Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 20, Episode 18 - Brazil - full transcript

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.

Hi, sweetie. You like my tie?

Yes. It's red.

You can watch me
on the Internet, bella.

Mommy will show you how.

I know how. Bye.

Ciao.



Go play, baby.

I want you on the
next plane home.

I'm not going to argue
with you about this, Dana.

I'll call you later.

Please!

The evidence that human conduct

causes climate change
is open to debate.

No, it's not!

What's indisputable is the
foolishness of the solutions

to that supposed problem.

Cap and trade of
carbon emissions

injects scientists into the financial
sector, where we have no place being.

Excuse me. Excuse me!

I do not agree with Dr. Silva's
views on global warming,



but that does not mean that
he is wrong about cap and trade.

It's a racket, and government
policy should look elsewhere.

Thank you, Dr. Brown.

It's nice to know that we can
find common ground, even...

Even despite our
ideological differences.

I'm sorry, I have
the worst headache.

Somebody call 911!

Dr. Silva has been rushed
to the hospital, unconscious,

extremely elevated
blood pressure.

Looks like a hypertensive
crisis triggered a stroke.

And the blood?

Probably broke his
nose when he fell.

A stroke and a broken nose?

What can I tell you? Apparently
Dr. Silva's a controversial guy.

The Brazilian Consulate
wanted cops in the mix.

Great.

Got the video teed up.

I'm sorry, I have
the worst headache.

Run that back again in slo-mo.

Look at that, he was
bleeding before he went down.

Bleeding like
that from a stroke?

Not from a stroke. I've
never seen this before.

We have. It's
called homicide-itis.

His blood work shows he ingested a
massive amount of methylphenidate

an hour before he collapsed.

Right. It's an amphetamine.

The drug caused a
sudden jump in his BP

and triggered a
cerebral hemorrhage.

Any chance he was
popping uppers?

Oh, I doubt it. Methyl P's
usually for kids with ADD.

Meaning he might've
been poisoned.

Yup. The E.R.
pumped his stomach.

Looks like somebody
spiked his granola.

There was a buffet breakfast
before the morning panel,

but I can't believe anybody
would hurt Dr. Silva.

We're going to need a list
of everyone at the breakfast.

You know who Silva ate with?

Probably himself.

It's a climate change symposium.

He's a climate
change denier, so...

Yeah, the odd man out.

I know what you're thinking,
but these are scientists.

The worse that happens is
they flame each other in a journal,

or pull some sophomoric prank.

Any of that happen to Dr. Silva?

He was worried about
his data being hacked.

He told me he got
an alert on his laptop,

the hotel's Wi-Fi wasn't
properly firewalled.

He was just being paranoid.

Hey, check this.

Blood pressure
meds, pills for ulcers,

but no methyl-whatever
the M.E. called it.

Silva has a file here
labeled "Smoking Gun."

It's an e-mail thread from a Dr. Everett
Brown to a Dr. Larry Cattermole,

dated two weeks ago.

"We have to adjust
these data hiccups.

"Any temperature anomalies
will encourage the climate deniers.

"We can't allow that."

Sounds like they
were fudging data.

Silva's not on the distro
list for these e-mails,

meaning he's not
supposed to have them.

Stolen e-mails proving that
two global warming scientists

were cooking their numbers.

No wonder Silva was worried about
somebody hacking his computer.

All right, so maybe Brown
or Cattermole figured out that

Silva had hacked theirs
and decided to shut him up.

Guess who was on
the panel with Silva?

These are private e-mails, and
possession of them is a felony.

Did you tell that to Dr. Silva?

No. I didn't know he had them.

It's the first I've
heard of this.

I am very concerned with
the invasion of privacy.

Yeah, not to mention it getting out
that you were monkeying with your data.

A few data points
among thousands,

with zero effect on the bottom
line that global warming is real.

Then why game your
research, Dr. Brown?

Because...

Global warming deniers
will use any excuse

to create doubt
where there's clarity.

The stakes are too high to
let them muddy the waters.

You were on the
panel with Silva.

Did you talk to him
at the breakfast buffet?

I didn't even see him. I
grabbed a bagel and left.

We're still verifying
Brown's alibi.

The other scientist, Cattermole,

he was in Portland,
teaching a seminar.

Excuse me. Uh,
Lou, check this out.

This is the video
of Silva collapsing.

This is Brown talking
just before it happened.

I do not agree with Dr. Silva's
views on global warming,

but that does not mean that
he is wrong about cap and trade.

It's a racket, and government
policy should look elsewhere.

Cap and trade, that's
about carbon emissions.

Right, limiting the pollution
a company can emit.

If you want to pollute more,
you can buy carbon credits

from a company who's
polluting less. Weird thing.

Brown is an eco-warrior, and here he
is siding with Silva to rip cap and trade.

Yeah, Silva had proof that
Brown was falsifying data.

Now, maybe he used this to
convince Brown to support him.

Carbon trading, people
make money out of that, right?

Mmm-hmm.

A prominent global warming
advocate bags on cap and trade,

the market might have noticed.

Stocks in carbon
emissions trading companies

tanked right after
Brown's statement.

If Silva knew what
Brown was going to say,

he might have made money off it.

Find out if Dr. Silva liked
to play the carbon market.

And then talk to his wife.
She just flew in from Brazil.

Mmm.

We met at a conference. I moved
to Rio. We have the perfect life.

Our daughter Nicole, you
should see him with her.

Why anyone would
want to poison Oscar, I...

He was a controversial
figure, right?

The warmists, the
global-warming fanatics,

have accused him of every crime.

Now we see their lies about the
glaciers, the manipulation of data.

Mrs. Silva, I'm sorry
to have to ask you this,

but did you know that your
husband bought stock options

in a carbon-emissions
trading company last week?

Stock options?

Yes. $50,000 worth
of short-call options.

The company's stock dropped after
Dr. Brown came out against cap and trade,

and now your
husband's investment

is worth $200,000.

We think your husband pressured
Dr. Brown into making those statements

so he could profit from it.

It may be a reason why
someone poisoned him.

Oscar's no crook, he's a
decent and honest man.

You can't be right.

He said he'd ruin me

if I didn't come out publicly
against cap and trade.

Did he promise you
a cut of his scam?

No. He said I was lucky
if I kept my reputation.

What choice did I have?

He threatened to send the e-mails
to the media if I went to the police.

I was scared.

There's something
off about the man.

Beyond the fact that he
was blackmailing you?

We were talking the day before
the panel, and then he takes a call,

and he starts arguing with someone
in Portuguese, something vicious.

And I got to thinking that
maybe he was raised in a favela.

You know what those
guys are capable of.

No, but you seem to.

Maybe you thought the
extortion had just begun.

I did not poison him. I swear.

We talked to five
people at the breakfast,

and all of them verify that
Brown left before Silva arrived.

And with Cattermole 3,000 miles
away, we're back to square one.

Mmm.

Hey, that phone call Silva got
when he was talking to Brown,

it was from his wife in Brazil.

The phone call
that scared Brown?

Yeah. Silva turned vicious,
screaming at his wife.

She told us she and
Silva had the perfect life.

Don't worry about his personal
effects. I'll send for them.

Whoa, whoa, what's
going on here?

I'm medevacing
Oscar to São Paulo.

Twelve hours after you got here?

What seems to be the hurry?

There's nothing they
can do for him here

that doctors can't do for him
at home in Brazil, so let's go.

No one's going anywhere.
Please, take him back to the room.

You don't have the right!

Especially you, Mrs. Silva. We
need to ask you some questions.

I don't have to
answer any questions.

I'm a Brazilian citizen
with a Brazilian passport.

Well, this is an
NYPD badge. Let's go.

As a Brazilian citizen,
Mrs. Silva refuses to answer

any questions until she
talks to her consulate.

Well, her Brazilian passport lists
New Jersey as her place of birth,

so that makes her a
citizen of this country.

So, maybe she'd like to answer
our questions as an American.

I was in Brazil when my
husband was poisoned.

How could I know anything?

We confirmed your husband
engineered that stock scam.

Now, we just need to know
why he needed the money.

Was it a gambling debt,
or was it a mistress?

Is that what you two were fighting
about on the phone a few days ago?

How dare you!

We understand that
if your husband was

cheating on you, you'd be angry.

Angry enough to hurt him.

All right. End of conversation.

Obviously, you don't
have enough to arrest her,

and we'll see how long
this BS detention lasts

after the Brazilian Consul
talks to the State Department.

If she was behind the poisoning,

she would've needed an accomplice
to pull it off, someone at the conference.

Someone she would've talked
to on the phone from Brazil.

We'll need records from
the local phone company.

I'll put in an MLAT request.

In the meantime, we keep her
passport, she doesn't leave the country.

So, we're looking for
someone at the breakfast

who might've been
Mrs. Silva's accomplice.

Well, we're working our way
through the list of attendees.

We found one gentleman who's
been pestering the organizers

for a full refund
for the conference.

He claims he didn't
attend a single event.

Yeah, except they
have his signature

on the sign-in sheet
for the breakfast.

Sounds like someone
was trying to create an alibi.

There was an occluded
front over Montana

kicking up rare cloud
formations all week.

I'm talking stratocumes.

That's why I bailed the
night before the conference.

They have you signed in
at a breakfast two days later,

so the skies must have
cleared up in a hurry.

Impossible. I was in Montana.

The morons who
organized that conference,

they claim to have a photo of me

shaking hands with
some Chinese diplomat.

It's not even me, and they want
to sell me a print for 20 bucks.

Can we see that photo?

Yeah.

He's wearing your name tag.

Yeah, look at that. The nerve.

You know him?

Oh, yeah. He was at
the hotel bar that night.

Professor Shoemaker.
From Jersey, I think.

Okay, you caught me.
I crashed the event.

But, you know, before
you condemn me,

these à la carte conferences
are very expensive,

and my research grant
doesn't really cover...

Got it. You run into Oscar
Silva at that breakfast?

Oh, yeah, the guy
who got sick. No. Why?

You know him?

By reputation. I know
he's a real mouth-breather.

Is this Iguazu Falls? In Brazil?

Yeah. It's beautiful, huh?
You see those swifts?

They nest behind
the falls. It's awesome.

You go to a place like that,
you know what you're fighting for.

Yeah, you spend a
lot of time in Brazil?

Few weeks a year, to
study the green desert.

The green desert... Of course,
they cut down the rainforest

and they planted
more pine trees far as...

You know who'd be interested
in something like this?

Hmm?

Silva's wife.

Right. Dana.

Very good-looking lady.

You ever run into her down
there, Professor Shoemaker,

in the green desert?

Um, no. No, I don't...
I don't know them.

Listen, uh, my simulations,

I got a presentation to a grant
committee meeting tomorrow,

and if I don't get cracking...

You'll be sneaking into
a lot more conferences.

Yeah. Thanks.

No worries. Thank you.

Lou, we've got seven calls over the
past year to the Silvas' home in Brazil

from the main number
at Shoemaker's college.

Well, the Silvas are scientists,

anyone at that school
could've been calling them.

How many of them have
this kind of travel pattern?

Three trips to Brazil last
summer, two in March.

Seven the year before that, some
for two weeks, some for two days.

I mean, it looks like Shoemaker
and Mrs. Silva were having an affair.

We have something from the
record search on Shoemaker.

This guy was racking
up some legal fees.

Look at all these
court appearances.

Shoemaker v. Shoemaker. Sounds
like a divorce. Open up one of those files.

Son of a bitch.

Anita Van Buren
for A.D.A. Rubirosa.

You're arresting her?

On an outstanding
contempt citation.

She was married for six
years to Phillip Shoemaker,

divorced in 2006.
One daughter, Nicole.

And three years ago, she fled
the country with her daughter,

in violation of a
shared custody order,

to go marry Oscar
Silva in Brazil.

The judge issued
an arrest warrant

and granted full custody
to Professor Shoemaker.

You and your ex, we take
it, weren't getting along?

It's not amicable.
The divorce was ugly...

And not being able to see
Nicole has been difficult for Phillip.

All those trips to Brazil,
and he hasn't seen her?

No. I don't think spending
time with someone that angry

would be healthy for Nicole.

But he keeps suing me in
Brazilian court to get to her,

and it's cost us a fortune
to defend ourselves.

That's why... That's why
Oscar needed money.

He needed to pay the lawyers
so that we wouldn't lose Nicole.

How did your ex
feel about Oscar?

About what you'd expect.

But Phillip would
never hurt Oscar.

We're scientists. We
deal with disagreements

with emotional
detachment and reason.

That's what the argument was
about, on the phone, the custody?

I wanted Oscar to come home.

I was worried that Phillip would find
out he was there and have him detained.

Do you have any ties to
Brazil beyond your husband?

No. Not really.

So, if something
were to happen to him,

there'd be nothing keeping
you or your daughter there, right?

You'd come home, to the U.S.

Oh, my God.

If you know this, why
don't you arrest Phillip?

We don't have enough evidence,

not even for a search warrant.

Look, if you know anything
that could be useful,

anything that could help us.

I don't. Please,
just think, any detail.

She told you she doesn't know.

Your ex used a poison that raised
your husband's blood pressure.

Now, did he know
Mr. Silva was vulnerable,

if he had a heart or
circulatory problem?

Phillip knew Oscar
had some fainting spells

associated with his
high blood pressure.

Look, I made my peace with
Dana moving on long ago.

Even if I hadn't, how would killing
her husband serve any purpose?

It's fundamentally irrational.

Registered mail receipt from a
P.O. Box in Hogansburg, New York.

It's for maple syrup.

Sure it is.

Suspicious maple syrup?

Hogansburg has an Indian reservation
that straddles the Canadian border.

In my Intel days, we
kept tabs on the place

because it was a staging ground

for smuggling all sorts
of nasty stuff into the U.S.

Okay, so it's my P.O. Box. I sell
tons of sports memorabilia on eBay.

It was probably a
signed Canadiens jersey.

The recipient said
it was maple syrup.

Right, well, I
ship that stuff, too.

It's hard to remember.
I do a lot on volume.

Thing is, Vernon,
you're on parole

for bringing in Oxycontin
across the border.

Now, are you back in the
pharmaceutical business,

maybe smuggling methylphenidate?

Honestly, I don't
even know what that is.

The guy you sent
that package to,

we're gonna offer him immunity

in exchange for testimony
about its contents.

Or we could make you that offer.

Five seconds, and
we're out of the door.

Okay, okay. Look,
look, look. I get a call

from some dude who
wouldn't give me his name.

He says he'll pay big.

He sends a money order and
instructions on where to send the pills.

What kind of pills?

Methyl P, man. Methyl P.

Come on, please, please, please.

This is all just a huge
misunderstanding.

You'll have plenty
of time to clear it up.

Mrs. Silva, get back in here.

Animal! I hope you die in
jail! I want my daughter back,

you thieving whore! She doesn't
even remember your name!

I told her you were
dead. You evil bitch!

You murdering bastard!

Oh, they'll love you, honey.

- They'll love you in jail!
- Sit down!

Must be some of that emotional
detachment and reason.

"Case number 187299, People v.
Phillip Shoemaker, Attempted Murder."

Not guilty, Your Honor.

People request
bail of one million.

Professor Shoemaker has ties to
the community and no criminal record.

We request ROR,

so he can assert the sole
custody rights granted to him

when his ex-wife fled the
country with their daughter.

Judge, the custody issues are
collateral to a bail determination.

Not if my decisions impact them.

Where's the child now?

In Brazil with the
parents of her stepfather.

The man Mr. Shoemaker
tried to kill.

The child's mother is in custody

pursuant to an arrest warrant
issued by the Family Court.

If my client can't make bail,

the child will remain in Brazil,
far from her lawful parent.

And if you release
Mr. Shoemaker,

he'll get his daughter back,

giving him exactly what
his attempt on Mr. Silva's life

was meant to
accomplish, custody.

So, I get to make
everybody unhappy.

Fine. Bail is $500,000.

Ms. Rubirosa, I'm Kate Orris.

I've been retained by Mrs.
Silva in the custody matter.

We're moving to have her
custodial rights reinstated.

Dana's moving to
keep her kid in Brazil.

She's using Shoemaker's
indictment to prove he's an unfit parent.

The last thing we need is to get
dragged into a custody dispute.

Too late. Shoemaker just
subpoenaed me in the custody case.

He wants a full airing of the charges
against him to prove they're bogus.

We'll get the subpoena quashed.

You better. A
prosecutor on the stand

giving a defendant a free preview
of his pending criminal case...

You may as well
dismiss the charges now.

This subpoena is
Mr. Shoemaker's naked attempt

to undermine his criminal trial.

The details of his case are not
relevant to this custody dispute.

Mrs. Silva made them relevant
by arguing the indictment

demonstrates my client's
lack of fitness as a parent.

It's sufficient for this court to
take judicial notice of the charges.

Anything more imperils the
State's compelling interest

in prosecuting an
attempted murder.

The only concern of this court

is the best
interests of the child.

Those might be served by a full
inquiry into whether the charges

against Mr. Shoemaker
are baseless.

Motion denied. Take
the stand, Mr. Cutter.

We indicted Mr. Shoemaker

because we had evidence that
he illegally purchased the drug

that was used to
poison Mr. Silva

and he assumed a false
identity to attend the breakfast

where Mr. Silva was poisoned.

I see. Mr. Cutter, are you
the product of a broken home?

Objection. Beyond the
scope of the subpoena.

Goes to bias. I'm entitled to
show Mr. Cutter's upbringing

tainted his investigation
of Professor Shoemaker.

I'll allow it. Mr. Cutter?

My parents divorced
when I was 10.

A divorce initiated
by your father, right?

That's right. He left my mother.

Your parents were granted
shared custody of you, correct?

Yes. But things didn't
quite work out that way.

Your dad kept moving, different
states, different countries...

He was a turn-around specialist,

he worked for different
companies, and he would...

You didn't get to
see a lot of him?

No.

Fair to say you grew to
resent your father, hate him?

I was 10 years old.

Petitioner's 2-B.

A declaration from Mrs. Silva's
former attorney, Eli Driscoll.

Mr. Cutter strong-armed Mrs.
Silva into filling out an affidavit

he needed to search
my client's apartment.

That is a slanderous accusation.

Didn't you pressure her
to provide probable cause

for a warrant to search
my client's home?

That's my job. And when
she couldn't think of anything,

you kept insisting, even
suggesting evidence...

The warrant and the charges
were based solely on the facts.

Are you telling this court that
your animus toward your own father

didn't undermine your
prosecutorial judgment one iota?

Your Honor, please.

Yes. Ms. Marks, you're done.

The witness may step down.

Thank you.

Well, I've heard enough
to render my decision.

What's clear is that neither party
deserves custody at this juncture,

which puts me in a quandary.

Fortunately, there's
a third option.

Mrs. Silva's parents have
filed a motion to intervene.

I'm granting temporary custody of
Nicole to Sharon and Nelson Lehman

pending permanent
resolution of the custody order

and of the charges
against Mr. Shoemaker.

Mrs. Silva will
make arrangements

for the immediate return
of the girl to this country.

We're adjourned.

I trust this won't come as
a surprise to either of you.

Shoemaker's trying to throw out our
search on the grounds of your bias.

So my search gets tossed

because I had a no-account
dad 25 years ago?

Marks did her homework on you.

Homework. All she
needed was Google.

If the search is out, we
lose the P.O. Box upstate

and all proof that Shoemaker
received amphetamines.

I can't convict him
without the drug link.

If your case can't survive the
loss of even one piece of evidence,

maybe you shouldn't have
brought it in the first place.

Silva's final lab
work just came in.

Even with his hypertension, the
amount of methyl P he was poisoned with

wasn't enough to
give him a stroke.

Then, why did he have a stroke?

Turns out he had a
pre-existing aneurysm.

The methyl P just blew it out.

Shoemaker must've known
about Silva's aneurysm.

Well, Dana said all he knew
was that Silva had fainting spells.

If you can establish that Shoemaker
knew about Silva's aneurysm,

that would be probable cause
for a search of his apartment.

Inevitable discovery, and the
evidence of the drug shipment stays in.

And your bias stays out.

I'm positive. I never told
Phillip about Oscar's aneurysm.

It wasn't even diagnosed
until last summer.

Hold on.

Now, you remember something?

That depends.
My client sits in jail,

meanwhile her husband
has awakened from his coma,

her daughter's
flying in from Brazil.

You want her help with your
case, you help with her release.

Talk to the judge.

It wasn't our custody
order she violated.

No, but another voice in favor of
her release might tip the scales.

Suppose we do
that. What do we get?

Last summer, Mr. Shoemaker
sued for custody in Brazilian court.

He argued that Dana and
Oscar were unfit parents.

His lawyers requested and were
given Oscar's medical records.

You have proof they
were turned over?

My Brazilian co-counsel does.

I might convince
him to dig it up...

After my client
gets out of jail.

I'm not going to reward a woman
who flouted a court order for three years

because your case needs a hand.

With or without your help,
I'm gonna nail Shoemaker.

And at the end of the day,

you will be sending
little Nicole back to Brazil

with her mother and stepfather.

So, why fight it, right? Right.

If this custody matter
proves anything,

it's that nothing is inevitable.

Whatever you think of
my case, Nicole deserves

to get back at least
one of her parents.

She's fine with her
grandparents for now.

Children are resilient.

Yeah... Yeah, they
muddle through,

without one
parent, or even both.

But some wounds

don't heal.

Enjoy your lunch, Judge.

A permanent custody
determination will be deferred

pending conclusion of
Mr. Shoemaker's criminal trial.

On another matter, Mrs. Silva,

I have decided for humanitarian
reasons to conditionally release you

to the custody of your parents.

You'll be fitted with
an ankle monitor

and subject to home confinement.

Allowance will be made so
you can visit your husband

in the hospital as he recovers.

Judge, for three years, Mrs. Silva
has thumbed her nose at this court.

Now she gets to live
with her daughter?

At a minimum, custody
should be shared.

I disagree. If
Mr. Shoemaker is acquitted,

you can move to have my
order modified. We're adjourned.

Mommy!

Nicole! Hey, Nicole! Nicole.

It's me, it's Daddy,
baby. Hi, baby.

Nicole, you remember
me. It's Daddy. Nicole.

All right. Let's go.

As promised.

You feel good about this?

I haven't felt good since
this case landed on my desk.

We have proof he had access
to Silva's medical records,

meaning your client
knew he had an aneurysm,

meaning the fruits
of our search stay in.

That's not a given.

Well, how many years of your
client's life are you willing to bet on it?

Our offer is a plea to
assault, five-to-ten years.

God! My ex-wife kept me from
my daughter for three years.

If you think I'm gonna
let you put me in jail,

away from Nicole,
for one more day,

you're out of your
mind, out of your mind.

Mike Cutter.

What? Thanks.

To repeat, we have
an eight-year-old girl,

Nicole Shoemaker, missing
from her grandparents' house

here in Locust Point.

Missing too is
an inflatable boat

that was tied to the dock
at the back of the house.

The girl's mother and grandparents
are extremely concerned

that the strong currents
of the Long Island Sound

have carried the small boat
out to sea, with little Nicole in it.

Now, the Coast Guard has begun
a massive search of the waters,

however, they have yet to find
any sign of Nicole or the raft.

Now, we pray.

Sharon and I were coming
back from the grocery store.

We'd promised Nicole we
were going to make s'mores.

TV was still on, but she's gone.

Dana was doing yoga.
Her door was closed.

So we look upstairs, downstairs,
and then I see the back door's open,

so I rush down to the boathouse,

and I find her doll on the dock.

The boat was gone.

Keep the faith, okay?
Everyone's doing all they can.

They found her!

A dramatic scene is unfolding

five miles out in
Long Island Sound,

where the Coast Guard has
found a small, yellow zodiac boat.

Now, we understand that rescue
divers are already in the water.

The divers are at the
boat. They're checking...

They're signaling. The boat
is empty. No one is in the boat.

No, no, no! No sign of
little Nicole Shoemaker.

The search will continue in
the icy waters... No, no, no!

Look who I found. Mommy!

Here, give me her. Give me her.
- Nicole, Nicole!

Oh, thank God!

She was asleep in the storage
shed behind the boathouse.

It doesn't matter.

My baby. I was so
worried about you!

You're safe now. You're
safe with Grandpa.

We'll take her.

What?

You go finish your yoga.

What's everyone looking at?

I didn't do anything wrong!

Morning.

The Lehmans are moving
for sole custody of Nicole.

They want Dana
declared an unfit parent.

That's a pretty extreme reaction

to an eight-year-old
being an eight-year-old.

Well, if you think
that's extreme,

they're even kicking
Dana out of their house.

She's on lock-down
at an airport hotel.

They also claim Oscar Silva's an
unfit guardian because of his health.

Just covering their bases.

I'll say. They attached
that Brazilian medical record

about Silva's aneurysm.

At the top of the page here,

it's the fax number the medical
record was faxed from to the Lehmans.

That's New Jersey, isn't it?

It's a fax number registered
to Shoemaker's college.

He's sharing information
with his ex-in-laws?

What's the big mystery?

Neither Shoemaker nor his
former in-laws want to be schlepping

to Brazil to see the girl.

Makes perfect sense they'd
find common cause on this point.

Except according to the
header on this document,

Shoemaker faxed
the medical report

to the Lehmans three months ago.

Makes you wonder how long they've
been cooperating to get the girl back.

You're thinking the
attempt on Oscar Silva's life?

Well, why not? If you're
willing to have your daughter

declared an unfit parent,

then whacking your Brazilian
son-in-law doesn't seem so extreme.

Except the evidence points
to Shoemaker acting alone.

Not all the evidence. We still
haven't traced the 500 bucks

used to buy the methyl P.

We know Shoemaker didn't
pull it out of his bank account.

Then you'd better subpoena
the Lehmans' bank records.

A happy ending.

It's starting to look
like wishful thinking.

Yeah, with everyone too busy
trying to get custody of Nicole,

it's dumb luck she
didn't end up on that boat.

Maybe luck had
nothing to do with it.

Nelson's running an errand, if you
want to come back in a few hours.

It's just a few
routine questions.

Since there was so much
money spent on the search,

the city comptroller wants to
make sure all our "I's" are dotted.

I already gave the
police a statement.

Oh, yes, about how your daughter
was too busy to keep an eye on Nicole.

Has Dana always
been so negligent?

I didn't see it when she
was living here with Phillip.

But the past three years...

I can't speak to what
happens in Brazil.

Three years, that's a long time.

You must have really
missed your granddaughter.

Yes. She's our only grandchild.

We understand that your son-in-law,
Mr. Silva, is awake and walking.

So when Phillip goes to jail,

I assume your daughter will be
taking Nicole with her back to Brazil.

I... I don't know.

It's obvious what
Nicole means to you.

The prospect of losing her
a second time must be awful.

Awful enough for
you to want to ensure

Dana can't take
her back to Brazil.

It's almost empty.
Want more tea?

Mrs. Lehman, we can get a
subpoena to do a drug test on Nicole.

Whatever you gave her to make
her sleep, it'll still be in her system.

Child Services
will question her.

Do you really want to
put her through that?

We came home,

Dana was in her room doing yoga.

Nicole was just sitting
there, watching TV,

like a good little angel.

And we started to think how
we couldn't lose our angel again.

We gave Nicole a glass of
lemonade with an allergy pill in it,

and Nelson carried
her out into the shed.

Nelson's a retired
biology teacher,

and he said it would
just make her sleepy.

Then, Nelson set the boat
adrift, we called the police.

We didn't mean to
cause so much trouble.

I mean, we just, we
love her so much.

Did Phillip Shoemaker know
what you were planning to do?

No. It wasn't planned.

But you've stayed in touch with
Mr. Shoemaker over the years?

Yes, we've stayed friendly. I
mean, we wanted the same things...

To see Nicole grow up,
to be a part of her life.

It hurt so much to lose her.

Look, you want me
to pay for the search?

Fine, I'll write you a check.

Splashing your cash again.

You've been doing a
lot of that lately. Sit down.

A $500 ATM withdrawal
three weeks ago,

and two hours later, you bought a
money order in the same amount,

made payable to Vernon Clayton.

The clerk at the Western
Union ID'd your photo.

That money was for the methyl P

Phillip Shoemaker
used to poison Oscar.

You're nuts.

Mr. Lehman, you saw how much
your wife missed your granddaughter,

you saw it for three long years.

I didn't kill anybody.

Look, you can
stonewall all you want.

But there's enough
here to assume your wife

was in on the
murder attempt, too,

and certainly the boat hoax.

Either way, she'll do time.

No.

Look, I did it.

It was all me. I poisoned Silva.

I wasn't going to let him take
our granddaughter away from us,

from Sharon, ever again.

If you're willing to testify
against Shoemaker...

He had nothing to do with it.

I was the one who
walked into that breakfast,

and I put the methyl
P on Silva's cereal.

We know the methyl P was
shipped to Shoemaker's house.

No, he had no idea what it was.

I shipped it to his house, so
that I wouldn't involve my wife.

The whole thing was
my idea, you understand?

Nobody else. Nobody.

Nelson's falling on his sword.

If he cops to everything,
Shoemaker walks.

Well, and if he does, he gets
to retain sole custody of Nicole.

Meaning Grandma Lehman
gets to spend her golden years

doting over her granddaughter.

Not a bad play for
Mr. Lehman. Take his plea.

Two people conspired
to poison Silva,

and I'm not letting
Shoemaker off the hook.

Bird in the hand.
In the meantime,

Lehman will have
eight years minimum

to agonize over his decision
to cover for Shoemaker.

Meaning, sooner or
later, he'll be ready to deal.

Now, take the
plea. I'm not asking.

I waited until Silva
got up to make a call,

then I poured the contents
of 12 500 milligram capsules

of methylphenidate
into his cereal.

I wanted to kill him
so that my daughter

would be forced to move
back here with Nicole.

And that's all of it.

Mr. Cutter, are the
People satisfied?

Just one small matter, concerning
the shipping of the poison.

I'd like to call Phillip
Shoemaker to the stand

to corroborate
Mr. Lehman's statement.

Judge, we object.

Mr. Shoemaker is not
part of these proceedings.

Well, if we can't corroborate
Mr. Lehman's statement,

we're going to reject
the plea agreement.

There's no procedural
bar. Ms. Marks?

Mmm-hmm.

My client has no objection
to testifying, Your Honor.

Nelson said he was
going out of town,

he asked if he could have a
package shipped to my house.

I didn't know what it was. I
didn't open it. I just gave it to him.

At any point, did
you and Mr. Lehman

discuss poisoning Dr. Silva in a
scheme to get your daughter back?

Absolutely not.
I'd never do that.

So, you expect us to believe
that you had zero to do with this?

Despite the fact your ex
practically kidnapped your daughter.

You even got a court order awarding
you sole custody, isn't that right?

That's right.

Despite all the trips
you took to Brazil

to have her returned, all the
money that you spent on lawyers?

Uh, it's in the past.

You mean, you've given up on
trying to get your daughter back?

I've moved on.

You've moved on?

Yes. My work takes
up all my life now.

I lecture, I teach.

I spend maybe 60 days
out of the year at home now.

There's really no room
for her in my life now.

So, you're telling us that you've
stopped caring for your daughter?

Caring enough to do whatever
it takes to get her back?

Look, um, after three years,

she's basically dead to me.

I don't really have an emotional
bond with her anymore.

Judge, is there an
end in sight here?

Mr. Cutter, I assume this
constitutes ample corroboration?

Just one more thing, Your Honor.

Your daughter is eight, sir.

In a few years, she'll read the
transcripts of your testimony here.

How do you think
she'll react to it?

I haven't really
given it much thought.

You haven't given
much thought to the fact

that you've just
publicly disowned her?

Once she reads that, do you think
she'll have anything more to do with you?

Objection.

This goes to
credibility, Your Honor.

Overruled. Mr. Shoemaker?

Uh, I don't know.

I love my daughter very much.

I would do anything for
her, and she knows that.

That's not what you said.

I asked if you'd given up on
trying to get your daughter back,

and you said that
you'd moved on.

I didn't mean it that way.

So you haven't moved on? No.

You testified that there was
no room in your life for her.

Is that true? No.

Said you no longer felt
an emotional bond with her,

she's dead to you.

I can tell you from
experience, Mr. Shoemaker,

kids don't forget.
And they don't forgive.

You tricked me.

These words, they're not true.

Well, how much of what
you said here is true, sir?

Most of it? Some? None of it?

None of it, none of
it, actually, none of it.

I would do anything for Nicole.

Anything? Yes.

Even risk going to jail? Yes.

And even poison Oscar Silva?

Yes.

They stole her from me.

They stole her from
me. She was my life.

She gave my world meaning.

She made the world
a happier place.

And they took her from me.

They took my daughter!

Two guilty pleas.

You look like someone
ran over your dog.

Well, I won, but
Nicole Shoemaker lost.

She'll grow up with her father
and grandfather in prison,

under the care of a
mom whose selfishness

set this whole
tragedy in motion.

That's why I never
went into family law.

It's where all
the heartbreak is.

Heartbreak is
everywhere in this job,

as you both know.

Take consolation in
getting the right result.

It was a good day's work.

Yeah, but not a good day.