Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 3, Episode 18 - Animal Instinct - 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.

Sounds like Desert Storm.

No, it's Con Ed.

They're smarter than Saddam.

Work all night,
wake everybody up.

We turn on the
lights, the tube...

And they get to bill
everybody for 24 hours.



You see what I
mean? It's a conspiracy.

I'll start up on two.

Oh, my God.
Ferguson, get up here.

This door shouldn't be open.

Call the cops.

Dr. Walsh? Fay?

She's been on the...
the faculty 12 years.

Well, some people have their
priorities a little bit screwed up.

I knew they were idiots
taking cases of rats.

But I never dreamed
they were dangerous.

You heard from them before?

Well, one thing about lunatics,
they make a lot of noise.

We've had our share
of demonstrations.

These lunatics, you
know any of their names?



I-I'm the Dean of Students.

You'd have to ask someone
in the Biology Department.

Look, if you don't mind, I've
been trying to contact her husband.

How's it go?

"No more pencils,
no more books?"

Professor here
took one in the back.

Large entry
wound, large caliber.

Dead no more than
a couple of hours.

You'd think with all the
students around the campus,

somebody would've noticed.

Con Ed, late shift.

We got here, you
couldn't hear Axel Rose.

Hey, Flynn, you know,
to catch the bad guys,

we're gonna need some evidence.

Couple of witnesses
wouldn't hurt, either.

Well, we got

plenty of witnesses, Lennie.

And with a hunk of
cheese, maybe they'll talk.

I should have made
her come along.

Cape May, Jersey shore.
We have a house there.

But it was always work with Fay.

She hadn't left the lab for six
months, except to sleep or eat.

These animal rights people...

They're the animals, Detective.

Were the rats in your
wife's experiments killed?

Before you step on the
sympathy train, Detective

think about the countless
people, real live human beings

who would benefit from her work.

I pleaded with the
university to add security.

She got threats recently?

A five-minute spot on Frontline

and Fay became a
target for the lunatic fringe.

Picketing, hate mail.

When I got home this morning,

there's this message
on the machine.

Do you mind if we listen to it?

It was so profane, I erased it.

I didn't wanna upset Fay.

We got four or five
like that a month.

You'd think

people would have better things.

You wouldn't have
saved any of that mail?

Yeah.

How'd you like to
live there, Detective?

Yeah, well, it's not
exactly the Waldorf.

You're being generous.

If the minks survive
their own cannibalism,

the ranchers choose
between electrocution,

gassing or breaking their necks.

And voila, a fur
coat for the wife.

So what are you
doing to stop it?

We demonstrate, write
letters, organize boycotts.

Anything to draw attention
to the cause of non-humans.

What's anything?

Fay Walsh, right?

We figured we'd be
on your Top 10 list.

Somebody did sign
your name on the wall.

It's not the first time.

I didn't like what Dr. Walsh
was doing, Detective,

but I believe in life,

and that includes human life.

Well, maybe some of your
members aren't as generous.

You think we could
get a list of them?

You have a briefcase?

We have over 10,000 members.

They got 2,000 members
in Manhattan alone.

I didn't know we had
that many animals.

You ought to ride the subways.

Maybe we can narrow it down to
a couple of hundred with yellows.

Uh, yeah, maybe I can
save you some time.

Last year, Brooklyn,
the, uh, research facility

of B & C Pharmaceuticals
was firebombed.

Yeah, let me guess, they used
animals in their experiments.

Yeah, the parking lot, somebody
painted "Innocent Victims" in red.

Did anybody stake a claim?

Yeah, they arrested
a Dirk Chesney

founder of some underground
organization, "The Animal Rights Crusade."

Boys in the Six-Four did a heck of a
workup, but not enough to go to trial.

For an underground organization,

they got a higher
profile than Cher.

Hmm, the Animal Rights
Crusade has been connected

with three laboratory
bombings since '89.

Every time, signed
their name in red paint.

Hunting season last year

Chesney led some protestors
through the woods in Pennsylvania.

They chased away the deer.

Talk about stupid, Chesney
was shot through the calf.

Maybe he should've
stayed in school.

Chesney dropped out of Manhattan
Institute of Technology in 1979.

Hey, wonder if he
kept his student ID.

You know, Judge Beame
spends his vacations deer hunting.

I bet he thinks we have
enough for a warrant.

Yeah, my wife wanted to
hold out for a clean-cut type.

I told her, you can't judge a
book, you know, by its cover.

Chesney never bothers anyone, never
asks for anything, pays rent on time.

Jeez, the lease says no pets.

What's it say about a zoo?

I'm gonna call my lawyer.

When's the last time this
guy cleaned the litter box?

Animal Watch.

"No Future For Fur."

He's got some library.

The Anarchist's Guidebook,

Handbook to Civil Disobedience,

Discourses on Dissent.

Just wastes a lot of paper to
keep saying the same thing.

What will the Tree People say?

Dirk Chesney?

Hey, come here!

Let me go.

Put your hands up!
Put your hands up!

I didn't do anything!

Oh, yeah? What's
your hurry, then, huh?

I suppose you didn't do
anything with this, huh?

I think Mr. Chesney'd be more
comfortable down at the station.

I know I would.

The measure of a society

is the way it cares for
its helpless members.

And you're raising human
consciousness by murdering scientists?

You have a better way?

Is that a confession?

Yeah, it is.

I confess to being a member of
the most murderous race in history.

Savages aren't in the jungles,
they're in the laboratories.

Does that include the
Manhattan Institute?

There are victims, and
there are victimizers.

So you're a hero to every rat.

Over the past 10 years,
Manhattan Institute

has slaughtered shore
birds, rabbits, dogs.

They're animals, not
specimens to be used and killed.

What comes around goes around.

And what goes around for
murder is life in a little cage.

But no one comes to let you out.

I didn't kill that woman.

But don't expect
a sympathy card.

Okay, so what picket line
were you on Sunday night?

Try Dr. Arnold Chen.

And what animal
was he torturing?

Me. Dr. Chen is
my acupuncturist.

If you wanna keep him,
you better find a different gun.

Fay Walsh was shot with a .410.

Someone tiptoes
through the campus gates

with a shotgun,
and nobody notices?

You know, the .410 is the
smallest gauge shotgun made.

Somebody's got a pretty
strange sense of humor.

It's the gun of
choice for museums.

They use it to collect
scientific specimens.

Like bird specimens?

Yeah.

Well, maybe no one took that
gun through the campus gates:

maybe the gun was already there.

Dart gun, 20-gauge,
cyanide jars, .410 shotgun.

Nobody's signed
it out since '89.

Needed some gulls for
a pollution experiment.

I don't think anybody at the
Institute had anything to do with it.

There you go...

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I can almost see
my face in the shine.

Smells like someone
forgot to sign it out last week.

Didn't anyone clue these
people in about firearm safety?

It was locked in the closet.

We got some prints on the door.

And the gun?

The only thing in there
that's been cleaned

since the Jets won Super Bowl.

Prints don't match Chesney's.

And Dr. Chen confirmed he had
25 needles in his can Sunday night.

So it wasn't the loony bird.

Well, someone wanted
the professor dead.

Yeah, someone with access
to the equipment locker.

What's the difference between

a Stalin purge and
a Walsh midterm?

Stalin tried to re-educate
you before he killed you.

Graduate sense of humor.

I don't think Fay won any
Professor of the Year awards.

Did any of these Henny Youngmans

have a key to the
equipment room?

Sure, we gave them keys
so they wouldn't wake up

the professors after midnight.

Lab Hell. It certainly
would put me over the edge.

Listen, you get some
sleep, you take the C.

You don't kill the teacher.

You take a C, you don't
get your graduate degree.

If you're coming from
Beijing with your family honor

riding on that piece of paper.

Oh, I think Fay might
have ticked some people off.

Really? You got some names?

I think you'd have to
look at her grade book.

Still feels strange being
inside a teacher's office.

Oh.

Well, this is typical Fay.

She hadn't even
looked at the exams,

and the grades are
due in next week.

Won't be the same
around here without her.

She ever mention any
trouble with the students?

She was a scientist.

Teaching was a necessary evil.

She couldn't even tell
you the name of a student.

Oh, still, she filled
up a classroom.

Yeah, well, with
the boom in biotech,

everybody wants
a piece of the pie.

There's really that kind of
money in patenting genes?

Fay had venture capitalists
taking her out to dinner.

So why didn't she
hire a stockbroker

instead of Riggs
Investigative Services?

Fay Walsh. Smart lady.

Tsk, a shame.

Yeah. Well, your
client checks out,

you don't think
about callin' us?

Ex-client.

After six months of
runnin' around in circles,

you start to get dizzy.

Closed the account a
couple of weeks ago.

What was it, somebody
sneakin' into her laboratory?

Try her bedroom.

She thought her
husband was cheatin'?

Hey, infidelity's my specialty.

This guy's good.

Translation, you
never caught them.

Never caught 'em in the act.

Hell, I never even saw them
have a cup of coffee together.

But there were other signs.

Letters, lot of
telephone hang-ups.

Did you at least get a name?

Susan Boyd.

Redhead, administration.

And not bad-lookin'.

How did she sound?

Please, Donald, you promised me.

You know that
until we're rid of Fay,

we can't be together completely.

So the sooner the better.

There's no reason to
be afraid, sweetheart.

I love you.

I'm with you.

Three weeks ago she left
that on his answering machine,

only she didn't know his phone
was bein' tapped by Riggs.

Any others?

Nothing incriminating.

The way I see it, the professor

finally found his
nerve. End of story.

Come on, she was
talking to a machine,

and I didn't hear
Walsh say anything.

He didn't have to.
It's evidence of a step

in furtherance of conspiracy.

A conspiracy to do what? I didn't
hear her say anything about murder.

Hey, you don't need a Ph.D.
to read between the lines.

He had a key to the
building and equipment room,

which means he
had access to the gun.

He also had access to a
divorce lawyer's phone number.

The wife's patents hit, and she's
drivin' to work in a new Mercedes.

But if they're divorced,
hubby is stuck ridin' a bus.

Okay, talk to him.

Susan Boyd?

Sure, I've talked to her.
She's in my department.

But anything more
than that is ridiculous.

We have a tape that implies
you were on intimate terms.

I have no idea of what
you're talking about.

Your wife hired an investigator.

Oh, my God.

For someone so brilliant,

Fay could be pretty
foolish sometimes.

I loved my wife, Detective.

Every time I looked at her, I
could still see the grad student

that walked into my
classroom 15 years ago.

And what did you see when
you looked at Susan Boyd?

I won't dignify that.

Look, this Boyd woman
made it embarrassingly clear

that she was attracted to me.

Did you do anything about it?

I ignored it.

I don't know, eight months ago,

Fay received an unsettling
phone call from her.

She confronted me,
and I reassured her.

I told her it was
an infatuation.

And did you confront Ms. Boyd?

Fay and I discussed
that, and we thought that

if we just let it be,
it would go away.

But, uh, apparently not.

Takin' a trip?

I'm scheduled to lecture
in Boston tomorrow.

My friends tell me
to get on with my life.

I'm not sure that I can.

Hardly a day in mourning, and
he's back on the lecture circuit?

When my Uncle Eddie died,

Aunt Ruthie bought a Great Dane

and started knitting
sweaters for it.

There's no rules about grief.

Bobby? Yeah, it's
Mike. So what you got?

Yeah.

You're kidding.
Okay, thanks a lot.

LUD's from Susan Boyd.

The night of the murder,
she talked to Walsh five times

for a total of 26 minutes.

What about after the murder?

The next day she calls the
Marymount Hotel in Boston.

Guess who happens
to be staying there?

The grieving professor.

The day after Mrs. Walsh was
killed, a Mrs. Walsh calls the hotel

says she'll be joining
Mr. Walsh for the trip.

Doesn't sound like a
schoolgirl crush to me.

That's crazy. He's
a married man.

Don't waste your
breath and my time.

Fay Walsh hired an investigator.

Then he must have been confused.

Dr. Walsh and I worked
together, that's all.

You were under
surveillance for six months.

Well, you pay
somebody enough money,

they tend to see
things that aren't there.

I get paid by the city, Susan.

I heard the tape of your
message to him loud and clear.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

Let me put it to you this way.

The jury's gonna hear
the same tape I heard.

They catch you
in a lie, believe me,

they're gonna go
the distance on this.

25 years to life.

All right,

Donald and I were
seeing each other.

But I swear to you we had
nothing to do with killing Fay.

So why the lie?

Isn't it obvious?

We knew you'd draw the wrong
conclusions, and we were right.

On the tape you said you
wanted to get rid of Fay.

I was talking about
divorce, not murder.

We're civilized people.

Ask as many times as you like,
Detective, I can only tell you the truth.

I have never and will never have
anything to do with Susan Boyd.

I suppose you weren't
gonna have anything

to do with her in
a hotel in Boston?

What the hell are
you talking about?

Reservations for
two at the Marymount.

I reserved a room
for myself, alone.

And Susan Boyd changed
it to a room for two.

And I knew nothing about it.

If you don't mind, Detective.

I spent 10 years as
a professor of law.

Groupies come in
all shapes and sizes.

This situation is hardly unique.

It is when somebody
winds up dead.

Donald stopped
loving Fay years ago.

But he didn't wanna hurt her.

That's why he
put off the divorce.

That must have
made you very angry.

Of course it upset me.

But I was willing to wait.

The night of the murder...

We were together,
in my apartment.

We often were when
Fay worked late.

It was a kind of an anniversary.

Three years.

He gave me this.

Anyone see you?

No, we fell asleep on the couch.

We didn't kill Fay.

Well, if you were
together, Susan,

why did you call
him at his apartment?

Well, that wasn't
me, that was Donald.

He called Fay before
she went to the lab.

See, she thought he was
calling from out of town.

It's not a story,
for crying out loud.

I spent the weekend alone.

Well, then explain
this to me, Professor.

If you were at the house at the
shore, and your wife was at the lab,

who was in your
apartment in Manhattan

to answer five phone
calls from Susan Boyd?

When I got home, there
were obscene phone calls

on my answering machine.

I thought they were from
the animal rights people.

Had I known they were
from this Boyd woman,

don't you think I
would have told you?

Not if you conspired
with her to kill your wife.

I loved my wife.
I did not kill her!

Wes, help me. You
gotta do something here.

Tell me, Detective,

does Fay's investigator have any
photos of my client with this woman?

Well, private eye
working by himself,

it's pretty tough to
cover his apartment

her apartment, and
the house at the beach.

Susan Boyd has never been

in my apartment
or my beach house

and I certainly haven't set
foot inside her apartment.

What a shame.
There goes his alibi.

What, she copped to the affair?

She said they spent all night
together in her apartment.

He's making a lot of
noise to the contrary.

Yeah, maybe too much.

Even if they're
sleeping together,

doesn't mean they're murderers.

We're talkin' about
Bonnie and Clyde.

Ten days ago, a woman
bought a box of .410 slugs

at Frank's Guns
'n' Stuff, Cape May.

Jersey requires a driver's
license and a signature.

Susan Boyd?

Fay Walsh.

What, she bought the
slugs that killed her?

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

The professor said
his wife hadn't been

out of the city in six months.

A C-note says the store
owner ID's our Ms. Boyd.

Arrest both of them.
Hunting season's over.

If I ever go back to teaching,

I'll use this in my Trial
Practice class, Ben.

Prime example of
how to get a dismissal

after the prosecution
presents its case.

Unless they rewrite
the textbooks, Wesley,

uh, circumstantial evidence can
go a long way toward a conviction.

Circumstantial evidence, yes.

A footlocker full
of non sequiturs?

I wouldn't hold my breath.

He had access to the
murder weapon, motive.

What kind of motive?

I loved Fay.

Only Susan Boyd tells
quite a different story.

Either she's lying
or she's crazy.

I swear to you, I never
even looked at her twice.

You wife didn't think so,
sir, and I doubt if a jury will,

after they've heard the
message she left on your machine.

I don't know anything
about a message...

First of all, it wasn't a
conversation, it was a soliloquy.

Second, the jury
will never hear it.

Thursday morning,

we can have cappuccino and
biscotti in Judge Bertram's chambers.

Your boys didn't
have a warrant, Ben?

Uh, we didn't need one, Your
Honor. We didn't make the tape.

It was recorded by a private
investigator hired my Mrs. Walsh.

And in case anyone is
behind in their reading,

federal law prohibits persons
who are not party to a conversation

from secretly recording it.

My client, Ms. Boyd, had no idea

the Walsh's phone
line was tapped.

And my client wasn't even
a party to the conversation.

So who the hell
was she talking to?

The Walsh's answering machine.

Wesley, the Federal
Act was intended

to protect privacy,
not murderers.

Take your complaints to
the Supreme Court, Ben.

They just upheld a
California decision

excluding a privately made tape,

even though it
revealed a conspiracy.

In the Otto case,
neither party knew

their conversation
was being taped.

I don't think I dozed
off, Counselor.

Didn't our learned
colleagues just say

their clients were
unaware of the phone tap?

Ms. Boyd may not have known
that her call was being taped

by the investigator,

but she certainly knew
that the answering machine

was recording her conversation.

As such, she had no right
to the expectation of privacy.

That's right, Ben.

She expected one other
person to hear it: Donald Walsh.

That's major
hair-splitting, Wesley.

It's the kind of personal
grooming the Supreme Court loves.

Sorry, Ben.

Tape is out.

Judge Bertram, huh?

He just took his name off
Judge Renquist's gift list.

One small step for privacy,
a giant leap for conspiracy.

Burke's already calling
for a sit-down tomorrow.

What are you gonna do?

Most likely, without the
tape, we'll get dismissed.

Well, maybe not.

If Walsh heard what was
on the answering machine,

he can testify as
to what Susan said.

We cut a deal.

Hard to have an affair
with your girlfriend in prison.

Maybe we can convince Ms. Boyd

that Walsh doesn't love her

as much as she thinks he does.

I'd check my diet, Mr. Stone.

Too much sugar,
you lose a little clarity.

Without the tape...

Oh, I have a feeling we're
gonna do a lot better than the tape.

Why would Dr. Walsh testify?

Maybe he doesn't like the
idea of 25 years in prison.

Wesley Burke's
smarter than that.

He's got to know
there's no case.

And he's got to know about
the unpredictability of a jury.

I don't think he wants
his client acting like a deer

caught in the headlights
of an 18-wheeler.

Donald would never turn on me.

Ms. Boyd, we are
talking about a man

who murdered his wife
after 15 years of marriage.

I wouldn't count on his loyalty.

Mr. Burke has already
called our office.

We're meeting with him tomorrow.

You could go to prison
for something you didn't do.

She testifies, you
charge her with nothing.

She conspired to...

And you know Walsh's conviction

depends upon what
Susan says on the stand.

Let's hear her story.

He talked about it.

You know, wouldn't it
be great if she were dead.

And I told him

there's no way I would
consider anything like that.

Yet you continued to see him.

You... you think
about it afterwards,

you think it's just
some sort of joke.

He's just trying to show
me how much he loves me.

If I believed that
he could kill Fay,

there's absolutely no way I
would be involved with that man.

You bought the shells.

He told me they
were for hunting.

She had nothing to
do with the murder.

You have to tell Donald
that they forced me.

Deal?

Fay found notes on his desk.

Said there were a lot of hang-ups
when she answered the phone.

She was convinced her husband
was seeing another woman.

Did Mrs. Walsh have any idea

who this other woman
in her husband's life was?

An administrator in
the Biology Department.

A woman named Susan Boyd.

Thank you.

Mrs. Walsh employed your
services for how long, Mr. Riggs?

Six months.

In that time, did you ever see

the defendant and
Susan Boyd together?

They worked in
the same building.

Sir, can you state beyond
a reasonable doubt,

that Susan Boyd and Donald Walsh

were having an affair?

No.

Thank you.

No more questions.

The last 18 years, I have
owned Frank's Guns 'n' Stuff.

Largest ammunition
retailer in a 100-mile radius.

Did you ever sell
ammunition to the defendant?

Every hunting season, he'd
buy his birdshot for upland game

and goose-shot for waterfowl.

Did he ever purchase .410 slugs?

Not him, but his wife did.

How did you know

that it was Mrs.
Walsh, Mr. MacCrae?

State law says we need
to see a driver's license.

Is this the woman who
claimed to be Fay Walsh, sir?

Yes, sir.

Let the record show that the witness
identified a photo of Susan Boyd.

Thank you.

You testified that your store
does a very good retail business.

I said we do better than
anyone else in the county.

On an average day, how
many customers do you see?

25 to 30 during hunting season.

So, excluding Sundays,

that's 180 customers
a week, give or take.

Sure.

So, since Fay Walsh
came into your store

almost five months ago, you
tended over 3,500 customers.

Isn't that right?

Yeah.

So, uh, tell me, sir,

how many times did this woman,

who claimed to be Mrs.
Walsh come into your store?

Just that one time.

Thank you. No more questions.

Burke managed to raise
reasonable doubt with every witness.

Yeah, that's his trademark.

Takes the clearest
picture, jiggles the lens,

everything's out of focus,
the jury has to acquit.

Not after they hear
Boyd's testimony.

Unless he discredits
her the same way.

Prep the girl again.

Adam, we've been
over it a dozen times.

With Wesley, 13 is the charm.

I was at Donald's house at
the shore for the weekend.

He was going to take me hunting.

We went into town
to buy some bullets.

Who purchased
the shells, Ms. Boyd?

I did.

He couldn't find his license.
We found Fay's in the dresser.

I pretended to be her.

Very good. Paul.

Where were you the night
Fay Walsh was killed, Ms. Boyd?

I had dinner at my office,

did a little work, and
then I went home.

Uh, Ms. Boyd, we've
been over this before.

On cross examination, when
the defense asks their questions,

you keep your answers short.

The court only wants to know where
you were the night of the murder.

What should I say?

I'll ask the question on direct

and you say you were
home alone in your apartment.

All right.

You'll do fine.

Well, he said it many times,

if only he could get rid of
Fay, then we could be together.

Did he ever talk
about divorcing her?

I begged him to.

But Fay's research.

See, he said that he
was entitled to his share.

He taught her everything.

If she were granted the
patents after the divorce,

he might not be able to share
in the profits, is that correct?

I don't recall the
witness being qualified

as an expert in matrimonial law.

Withdrawn. No further questions.

How often did you and
Dr. Walsh see each other?

Several times a week.

And where did these
rendezvous take place?

In his office, Cape May on
weekends, and my apartment.

All that sneaking around,
it must've been frustrating.

We didn't sneak around.

Donald is very proud
of our relationship.

Then can you tell
me why Mr. Riggs,

a trained professional,
never once saw you together?

Well, maybe he's not
very good at what he does.

Or you're lying
about everything.

Objection!

Withdrawn.

True or false, Ms. Boyd,

you told the police that
Donald was with you

the night Fay was murdered?

Yes.

But now you're telling us
that you were home alone.

Were you lying then,
or are you lying now?

Objection.

Overruled.

You're lying now, aren't you?

No.

I was in my apartment alone.

Tell me, Ms. Boyd,

did Mr. Stone tell
you to say that?

Yes.

Your Honor...

And in exchange for this perjured
testimony, he dropped all charges

against you, isn't that true?

Yes.

Your Honor, I object to
Mr. Burke's depiction of this...

I object, too, Your Honor.

I object to the entirety of
this witness's testimony.

Both of you, in my chambers.

She said under oath
you told her what to say.

I told her how to say it.

Now who's splitting hairs, Ben?

I want a dismissal.

And then we'll talk about
sanctions against Mr. Stone.

Cool it, Wesley.

I thought you'd have taken off your
blinders when you left academia.

Your Honor, I did not...

I believe you, Ben.

Only your witness's
testimony is tainted.

As such, I'm going
to instruct the jury

that they may disregard
her testimony in its entirety.

Ms. Foreperson, have
you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

On the sole count of the indictment,
murder in the second degree,

how do you find?

We find the
defendant not guilty.

Congratulations.

Burke dangled the carrot, she
bit it off and left you hanging.

She was confused. There
was nothing I could do.

You could've gone over her
testimony another 100 times.

Ms. Boyd was a bad witness.
Nothing could change that.

Or she was a smart witness.

You saying she planned this?

She cuts a deal,
promises to give us Walsh,

falls apart on the stand, he
walks, they live happily ever after.

Nobody's that smart.

If Paul is right, and that woman
was lying, her deal is worthless.

Yeah, and if I'd
bought Microsoft at $10,

I'd have a house in Palm Beach.

In the case against the professor,
we had the girl's testimony.

In the case against the
girl, we have nothing.

And double jeopardy kills any
leverage we would have with Donald.

She said she's been
seeing him for two years.

She must have told
somebody something.

For how long?

Thanks.

Nobody in the Biology
Department ever saw them together.

What about her friends
outside the Institute?

Her neighbors never
saw her with anyone.

I called her parents
in Short Hills,

the housekeeper said they were
vacationing in the South of France.

Robinette.

Hold on.

It's a Judge Feldman
from Newark.

He wants to talk
about Susan Boyd.

It seems she does
have a history.

You know, it didn't hit me until
the papers published her picture.

I knew her as Susan Daly.

Boyd must be her maiden name.

Please, sit down.

She was married?

Widowed.

Married to the second
violin at the Philharmonic.

She came to work for me a
few months after he was killed

in a car accident.

You look surprised.

I didn't know she was a lawyer.

Yale Law.

Turned down Wall Street
for a carrel in our library.

She gave me first-class
work, and on time.

Something my other
clerks never heard of.

But even a Cray computer
blows a fuse every now and then.

She had a breakdown?

She was deeply disturbed.

One night we were working late.

Ordered in Chinese
to my chambers.

Harmless, right?

Susan took it as a
marriage proposal.

She started writing me memos,
professing her undying love.

She rented a house down
the block, just to be close.

For a while, I thought
it was flattering,

but when she started
calling my wife...

Nothing happened
between Susan and me,

and still it almost
cost me my marriage.

Yale Law School never heard
of Susan Boyd or Susan Daly.

Not only didn't she graduate,
she didn't even apply.

You mean she knew enough

to fool a Superior Court
judge for over a year?

It gets better.

On her employment
application to Manhattan Institute,

she claimed to have a
Master's from Cornell.

She faked that, too?
What about the marriage?

Pure fantasy.

The only Daly at the
Philharmonic is alive

and happily married
for the last 25 years.

Maybe Walsh was
telling the truth.

If she was smart enough
to con Judge Feldman,

my guess is that the
whole cross-examination

at the Walsh trial was staged.

They weren't having an affair,

but she lies on the
stand to protect him?

Yeah, well, one thing both
Walsh and the judge agreed on,

is that lady's crazy.

Crazy enough to kill?

The pattern seems to be there.

Disappointing youth, inappropriate
phone calls, letters, visits.

It's a psychotic disorder
called erotomania.

English, Liz.

She's delusional. My guess:

Susan honestly believes she's
having an affair with Walsh.

So in her mind, she was telling
the truth when she testified.

She may act and look normal,
but talk to her about the affair,

and you'll probably learn that
she's getting coded messages

from the pattern of his ties.

Things as unrelated as his
expense report or a song on the radio.

Do the symptoms
include violence?

Not usually, but there
are cases of the subject

attacking the buffer,

the obstacle to
completing their romance.

I.e., Fay Walsh.

Unfortunately, we don't have
enough physical evidence to go to trial.

Judge Feldman told me
Susan rented a house near his.

Exactly.

Proximity feeds the delusion
that she's having a life with him.

Liz, Walsh said that he spent weeks
at a time at the Cape May house.

Could Susan stand being
away from him that long?

I doubt it. Some erotomaniacs
camp outside their object's house,

steal garbage, anything
personal, as mementos.

Susan Boyd, 518 Ocean
Avenue, Cape May.

Good. Call Briscoe and Logan.

I'll call Judge
Scott for a warrant.

Looks like my first place.

Looks like my place now.

The New York Public
Library isn't this well stocked.

Law, medicine...

Smart and crazy.
That's a helluva pair.

Lennie.

Donald Walsh, this is your life.

You got baby pictures,
his high school yearbook.

His socks?

And the shells that
killed his wife, .410.

New York State Driver's
License, Fay Walsh.

Only, Susan's picture's on it.

Pick her up.

Susan Boyd, you're under
arrest for the murder of Fay Walsh.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can be used
against you in a court of law.

Do you understand that?

You have the
right to an attorney.

She already admitted
she purchased the shells.

She said Donald
used them for hunting.

So she kept a souvenir of a
wonderful weekend at the shore.

A wonderful weekend alone.

Are you gonna start
this again, Mr. Stone?

Yes, I am, Ms. Boyd.

Well, you're wasting your time.

What Donald and I have is real.

What about Judge Feldman?

That was a mistake.

He took advantage of me.

He says you're disturbed.

What, he's
moonlighting as a shrink?

Dr. Walsh agrees with him.

Donald would
never deny our love.

Please send in Dr. Walsh.

Tell them, Donald.

Tell them what we
mean to each other.

I have never and will never
have anything to do with you.

I understand what's going on.

They put you up
to this, didn't they?

Nobody put me up to anything.

Very good, Mr. Stone.

You've certainly had your fun.

Now, Donald, the game's over.

Tell them the truth.

You're a lunatic.

I understand.

You don't have to worry
about anything, sweetheart.

I forgive you.

He gave me this bracelet.

Now, why would he do
that if he didn't love me?

He sent me letters

telling me how much he loves me.

Telling me that if only Fay were
dead, then he could be with me.

"To Security. Dr. Fay
Walsh will be working late

"in the lab this coming weekend.
Because of the recent threats

"by animal activist groups

"please post extra security.

"I will be out of town.

Signed, Donald Walsh."

Thank you, Doctor.

It's obvious she's incompetent.

But she's not legally insane.

Ms. Boyd,

you knew what you were doing
when you committed the murder.

I will give you
manslaughter one,

provided you get
psychiatric treatment.

That's absurd.

There's absolutely no way that
I will agree to a plea of insanity.

Do you think for one instant

that Dr. Donald Walsh would
love somebody who's insane?

Susan, it's not insanity,
it's diminished capacity.

I'm fully aware of the
penal law, Mr. Keith.

The implication is that
I'm not of my right mind.

Susan, it is the difference between
eight years and 25 years in jail.

That's meaningless to me.

This is a conspiracy to
keep me from Donald.

Susan, you need help.

You're fired.

Prepare yourself, Mr. Stone.

I'm taking charge
of my own case.

Susan Boyd's going for a record.

This is her sixteenth motion.

I doubt we'll ever get to trial.

She uses an
out-of-date prison library

and her work is
better than anything

I've seen from a
Wall Street law firm.

"The truth is ugly, so we
put our prophets in prison."

Oscar Wilde?

Charles Manson.