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.
She'll call us in when she's ready.
We're already paying 30 bucks for a 50-minute hour.
You just don't want to be here.
How'd you figure that out?
You're supposed to be doing this for yourself.
What, so some shrink can tell me I'm a pig?
I know I'm a pig, like most guys.
Look, women want everything from one guy.
Guys want one thing from a lot of women.
It's human nature.
You're right. We're wasting our time.
Dr. Burk?
Eric! Eric!
She's got scratches on her arm, a bruise on her neck.
She went a couple of rounds before she was counted out.
What time was that?
Eight to 12 hours ago. Single stab wound to the chest.
We're still looking for the weapon.
I don't see a purse.
It's in the desk drawer along with her wallet,
78 bucks and a half-dozen credit cards.
Make sure she gets a rape kit.
MAN: Right.
Cleaning crew comes through here around 8:00.
How often do your people patrol this area?
Every hour. What about vagrants?
Any problems there?
We don't let them become a problem.
Okay, I'd like to see your security logs for last night, all right?
Sure. I'll bring them up.
All right, the receptionist said
that Dr. Burk's last appointment was yesterday at 7:00 p.m.
Allison and Dennis Hall.
Must've been some counseling session.
Please, my name is George Burk.
The hospital called me. They told me my wife had been hurt.
Okay, let's just go sit over here, all right?
Can't I see her? I've been looking for her all night.
Oh, God. Is that her?
Take it easy.
Linda! Linda! Let me go!
BRISCOE: All right, there's nothing to see here.
Show's over. Take a hike. Come on.
I spoke to her just before 9:00.
She said she was leaving in a few minutes.
Coming right home? Yes.
She usually takes a cab out front.
By 10:00, I started to worry.
I called her back. She didn't answer.
You waited an hour?
I thought maybe she stopped to pick up dinner.
I waited another half hour,
and then I phoned the hospital security.
Who'd you talk to?
I don't remember.
He said that he was gonna send someone to check her office.
He called back 15 minutes later.
He said that she wasn't there.
Then I started calling the hospitals and the police.
Did she mention if any of her clients
had been giving her trouble?
No.
CURTIS: She always work this late?
Yes.
Besides the people she sees at the hospital,
she has private clients.
And she consults for the Archdiocese.
Right. I talked to him.
He called here about 10:30, all upset about his wife.
So, you sent somebody to check on her.
Uh-huh. Checked out. No problem.
Except her door wasn't locked.
Who'd you send?
Let me think. Rollins.
According to your logs, Rollins was in the north wing at 10:40.
Isn't that all the way on the other side of the hospital?
Then it must've been Jarrett.
Jarrett?
It says here that Jarrett was handling a disturbance in the ICU.
A homeless woman caught stealing syringes.
Look, the fact is, you didn't send anyone up
to Dr. Burk's office, did you?
Hey, she's five minutes late getting home.
I can't screw up my entire rotation.
So instead, you lied to her husband.
I got two people out with the flu.
And how'd this homeless woman
make it all the way up to the ICU without being detected?
She was caught. I call that being detected.
Well, you're gonna give us your records
of all the other homeless people you detected in the last six months.
CURTIS: This place had some month.
Theft of drugs, trespassing, indecent exposure,
defecating in a public area, theft of patient meals.
That's a crime? Autopsy came in.
No sign of sexual assault.
M.E. thinks the murder weapon was a pair of scissors.
Rey, those photos from her office?
There's one skell they caught last month stealing linen.
"Subject was male Caucasian."
"Identified himself as Pope Adrian VI of Utrecht."
"Subject was ejected from the premises."
"Subject was wearing"
"green raincoat and red baseball cap from a dry cleaning store."
All decked out for Christmas, huh?
There it is, next to her desk.
"Stain's Dry Cleaning."
No good deed goes unpunished.
My wife talked me into letting her brother do the hats.
Stan's Dry Cleaning. This is what he came back with.
"Stains." He thought it was cute.
How many hats did you get?
Like this?
Just the one. I had him fix it before I ordered the others.
And you tossed this one?
I put it in with the clothes people leave past 60 days,
then I took them over to St. Remy's on 30th Street.
BRISCOE: Thanks.
Sorry, I don't pay attention to their hats.
This guy thinks he's Pope Adrian VI.
Leonard.
I don't know his last name. What's he done?
Well, it's in connection with a murder at St. Anne's Hospital.
Murder? Doesn't sound like Leonard.
Once you start thinking you're the Pope,
it's not much of a stretch to killing people.
Does he sleep here?
No. He doesn't like the noise.
Well, it's better than freezing.
Oh, he's in good health.
I'm sure he's found a way to keep warm at night.
When was the last time you saw him?
Last week. He came in for supper.
I noticed he was wearing hospital scrubs under his coat.
Thanks for your help.
Scrubs? He'd blend in.
Yeah, and make himself at home.
CURTIS: You people never checked up here?
McGIVEN: Not since they closed down the floors.
What's the point? There's nothing to steal up here anyway.
I smell a big, fat lawsuit, McGiven, with you as Exhibit A.
MAN: Here we are.
(BRISCOE SIGHING)
And here it is, Rey. The Holy See.
McGIVEN: Give us a day.
This guy shows up, we'll catch him.
Yeah, right.
If we hadn't had the hospital searched,
this guy would've started holding Sunday services
right here under your nose.
MAN ON RADIO: Unit One, this is Unit Two.
Yeah, go ahead.
There's a male Caucasian matching the suspect
in the second floor waiting area.
He's in there.
Hey, how's it going?
The nurse at the desk wanted me to tell you
she has free toys for your kids.
She said just go ahead and bring them right over.
Hey, stop!
All right, take it easy, Your Holiness.
Help us! It's all right, buddy.
Save us from these Lutheran blasphemers!
I know this place.
First there's the tears, then the blood.
So you've been here before, huh?
They wanted me to renounce transubstantiation.
To deny the Eucharist.
I'm gonna be sorry I asked, but who's "they"?
The Princes of Germany.
What about Dr. Burk?
Did she ever do anything to you?
She's not a doctor. She's a nun.
Her baptismal name is Katherina von Bora.
Oh, that's a secret. She's hiding from him.
Him?
The Antichrist. The Devil of Wittenberg.
You mean Martin Luther?
Yes. Yes.
Now, Dr. Burk, she a pal of yours?
I took a vow of poverty.
She bought me boots. See? Yeah, fine.
WOMAN: Lieutenant.
So you've been up to her office, then, on the third floor?
I don't go to women's rooms.
Your hat does.
My miter. I gave it to her.
When? Days ago.
To let her enemies know she was protected by the power of the Holy See,
by the authority of the Vatican, and the infallibility of the Pope.
Her enemies being Martin Luther?
And his minions.
A blasphemous whore with a crown of fire.
She was screaming at her, one-two-three-four-five days ago,
defying the authority of the Bishop,
of Canon Law, and the Council of Trent.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Come in.
That's for us. You can wait here.
His prints are in the system. Leonard Gardner.
Multiples for trespassing, vagrancy, petty theft.
He spent the night of the murder in the 16 for urinating on a public street.
Was released the next day.
The times check out?
I called over. He was grabbed up at 7:30.
So he goes back to tending his flock,
and we go back to scratching our heads.
He said Dr. Burk had an argument with someone
over the authority of the Bishop.
Didn't she do some work for the Archdiocese?
(BELL TOLLING) MARINO: This is a terrible loss.
Linda Burk was very highly regarded.
What did she do for the Archdiocese?
Mostly prenuptial counseling.
No fireworks there.
She also handled the less pleasant end. Annulments.
Ah, the catholic divorce after the real divorce.
As far as we're concerned, the annulment is the real divorce.
Linda would meet with the parties
and give our tribunal an evaluation of the marriage.
Her word carry a lot of weight?
Our tribunal usually followed her recommendations.
The annulments ever get contested?
Father O'Brien would know more about that.
Well, if a former Mr. and Mrs.
are still raw from the divorce,
it can get messy.
And someone like Dr. Burk gets caught in the middle.
Was she having any problems with her current cases?
You think?
Well, she mentioned the Kilpatricks.
She didn't go into specifics.
She was still preparing her evaluation.
Would you happen to have their file handy?
Oh, they had a lousy divorce last year.
This didn't improve their mood.
Which way was the annulment going?
Well, we're waiting for Linda's input.
Unless her report turns up, we're back to square one.
Well, whose idea was the annulment?
The husband, Mr. Kilpatrick. He filed the petition.
I understand he wants to get remarried in the church.
Hmm.
Look at this. Love letters.
"Dear Molly," signed Gary. Dated 16 years ago.
We look at their state of mind when they got married.
If they lacked due discretion of judgment.
Meaning what?
Well, if the bride or groom had a screw loose or their fingers crossed
when they said their I dos, it's grounds for annulment.
Dr. Burk was supposed to have read their minds 16 years back?
Rey, the Kilpatricks in happier times.
Pretty hair, huh.
Pretty fire-red hair.
Say hello to the blasphemous whore with the crown of fire.
I saw Dr. Burk Monday evening at her office.
I had some concerns about the annulment evaluation.
Concerns?
Questions. Why?
She was murdered Tuesday night in her office.
Do you think I killed her?
We're talking to everybody who had business with her.
Where were you Tuesday night?
Here, with my son, Billy. (MICROWAVE BEEPS)
And the argument you had with Dr. Burk?
No, it wasn't an argument.
BRISCOE: But you were upset about the annulment.
I was upset at my husband.
He wants the church to wave a wand and pretend our marriage never happened.
To turn our son into a bastard.
He wanted you to roll over so he could remarry?
Mmm-hmm.
And if Dr. Burk said so, he'd get his annulment, wouldn't he?
BRISCOE: Mrs. Kilpatrick, did Dr. Burk tell you
what she was going to recommend?
I think I've said everything I want to say.
I'd like you to leave, please.
I don't know what she told my ex-wife.
I spoke to Dr. Burk on Monday.
I got the impression things were going our way.
Was Burk going to recommend for the annulment?
She didn't come right out and say so,
but as Gary's attorney, I was reasonably optimistic.
BRISCOE: And did you share your optimism with Mrs. Kilpatrick?
I may have mentioned it to her attorney.
By the way, did you find the evaluation?
The Archdiocese said she was still working on it.
(SCOFFS)
You in a hurry to take another walk down the aisle?
My fiancée is a devout catholic.
I don't want this thing to drag out.
Mental unfitness is grounds for annulment. Mrs. Kilpatrick fits the bill.
You're not in divorce court now, Counselor.
I'm not speculating. She has to be medicated.
She even took a swing at me a year ago, during a deposition.
Can't imagine why.
Sheila Atkins is her lawyer.
She provoked it. They're both a piece of work.
They lost the divorce.
I don't think Molly Kilpatrick could stand losing again.
Have a nice day.
Divorce lawyers. God's way of telling you to stay single.
Or married.
Let's find out which way Burk was leaning.
As far as I can tell,
these are just notes taken during her interviews with the Kilpatricks.
Summaries. Copy of the petition.
Nothing that looks like the evaluation you want.
Well, no luck here either.
I found drafts of three other evaluations,
but nothing on the Kilpatricks.
Did you check her home?
Yeah. Any place else it might be?
Mmm. Afraid not.
Lennie, the computer when they found her, it was on, right?
Yeah.
I searched her computer's memory. Your hunch was right.
The Kilpatrick file was deleted.
Well, I assumed so.
And then, just to make sure that we couldn't recover it,
they optimized the hard drive.
That I know they did at 9:28 Tuesday night,
according to the computer's internal clock.
About the same time Burk was bleeding out.
What'd they do again?
They reorganized all the data in the memory.
Anything that was erased, it's gone for good.
Well, except as electronic flotsam
and jetsam bobbing on a pool of silicon.
Now, if you're smart enough, you can skim the surface.
And you're smart enough? Oh, yeah.
"Mrs. Kilpatrick has demonstrated mental instabilities."
"Her immaturity raises doubts"
"as to whether the Kilpatricks truly formed"
"the requisite marital bond which..."
That's it?
Everything with Kilpatrick in the text.
Sounds like Burk was recommending annulment.
You have to be some kind of computer whiz to do this erasing trick?
Well, your suspect would have to know
more than just how to turn the machine on.
Molly Kilpatrick is a terrific employee.
I don't want her to think I'm talking behind her back.
Does she work with computers?
Of course. Like all bookkeepers.
We're a long way from Bob Cratchit.
Well, does she hunt and peck, or is she good at it?
She knows all of the software.
She even helps train our recruits.
So she's familiar with disk optimizing programs?
Absolutely.
What kind of trouble is she in?
Who said she's in trouble.
Last Tuesday evening, you remember what time she left?
Early. Just before 6:30.
That's early?
She's here till 8:00, usually.
She had to see her lawyer.
She say if she had any plans later?
No. I guess it was the usual. Dinner at home and a video.
BRISCOE: With her son?
Not Tuesday nights. He's with his father.
You sure of that? Are you kidding?
It took them eight months to work out the custody arrangement.
They even had me give a deposition.
That's right, she was here.
Any more than that, like the color of her blouse, I can't tell you.
BRISCOE: What about what time she left, Ms. Atkins?
That's not privileged.
And you know this because you're an attorney?
Molly told me that you're trying to implicate her in Dr. Burk's murder.
Well, she wasn't too thrilled about the annulment.
Who told you that, Mr. Kilpatrick?
He's the one who needs the annulment.
Because of his devoutly catholic fiancée.
Not his fiancée, her parents.
They are rich devout catholics.
Kilpatrick is looking for some relief. We soaked him pretty good.
Really? Well, his lawyer seems to think it was the other way around.
Paul Redfield would like to believe that.
But at the end of the day,
he's not the one putting all those zeroes on the alimony checks.
And as to what time your client left and where she was going?
I'm not saying anything about that.
That's too bad, Ms. Atkins,
'cause right about now, she could use some help with her alibi.
Yeah, she told us she was home alone with her son that night.
Turns out the kid spends Tuesdays with his dad.
Oh.
You're just a fountain of misinformation.
Billy has dinner with his father,
who then drives him to hockey practice at 8:00.
Molly picks him up and takes him home. Happy?
Ecstatic.
She showed up, all right. At around 8:30, with bells on.
Eighty-proof bells, or something else?
She's a pill head.
She tried to pull her kid out of practice.
Poor kid was embarrassed. I finally got her out the door.
Her ex told me how to handle her.
So this wasn't the first time?
No, she came to a game about two months ago.
Mr. Kilpatrick shows up with his girlfriend,
Mrs. Kilpatrick goes nuts.
And I thought the players were the only ones allowed to fight.
The next day, their lawyers got into it.
I had to submit a game schedule,
and they negotiated who could come when.
Last Tuesday evening, what time did practice end?
9:30, same as always.
She pick him up?
No. Billy said she told him to take a cab home.
Thanks.
I was home sleeping.
Did you talk to anyone? Maybe on the phone?
No, I don't think so.
Well, you're not really clear about that night, are you?
Is that because of the pills?
Come on, Molly. We asked around.
You were taking Prozac and Valium.
Can I have a cup of coffee?
They're just making a fresh pot. Rough night?
Am I going to be here long?
Hey, if you want to leave, go ahead.
But we have to warn you,
the District Attorney can use that as a reason to arrest you.
So how many Valium you take every night?
One.
Sometimes two.
CURTIS: But some days it's more, yeah?
I don't keep a running count.
How about that Tuesday?
Was it three or four? I don't know.
Well, it was enough that you went home and passed out.
I was very tired.
You remember what time that was?
No.
Well, how long after you left the rink?
Half an hour? An hour? What?
(STUTTERING) I'm not exactly sure.
It couldn't have been an hour.
BRISCOE: You remember what happened at the rink?
I went to see my son.
Yeah, you tried to yank him off the ice, right?
You were hysterical. I don't think so.
You were yelling at his coach, Molly.
People saw you.
Now, maybe you just don't remember it because of the pills you took.
I don't know. It's no big deal.
I mean, you let off some steam at his coach,
and you just don't remember it, right?
Right? Yeah.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
Her divorce lawyer's outside.
Mrs. Kilpatrick's son told her she was here.
This lady's starting to slip.
We don't have all day. Her lawyer's chewing through the leash.
Pot's almost ready.
So, Molly, I read up on annulments.
Ninety percent of them are granted,
whether they're contested or not.
Now, to me, that sounds like a rigged game.
And I say that being a practicing catholic.
Same as you, yeah?
Yes.
It's like the church is saying all these marriages never existed.
Now, when you took your vows in the church before God,
you meant them, yeah? Yes.
And so did your husband.
Yeah, I read the letters he sent you.
He really loved you.
And now, what, 16 years later,
he wants the church to, how did you put it,
"Wave a wand and say it never happened"?
Yes.
He expected you to go along with that?
To lie before God?
I wouldn't do it.
Is that what you told Dr. Burk on Monday,
when you had those concerns?
She didn't care!
She knew he was lying about the marriage.
About me. About the money, even.
BRISCOE: So you went back on Tuesday, after you left the rink?
No, I went home.
Wait a minute. Wait. You just said that you blanked out at the rink.
Next thing you remembered, you were passed out in your bed.
BRISCOE: That leaves a big gap, Molly.
Hey, if you were on drugs, Molly, you're not responsible.
If it was an accident or self-defense,
the D.A. has to take that into consideration.
Nothing'll happen to you. What are you saying?
We're giving you a chance to help yourself.
Hey, look, you had every right to be angry at her.
Things just got out of control, right? Isn't that what happened?
BRISCOE: Maybe she did something to you.
She pushed you, you grabbed the scissors.
That's self-defense.
Yeah, I bet you didn't even mean to hurt her.
I mean, you just swung the scissors, and it was bad luck.
It was an accident, right?
Molly, you tell us it was an accident, you can walk out of here.
Go ahead, Molly.
You took all those pills and you accidentally killed her, right?
(DOOR OPENS)
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Molly, not another word.
BRISCOE: You can say anything you want, Molly.
I'm taking you home.
BRISCOE: Her lawyer'd gotten stuck in traffic, we'd have a confession.
Has anyone talked to her son?
Parents won't make him available.
There's gotta be something in what she said to jump start a search warrant.
I wouldn't go near a judge with that crap.
You told her we could arrest her if she tried to leave?
Who told you that?
JACK: Besides the fact that you lied to her,
it takes it pretty damn close to a custodial interrogation.
We also told her she could leave any time she wanted to.
Please. This is not some dumb gangbanger with a Legal Aid lawyer.
Nice to see where you draw the line.
Hey. Forget it, Rey.
CURTIS: Hey, look, she shoved a pair of scissors
into this woman's chest.
You want us to serve her tea cakes while she makes up her mind to give it up?
She was this close.
Better she didn't confess.
Saves us all from looking like idiots when it gets tossed.
Come on, Rey, if she had given it up,
he'd throw his shoulder out trying to pat himself on the back.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
It wasn't all a waste of time.
She said something about Burk knowing
her husband was lying about his money.
Ex-wives always think their husbands lie about money.
And they're probably right.
If he really had something to hide, and somehow Burk knew,
it pumps up Molly Kilpatrick's motive.
Or her husband's. Take a look at his finances.
We don't have enough to subpoena them.
Maybe this Sheila Atkins can save you the trouble.
I have 23 boxes full of his financial records.
Why should I give them to you?
So you can use them against my client?
They might clear your client.
We suspect Mr. Kilpatrick might have killed Dr. Burk
because she knew something about his finances.
Knew how?
Your client seems to think he told her.
Maybe Mr. Kilpatrick let his guard down
during one of his sessions with Dr. Burk.
Ms. Ross, I think we can work together on this.
It's in your client's interests.
My client's interests lie in proving
that her husband and his lawyer conspired to defraud her.
Go on. He's been hiding assets
at the direction of Mr. Redfield.
You know this for a fact?
I can't prove it to a judge for a fact. Yet.
Molly told me it was possible that Dr. Burk knew.
I wanted Dr. Burk to go on the record.
I'll have those files delivered to your office by tomorrow morning.
The forensic accountants think Kilpatrick undervalued his company.
He told the Family Court it was worth a million-two.
Atkins puts the number closer to four.
Wishful thinking?
Our accountants feel Atkins has a decent case.
She's hoping we can help her prove it.
Oh, no. We're not getting dragged into their divorce.
Did the police happen to ask Mr. Kilpatrick
where he was the night of the murder?
No. They didn't consider him a suspect.
Well, we do.
You want an alibi from him?
If he has one.
I don't like your tone. Why is he a suspect?
Sheila Atkins was going to depose Dr. Burk about his finances.
Our accountants went through your records, Mr. Kilpatrick.
I turned my books inside-out for Molly.
I haven't denied her anything that's rightfully hers.
This is another Sheila Atkins fishing expedition.
They're stalling the annulment in order to extort money from him.
Atkins telling her client there's a pot of gold, when there's nothing.
Mr. Kilpatrick, if you could just answer my question.
After I dropped my son off, I went home to change,
and then I met a friend for drinks.
About 9:30.
I'll need your friend's name and number.
David Harrigan. Sure.
I've seen Sheila Atkins at work for 10 years.
The woman ought to have her license pulled.
She has nice things to say about you, too. Thank you.
HARRIGAN: I had a crisis with a Korean bank,
so I got to the bar maybe 9:45. Gary had started without me.
How long had he been there?
He was into his third Chivas.
He wasn't wasting any time.
Well, since the split-up...
He says you're investigating him about this murder.
He called you?
To give me a heads up, yeah.
Don't worry, he didn't ask me to lie. He knows me better than that.
You don't sound convinced he didn't do it.
I believe he's innocent.
That's not a ringing endorsement.
What about Molly?
I've known them since college.
I mean, their son and mine
practically grew up together.
Gary and Molly were decent people.
Even the divorce started out friendly.
Then the lawyers got hold of them.
Hyenas have better manners.
I just worry what it's done to their son, Billy.
Do you talk to him?
Well, he's been staying with us since a few days ago.
Why is that?
Something to do with his mother. I don't know what.
He just needs a time-out.
Do you mind if I talk to him?
You don't have to answer if you don't want to, Billy.
(SIGHS)
It's just the stuff at home.
With my mother.
With her pills and all that.
She cries a lot.
ROSS: She's not in good shape.
Like the night she tried to take you out of practice.
What happened when you got home?
I'm sick of everybody asking me that.
Who else asked?
Dad's lawyer, and Mom's.
She told me not to talk about it with anybody.
Ms. Atkins? Do you trust her?
Billy, did your mom tell you to take a cab home from practice that night?
HARRIGAN: You should tell her the truth, Billy.
(SIGHS) She was supposed to pick me up.
I called her. She didn't answer.
ROSS: Was she there when you got home?
Her door was closed. She was sleeping.
Did you see her or hear her?
Did you knock on the door? BILLY: No.
I went to my room and watched videos.
So, she still could have been asleep.
Uncle David, I don't think she was there.
I heard her phone ring in her room.
She never answered it.
Her own son isn't supporting her alibi.
She was halfway to a confession a week ago.
She's popping pills, crying herself to sleep at night?
Arresting her might push her the rest of the way.
Pick her up. Get warrants for her home and office.
Better put her on suicide watch.
Half a million dollars bail? It's utterly punitive.
If it keeps her where she can't hurt herself or others.
You know, that's a very benign view
of imprisonment before conviction.
I don't see a strong case here.
I don't see a case here at all.
Nothing specifically contradicts her alibi,
and nothing directly connects her to the crime.
So far, carpet fibers from the victim's office have turned up at her house
and hair matching hers was found at the crime scene.
BEHRENS: All of which can be explained innocently.
All we need is a speck of blood where it doesn't belong.
I didn't kill her. Why don't you believe me?
Molly, please let me handle this.
Are you putting Mr. Kilpatrick under the same microscope?
His alibi can be corroborated.
By David Harrigan?
Before you take his testimony at face value,
look at his banking practices.
Yeah, well, look, we're not going to settle this today.
Let's talk about chopping this bail in half.
Out of the question. Now, if you want to talk about a plea.
BEHRENS: With what you've got?
Given her state of mind, we're willing to go to man one.
That's a minimum of eight years in prison,
Mrs. Kilpatrick, instead of 25,
if you're convicted of second-degree murder.
You'll get laughed out of the grand jury first.
We're done here. Come on.
And I used to think my divorce was rough.
Look where you could have ended up.
My murder fantasies don't include getting caught.
Ms. Ross, Mr. McCoy,
between you and me, Mr. Behrens blew it.
Only if your client's guilty.
I'm not conceding anything.
But I don't see things looking up for Molly anytime soon.
What are you proposing?
Whatever's best for her.
Does your offer of man one come with a sentence recommendation?
Give me a number.
(SIGHS) Molly listens to me.
I'll get back to you in a few days.
(DOOR BUZZING OPEN)
Yeah, I'll let him know. Okay. Thanks. Bye.
Atkins. She had her halfway there, until Behrens got wind of it.
Nice try. She'll take another run at it
once we get an indictment.
All our adversaries should be this accommodating.
Or pragmatic.
Addressed to me, belongs to you.
From the Bar Association Ethics Committee.
Dues check bounced?
They're requesting copies of all non-confidential documents
held by the District Attorney's Office
in People v. Molly Kilpatrick.
This case hasn't even gone to the grand jury yet
and already there's an ethics problem?
Jamie, I'm not supposed to discuss pending matters.
Don't send me back to Jack McCoy empty-handed.
You know what a hard ass he is.
Yeah. He seeing anybody?
You want an introduction?
Sure.
Tell you what else you can do for me.
Give up a Saturday to work
with my high school mock trial team at St. Joseph's.
Sure. I'll teach them to spell quid pro quo.
(CHUCKLES)
Sheila Atkins came to the committee
for an advisory opinion on a privilege issue.
That's all I can say.
It's got to be about something Molly Kilpatrick told her.
An incriminating statement that might not be privileged.
That explains why Ms. Atkins was pushing for a plea.
If it's not privileged, she has a duty to come forward.
She's obviously struggling with it.
Why else go to the Ethics Committee?
Whatever they tell her, she's not bound by their decision.
It has no force of law.
Any new evidence against Mrs. Kilpatrick?
Nothing new from Forensics.
Yeah, well, then it's up to Ms. Atkins.
If she can't bring herself to do the right thing, we got a problem.
Exactly what ethical dilemma am I struggling with?
An issue of privilege regarding Molly Kilpatrick.
We know you went to the Ethics Committee.
Somebody has a big mouth.
Would you mind getting out of my way? They can't see me.
The Committee asked us for documentation.
This can't come as a surprise to you.
We appreciate you take the canons of ethics seriously.
We hope we don't have to compel you
to disclose what your client told you.
I don't have anything to say to you.
You have until tomorrow morning, or we go to the judge.
Don't wait up for me. And thank you.
This motion's an egregious attempt
to intrude on the attorney-client relationship.
And for all Mr. McCoy knows,
the information he's trying to wring out of Ms. Atkins is irrelevant.
Mr. McCoy, you have any idea what you're after?
I can only speculate.
Speculate out loud.
Solicitation by a client for help in a cover-up.
A statement by a client that he or she intends to commit a crime,
or offer perjured testimony.
Is he in the ballpark, Ms. Atkins?
I'm not conceding that my client said anything.
You didn't call the Ethics Committee for cooking tips.
That's between her and the Committee.
JACK: And this court.
Your Honor, you have the authority to compel her to talk.
Thank you, Mr. McCoy.
Ms. Atkins, you and I are going to have a chat in camera.
The rest of you can wait outside.
Divorce lawyers wrestling with their conscience.
What's next? Plumbers who don't pad their bills?
If my gut's right, you might start thinking about a plea.
The Judge wants you back in.
Back on the record.
Ms. Atkins has informed me of Mrs. Kilpatrick's statements.
In light of the canons of ethics and the relevant case law,
the statements are not protected
by the client-attorney privilege.
Ms. Atkins has a duty to divulge them to the District Attorney.
The People's motions to compel are granted.
Let's hear it, Ms. Atkins.
Not until you and I reach an agreement.
Your Honor?
Ms. Atkins, you can be held in contempt.
With all due respect, Your Honor,
Molly Kilpatrick is still my client,
and I still represent her interests.
First, they agree to a minimum sentence on a plea of man one.
Three-to-six?
Then they issue subpoenas
for accounts held by Paul Redfield in the Virgin Islands.
I don't understand. Who's Mr. Redfield?
He represents my client's ex-husband.
I intend to prove that he and Mr. Kilpatrick conspired to hide assets from her.
You don't need our help. You can get your own subpoenas.
Family Court turned me down.
This is a civil matter.
Even if we wanted to, we don't have the authority.
You can if you open a tax fraud investigation into Mr. Kilpatrick.
Sooner or later, my client will be out of jail,
and I'm committed to seeing that she's provided for.
That she gets every last dime she's entitled to.
DERRICK: That's all fine and good, Ms. Atkins.
But you have 48 hours to answer Mr. McCoy,
or I'll hold you in contempt.
Heck of a lawyer.
She's using us to grind Redfield's face into the ground.
If he committed fraud, it wouldn't be a waste of our time.
I don't like to be manipulated.
All of a sudden you don't need Ms. Atkins' testimony to convict her client?
Six months in Rikers for contempt will compel her testimony.
You hope.
Her client is guilty of murder.
We're supposed to let her off with three years
and help her gouge her husband for alimony?
You'll get over it.
We've decided to accept Ms. Atkins' terms.
We've opened an investigation
into Messrs. Redfield and Kilpatrick,
and we'll make a sentence recommendation for Mrs. Kilpatrick.
I don't understand what's going on here.
ROSS: Didn't Mr. Behrens explain it to you?
Yes, but I didn't kill Dr. Burk.
Molly, it's best we just listen for now.
You're up, Ms. Atkins.
I'm sorry, Molly. They're forcing me to do this.
You have to understand that Molly was driven to it by her husband.
By his lawyer's unconscionable tactics.
If it weren't for them, she wouldn't be on medication.
She wouldn't be here.
When she came to my office on Tuesday, she was beside herself.
She was fixated on the annulment.
She felt that the church and Dr. Burk, in particular,
were aligned against her.
She said, "I'll kill her, if that's what it takes to change her mind."
No, Sheila! Why are you telling them this?
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
No, I didn't say that.
I couldn't. You'd taken a lot of pills.
You didn't know what you were saying.
I never thought you'd go through with it.
MOLLY: (SOBBING) No.
It can't be true.
Please. Oh, God.
Three-to-six, is that right?
Contingent on a psychiatric evaluation?
Come on, Molly. Come on.
Grand jury subpoenas? Bank examiners?
I can't believe she talked you into this.
If you have nothing to hide, why jump all over us?
Because I don't think that the District Attorney's office
should be a patsy for Sheila Atkins'
malicious campaign of harassment.
Don't be paranoid.
She simply alleged what our forensic accountants already suspected.
Paranoid? This is what I've received from her
just within the past three months.
Interrogatories, motions for legal fees, frivolous criminal complaints.
I've got a whole room in my office filled with her crap.
It's attrition, not litigation.
You take a look at that, and then you tell me if I'm paranoid.
(DOOR OPENS)
Sore loser.
The divorce was finalized four months ago.
What's she hope to gain from this?
It does seem like overkill.
I'm surprised nobody's reined her in.
Go back to the Ethics Committee. Check her out.
She's our star witness against Molly Kilpatrick.
I'd like to know what we're dealing with.
Hey.
I'm thinking of buying it. It's an antique.
Aren't motorcycles supposed to have wheels and an engine?
Atkins' rap sheet from the Ethics Committee.
Allegations of conflict of interest,
comingling funds, courtroom misconduct.
Looks like she never met an ethical violation she didn't like.
Most of the complaints were filed by Paul Redfield.
Which is only fair, since she filed an equal number of complaints against him.
What's the matter with those two?
It's the adversarial system on steroids. It gets stranger.
I looked through the papers Redfield left behind.
It's a notice of a petition for a preliminary injunction.
Atkins wanted to enjoin the Archdiocese
from proceeding with the annulment.
Enjoin the Archdiocese? Who's she kidding?
She had a hearing scheduled with Judge Kaufer
the Friday after Linda Burk's death.
And? I don't know.
I've got a call in to Kaufer's clerk.
Enjoining the Catholic church.
I thought it was a non-starter.
First Amendment, separation of church and state.
I'm surprised Judge Kaufer even scheduled a hearing.
You'll be more surprised to learn
there's actual case law on this.
Ms. Atkins wasn't completely out in left field.
Her petition had merit?
Her brief argued the annulment had civil repercussions.
Namely, the illegitimacy of Mrs. Kilpatrick's son,
which can be held to be defaming and injurious to someone
who's not a party to the ecclesiastic proceedings.
She even quoted Blackstone.
JACK: How did Judge Kaufer rule?
If Ms. Atkins hadn't withdrawn her petition, I could tell you.
When did she do that?
The day before the hearing.
All right, Ms. Jones. Thank you.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Son of a bitch.
She withdrew her petition right after the murder because it was moot.
Because she knew Burk's evaluation
had been destroyed, because she did it.
She knew the annulment would be stalled.
Maybe she knew because Molly Kilpatrick told her.
Then why didn't Atkins tell us?
She killed Burk, Jamie.
That whole business with the Ethics Committee.
We were conned. She framed her own client.
She withdrew a petition two days after a killing.
It's not much to hang a murder charge on.
She talked an innocent woman into three years in jail.
Maybe she'll talk herself into 25-to-life.
Call her friend, Paul Redfield.
I took the liberty of sketching out an agreement.
You'll see that it covers what we discussed on the phone,
Kilpatrick puts a million-five on the table,
my client signs off on the annulment.
She's agreed?
My clients listen to me, Paul.
And I'll tell McCoy that we're withdrawing the fraud complaint.
REDFIELD: That might not be enough to get him off my back
Molly and I don't testify, he doesn't have a case.
The little twerp can pound his desk all he wants.
It doesn't matter.
You must have gone back for seconds
when they handed out the brass ones, Sheila.
Mmm.
It took you two-and-a-half years to cry uncle, Paul.
I never thought I'd hear it.
Your client's going to prison, and you're doing a victory dance.
Why shouldn't I?
I earn my fees in divorce court. Criminal law is not my bag.
So, do we have a deal?
I tell you what, Sheila.
I like everything about it except the million-five.
Let me propose another figure. Zero.
What the hell are you talking about?
I found this in my file.
Your petition for an injunction against the Archdiocese.
It looked so promising.
I called Judge Kaufer's clerk to find out what happened to it.
Imagine my surprise
when I was told that you withdrew it two days after Burk was killed.
Of course. Without her report,
the annulment is dead in its tracks.
REDFIELD: Nobody knew the report was erased
except the person who erased it.
That would be you, Sheila.
(EXCLAIMS)
Did somebody put drugs in your protein shake?
Fine. I'll just walk this over to One Hogan Place,
and see what McCoy makes out of it.
Or you get your client to consent to the annulment for no money,
and you withdraw the fraud complaint.
You bastard. I had you beat.
In your dreams.
I beat you on child support, on visitations.
One extra dinner a month.
Kilpatrick had to double her clothing allowance.
He was planning to do that anyway.
You just can't stand to lose.
ATKINS: And you know exactly how to lose.
You're an expert at it.
They're worse than my kids.
You're gonna get a crash course in losing,
'cause you're going to prison for murder.
I'm taking this to McCoy.
Paul, all right, you win.
You'll have her consent tomorrow.
Just don't do anything stupid.
Please.
Ms. Atkins.
What is this?
Turn around, please. What are you doing?
You're under arrest for murder.
Better start making criminal law your bag, Ms. Atkins.
CURTIS: You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used...
ATKINS: I'm convinced that he was hiding money from my client,
and the annulment was the only leverage I had left.
I practically begged Dr. Burk to reconsider her evaluation,
even just to delay it for a few weeks, and she refused.
I was furious.
After two-and-a-half years, to think that I could lose.
And we struggled, and I stabbed her with a pair of scissors,
and then I erased the report from her computer.
And your statements to the District Attorney regarding Mrs. Kilpatrick?
I lied.
And I apologize to her.
She trusted me with everything.
She gave me a free hand in how I handled her divorce.
I tried to defend her rights as...
(SIGHS) I'm sorry.
You killed my wife to win a divorce case, and you're sorry!
(GAVEL POUNDS)
GANCE: Order in the court.
(PEOPLE MURMURING)
GANCE: Mr. McCoy, are the People satisfied?
We are, Your Honor.
Sheila Atkins, pursuant to your plea
of Murder in the Second Degree
and the recommendation of the District Attorney's Office,
you are hereby sentenced to a term of no less than 15 years
and no more than the term of your natural life
in a facility to be determined
by the Department of Correction.
We're adjourned. (GAVEL POUNDS)
Redfield agreed to full restitution of the missing assets,
and he gets off with having his license pulled for three years.
He'll probably count this as a win.
He can drive up to Bedford and crow to Atkins about it.
Where on earth did these people learn their ethics?
Law school.
ADAM: Of course.