would just never deal with his own son.
So, by destroying his own life, he gets even with his father.
Sounds like a great plan.
I thought Scott finally got it, was ready to move on.
ED: But?
(SIGHS) A few weeks ago, I come home and find some money in a drawer.
$1,000.
Did you ask him where he got it?
He wouldn't tell me.
Sol used the money to pay the rent, and told him to leave.
Sounds like you did the right thing.
Where did he go?
I don't know.
(CELL PHONE RINGS) Excuse me. Green.
What about other people Scott worked with?
No, I mean, way back, there was this one guy, Richie, but since then...
Richie have a last name?
We never met.
ED: Yeah, thanks.
Lennie, that was Forensics.
They got a match on the partials from the pack of cigarettes.
Okay.
If we have any other questions, we'll be in touch.
Do his parents know?
Yeah.
Did they even care?
ED: Greg Carter? GREG: Yeah?
You wanna stop sweeping. We'd like a word with you.
What's this about? You recognize this guy?
No. His body turned up at that school over there.
Yeah, well, I wouldn't know anything about that.
Well, what about your prints being on a pack of cigarettes we found in his pocket.
What do you know about that? You smoke, Greg?
What happened, Greg? You get a little craving?
You need a little money for something?
Sure, robbery gone bad. Happens all the time.
My problem's with the bottle, man. I don't touch that other stuff.
ED: (SIGHS) Tell us what you did with the gun.
I told you, kid gave me a cigarette. I didn't have any gun.
BRISCOE: What time was that?
(SIGHS) Look, I'm out after curfew, I could lose my room.
You could lose a whole lot more than that if you don't tell us the truth.
Look, I tell you what I saw, you'll make it right for me? I mean, at the program?
You'll have to make this right on your own, Greg.
I was having a hard time that night.
It gets like that for me sometimes.
I had to get out, you know?
Anyway, I see this kid out by the school having a smoke,
so I stopped and asked him for one.
I hope for your sake that's not the end of the story.
No, no. I went into this little store across the street, right? Bought a soda.
When I come out, I see this kid arguing with somebody.
Okay. What did this somebody look like?
It was a girl. White About his age.
Tall, short brown hair.
He said she was carrying a dark backpack with reflective strips.
Yeah, is there a Richie there?
Thanks, sorry to bother you. What about his ex?
Short blonde hair.
And we think this guy's telling the truth?
He seems like a drunk trying to make the grade, can't hack it.
What about this other angle? This Richie?
Well, we been going through the girlfriend's phone records, making calls.
So far, all we know is that they ordered a lot of takeout, but no Richie.
Lieutenant, there's a Detective Lopez here to see you.
VAN BUREN: How can we help you, Detective?
You tell me. Somebody paged me about an hour ago.
ED: You plain clothes?
Narcotics. How'd you guys get my number?
Yeah. That's the kid. I met him once in Central Park by the bandstand.
Made a small buy.
Why didn't you arrest him?
You know how it is. We were waiting on a bigger fish.
How big a fish you after?
That's Peter Wilder's son.
The real estate guy?
I'm gonna crack Richie's skull.
Richie?
LOPEZ: Punk CI.
He's the one who brought me this kid.
Why. You guys know him?
We're waiting to be formally introduced.
You been a bad boy, Richie. Look at me.
Didn't I tell you there couldn't be any secrets between us?
Look... No, no, no, no. You look.
You're gonna talk to these homicide detectives about this dead kid.
I hear you held back, Richie,
I'm gonna make arrests you don't want me to make
on complaints you don't wanna sign.
You understand?
This is all yours.
Make me proud, Richie.
He thinks you cost him a promotion.
I guess nothing works out the way you hoped.
Yeah, things didn't work out too good for Scott Wilder either.
I don't know anything about this.
Fine by us.
Look, all I know is,
I don't hear from Scott for, like, a year,
and then suddenly he calls me up and pushes me to help him move some coke.
BRISCOE: You sure it was him pushing you?
He said he needed money. Right away.
So you hooked him up?
We used to run together.
Then he got out. Least, I thought he did.
Then I get this call, and he shows up with his girlfriend.
What'd this girl look like?
Maybe 20, 21. Short brown hair. Pretty.
BRISCOE: What was she wearing?
Suede jacket, brown.
ED: She carrying a backpack?
Yeah. Now you say it, I think so.
Does she have a name?
This girl didn't say anything.
I got the feeling she didn't wanna be there.
ED: Where'd this little meeting take place?
McDonald's. Boerum Hill.
Scott said he was staying nearby.
So you got him back on coke, then you introduced him to an undercover,
that about the size of it?
Hey, I don't make the introduction. I breach my agreement.
But I never told Lopez who Scott was, and I kept the sale under an ounce.
ED: Karen, we think that Scott was seeing another girl.
We also think she might have been involved in what happened to him.
I know this is tough, but
any chance you throwing him out had anything to do with her?
He really broke my heart, you know?
Yeah, I do.
So you do know about her?
Not who she is,
but when I found the money, I also found this.
I don't know why I even carry the damn thing around with me.
"Alan Rosenbeck OB/GYN."
It's an appointment card.
I take it the appointment wasn't for you.
And the writing on the back, it's not Scott's.
I'm afraid all I can say is that Scott Wilder was a patient.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Doc,
but as far as I can tell, Scott Wilder couldn't have been pregnant.
And if he just accompanied some girl here, that doesn't make him a patient.
Look, I'm just not comfortable
getting into specific treatments with you.
All right, how about you just tell us the girl's name?
Look, from what you been telling me, I understand what's at stake, but...
What if we got written consent from the parents?
That's only half the equation.
I can't violate one patient's privacy at the request of another.
I really am sorry.
A guy goes to see an OB/GYN for one of two reasons
Either he wants to be a father, or he doesn't.
Hard to believe fatherhood was at the top of this kid's list.
Either way, without a steady job
he'd have had a hard time paying for one on Park Avenue.
Yeah, well, enter drugs as a career opportunity.
And Karen seizes the proceeds to pay the rent.
Maybe he swallowed his pride.
Well, the parents said they hadn't seen him.
I don't care how much you hate your father,
you still go see him when you're in trouble.
My daughter never did.
Wait a minute. Hold on a second.
Hey, how you doing, man?
You mind if I ask you a couple of questions
about your building's sign-in sheet?
What do you need?
Scott was seen arguing with her at the crime scene the night of the murder.
From all accounts, it wasn't the woman he was living with.
The doctor wouldn't tell you anything about her?
Not without the other patient's consent.
We might have a grandchild out there somewhere.
You don't have any idea who she is?
This is the sign-in sheet from the doctor's lobby
the day your son had an appointment.
We're hoping you recognize the name.
We told you, we hadn't heard anything
about our son in over two years.
We understand what the situation was,
it's just, sometimes it's tough keeping such a hard line with your kid.
A woman did call once looking for Scott.
ED: When was that? JOHANNA: Maybe eight weeks ago.
You never told me that.
I just didn't want to start all that again with you and Scott.
I thought we agreed. You agreed.
We both did.
That counselor told us we had to let him go.
That it was the only way. Don't re-write history, Johanna.
Did you get a name? A number for this girl?
JOHANNA: We only spoke for a moment or two.
When I told her Scott wasn't here, she just hung up, so...
Wait, wait. Here. Jessie I think that's it.
Wilder didn't sign in, and from the handwriting,
it could be like a Jessie Lucas, Logan, it's hard to tell.
Well, those are pretty common names.
The handwriting matches the one on the back of the appointment card.
If it's the same girl he took with him to see Lopez's Cl,
she probably lives somewhere near Boerum Hill.
What's the D.A.'s position on a subpoena for the doctor?
They're working on it.
Okay, in the meantime, let's get some of our people on the Brooklyn phone books,
and have DMV run all the possibles,
see if we can get an address on anyone matching our description.
Twelfth time's a charm.
Jessie left for the store about 15 minutes ago. She'll be back any second.
Is this your daughter, Mrs. Lucas?
BRENDA: Yes.
ED: She still wear her hair like this?
No, it's shorter. Look, you guys haven't told me what this is all about?
BRISCOE: We just need to talk to her.
Mom? What's going on?
These are police officers. They want to ask you some questions.
About what? Scott Wilder.
Jess?
BRISCOE: Maybe we should talk someplace else.
Am I under arrest?
What for? What'd you do?
I didn't do anything.
We got a witness who puts you at the crime scene arguing with him.
I didn't kill him.
We know you made a drug buy with him, Jessie.
Yeah, a drug buy you didn't seem too happy about.
ED: What happened, he rip you off? Is that it?
It was nothing like that.
Then what was the argument about?
I mean, it wouldn't have anything to do
with a doctor's appointment, would it?
BRISCOE: You know what I think?
I think he got you pregnant,
and that he didn't want the baby.
That's sick.
ED: Or maybe he didn't want you.
I mean, he's sleeping with you. He's living with another woman.
That couldn't make you feel good.
Will you please just stop!
Then you find out that he won't pay,
only you know about his family.
You know that he comes from money. No!
You called his parents' house one day.
ED: What was that, a shakedown?
No. You don't understand.
Scott wasn't my lover or my boyfriend.
We were brother and sister. Okay? Brother and sister.
And I want a lawyer.
Brother and sister? So much for our theory about a lovers' quarrel.
And she lawyered up.
But my detectives did some digging on the Internet,
and it seems this doctor authored several papers on kinship analysis.
Kinship analysis?
Yeah. It's a paternity test when the parents aren't available.
Yeah. But I just haven't heard of too many cases
where the mother doesn't know.
Well, it looks like she was trying to prove
Peter Wilder as her father using his son to do it.
So why kill him?
It's gotta have something to do with that test,
but her physician is refusing to release her file.
So, we were hoping you could nudge him a little.
Yes. I love litigating in the dark.
JUDGE: Ms. Carmichael.
Your Honor, we're requesting a subpoena releasing Scott Wilder's medical file.
I see I have a written waiver from the deceased's parents.
What's the complication?
Release of these records would violate my client's doctor-patient privilege.
His client shouldn't be allowed to control the medical information of anyone else.
Judge, the results of the kinship analysis
contains physical data contributed by my client,
which means you can't release one
without revealing information about the other.
CARMICHAEL: Your Honor, even if that's true,
she gave up any privilege when she volunteered
the results of the analysis to the police.
Her statement to the police wasn't voluntary.
It was the product of interrogation.
There's also the issue of self-incrimination.
The D.A.'s just trying to get these records,
so they can find a motive to a crime my client isn't even charged with.
What about it, Ms. Carmichael?
We're just trying to ascertain the facts, Your Honor.
Sounds more like you're fishing for them.
In any event, at this point,
she's not a defendant, and without a charge,
I'm afraid the People have not met their burden.
Subpoena denied.
(BANGS GAVEL)
So now, all we have is a witness
who puts her at the school arguing with him.
And we still don't know what the argument was about.
Not to mention a lawyer who won't let her say a word.
Maybe she doesn't have to.
Say it's true.
Say you just discovered you're the daughter of a very wealthy man,
what would you want from him?
Acknowledgment. Money. Contact.
So where would you start?
You feeling like a little man to man?
My purpose in asking these questions is not to pry into your life, Mr. Wilder.
You think this girl killed him?
A witness places her with your son that night,
another puts her with Scott at a drug buy.
At this point, she's a suspect.
It's all so incredible.
Is she your daughter?
I honestly don't know.
I had an affair with her mother a long time ago.
And you've never taken a paternity test?
We advised against it.
But I've given this woman whatever financial support she's asked for.
Submitting to a paternity test
results in a loss of control over the situation, even with small odds.
I wasn't about to play Russian roulette with child support.
Look, my wife knows nothing about this.
Were you aware that Jessie had made contact with your son?
PETER: No.
But about six months ago, I'm sitting at my desk,
and a receptionist calls me and tells me my daughter's on line three.
You spoke to her?
The truth is, we just hoped she'd go away.
What other contact did you have with her?
PETER: Never face to face.
After all these years, what was the point?
But, she kept calling.
So what did you do?
I contacted her mother.
Brenda had no idea what her daughter was doing.
She made a promise that it would stop.
It didn't.
That's a letter that Mr. Wilder received from Jessie.
In it, she threatens to sell her story to the tabloids.
Unless you pay $250,000.
I decided to let my lawyers handle it.
JACK: His lawyer told Jessie Lucas
she'd be committing a felony if she persisted in her demands.
Well, just what a girl wants to hear from her father.
Wilder also threatened to terminate his financial support for Brenda Lucas.
Nothing like pouring gasoline on a fire.
Which might explain why she'd kill Peter Wilder.
But his son? By all accounts, Scott Wilder was helping her.
Well, maybe she didn't want to share any of her newfound inheritance.
Or maybe he was part of the plot,
and in the end, somehow, tried to double-cross her.
Why not revenge? Or any other reason, for that matter.
We could pick her up.
I'm not arresting her for homicide based on speculation.
An arrest could give us leverage with her or her mother.
Ms. Lucas. Is your daughter home?
She's in her room.
Would you ask her to come out, please?
Why?
Mom?
Jessie Lucas, we have a warrant for your arrest.
My daughter did not kill Scott Wilder.
The charge isn't murder, Ms. Lucas. It's extortion.
I came here on my own.
You can't force me to testify against my own daughter.
CARMICHAEL: Actually, we can.
What purpose would that serve?
Peter Wilder tells us you knew of your daughter's efforts to contact him.
Peter Wilder is a bastard.
Well, being a bastard isn't a defense to blackmail.
Yeah, well, it ought to be.
It ought to be a defense to anything she did.
Including murder?
Peter Wilder would never agree to anything.
He always threatened me with money.
And all this time, my daughter is growing up
believing that he's her father.
You know, he could have put a stop to this
a long time ago if he'd just...
Jessie didn't kill his son.
Scott was helping her, for God's sake!
Helping her extort her father?
You can answer our questions now,
or you can answer them later, in front of a Grand Jury, Ms. Lucas.
I was a different person when I knew Peter.
I was dating several men.
It's a little difficult to tell your daughter you don't know...
What did you tell her?
One day she saw me looking at a newspaper photograph of Peter.
He was standing there with his wife and Scott.
Anyway, Jessie just asked me,
"Is that my daddy?"
She was eight years old,
and the look in her eye...
She needed my answer to be yes.
Can you understand that? I couldn't deny her that. I just couldn't.
Only I didn't know then that it wasn't true.
I can't believe she gave you this.
JACK: You believed this man was your father for a long time.
Until the kinship analysis told you he wasn't.
It must have come as quite a shock
when you discovered Peter Wilder wasn't your father.
CARMICHAEL: Only you weren't going to let that
get in the way of a little extortion, were you?
Don't answer her.
It has to have been difficult
seeing this family sailing through life year after year,
while you and your mother struggled.
But none of it was real.
You knew that the moment you saw the test results.
Which means Scott knew, too.
Killing him would've been the only way the truth would never be known.
You're charging her with murder?
We have motive, we have opportunity.
The only thing we don't have is a murder weapon.
Jess, you have to tell them.
I can't.
I've already done enough.
How does being convicted of a crime you didn't commit help anyone?
(SIGHS)
Counselor, if there's something to say, now would be the time.
Jess, please. Just tell them.
I was wrong, about all of it.
About Peter Wilder being my father, Scott, all of it.
I just wanted to make him notice me.
Peter Wilder?
I really believed he was my father.
I mean, I would look at his picture
and just know that he was my dad.
And I couldn't understand
why he didn't love me.
I couldn't understand what was wrong with me.
How my own father could just pretend I didn't exist.
Finally, I realized that money was the only thing important to him.
So you had Scott help you blackmail his father?
But I was wrong about Scott, too.
He wasn't happy. Not the way I'd imagined.
Scott hated his father.
What happened that night?
Scott and I were supposed to meet him at the school.
But standing there, knowing the truth,
I wanted nothing from this man.
So I told Scott I couldn't do it, and then I left.
Scott wasn't the one who backed out that night. I was.
If Jessie's telling the truth,
she and Scott arranged to meet Wilder at the school that night
to receive the payoff.
Only, once the kinship analysis proved that he wasn't her father,
she couldn't go through with it.
JACK: Apparently, the son still wanted to go forward.
His relationship with the father is that bad?
Wilder himself admitted that he hadn't
spoken with his son in over two years.
Okay.
The boy's on drugs, obviously nothing else is working.
I mean, what could be more painful for any parent
than to tell their kid to get out?
He seemed to have no problem doing it to Jessie Lucas.
He wasn't her father.
But he never knew that.
And by his own admission, he fought against ever finding out.
All that time, leaving this girl growing up
with the delusion that he was her father.
Why would Wilder kill his boy?
My guess? Wilder couldn't stand the betrayal.
LEWIN: Why didn't she say this to the police
the first time she was questioned?
Well, if not for the lawyer, she probably would have.
In any event, she would have been admitting to extortion.
And there was always Wilder's threat to cut off the mother.
Do we have anything to corroborate her story?
Two days before Scott Wilder's death,
Mr. Wilder withdrew $250,000 from a brokerage account.
The same amount of the extortion demand.
And Mr. Wilder has a .38 caliber handgun registered in his name.
Get a warrant.
I don't understand how you can come into our home,
and make these accusations? He was our son.
Do you understand? Our only child.
How could you even think we had anything to do with this?
Just calm down. It's going to be okay.
No, it's not. Nothing's ever going to be okay again.
Do you have any safes in the house, Mr. Wilder? Any private lock boxes?
PETER: No.
It's just that we don't like to destroy personal property unless we have to.
I told you no.
Mr. Wilder, would you mind coming here.
We need you to show us the clothes you were wearing
the night of your son's death.
I don't think I can remember what I was wearing that night.
Well, do you wear the same coat every day? The same shoes?
Well, the same coat. A gray overcoat. It's here in the closet.
There's a few different shoes I could've been wearing.
They're upstairs.
Bag the coat. I'm gonna check upstairs for the shoes.
CROWELL: Peter? Johanna?
Stephen, thank God you're here.
I came as quickly as I could.
I'm Mr. Wilder's attorney. What's going on?
We have a search warrant.
I'd like to see it, if you don't mind.
They're going through everything.
They want his coat, his shoes.
For what purpose?
It's not because we're cold, Counselor.
They think Peter killed Scott.
Based on what?
Well, for openers, your client can't produce
a .38 caliber handgun that's registered in his name.
I already told them I purchased that gun over eight years ago.
I didn't even know it was missing until today.
ED: Lennie.
What do you got?
Red dust.
You been to any construction sites lately, Mr. Wilder?
Peter, don't say a word. Not a single word.
What do we hear?
CARMICHAEL: Briscoe and Green couldn't find the gun.
Great.
I thought you fixed this damn thing.
They also couldn't find any record
of Wilder reporting the gun stolen either.
Still means you don't have a murder weapon.
We've tried homicides without one before.
We'll make the case.
In front of a Grand Jury, maybe.
You really think atrial jury's gonna believe
that Peter Wilder killed his own son?
This guy was happy to see Jessie Lucas charged.
Difficult or not, I think we have an obligation to prosecute.
We also have a burden of proof.
And since it's gonna be my ass they'll use as target practice,
I'd like to test that proof.
Get a preliminary hearing?
Get a judge to back our position,
to agree that there's probable cause to indict Wilder.
I lived with Scott almost two years.
And in that time, how would you describe his relationship with his father?
They didn't speak. Why?
Objection. The witness is being asked to testify
as to the mental state of another person.
The witness lived with the victim for almost two years.
Certainly she knew his mind.
I do think I need a little context here.
I'll allow it, if the witness knows.
Scott's father was bigger than life.
Everything about him, even the buildings he put up.
Scott always felt like he could never measure up. No matter what he did.
I think he just wanted to get even that night.
The dust found on Mr. Wilder's shoes is from fireclay brick.
JACK: What's the significance of that?
It's the same brick used at the Wilshire School.
Our analysis of the dust also showed other variables unique to the site,
including chemicals used in the sandblasting process.
So the dust on Mr. Wilder's shoes can be identified with the school?
It's an exact match.
Your evidence indicates that my client was present at the school yard?
DENSON: Correct.
But when, you don't know?
No.
So, had my client gone to the school yard on a subsequent morning,
doing what any grieving parent might do,
visiting the site where his child died,
that would be consistent with your findings, wouldn't it?
Yes, it would.
No further questions.
JACK: When did you first make contact with Scott Wilder?
About eight months ago,
through a private investigator.
Why were you so interested in meeting him?
At the time, I thought Peter Wilder was my father.
Why make contact with his son?
Because he wouldn't see me.
He wouldn't even speak to me.
I had been told about a type of paternity test, a kinship analysis,
and that test can verify whether two people share a common parent.
What was Scott's reaction meeting you?
He wanted to help.
The night of Scott Wilder's murder, you were with him?
Yes.
Tell the court why.
We'd arranged to meet Mr. Wilder to get money.
Money for what?
To keep Scott and me quiet about the fact he was my father.
And did you in fact meet Mr. Wilder that night?
No. I did not.
Why not?
Because I found out I wasn't his daughter.
And finding out just made me understand
that whatever it was I was looking for from him,
I wasn't ever going to find it.
And I needed to get on with my own life.
Did Scott Wilder agree with your decision?
No. In fact, he got angrier.
See, Scott...
See, Scott thought that he was finally going to be able expose his father,
and when I told him that I wasn't his sister, he just couldn't let it go.
He thought that if he did that his father would just get away with it.
With the affair and everything.
And I just couldn't convince him to leave with me.
And where did all this take place?
At the Wilshire School.
Scott said that was the place that it had all started.
The beginning of all the disappointments.
And he thought it should end there.
Thank you.
You spent a long time on this quest to find your father, didn't you?
All my life.
You hired a lawyer and a private investigator?
He wouldn't talk to me.
And you're not one to take no for an answer, are you, Ms. Lucas?
Not from my father, no.
But he wasn't your father.
I didn't know that.
So you called Mr. Wilder
and you told him that you'd gotten his son to help you?
Yes.
But, even when you knew, when you knew for a fact,
that he was not your father,
that didn't stop you from trying to blackmail him either, did it?
I didn't go through with it.
But Scott did? Yes.
Scott, the son who stood to inherit everything,
and you, the rejected child with nothing.
But it was him, he was the one that did it.
That's what we argued about.
You argued? Yes.
But it wasn't about Scott wanting to go through with it, was it?
The D.A.'s report indicates
that you told them that you were responsible for Scott's death.
That's not what I meant.
CROWELL: Scott Wilder was in possession of information
that would forever put to rest your obsession that his father was yours,
that would turn off, forever, the money spigot.
You knew that the only way that your plan could succeed now
would be if Scott were to keep his mouth shut,
and that's why you killed him, didn't you?
No.
And now you dare come into this courtroom,
and blame his father for his death.
Haven't you done enough to this family,
without dragging them through all of this?
LEWIN: The press won't be kind to us tomorrow.
Wilder's people will see to that.
JACK: It won't be the first time we've taken a hit in the headlines.
It's the first time I have.
If we can get Wilder to take the stand...
LEWIN: No, he won't testify.
Not now. Why should he? His lawyer did all the work for him.
This guy always gets his lawyers to do the work for him.
And he always plays to win.
LEWIN: What's your point?
Jessie Lucas had been going after that money for months.
Why suddenly fold your hand that night?
And why go down there by yourself?
Something made him change his mind.
Or he never changed his mind at all.
He went down there because he had no intention of paying.
I hope this meeting is to inform us you're withdrawing charges.
No, I'm afraid not.
What's this?
CARMICHAEL: Those are the phone records
from your client's place of business.
I'm sorry, I don't understand. Phone records of what?
Will you explain it to her, Mr. Wilder, or should we?
Your husband called Brenda Lucas several times
in the days before Scott was killed.
JACK: We know she told you Jessie wasn't your daughter,
but your son was still willing to betray you, wasn't he?
He was still willing to fleece his old man,
and you just couldn't let him get away with that, could you?
It wasn't like that.
You sat there and allowed your lawyer to accuse that girl of murder.
What else could it be?
You did it.
You killed him.
Listen to me, Johanna. Listen to what?
How to turn our son out into the streets?
CROWELL: All right. I'm gonna need an adjournment
to have these records examined.
No. Let's get it over with.
This is not wise, Peter.
What the hell's left to protect, Stephen?
I've been running from this thing for too long.
I went to meet Scott.
Yes, I was angry, but I thought if I could just talk to him.
Just to talk to him, Jo.
Why can't you people just leave it alone?
What happened that night, Mr. Wilder?
He was waiting for me in the school yard,
the same way he did when he was a boy.
(LAUGHS) He was so sure he had me.
When I told him I knew the truth
it was like his whole world just fell in on him.
Like the only reason for his being alive was to show me up.
That's when I saw the gun.
He must've taken it at some point when he was in the house.
I don't know.
At first, I thought he was going to shoot me,
but then he pointed it...
He pointed it at his own head.
He started to cry. He said,
"This is what you wanted all along, isn't it?"
"What you always wanted."
I could see he was going to do it, too. Just to get back at me. So stupid.
So I just reached for it,
but he wouldn't let go.
The gun went off twice.
When I looked down, his eyes were open.
And, God...
God help me, I just picked up the gun and I ran.
I would never hurt him.
Whatever you may think of me, Johanna He was my son.
We gave up the right to call him our son
a long time ago.
Can I assume you won't be going forward with the murder charge?
If we can verify it was a suicide.
CARMICHAEL: One child starved for his recognition,
the other crushed under the weight of his disapproval.
With a father forced to admit complicity in his son's suicide.
There are worse places than prison.