Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 11, Episode 17 - Ego - full transcript

Detectives discover that an Assistant Attorney General was having an affair with a murdered investigator in his office, and that he had made threatening statements about her to his psychiatrist.

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.

Oh, come on, papi It's too
damn cold out here for this.

Too cold? What'd I raise
here, a man or a ratoncito?

Hey, actually you didn't raise me at all.
Mommy raised me.

You were always
too busy workin'.

Yeah, puttin' clothes on everybody's
back, taking care of the family.

Just be quiet now. You're
scarin' away my fish.



Look, can we just go over
to Gristedes and buy some?

I promise to let you tell
everybody you caught it, okay?

Look, when you do a job, you
do it right, all right?

Oh, oh, I think I got a nibble.

Whoa! (GRUNTING)
Damn, it's heavy!

It's probably all the mercury.

Gimme a hand
here. Hurry up.

VICTOR: Ay, Dios mio, pa.

So what's the story?
Girl meets bridge?

Girl meets bullet.
Then girl meets river.

I love a happy ending.

Any idea how long ago?

It's hard to say with the
bloating and decomposition.

Three, maybe four weeks.



You didn't find any ID
floating around, did you?

Nah. Just the clothes
she went in with.

Oh, looks like somebody
did a number on her face.

Something, more likely.

Fish. They go for
the eyes first.

Victim's between
25 and 35, 5"6'.

Death was caused by a single .22 caliber
slug to the left temple region.

Blow back.
Up close and personal.

Any sign of sexual assault?

That long in the river,
I couldn't tell you.

What about her clothes?
Anything there?

Mass manufactured.
Nothin' unusual.

You might check out her belt
buckle though Looks handcrafted.

There's an insignia
stamped into the silver.

Could be Native American.

American Indian Museum downtown
might give us a leg up.

Jane Doe with a buckle.
Another promising start.

Oh, actually, I'm thinkin'
more like Jane Dietrich.

Given her dental work, she's
probably a German national.

How do you know that?

Stateside metal crowns are usually
custom made from gold or silver.

Hers are generically stamped
out of stainless steel.

We don't do that?

A couple of quack
dentists in Texas tried.

This technique's
definitely German.

ED: We figure she either
emigrated to the U.S.

or she came here
on a tourist visa.

You talk with the consulate?

Mmm-hmm. No German national is
reported missing in New York State.

Now, with Argentina, it's
a whole different story.

What about travel visas?

Over 6,000 in the
past three months.

Hey, the dollar's down.

And of those, 2,346 went to females
between the ages of 25 to 35.

It'll take us till Oktoberfest
to run through all of them.

That's it?

Well, we sent her dental
records to the Fatherland.

Oh, that could take months.

In the meantime, let's
work with what we've got.

BRISCOE: Littlemoon Birdsong?

If this is about
those parking tickets,

I was gonna send a check tomorrow, I swear.
Take it easy.

You're not gonna lose your micro-bus.
We're Homicide.

Homicide?

The curator at the Indian Museum
thought this might be your work.

Yeah, that's mine.

I did a series
of them last year.

But I don't understand what
this has to do with a homicide.

The victim was wearing that
buckle when she was killed.

(SIGHS)

Actually, it's an
Apache peace symbol.

Didn't protect
them much either.

We're gonna need a list
of your customers.

Oh, I don't do retail.

Credit card receipts,
sales tax, marketing plans...

A little too time consuming.

So where do you sell your work?

A little boutique in Chelsea.

I let them deal with
the headaches now.

I wish we all
could. Thanks.

Littlemoon Birdsong, my ass.

Her name's Linda Epstein
from Cedarhurst.

Different tribe altogether.

Yeah. I sold this. It's
some sort of peace thing.

We're trying to locate the
woman who may have bought it.

You remember everyone
you arrest, Detective?

She might have had
a German accent.

(SCOFFS) Everybody's
got an accent these days.

Okay, what about credit card records?
Sales receipts?

You understand, we're
mostly a cash business.

We're not interested
in your relationship

with the tax collector,
Ms. Martin.

We just want to know
who bought the buckle.

Well, a lot of our customers
sign our mailing list.

Would that do it?

BRISCOE: We're gonna
need everything.

Now, the list I need
back next week.

We're sending out a new mailer.

Indonesian death masks.

Guys, here's the Missing Persons.
The whole Tri-State area.

They go back six months, right?

Just like you asked, Detective.

Thank you.

Another no answer.
That makes seven.

Yeah.

Oh. Okay. Thanks anyway.
Yeah, I'll tell him.

Chessie Shaw, New Milford, New Jersey.
Alive and well.

You tell her about
the death masks?

ED: That's everybody
on my list.

What does that leave us with?

Uh, that's seven no
answers, a disconnect

and five unlisted numbers.

Any luck so far?

Well, I figure either Our Lady of the
Hudson wasn't on the mailing list,

or the belt buckle was a gift.

Here's somethin'.
Karen Hall.

Investigator in the New York State Attorney
General's Criminal Division upstate.

Disappeared six weeks ago.

That could be my
Albany disconnect.

Same age and height.

Well, the hair color's
similar but I thought

we were looking for
a German national.

Says in her bio her father was a bird
colonel in the Army stationed in...

Germany.

Eight years. Moved
to Albany in '89.

We were Army brats.
Baden Spa, Berlin.

My sisters and me, we spent our childhoods
being dragged from base to base.

Karen was the only one
who seemed to enjoy it.

She loved meeting new people.

ED: And when was the last time you
had contact with your sister?

The day she disappeared.

Karen was in Manhattan on a work assignment.
We spoke on the phone.

I didn't realize it would be the
last time I'd hear her voice.

When you say "work assignment,"

you mean for the
Attorney General's Office?

Right.

ED: Any idea what
she was working on?

She didn't talk
about her job much.

She took it seriously, though.

What time was it when
you spoke to her?

VINCENT: Maybe 5:00, 5:30.

Did she say where she was?

She was on her cell phone.

I thought maybe we could
have an early dinner,

but Karen said it would
have to be another time.

She was heading to catch
the Amtrak back to Albany.

You know, I told all this to the
State Troopers when they were here.

ED: This is just routine,
Mr. Hall.

Did Karen have any
friends in Manhattan?

Somebody who might have changed
her mind about goin' home?

She'd only been in the
city maybe once or twice.

She didn't know anyone
here, outside of work.

And you reported her missing
the following Monday?

She was supposed to go furniture
shopping with Nancy in Rhinebeck,

but she never showed up.

You guys got any idea
who did this to her?

We're workin'
on it, Mr. Hall.

Well, work hard.

'Cause Karen was
the baby of the family.

She was the favorite, you know.

And I was her big brother.

Karen started with the office's
upstate division five years ago

as a paralegal
in Mr. Conroy's bureau.

When did she get the
bump up to investigator?

I signed off on her promotion
only six months ago,

which is what makes what
happened such a waste.

Karen was something of a
project in the bureau.

Project?

Well, it was obvious from the beginning
that she had a real feel for the work.

It all came naturally to her.

Karen just lacked some
of the formal training

and education she
needed to move forward.

Eventually it all
came together.

You have any working theories?

Had. Till her body
turned up in Manhattan.

We have a witness that puts her in the
Albany train station at 9:30 that night.

And confirms her brother's story that
she was taking the 6:45 from Manhattan.

The timing worked.

Ms. Shore, we're gonna need to
follow up on the interviews.

Of course. I'll help you guys
out with anything you need.

FRANKS: The car was locked.
No sign of a break-in.

We figure she was snatched
somewhere between

the platform and
the parking lot.

I would've come to
the same conclusion.

Either of you know
Ms. Hall personally?

Just to say hello.

I worked a case with her once
when she was a paralegal.

She was good people.

You find any signs of personal problems
while you were knockin' around?

No debts, no drugs,
no gambling.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

No death threats, huh?

She have any overdue library
books in her apartment?

Just a half-starved Cocker Spaniel
and a closet full of clothes.

Yeah, it was pretty much a
cold trail after the station.

What about this newsstand guy?

The one that says
he saw her that night?

Hardworking Turkish.

Been at the station
over 10 years.

We're gonna need
to talk to him.

DAVIS: I'll run you right
over now, if you want.

I told the truth.
Nothing but the truth.

Nobody's accusing
you of lying, Mr. Hoca.

Take your time, sir.

This lady in the picture,
she came in on the train

on the night of
the 19th of February

and bought magazines
in my kiosk.

Then she walk away, out that...

Out that door?

Are you... Are you
asking or telling?

I think this is the truth.

Yeah, but you didn't actually see
her get off the train, right?

Me? No. The troopers, they
say she was on the train.

Can you describe this
woman, Mr. Hoca?

Blonde hair, middle
height, middle weight.

Was she dragging
a flowered travel bag?

You know, the kind
you wheel around?

Yes. I remember.
I see that.

Thank you, very much, sir.

It's, uh, okay?
I did good?

Oh, you did fine.

Oh, he's the most convincing witness
I've heard since Kato Kaelin.

He seemed solid when
we interviewed him.

Who else did you talk to
during your investigation?

Hey, we did our damn job.

Did you canvass the damn area?

Did you talk to the
regular damn commuters?

Somebody on the train must've
remembered seeing her.

Did you talk to the conductors?
The other vendors?

Hey, we talked to
everybody, okay?

The Turk was the
only one who saw her.

And that didn't
tell you something?

Look, I tell you something,
it stays off the record.

We're all cops here, man.

The fact is, Jim and
I had our own doubts.

Doubts about what?

About the direction the case was
being steered by the A.G.'s office.

What direction was that?

My personal opinion, and I don't
have any evidence to support this.

It's all right.
I hear you.

They glommed on to the train-snatch
theory for their own reasons.

ED: And the right
reasons would be?

Let's just say I don't think the A.G.
wanted to face the possibility

that Karen Hall's killer might be some
guy from one of their own case files.

Well, naturally we considered the
possibility it was work related.

It's the first thing
we thought of.

But we couldn't uncover any hard
evidence to support the theory.

With all due respect, Mr. Conroy,
how hard did you consider it?

Well, we pulled our case files.

We examined every possibility.

But, uh, all the evidence
pointed back to Albany.

We're going to need to go
over all of her files.

Everything she was
working on at the time.

Some of those cases
are still pending.

We're not going to compromise any of
my investigations, are we, Lieutenant?

You can count
on our discretion.

I don't see a problem.

I'll have some of those case files
copied and sent off to your precinct.

Well, I'd like to get my
men started on the case

she was working the
day she disappeared.

SHORE: Alec?

Uh, Nate Richards.
A nursing home fraud.

It was a joint prosecution
with the Feds.

And Karen Hall was sent
to Manhattan for what?

We had a reluctant witness. I
wanted Karen to hold her hand.

VAN BUREN: Why was
the witness reluctant?

Defendant's ex. She was having second
thoughts about testifying against him.

And that aroused no suspicion?

We had Richards
interviewed extensively.

ALEC: It was a dead end.

But, listen, I understand
you have a job to do.

Uh, I can make a
call to the facility.

Your guys are certainly welcome
to take a stab at him.

RICHARDS: Like I told the
guy from the A.G.'s office.

I wouldn't know Karen Hall
if I fell over the broad.

Interesting choice of words.

Ms. Hall was one of the
investigators on your case.

I never laid eyes on her. I
mean, what is it with you guys?

She was working
with Angela Cofresta

at the time of
her disappearance.

You remember Angela?

Bitch gave me up when
I wouldn't leave my wife.

Imagine that.

We pulled your sheet, Nate.

You had a little domestic
history with this woman.

Angela dropped those charges.

Yeah, we noticed that, too.

'Cause you smacked her
around a little bit, right?

Only this time, they
gave her a babysitter.

I was lookin' at 26 months
on that fraud charge.

You think I'm gonna
threaten a federal witness?

Cap a state investigator?

Women. Can't live with 'em,
can't kill 'em, huh, Nate?

You got any idea how far
that would've pushed me

along on the
sentencing guidelines?

I mean, I'd need a nursing home
myself by the time I got out.

Well, can you account for your whereabouts
on the night of the February 19th?

Yeah.

Where every good defendant is supposed to be.
In my lawyer's office.

Testifying against Nate was
the hardest thing I ever did.

I was scared of him.

But you went through with it.

Yeah, I went through with it.

Karen made me think about
all those old people.

How they were suffering.

I never thought about
it like that before.

Ms. Cofresta, you had
a meeting with Ms. Hall

at around 2:00 p.m.
the day she disappeared?

We talked a lot on the phone.

Karen came down
just to be with me.

What'd you talk about?

Mostly stuff about the case.
Goin' over stuff.

And we talked about men.
Older men, married men.

How they try to control you.

She really understood.

Did she talk about
the men in her life?

No, not really.

But I kind of got the feelin' she
was dating an older guy, too.

She mention anything about him?

A name?
Anything at all?

COFRESTA: Just
that it was over.

BRISCOE: What time
did she leave?

Maybe 4:00, I think. It was
a long time ago, you know.

I do remember she said she had a
late meeting in the city that night,

and I could call her if I
started stressing out again.

Maybe if I did,
she'd still be alive.

She was staying late in town?

Told her brother she had to get back
to Albany to take care of her dog.

She doesn't strike me as the
type to lie to her brother.

Or to let her dog
starve to death.

Maybe something
came up at work.

Think we'd have heard about it.

(LAUGHS) Yeah, you'd think.

ED: I want to work for the
A.G.'s office when I grow up.

The Attorney
General investigated

illegal billing practices
at the Klensch Agency.

Karen Hall personally
interviewed 17 runway models.

Maybe we should follow up.

It looks like Conroy
was right on.

From what I'm seein', there's nothing
life or death in these case files.

Hey, Ed, when did Conroy say Karen got her
first field assignment to the big city?

Couple of months back.

And her brother thought she was still
gettin' her bearings around town?

Right. So how come she's got
three Amtrak ticket stubs,

round trip, Albany to New York,
goin' back more than a year?

She goes down to the Big Apple,

she keeps it from
her big brother

and everyone else in her life.

That can only mean one thing.

A special friend?

Mmm-hmm.

Karen had no time
for boyfriends.

She was so busy with work.

God knows we tried, but it was
always one thing or another.

Even if she had a boyfriend,
she wouldn't have told me.

The age difference, it was more like
a father-daughter thing with us.

Karen was seeing someone.

BRISCOE: Did she
mention a name?

She told you that?

NANCY: She didn't
want people to know.

We're people?

Did she tell you
who she was seeing?

No. But he was married.

Karen was going with a married guy?
She told you that?

She said it was over.

ED: And she never
mentioned a name?

She wouldn't say
anything about him.

She didn't want people
at work to find out.

Why didn't you tell all this to the
troopers when she disappeared?

I did. I told
the investigators.

But I didn't know who it was,

and Karen said it had
been over for awhile.

So you're thinking it may
be a romance gone sour?

One of the sisters thinks it
might have been an office thing.

Did you call Albany
and ask around?

Yeah, no luck. It seems the
lady was tight-lipped.

So we pulled all of her
personal credit card receipts

goin' back a year.

Hotel, restaurant charges from all
over the city last 10 months.

Busy girl.

Up until a month before
she disappeared.

Right about the time sis
says the romance cooled.

One, two, three, four
five visits to Caverna?

ED: You know it? Yeah,
it's a quiet little place

over on 21st and 10th.

You say she was a customer?

Yeah. Five or six
times that we know of.

Perhaps you can come back tomorrow.
Speak with the maitre d'.

I'm usually in the back office.

Why can't we speak
to the maitre d' now?

Called in sick. And we are in the
middle of our busiest seating.

Well, we're in the middle of a
busy homicide investigation.

Let me get Roberto, our head waiter.
Maybe he can help you.

These gentlemen are
with the police, Roberto.

They'd like to see if you could
help identify a photograph.

Oh, ma certo.
Absolutely.

Ah, sf. La signorina Hall

Used to come here
with her gentleman friend.

But, uh, not so much anymore.

You wouldn't happen to remember
this gentleman friend's name?

Oh, sure, sure. First rule
of ristorante business, huh?

Never forget
a name. (LAUGHS)

(STAMMERS) It's, uh,
Alfred. Uh, no, Arturo.

Alexandro. No, Alec.
Si, Alec Conroy.

Alec Conroy?

He and the signorina, always
the deuce in the corner.

Very private. Uh,
very romantic, huh?

Very nice.

Alec Conroy?

The heir apparent
at the A.G.'s office?

How well do you
really know him?

He got organized crime convictions that
everyone else thought were impossible,

including myself.

In addition to which, I went
to law school with his boss.

Isabel Shore.
There's a straight arrow.

As straight as they come.

If she suspected anything she never
would have given him the nod.

According to Briscoe and Green,

Conroy kept his investigators
pursuing leads

he had to know
would never pay off.

And he concealed his
relationship with the Hall girl.

CARMICHAEL: A married
ex-boyfriend?

That would have been at the top
of the trooper's hit list.

Conroy told them the romance
angle was a dead-end.

While he kept them in the dark
about his affair with the victim.

This man is next in line
at the Criminal Division.

I'm not gonna drag
him out in handcuffs

because he concealed an affair.

He did more than
conceal it, Nora.

He told Karen Hall's sister
there was no office romance,

and then he turned the investigation
to a less than credible witness

who put her in Albany.

Taken as a whole, his conduct
does evince a guilty mind.

(SCOFFS) What do
you want to do?

Look him in the eye
and ask him the question.

I killed Karen Hall because I
was having an affair with her,

then stonewalled
the investigation?

(LAUGHS) That's...
That's absurd.

Is there another explanation?
Yes.

The investigation into
Karen's disappearance

went nowhere because there
was nowhere for it to go.

It's as simple as that.

Especially not with a cover story
about a witness in Albany.

The newsstand vendor told
the troopers she was there.

I relied on that.

JACK: They don't
see it that way.

Really? Well, their activity
reports say they do.

Activity reports
that you supervised.

I have the distinct feeling that
somebody's about to read me my rights.

Do you need your
rights read, Mr. Conroy?

Off the record?

Okay, on the record then.

Karen and I had been involved.
Past tense.

I broke it off.
End of story.

I assume you can tell us where you
were the night she disappeared.

We already know
it wasn't in Albany.

I wouldn't have taken
it on faith, either.

I was with someone else.

Not your wife.

My wife and I weren't together at the time.
I had my own place.

Now, if that offends your
long-horn, self-righteous sense

of right and wrong,
then so be it.

What offends us is withholding
information from an investigation.

If I go public with
my relationship with Karen,

I jeopardize cases,
maybe even my career.

I wasn't about to do that.
Not when I had an alibi.

Alec came over
about 5:00, 5:30.

I made dinner. We took
a walk, read a bit,

and then turned in.

And when did he leave?

Around 10:00
the next morning.

Can anyone else verify that?

I don't see why I should be
answering these questions.

Because you've been noticed
as an alibi witness.

That gives me the right to
verify Mr. Conroy's story.

Alec never loved that girl.

So you know about the affair?

I'm not a fool
Ms. Carmichael.

I know there are things that Alec
wants that I can't give him.

I've been with him 12 years.

He always comes
back in the end.

I understand he
reconciled with his wife.

Alec was right about you.

Houston, isn't it?

Dallas.
So he's talked to you?

If you think Alec was
in love with this girl,

that he killed her because
of it, you're wrong.

Because he was with you, right?

Have you ever seen Alec
in court, Ms. Carmichael?

No, I haven't had the pleasure.

Well, you should.

Because then you would know,

Alec Conroy doesn't
fear anything.

She's lying,
Jack. I know it.

And the way she idolizes
Conroy, it's just creepy.

Like he's got some
kind of hold over her.

If what the police
are saying is true,

Conroy's been able to manipulate
an entire murder investigation.

Why not an alibi witness?

Anything turn up
with Marner's doormen?

They can't confirm Conroy
was with her that night,

but they can't
dispute it, either.

Still leaves us without probable
cause for a search warrant.

But we might be getting close.

The cops went over to
Conroy's apartment building.

Anything?

There was no sighting
of him that night,

but the concierge let it slip

that a few days after
Karen Hall's murder

Mrs. Conroy sent down
specific instructions

not to let Conroy up to the
apartment under any circumstances.

One month after he supposedly
broke off the affair,

his wife suddenly bars him
from their apartment? Why?

She was afraid of somethin'.

Or someone.

But even if it's true,
they've reconciled.

I doubt she'll tell
us anything now.

Maybe there's someone
else she'll talk to.

SHORE: Alec is a suspect
in this girl's murder.

It's not possible.
He wouldn't.

You must have
had some suspicion.

Why else leave
specific instructions

your husband not be
allowed into your home?

Alec still had
his own apartment.

JACK: You left the same instructions
at your children's school.

Where are the kids?

With my parents.

JACK: Why?

Are you afraid of your
husband, Mrs. Conroy?

I don't see how my relationship with
my husband is any of your business.

Either of yours.

This is very hard for me, too.

Alec and I worked
side by side every day.

I respected him
and I trusted him.

But this is no good. We're not
going to be able to protect him.

He's getting help, Isabel.
He really is trying this time.

If he killed her, nothing
will ever be right again

until he takes
responsibility for it.

How long can you keep your
children away, Mrs. Conroy?

We talked about
divorcing a few times.

But this last time,
I'd really decided.

When I told him,
Alec just snapped.

He started accusing this girl
of destroying our family.

And the more I tried to
explain, the angrier he became.

I got so scared.

I thought if I went with Alec to
his therapist, it might be easier.

That's when I found out.

Found out what, Mrs. Conroy?

He had already decided
who was to blame.

Obviously I can't go into anything
concerning what Alec told me.

Mrs. Conroy indicated
that the three of you

discussed her husband's
affair with Karen Hall

in a therapy session with you,

and that in fact it was you who recommended
that they immediately separate.

Deanne Conroy
wasn't my patient.

Well, you can at least verify
the accuracy of her statement.

I suppose if she's already told you as
much, I don't see the harm in that.

She also revealed the substance
of that therapy session,

and that she left it
with serious concerns

about the safety of Karen Hall.

Now we're treading on
thinner ice here, Counselors.

That information arises directly
out of my diagnosis of Mr. Conroy.

And when another woman turns
up missing, what then, Doctor?

My obligation is to my patient.

I warned Ms. Hall.

CARMICHAEL: You warned her?

I put it all in the letter.
There's nothing more I could do.

What letter, Doctor?

A Tarasoff letter.

You're familiar with it?
Regents v. Tarasoff.

A California case permitting a
psychiatrist to send a warning letter

if he believes his patient constitutes
a threat to a third party.

You say you got this copy
from Conroy's shrink?

The original hasn't
turned up yet.

Conroy probably took care of that
in the initial investigation.

"It is my belief that
Mr. Conroy constitutes"

"an immediate real
danger to you."

That'd be Karen Hall.

LEWIN: "And possibly others."

Conroy's psychiatrist sent a
similar letter to Alice Marner.

And you say his wife was
in some of these sessions?

She used the therapist's office as a
safe haven to break it off with him.

And this other woman Conroy's
supposed alibi what's her safe haven?

We have her under
24-hour surveillance.

Which is how we discovered
that Marner's late husband

kept a 26-foot Grady White
in the boat basin,

and she held onto it.

Well, that's a
nice item to have.

I mean, if you need
to dispose of a body.

We know you received a
letter just like this one.

Alec would never harm me.

Karen Hall made
the same assumption.

CARMICHAEL: Ask yourself
this, Ms. Marner.

When this trial is over, and Alec
Conroy doesn't need you anymore,

are you going to go out on
your boat with him again?

We know all about it.

Security from the marina told us
someone took your boat out that night.

It's one thing to provide an
alibi when you have doubts.

It's quite another when
you know the truth.

JACK: It's called
accessory after the fact,

and it makes you just as guilty
of the murder as Conroy.

No man is worth
25 years in prison.

Alec called that night.

JACK: Where was he?

At a pay phone.

JACK: What did he say?

He said he needed my help.
He needed me.

I asked him what was wrong.
Do I have to do this?

What did Conroy want from you?

He just said he needed to use the boat.
To meet him at the marina.

Were you on board?

He took the key.

Did he have anything with him?

A duffel bag.

A big one.

MAN: Who's gonna
pay for all this?

Hey, we got a warrant. Take it
up with the building manager.

Anything?

Floors have been refinished.
Place has been painted.

At 2800 for one bedroom, they
damn well better have painted it.

ED: Lennie...

There's something in the grouting.
It could be blood.

It'll take a second for
the Luminol to kick in.

Hit the light,
would you, Detective?

ED: That's blood.

Huh. They should have
re-tiled the place, too.

Oh, that's it. They're
payin' for a hotel.

All right, that's good,
that's good. I like that.

But if you were to
take Ferguson...

Game's over, boys and girls.

Excuse me. What the
hell's goin' on here?

Alec Conroy, you're under arrest
for the murder of Karen Hall.

Call my wife please. You have
the right to remain silent...

Excuse me. I know
my rights, thank you.

Oh, that's right. You used
to have one of these.

"Docket 44937.
People v. Conroy."

"Charge is Murder,
Second Degree."

JUDGE: How does
the defendant plead?

Not guilty, on behalf
of Mr. Conroy.

JUDGE: People on bail?

The defendant is an Assistant Attorney
General in the Criminal Division,

and the victim was his
former lover and employee.

Now, Your Honor, the People are
in possession of a letter dated

shortly before the victim's
disappearance which indicates

the defendant posed an immediate
physical threat to her.

The letter's
totally inadmissible.

His own psychiatrist will
attest to it, Your Honor.

Not in any court in this land.

Motion to suppress the so-called Tarasoff
letter and anything that comes with it.

Bail's set at one million. Motion's
referred to the trial part.

Spin the wheel, Louis.

JUDGE CALLAHAN:
Damning stuff, Counselor.

I can understand why you wouldn't
want a jury to get wind of this.

Every word in that letter
is hearsay, Your Honor,

and is being offered to prove
the very matter asserted.

The doctor can
confirm its contents.

Not unless my client is willing to
waive the doctor-patient privilege

which I can assure
you, he's not.

What about it,
Mr. McCoy?

Therapeutic privilege was shattered
by the presence of a third party.

Well, your office tried that same
argument in People v. Bierenbaum.

It didn't work then,
doesn't work now.

Your Honor, in Bierenbaum all we had were
witnesses who were willing to testify

that the defendant told
them he was in therapy.

Here we have someone who was
actually in the session.

It was his wife, Your Honor.

Wife?

So if the psychological
privilege doesn't apply...

STAN: Then the spousal
prohibition does.

Spousal privilege precludes Mrs. Conroy's
testifying, not Conroy's psychiatrist.

Call it what you like. I'm not letting
the man's shrink violate the privilege

because the man's wife
was in the same room.

And without the good doctor's
testimony, the letter is hearsay...

Relax, Stan.
The letter's out, too.

Dr. Breitel, the letter and
his testimony are gone.

What about the blood
in the apartment?

Too contaminated
for any real analysis.

The murder weapon?

Conroy doesn't own
a registered handgun.

He could've gotten it anywhere.

He probably dropped it in the water
along with Karen Hall's body.

Well, what does
that leave us with?

Alice Marner's testimony that
Conroy took her boat out

that night with a duffel bag.

We also have his attempt at a false alibi.
It's a roll of the dice.

(SIGHS) No.

I don't want to gamble
with a jilted mistress, Jack.

A plea? You
can't be serious.

Alec, let's hear them out at least.
Hear what out?

Without Dr. Breitel, all you've
got is circumstantial evidence.

We all know how juries
hate to convict on that.

And yet sometimes they do.

Trust me this one won't.

They might after they learn about
all the blood in that bathroom.

From what I understand
from your forensic report,

the blood couldn't be typed.
It was too contaminated?

STAN: Alec... I remember reading
somewhere that bleach can do that.

Aren't you forgetting about a large duffel
bag you were carrying that evening?

Oh, the one that Alice
never actually looked into?

It's in my closet. I can
bring it in, if you'd like.

Of course, it could be
one that just looks like it.

Any event, I doubt Alice will be able
to tell the difference either way.

We also have a
witness in the marina.

ALEC: A witness to what?
A late night cruise?

Do you know how many times
I've taken that boat out? Hmm?

Even when Alice's
husband was alive?

You don't seriously
expect to walk on this?

I understand you've
never seen me in court.

Consider this a preview.

Stan.

Miss Hall was last seen by Ms. Cofresta
at approximately 4:00 p.m.

She had indicated that she was
going to be staying in the city.

What about the witness who originally
placed Ms. Hall in Albany?

He's since retracted
that identification.

Thank you.
Nothing further.

To your knowledge,
was Mr. Conroy seen

with the deceased the
night of her disappearance?

Uh, no.

And Mr. Conroy has admitted
that he and Ms. Hall

were having an
affair, has he not?

ED: I believe he has, yes.

Well, do you know of any fact...
Fact, Detective,

that would contradict his assertion
that the affair had ended?

No.

In fact, the only
evidence on the issue

is that Mr. Conroy returned to his
wife following a legal separation.

Actually, I think he made a few stops
before he went back to his wife.

Ha-ha. Nothing further.

ALICE: I've known Alec
for 12 years.

JACK: You described your relationship
with the defendant as passionate.

Passionate. Supportive.

Supportive, how?

Alec was not a man
who found it easy to

let his guard down with others.

With me, it was different.

He trusted me.
He confided in me.

JACK: And that night,
he confided in you?

Alec asked for my help.

He needed to use the boat.

JACK: Those were his
words? "Use the boat?"

Yes, and I let him.

I let him throw that
girl's body into the river.

STAN: Objection.
JUDGE: Sustained.

JACK: Thank you.
Nothing further.

Twelve years is a long time
to know a man, isn't it?

And you are

fond of Alec Conroy,
aren't you?

I've been in love with Alec
Conroy since the day we met.

And I still am.

And you've testified that this man who
you've known and loved for nearly 12 years,

who confided in you,
trusted you,

called and asked if
he could use your boat?

ALICE: Yes.

In the dead of winter.

And this man who so trusted you and
relied on you gave no reason why.

He just said he needed help.

STAN: He offered no explanation,
and you didn't ask him why?

ALICE: No.

You just met him at the boat.

Yes.

And you claimed
that when he showed up,

he was carrying a duffel bag,
and still you didn't ask why?

ALICE: No.

You didn't meet Alec Conroy at
the boat that night, did you?

I don't understand.

Oh, you went to the boat all right, but
you met him at his apartment, didn't you?

No, I did not.

You met him at the apartment that
he had rented for the two of you.

Only you weren't invited.

And when you showed up to see your lover of
12 years in the arms of this young girl...

What are you trying to do?

STAN: Your late husband owned
a .22 caliber handgun,

did he not, Mrs. Marner?
ALICE: Alec...

STAN: You're the one who killed
that woman that night, aren't you?

No! The wife posed no threat.

But this one, she did.
This young sensuous woman.

Objection.
Overruled.

You killed her, and then
you asked Alec Conroy,

the man you love, the man
you trust, to help you.

In fact, you counted on the 12 years
of control that you had had over him.

Control I had?

Yeah, and it worked. Because
rather than turn you in,

rather than fulfill his
obligations as a prosecutor

he took pity on you, didn't he?

Helped you get rid
of Miss Hall's body?

That never happened. Never!

Your boat, Mrs. Marner.

Your boat, your gun,
your jealousy.

Should've seen it coming.
How could we?

The gun was registered to Marner's
late husband in Florida, not New York.

You think the jury
will see through that?

Gillum doesn't need to
prove the Marner scenario.

He just has to get one juror to
buy himself reasonable doubt.

Which he can do because they will
never see the Tarasoff letter.

To a lawyer like Gillum, that letter isn't
a fact, it's just an annoying detail.

This guy leaves his wife,
he takes two lovers,

and he still has the sanctity of
marital privilege to protect him.

Except he didn't
just leave his wife.

When Gillum crossed
Green he said...

They were legally separated.

Another one of those
annoying details.

I was under the impression
I'd already ruled on this.

The Tarasoff letter,
the shrink's testimony.

It's a non-starter,
Jack.

We're agreed that if Mr. Conroy
had uttered his threats

to his psychiatrist
and a third party,

the privilege would
have been shattered?

We've been down this path. The
so-called third party was his wife.

Only they were legally separated at
the time, not just living apart.

Page 36 of your cross-examination
of Detective Green, Stan.

A legal separation?

They filed an agreement
with the court.

STAN: A distinction
without a difference.

Your Honor, once an
agreement has been filed,

one spouse can go
out and have an affair,

and legally the other spouse can't
use it as grounds for divorce.

I'd say that's a
pretty big difference.

JUDGE: So you're claiming now that
marital privilege doesn't apply

because the sanctity of
marriage no longer existed?

In the eyes of the law, Deanne
Conroy was a third party.

Ergo, her presence in therapy
nullifies the therapeutic privilege.

Your Honor...

JUDGE: Stan,
look at it this way.

If the jury convicts, you'll have
a hell of an issue on appeal.

The letter's in,
the shrink's in.

Doctor, please read
the highlighted portion

in the third full
paragraph on page two.

DR. BREITEL: "In the light
of this, Ms. Hall",

"I believe that Mr. Conroy
should be considered"

"an immediate and
very real physical threat."

What was the basis
for your opinion?

Mr. Conroy
suffers from CDR.

Control Domination Response.

In lay terms?

He needs to feel that
everything in his life,

especially the people
in his life,

are under his
control, domination.

JACK: Specifically? DR. BREITEL:
Just look at the women in his life.

Devoted wife, widowed
mistress, aspiring employee.

All of them share a vulnerability
to him A dependence.

When Mr. Conroy realized he could
no longer control Ms. Hall,

you can see how her defiance
could be perceived by him

as jeopardizing more than
just their relationship.

Did he say he was
going to kill Ms. Hall?

He said he wanted to.

And I believed him.

JACK: Nothing further.

Man one on the table, McCoy?

You've gotta be kidding.

So what is?
JACK: Murder two.

I can get that after trial.

Not with a promise
of 20-to-life.

Oh, you're going to knock
five years off the bottom?

And we take no
position on parole.

You might just see
the light of day again.

(SCOFFS) The light of day.

Do you know how many times I sat
on the other side of this table

and said those same
words to a defendant?

Now or never, Mr. Conroy.

The ticking clock.
Always an effective strategy.

You've got your plea, McCoy.

JACK: You'll have to allocute.

Oh, is that really necessary?

For months, Karen Hall's family has been
plagued by questions of how and why.

We're not leaving this room
until your client answers them.

(WHISPERS) You don't have to.

It's okay.

You know, this may come as a big surprise
to all of you, but I loved Karen.

Killing someone's a pretty sick
way of saying "I love you."

When I first met Karen, she was just
another local girl in cheap shoes.

She didn't know the first thing
about being a professional,

about talking like one, or like dressing
like one, or like thinking like one.

I was the one who
taught her that.

And then you betrayed her.

ALEC: No, that was
her choice, not mine.

I was willing to give up my
wife and my children for her.

She just couldn't
appreciate the sacrifice.

So then?

So then I called her
late that afternoon

and told her I had some new
information about the case.

She was reluctant about
coming over to the apartment,

but I told her it would
just be a few minutes.

But I could tell in her voice
she didn't want to come.

But she did.

Loyalty to the job,
Ms. Carmichael.

I taught her that, too.

Where'd you get the gun?

Alice's, a few weeks before.

What happened after
Ms. Hall got there?

ALEC: At first,
we talked about work.

I wanted her to think everything
was going to be okay.

But then I brought up the
relationship, and Karen said

she was uncomfortable with the subject.
That it was over.

She started putting on her coat.
I told her to sit down.

She said I couldn't tell
her what to do anymore.

So I reached for her,
and she pulled away.

And she said that the thought of her
being touched by me again made her sick.

That's when she saw the gun.

She gave me this look like
she knew she'd gone too far.

Why not just let her walk away?

ALEC: I couldn't.

Karen should have known
I could never do that.

Now she does.

Background checks,
press coverage,

and with all that, Alec
Conroy was a heartbeat away

from one of the most powerful jobs
in the criminal justice system.

(EXHALES) What
a frightening thought.