Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 3, Episode 22 - Benevolence - full transcript

A young, independent deaf woman is murdered, but what is it her scorned lover or her obsessed mentor? Detectives Briscoe and Logan scour phone transcripts, while forensics narrows the ...

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.

Those ticket agents.
A $4.50 service charge

and they stick us
way in the back.

Well, at least the
music was wonderful.

I thought the strings
were a bit shrill.

And the adagio?

Hmm. That tuna fish I threw out,



would you... would you
put it out into the hall?

Mmm-hmm.

And open a window

so that we both
don't die of the stench.

Hello, Doris. Why
wouldn't I know who it was?

I can't go to the corner
store without you calling.

Lincoln Center. Mozart.

Frankly, Masur was
not in very good shape,

arriving when he did.

I was very disappointed.

However, I'd love to meet...

Lisa. Mmm-hmm.

Is your aunt still up? Mmm-hmm.

She forgot to sign
her rent check again.



I'll take it in to her.

Except I thought

he was a little off
every once in a while.

Looks like she caught it

heading for the side entrance.

Something wrong
with the front door?

Courtyard's all the way around.

Neighbors say
it's safer this way.

Most nights.

Kathleen Susan
McKenna. $30 and change.

University student ID.

She can forget
about her midterms.

Found a scarf
just down the alley.

Ligature marks are
consistent with the neck wound.

You check this
wall? Blood. Tissue.

I have a feeling
it's the victim's.

Got it. Witnesses over there.

Thanks.

I'm Det. Logan,
this is Det. Briscoe.

You ladies saw something?

If you're expecting
a description,

you can forget it.

With my cataracts, I
can barely see you.

Was it some transient?

Kathleen McKenna. Know her?

Kathy? Oh, no.

She lived on the
third floor. A lovely girl.

Well, maybe you
remember something now?

Well, I... I remember
voices, but, uh, disconnected.

I couldn't tell who.

When I opened the window
I saw a man and woman

at the end of
the alley, signin'.

Signing?

Oh, It must have been her.
Kathy McKenna was deaf.

My late husband was
blind. Shrapnel in Korea.

After he died,

I decided to rent
to the handicapped.

As a gesture, you know? Mmm-hmm.

And what kind of tenant
was Miss McKenna?

She moved in about a year ago.

Never a problem.

Okay, Miss Chandler.
Uh, if we need you,

we'll give you a call.
Thank you very much.

Landlady's a wash.
She paid her rent.

I'm surprised she
found the time.

Wow! Popular girl, huh?

Detective, we've got
a Ben Freed out here.

He says he's the boyfriend.

He's been told.

Yeah. Send him in.

This is all my fault.

Take it easy.

We were supposed
to go out last night.

I should have been with her.

Well, what happened?
Did she break the date?

She had to see somebody.
She didn't say who.

God, I told her a
thousand times.

At night, take a cab.

A thousand times.

Sounds like she was your steady.

We'd been going out
a couple of months.

All my friends said
the same thing.

"She's deaf. Don't
rush into anything."

But we loved each
other. We had plans.

After she broke the date,
you make a new plan?

The library.

I... I was studying for
exams until closing.

God.

No jewelry taken, no money.

Forensics checking out
blood and tissue samples.

But I wouldn't hold my breath.

Your basic crime of passion.

Person or persons unknown.

Probably singular.

We got a witness says
she saw a man and a woman

signing near the alley
right before it went down.

Well, what about the
boyfriend, he sign?

He said he was just learning.

Calls it one of the
world's great romances.

Well, he bought that
she was seeing a friend,

so maybe it was.

After just two months?

Nobody is that secure.
You call the library?

Yeah, last night.
Freed checked out

Henry Miller's Tropic
of Cancer and Nexus.

The lonely guy's reading list.

Fellows, there's a Mr. and
Mrs. McKenna here.

That's Kathy's cousin, Eugene.

I took that

while he was visiting
from Tacoma last summer.

This is Ben Freed.

Kathy was seeing him.

She talked about
him all the time.

That one. That's Paul Crandall.

He's deaf, too.

Kathy and Paul used
to see a lot of each other

when she first
moved to the city.

But they weren't that serious.

Most of these, I'm
sure they're just pals.

If somebody was
giving her trouble,

would she have told you?

I'd hope so.

Kathy was independent.

We brought her up that way.

She even talked about
getting a cochlear implant.

She was told she was
a good candidate for it.

It's a device inserted
behind the ear.

If it worked, it would have

allowed her to hear
sound, vibrations.

We took her to specialists.

"Put her in a deaf school."

"Don't put her
in a deaf school."

We just wanted her to be happy.

If you want to identify
these other photos,

you should talk to
Corrine Sussman.

Kathy used to room
with her at university.

Sure, Kathy had boyfriends.

The problem was
with her hearing,

not the rest of her.

Well, uh, last time you noticed,

uh, who was leading the pack?

Ben. Those two were
positively chemical.

As in combustible?

They'd argue. Who doesn't?

Kathy had a mind of her own.

God, it's so sad.

I can't believe I'm already
referring to her in the past tense.

What about Paul Crandall?

How past tense was he?

Oh, Paul was the kind of
guy you go out with once

because you feel sorry for him

and then it's "how
do you get rid of him?"

He wanted her
strictly to himself.

I remember once they
were going to a lecture

and Kathy asked if I
wanted to come along.

Paul freaked. He
said it was for the deaf.

Like I'd contaminate the place.

Kathy let him have it.

So Kathy was more open-minded?

You know that Audrey
Hepburn film, Sabrina?

It was Kathy's favorite.

She wanted to be just like
the character in the movie.

"In the world and of the world."

What about when Paul and
her weren't attending lectures?

You mean, did
she sleep with him?

In Paul's dreams, maybe.

No, Paul was a relic from
Kathy's days at the institute.

The institute?

The Bryce Institute
for the Deaf.

It's where they met.

I'm sorry. I have
a midterm, okay?

Any luck with that
address, Miss...

Any luck with that
address, Miss Hendricks?

I don't have Paul's address.

He moves around a lot.

But I know he
works at the garage

on West Street at 25th.

Dr. Bryce got him the job.

I'm sorry, Dr. Bryce.

These detectives are
here about Kathy McKenna.

Hello, Doctor. Have
you got a minute?

Of course. Just come in here.

I heard about
Kathy this morning.

It's tragic. I, uh...

Especially under
the circumstances.

What circumstances?

Well, last night,

I was with Jacob
and Sonya Brinkman.

They pledged the money to expand

a program we have
for deaf preschoolers.

The idea of the program
originally was Kathy's

so I was going to
put her in charge of it

after her graduation in June.

Well, I started to call
her from the Brinkmans'

to give her the good news

but it was almost midnight.

Did you know anything
about her personal life?

Like who she was involved with?

I'd met some of the
men she'd dated.

Like Ben Freed?

Right, the... the
hearing man, yes.

Well, those relationships
are always difficult.

Paul Crandall more her type?

Oh, no, no. Not Paul.

You don't suspect Paul, do you?

We're talking to
everybody she knew.

Paul's a very sweet
boy, but he's very shy.

I don't think he's had much
experience with women.

How much do you
need to kill one?

Paul's one weird kid.

One hell of a mechanic.

That deaf school
teaches them real good.

I tell you.

Did you ever see
him with a girl?

She was deaf. Blonde.

Yeah. Yeah. They were in
here a couple of weeks ago.

Got him pretty upset, too.

Kicked his toolbox

halfway across the
garage after she left.

Maybe they patched things up.

Come on, man.

One of these guys got
a babe waiting outside

they're out of here

by the time that
clock strikes 5:00.

Paul was pulling
12, 15-hour shifts

and begging for more.

Which one of these was his?

See that Ford up on the perch?

He's supposed to be under it.

Is there any chance
he took a break?

No, he got a call about a
half hour ago on his beeper.

A deaf person with a beeper?

Yeah, you know,

the kind that vibrates
inside your pocket.

He hasn't been back since.

Push the button.

It makes a light flash inside.

You know, Mike, I
got this refrigerator.

The light keeps going out.

For the life of me,

I can't get the
landlord to fix it.

I get it. I get it.

Today's newspaper.

I guess he wanted to
make the morning edition.

Lennie.

Hm?

Wow. Everything
but her baby pictures.

"Stop cochlear implants at NYU."

Cochlear implants.

Wasn't that the operation
Kathy's parents were talking about?

Yeah. We got into a
discussion about that once.

I said it sounded
like a good idea.

He said it was like turning
a black person white.

That make sense to you?

Ah, I guess it
does to these guys.

L.O.U.D., 36 Greene Street.

Richard Fiorello,
executive director.

Doctors play Frankenstein

with people's auditory nerves,

and that's okay.

But if some girl gets mugged,

it's "blame the deaf."

Kathy McKenna was deaf.

Kathy? You want to
feel sorry for Kathy?

Feel sorry that someone
convinced Kathy

that being deaf was
something to be ashamed of.

Ask him if Paul got as
worked up as him about this.

After Kathy broke up with
Paul for a hearing man,

Paul couldn't think straight.

So you told him what to think?

Like last night?

I didn't see Paul last night.

Oh, come on, he's
that sort of a guy.

Paul gets in some
kind of trouble,

he comes to you.

Get out or I'll get our lawyer.

All right, get his attention.

Sometimes people hide
for the wrong reasons

and they create the
wrong impression.

That's why it's better

to just come out
and clear the air.

Before the real trouble begins.

They're watchin'
us from the window.

Give it a minute.

I think he's in there.
Lot of attitude, huh?

Hey, you know where
they're coming from.

It's a whole different world.

Yeah. Well, these
guys turned it into a cult.

Kathy wanted out,

Crandall wasn't
about to let her.

Hey!

Hey, watch it.

Paul wants to know,
is he under arrest?

Just some questions.

If he's got the answers,
it'll be very simple.

I think the kid's been busted.

Hey, I want to believe
you, Paul, I really do.

But unless you can
give us some answers,

I have to assume the worst.

Or maybe he's just shy.

Or maybe he doesn't
like the questions.

Like where was he
last night around 11:00?

I worked at the
garage until 6:00.

I took the bus to Richard's.

We played cards until midnight.

Two-handed poker?

Gina played, too.

You didn't see Kathy?

Fellows.

Fiorello's girlfriend
called Dr. Bryce.

Does Paul need an attorney?
I can get one down here.

He's not under arrest.

Then I want to be in
there. He trusts me.

Go ahead.

Kathy and I

were in the same speech-therapy
class at the institute.

The other students
laughed at me.

I was a charity case.

I... I got Paul a scholarship.

You know how kids can be.

Kathy never laughed.
We had a bond.

You bond with her lately?

I haven't seen Kathy in weeks.

So why the disappearing act?

I read about Kathy
in the newspapers

and then, uh, Miss Hendricks
telephoned me at the garage

to tell me you
were looking for me.

And I got scared.

How did you feel

when Kathy started
dating Ben Freed, Paul?

I mean, she drops you for a
hearing guy. That must have hurt.

That's ridiculous. Paul's deaf.

Stop treating him
like a psychopath.

I'm asking him the question.

I accepted it.

I knew that she'd
be coming back.

Paul, she was getting
a cochlear implant.

She was getting
her hearing back.

You and your deaf
buddies were history.

You think I'd kill her for that?

Somebody did this to her, Paul.

That's it. I'm putting
an end to this!

No, I didn't kill
Kathy. I didn't kill!

Forensics found no blood
or skin under her nails

and the scarf she
was strangled with

was from Doyal's.

Oh, good. So we get
his coat, check for fibers.

No. The guy wore a
leather coat from Goodwill.

We checked it. It was clean.

Crandall's LUDs.
They just came in.

Thanks, Tony.

Uh-huh. This sound
familiar? 555-8686?

Kathy McKenna's number.

This guy was calling
her any more often,

he'd need a WATS line.

6:05, 7:10, he was
calling her every night.

Makes you wonder what
she said to him to shut him up.

He was pretty quiet
the rest of the night.

Just one call, at
11:30 in the Village.

Oh, let me guess. Greene Street.

Fiorello? The guy who
flipped you off with both hands?

The same guy Crandall
was supposed to be

playing cards with at 11:30.

You know that phone for the deaf

that we got downstairs,
the one you type on?

That spits out a
printout, doesn't it?

Crandall had one like
that in his apartment,

but I didn't see any printouts.

And when he talked
with Kathy McKenna,

you think it was a
one-sided conversation?

Those geniuses from
CSU classified Kathy's TDD

as a "telephone
answering machine."

I don't even want to know

what ended up under
"kitchen appliances."

I don't get it. In
the last week,

Crandall must have
called at least 20 times.

Yeah. It's just our luck.
She was a neat freak.

Ma'am, when's the last time
they picked up the garbage?

Mr. Broda hasn't taken
the garbage bin out

since last Friday.

How many apartments
in this building?

30.

And they all have to eat eggs?

How about this guy?

It's all doughnuts
and stroke magazines.

Yeah, well he's
depressed, stays home a lot.

Damn. Hold it.

Find something?

Electric bill. "Kathleen...
Kathleen S. McKenna."

Keep digging.

Pay dirt.

How you tell who's
who on these things?

The caller's in caps.

Kathy's end is lowercase.

We've pieced three
of these together.

Two of them are
definitely from Crandall.

He IDs himself at the top.

And the third?

Partially damaged.

We can't confirm
it's from Crandall,

but it does fit the
pattern of his calls.

Caller:

"At least give me a chance
to talk you out of this."

Kathy:

"Nothing to talk about."

Caller:

"You want an easy way
out, but you owe me."

Kathy: "It always
comes to that."

Caller: "Damn right."

Now here she types in "SK, SK."

That's code for
"I'm getting off."

Caller: "You hang up, you bitch,

I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

The call before is
from Kathy's mother.

She talks about going
shopping tomorrow, Thursday.

So this call was
on the Wednesday

that she was killed.

Right. Crandall calls
her in the afternoon.

He begs her to take him back.

He threatens her. She hangs up.

He waits for her
outside her place.

She still blows him off.

He kills her at 11:10,

he panics, and he runs home.

At 11:30 he calls Fiorello.
"My God, I've killed Kathy."

Arrest him.

Paul Crandall,
you're under arrest

for the murder of Kathy McKenna.

Read this.

In all my years of
representing the disadvantaged

I have never seen
such a spectacle.

As if Paul's deafness
wasn't enough of a handicap,

you hobble him
with a public arrest.

Mr. Crandall,

maybe you'd like to compare
the bruises on your feelings

with the ones you left
on Kathy McKenna's neck.

You have arraigned my client,
you haven't convicted him.

There's nothing in
that folder of yours

that connects
him to this murder.

Which lie do you
want to start with?

The one about the card game?

You don't like his alibi?

That's fine. Let's
clear that up right now.

I lied because I was scared.

I saw Kathy that night.

I met her at the B and
C Cafe in the Village.

We got into a taxi

and we went back to her place.

When I left,

she was standing
on the sidewalk.

She was still alive.

It's more heart-warming
than the first version.

But it leads to the same place,

a small room upstate.

The waitress at
the cafe will testify

that their conversation

seemed rational
and under control.

She understands sign language?

She's not blind, Mr. Robinette.

She understands body language.

And I also read
English, young man,

including the printouts of
Kathy McKenna's phone.

The threats are unmistakable.

And impossible to
attribute to my client.

The best you can
do today is man one.

Aim your 20/20s

at the big letters on the wall.

No direct evidence, no case.

I'll look for your letter of
dismissal in the mail, gentlemen.

Kathy was my friend
and a colleague.

And I'm devastated by her death.

But I have an obligation

that goes beyond
my personal feelings.

An obligation to the
future of my institute.

I don't want the public
thinking of Paul Crandall

every time they read
about the work we're doing.

Are you suggesting
leniency for him?

Do you have any idea what the
effect of a trial like this will be?

People use any excuse

to keep their checkbook
in their pocket.

This isn't about signing checks.

It's about a girl
being murdered.

You didn't know Kathy.

In time, she could've
become dean of Gallaudet.

Her dedication was on
the same level as my own

and I know if she were alive,

she would agree
with my priorities.

We appreciate your
concerns, Mr. Bryce.

We'll add them to the mix.

Thank you, Mr. Stone.
Mr. Robinette.

First Rollins, then Bryce,

both sticking their
fingers on the pity button.

Once their violins get in tune,

Crandall could get
a jury to hum along.

He can't make them forget he's no
more disabled than Kathy McKenna.

They won't see her deafness.
They'll only see Crandall's.

That's all they'll care about,
unless of course we can prove

that those are his
words on the printout.

American Sign Language
is a spatial-visual medium

with its own, uh, syntax.

Uh, to a hearing person,
a word-for-word translation

of ASL sounds
like broken English.

Uh, "I go to the store"
comes out "Go store I."

They do any better
on the typewriter?

Well, the deaf learn
English grammar in school.

Uh, in formal settings they
write as well as anyone.

But on the phone they relax.

Like everybody else.

But their grammatical
mistakes are more subtle

and they acquire
individual characteristics.

What about the 3:21
printout? Is it his?

Right, uh, the death threat.

Uh, I'm not surprised
nobody picked up on it.

"At least give me a chance."

Pretty generic.

Except that there's
no sign in ASL for "at."

It's not a word
they'd commonly use.

Uh, same with "you
want an easy way out."

The deaf don't differentiate
between "a" and "an."

Prof. Durnan's convinced

it was written by
a hearing person.

Because of two words?

Crandall wrote pamphlets
for his organization.

He's no stranger
to English syntax.

If he didn't use "at" and "an"

in any of the other printouts,

I doubt he'd start in
the heat of argument.

Ben Freed, Kathy's boyfriend
said he was at the library

the night she was killed.

Briscoe and Logan weren't
able to pin down the time he left.

He killed her? Why?
She stood him up?

Well, Kathy's roommate said

the relationship
was combustible.

You add jealousy,
anything's possible.

You mean she
broke a date with him.

He waits for her. He
sees her with Crandall.

Freed concludes

she didn't deserve
to live without him.

You can't be serious.

I was in love with
her, for God's sake.

All the more reason
to be disappointed

when you saw her with Crandall.

I told you, I didn't know.

She loved me.

We were going to
California together.

We were applying to
USC. I have the forms.

Here.

It's to their MSW program.

She even signed it.

The deadline was
two days after she died.

She changed her mind?

No. She was waiting

for a letter of recommendation
from Gordan Bryce.

Bryce knew she was
moving to California?

She'd been to see him
about it, uh, three weeks ago.

Her parents confirmed
Kathy was thinking

about going to graduate
school with Freed.

The only hold-up

was a letter of
recommendation from Bryce.

Bryce told us that Kathy would
be working for him next year.

Well, maybe he thought

his claim on her
should take precedence.

Bryce told the police

that he was with,
uh, Jacob Brinkman

until 12:00 the night
Kathy was killed.

Talk to Brinkman.

I doubt he keeps his eyes closed

when he gives away his money.

Sonya and I have a lot
of affection for Gordon.

He's a little tough
to take sometimes.

But thanks to him,

our son Jared has
been able to live

something like a normal life.

Hard to take how?

He has a special
kind of dedication.

If he smells a
nickel in your pocket,

he'll get in your face

till he gets you to sign
it over to his institute.

The night of the murder,

what time did he
leave your house?

I'd have to ask Sonya.

We went to bed before 12:00.

You're sure?

11:30 p.m. every
night, I take digitoxin.

Bad heart.

Did Mr. Bryce say
where he was going?

I don't know.

Mr. Robinette, Gordon may be
a single-minded pain in the ass

but he didn't kill anybody,
least of all Kathy McKenna.

You knew her?

We had dinner with
Gordon and Kathy

a number of times.

She was more than his protégé?

I am not going to define
his relationship with her.

He obviously liked her.

She probably was more in tune

with his goals than
his first wife, Judith.

I was going up the
stairs in the quad.

Gordon's the only one
who stopped to help.

I was easy pickings.

They can make
crutches for everything

except your self-esteem.

Gordon got me off the crutches

and into feeling pretty
good about myself.

So far, it doesn't sound
like grounds for divorce.

I wanted a marriage.

Gordon wanted a cause.

He wanted to get
everybody off crutches.

It made him feel important.

I just couldn't compete
with an institute

full of needy people.

Being needed is not a bad thing.

Gordon needs to be needed.

That's his life work.

And he expected
me to be right there

toiling alongside him,
every minute of the day.

After 15 years, I
called a lawyer.

How'd he take it?

Not well.

Disagree with
Gordon on anything,

and it's a betrayal.

Have you ever seen this girl?

Yeah. I ran into them
at the park a year ago.

He said she was committed.

To him or to the institute?

That would have to
be the same thing.

The death threats were
made by a hearing person.

Gordon Bryce routinely
uses TDD phones.

We checked the
LUDs from the institute.

They were three calls made
to Kathy the day she was killed.

Fine, indict Gordon Bryce.

If he doesn't work out,

there's always
the nun in Calcutta.

Bryce's wife told us that he
doesn't take rejection kindly.

So if he takes Kathy
McKenna under his wing

and he nurtures her, he's
not about to cut her loose

and let her run
off to California.

You cannot go forward

unless you place
him at the scene.

Well, she was
strangled with a scarf.

There could be fibers on his
gloves, maybe even on his coat.

There might even be bloodstains.

Suspicion isn't probable cause

for a search warrant.

Without a warrant,

we can't even eliminate
him as a suspect.

Who's on warrants today?

Judge Chabot, the
policeman's friend.

Okay.

You want to search the
man's home and his office?

Wherever he
hangs his hat, Judge.

There's nothing
in the application

that directly links
Mr. Bryce to the crime.

But the actions
listed in the affidavits

show consciousness
of guilt, Your Honor.

Judge, detectives Briscoe
and Logan have applied for

and been granted
hundreds of search warrants.

They know probable
cause when they see it.

So do I, Mr. Robinette.

I'm ducking my
wife's calls today.

Doesn't mean I plan to kill her.

Much as I would like to.

Your Honor...

Strike that last part, Maggie.

You should learn to
relax, Mr. Robinette.

Just because I do
20 of these a day,

doesn't mean we
can't have a little fun.

Is this your
signature, Detective?

Yes, sir.

Raise your right hand.

Do you swear the
contents of your affidavit

are true to the best
of your knowledge?

I do.

Forensics pulled six
fibers from Bryce's gloves,

eight from his coat.

Color and diameter
match Kathy's scarf.

That's not good enough for Adam.

Those fibers on Bryce's
coat could have gotten there

when Kathy went to see
him about her application.

Hard to explain this away.

The gloves found
at Bryce's house,

minute traces of
blood on the left one.

Now they're still running a DNA,

but the blood type is
the same as Kathy's.

Well, I'd like to see
Arthur Gold argue

that Kathy got a paper
cut from her application.

Arthur Gold? Bryce
retained counsel?

Yeah, Gold called this morning

to see how serious
we are about Bryce.

I'm gonna tell him
that Briscoe and Logan

are on their way over

to Bryce's office
with my answer.

And tell Crandall's
attorney we're dismissing

the charges against his client.

Arthur Gold, please.

Until I read your indictment,

I thought that minimalism
was dead, Ben.

One abstraction
teetering on another.

It might get you a wall at MOMA,

I can't see it getting
raves from a New York jury.

Uh, fortunately, Arthur,

forensic science
isn't a matter of taste.

Strange how something so random

calls itself a science.

Now how many people did
Kathy McKenna brush up against

on the subway or on the street?

But fibers from her scarf
make them all killers?

It would if they had her
blood on their gloves.

Inconclusive DNA.

Blood type B negative?

I'm B negative. So is
Gordon's housekeeper.

You can pile it up
as high as you like,

it won't change the smell.

Your client stepped
in it when he lied

about the time he
left the Brinkmans'.

Jacob and Sonya
are lovely people.

They helped Gordon make bail.

I'm sure their memory
will be more specific

by the time they take the stand.

Mr. Bryce, why
are you so confident

that these people will
perjure themselves for you?

They won't have to.

It was closer to
10:30 when I left.

I took a taxi to Marcia
Hendricks' apartment.

She's my executive assistant.

We had institute
business to discuss.

I left some time after midnight.

What did you have to discuss

that couldn't wait
until the next morning?

I had a $200,000 check

from Jacob Brinkman
in my pocket.

Now Marcia had taken

the bank-deposit
stamp home with her.

I wanted that check stamped
soon as soon as possible,

for security reasons.

Whatever the reason he
was at Miss Hendricks' home,

that's where he was.

Just to get the
ball rolling, Ben.

Demand for bill of particulars,

motion to reopen the grand jury,

motion for change of venue.

Have a nice weekend.

Bryce shows up at
his secretary's house

in the middle of the night
with a check for $200,000?

Maybe they have
something more to cover up

than his involvement
in a murder.

Yeah. they're up to their
elbows in the cookie jar.

Well, a good look at the
institute's books should help.

501s. Not-for-profit,
tax-exempt.

You want to make a killing,

buy the lease on
their copy machines.

Copies to the IRS,
copies to the state,

copies to the AG.

Hamburgers should
be so well-regulated.

They would be if they
were tax-deductible.

Has the IRS ever
been through here?

Ever since United Way
got taken to the cleaners,

the Feds have clamped down.

The institute was
audited a year ago.

Not a penny out of place.

When a donation comes in,
how soon before it makes its way

into the institute's account?

Within 48 hours.

Even at 3%, every
dime of interest counts.

And these statements
are current?

The most recent ones
came in last week.

Why, is something
wrong with the arithmetic?

It's short a $200,000 check.

I called Brinkman.

The check never showed
up in the institute's books

'cause it was made out
to the Jared Foundation,

named after Brinkman's son.

Did you check the records

with the Attorney
General's office?

The Jared Foundation
was incorporated this year,

with Gordan Bryce as president

and Kathy McKenna
as vice-president.

But the articles
of incorporation

were amended a week
after Kathy's murder.

Guess who's the
new vice-president?

Marcia Hendricks.

Nice bump for a secretary.

Well, we'll see
if Miss Hendricks

will join us for coffee.

I have been with Gordon Bryce

since the day the
institute opened its doors.

I earned that promotion.

Miss Hendricks, what you earn

is a place in line at
the Rikers cafeteria.

That's the prize you get

for finding Mr. Bryce an alibi.

I'm not lying. He
was there at 11:00.

You spend your
evenings staring at clocks?

I read captions on TV.

The news just started
when Gordon arrived.

And when he left?

I didn't see the
time. It was morning.

He told us he left
long before that.

Gordon wouldn't say
that we were intimate.

He does not want
to embarrass me.

He is a gentleman.

A gentleman does
not smash the head

of a 21-year-old
girl into a brick wall.

You are wrong about Gordon.

He gave everything
to the institute.

You just want to destroy it all.

Miss Hendricks, if that is
the story you want to stay with

I'm sure Mr. Bryce

can refer you to
a good attorney.

Ben, a minute.

Now, I'm just dipping
my toes in the water here.

Gordon Bryce and I would like

to explore
alternatives to trial.

Alternatives?

He doesn't want to become

the Jim Bakker of
the Bryce Institute.

He doesn't want to
take it down with him.

I'm surprised you didn't
guarantee him an acquittal.

He thinks by then
it'll be too late.

He wants it off
the front page now

no matter what the
sacrifice to him personally.

What happened, Arthur?
Did his check bounce?

I can't see you letting
an innocent client

ride to prison on a principle.

Of course he's innocent.

We're talking damage control.

Now, he'll plead to man two.

He serves 18 months.

Community service
for the balance.

That's the sacrifice
he's willing to make.

Tell Bryce no deal.

He should've thought
of damage control

before he laid his hands
on Kathy McKenna.

You want to play
king of the mountain

with Arthur Gold, do
it on your own time.

When he offers you a plea,

sit down, discuss it with him.

We squeezed Marcia
Hendricks, out pops Arthur Gold.

Obviously, Bryce doesn't think

that Hendricks can go
another round without cracking.

Maybe he doesn't want to
put her through the ordeal.

Chivalry didn't
end with Camelot.

It's more likely
that he's afraid

she'll put him away for a
lot longer than 18 months.

By not corroborating his alibi.

Arthur Gold can make
his case without her.

Not if she has direct
evidence to implicate Bryce.

You'll need more
than "open sesame"

to get her to talk.

I think I can
convince a grand jury

that woman had a lot to
gain from McKenna's death.

This is completely out of line.

The power to charge a grand jury

does not mean you can
use it to commit blackmail.

As opposed to your client,

I am not in it for
personal gain.

Miss Hendricks,

Kathy McKenna was your rival,

professionally and romantically.

You had every reason
to cover up her murder.

You can barely
prove obstruction,

let alone conspiracy.

The jury will draw their
own conclusions, sir.

Marcia, when you hold
on to a drowning man,

he drags you under.

No charges. Immunity.

Gordon never came
to my apartment.

You mean after he killed Kathy?

I couldn't let him go to jail.

Without Gordon, there
would be no institute.

And in return for lying for him,

he promoted you?

I didn't need to lie.

I can do that job.

I would've been good at it.

Miss Hendricks, how did
you know that he killed Kathy?

I know what Gordon said

to Kathy that day on the phone.

You saw him at the phone?

Then how do you
know what he said?

Marcia, you must
tell them everything.

I kept the printout
from the TDD.

She kept transcripts
of every conversation

that Bryce had with
Kathy from his office.

Nearly three years' worth.

Including the threats

we found in Kathy's apartment.

Remind me to bypass
the switchboard.

What was she planning to do?

To have them bound in leather?

Obviously, he was obsessed
with keeping her in his fold.

Well, he wasn't the only
one with an obsession.

Yeah. Well, it nearly
paid off for Marcia.

Arthur Gold wants to
make sure it won't for us.

Motion to suppress.

Motion to...

Arthur's true to form.

Three words, Your Honor.
Expectation of privacy.

And without it,

we might as well be zoo animals

living our lives
on public display.

Uh, Your Honor, in
Wisconsin v. Rewolinski,

a suspect called his wife

on the police department's
own telephone for the deaf.

Now, that individual's
expectation of privacy

was greater than Mr. Bryce's.

Yet the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin

allowed those
transcripts at trial.

I tend to agree.

Anyone fool enough to
make incriminating statements

on a police station's telephone

deserves what he gets.

But Mr. Bryce was calling

from the sanctity
of his own office.

He had every right to expect
that no one would eavesdrop.

Least of all a jealous employee.

Who acted on her own behalf

and no matter how
reprehensible those actions,

their result isn't
subject to suppression.

What's reprehensible is
the state taking advantage

of someone's disability

to violate a defendant's rights.

Because they rely
on TDD devices,

should the deaf
be more vulnerable

to state-sanctioned
invasions of privacy?

The evidence isn't being
used against Ms. McKenna,

but against Mr. Bryce.

Whose only disability is a
callous disregard for human life.

Your Honor, that's gratuitous.

I was thinking the same
thing about your motion.

It's denied.

In any event, Your Honor,

the transcripts are irrelevant.

For all anyone knows,

they were manufactured
by Marcia Hendricks

to blackmail my client.

And that is an issue of fact to
be determined at trial, Your Honor.

Point, set, match,
Mr. Gold. Goodbye.

Ben, if you're not prepared
to meet us halfway,

we'll be more than happy to
take our chances with a jury.

Gordon's reputation
still has some mileage.

Not with Marcia
Hendricks writing his bio.

Oh, the jury will think

she's a desperate
woman seeking revenge.

They may even suspect
her of killing McKenna herself.

With your client's gloves?

Man one.

That's 8 1/3-to-25.

Considering the
savagery of his crime,

it's a gift. Ben...

Stop it, Arthur.

I accept the offer.

Gordon.

I accept the offer.

All right. But we
reserve the right

to seek sentence
reduction down the line.

Mr. Bryce, as you probably
know from your attorney,

the condition of a plea bargain

is that you recite the
facts of your crime.

Whatever it takes
to spare the institute.

Gordon.

And unless your admission
of guilt is unambiguous,

there can be no
plea bargain, sir.

Kath...

I taught her to speak.

I taught her to present herself.

She couldn't even order
a meal in a restaurant.

Mr. Bryce, please.
You're talking about her

as if she were a trained seal.

No.

That woman shared with me.

Everything.

She was there for my institute.

She convinced me

that our work really
mattered to her.

Are you blaming her, sir?

You don't know what it took

to pull that children's
program together.

I was after people for funds

till they hated the sight of me.

And then, one day,

she's off to California
with that hearing man.

Nothing that I did mattered.

All I was good for

was some stupid letter
of recommendation.

I picked up her scarf.

I wanted her to stay.

I don't know what happened.

I should be able to get
the sentence reduced

without breaking a sweat.

It is just a matter of
packing the parole hearing

with character witnesses.

I'll be there too, Arthur, with
photos of Kathy McKenna.

Will you get off your
high horse, Ben?

What has the man got to
do to prove his sincerity?

Go to Africa like
Albert Schweitzer?

For Schweitzer, helping
people was a calling.

For Bryce, it was
a means to an end.

No good deed comes
free and clear, Ben.

The man gets the job done.

Now I'd love to stand here
and discuss altruism with you,

but I'm late for a luncheon.

Charity fundraiser at The Plaza.

There's still some
tickets available.

$500 a plate.

And every penny
of it tax-deductible.