Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 6, Episode 18 - Atonement - full transcript
Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of model Sharon Lasko who was found dead in a landfill soon after a photo shoot. The autopsy reveals that she was struck on the head with a bottle. They investigate the photographer, Rick Casteler, who admits they slept together that afternoon but swears she was alive when he left. After his story checks out, they look for other connections and find that she had called her regular limo driver, Johnny Stivers. When they find blood evidence in his limo, he's arrested. Stivers admits killing her but claims he was under extreme emotional disturbance at the time as he was in a relationship with the woman. The police and DA's office can't find any amorous connection between the two but they do discover a connection between Lasko, Stiver and a major drug dealer.
NARRATOR:
In the criminal justice system
the people are represented by two
separate yet equally important groups,
the police
who investigate crime
and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Stop! Stop!
Give me that!
Somebody hold the guy!
Hey, you!
Get him! This guy
stole my purse!
POLICEMAN:
We're gonna get you!
Hold it right there!
Come back here!
Hey!
Stay where you are!
(GRUNTING)
I tell you to stop
and you stop.
I was trying to catch a cab.
Yeah, well,
we'll give you a ride.
He put it in there.
I saw him.
Are you Sharon Lasko?
No, I'm Mrs. Dubinsky.
That's not mine.
That's mine.
Ah! Looks like
you've been a busy boy.
Central, we've got a 10-22 on
6th Avenue and Spring Street,
with a male in custody.
Do you have a previous 10-22 with a
complainant named Lasko, Sharon,
white female, 23?
MAN ON RADIO:
Checking.
Sir, this looks like blood.
WOMAN: I want
to press charges.
Do I have to go down
to the police station?
MAN: Lasko, Sharon. Reported missing
three days ago. Some kind of model.
Where is she?
I don't know
anything about that.
I was in rehab till last night.
And I see they did an excellent job.
Where'd you get the wallet?
CURTIS: Okay, so exactly when?
And exactly where?
I got out of
the clinic about 6:00.
We haven't checked that.
But we did.
I came over here
to hang around.
What?
To meet somebody?
I needed to clear my head.
That rehab really messes it up.
All right. So you're out here breathing
the clean, fresh air. Then what?
It was around here somewhere.
You want me to call CSU?
No, let's spread out
a little bit.
Now, you're sure you never met
this model someplace else before?
Yeah, I was at the model's ball.
That's why I'm still wearing my tuxedo.
CURTIS: Hey, Lennie.
I got a jacket over here.
With more blood.
Lots more blood.
Monogrammed Sharon.
BRISCOE: If she's lucky
she'll just catch a cold.
Sharon Lasko's agent reported
her missing three days ago.
She didn't show up for a
meeting with an advertiser
who was considering using
her for some big commercial.
So what did
Missing Persons get?
These. Her agent brought them in.
Her first calendar.
A still from her commercial
for Green Apple Fizz
and these are
called head shots.
CURTIS: That's it?
Well, plus the message
on her answering machine
said she was on a photo shoot.
But her agent checked
the agencies that use her,
and no one knows
about any shoot.
You tend to remember somebody
who looks like this.
That's got to help when
you go knocking on doors.
Well, Missing Persons
wouldn't know.
They told me they've
been a little backed up.
What? Missing Persons is too backed
up to investigate a missing person?
Well, they figured a 23-year-old
model, she runs with a fast crowd.
Her agent said last year
she went off for a week
with a Saudi Arabian prince.
Any family?
Parents.
In Astoria.
She won a Miss Schoolgirl contest
when she was in the third grade.
Her talents were
singing and tap.
I called that guy
at Missing Persons.
He acted like she was some
party girl running around.
When did you talk
to Sharon last?
It's been a couple of weeks.
She's been so busy with work.
BRISCOE:
Do you know where?
I think she was
doing a catalog.
She used to call us
every time she got a job,
but she's so successful now.
Yeah. They tend to
drift away a little.
She comes to dinner
at least once a month.
But she only eats
vegetables now.
They have to be
so thin, you know.
It's a full-time job.
The diet, the exercise, the make-up.
How about her friends?
Do you know any of their names?
She used to room
with Monica Wickes.
You see her picture
everywhere now.
Wait. Here.
Here, here she is with Sharon
when they did a Value Bin ad.
They were just starting out.
Detective, find her
for us. Please?
What do you mean she's missing?
Nobody's seen her
for a few days.
Her parents are worried.
We understand she's
done this once before.
Some Arab prince?
Ahmad.
He met her backstage at a Bernilli show.
Took her to Prague for a weekend.
Is he still in her life?
Not after that Monday.
He's a charter member of the
Model of the Week Club.
Uh...
(CLEARS THROAT) Well, could he have
given her name to another member?
I wouldn't know.
Her parents said you
used to be roommates.
One room in Chelsea.
We were running around
from agency to agency
with portfolios
we had taken in Queens.
Why'd you split up?
We started making enough money
to afford our own apartments.
Sharon always wanted
one with a balcony.
So when's the last time
you saw her?
A couple of weeks ago.
I was out dancing with friends.
She was with
a girl named Amber.
AMBER: I talked to her
on Thursday.
She wanted to borrow my aqua silk shoes.
She was going to a party at Psycho.
And that would be?
The nightclub.
What's the matter?
She didn't have enough shoes of her own?
My thinking exactly.
I mean, she's Miss Green Apple Fizz
and I'm still pushing Femme
Elegante for a day job.
Look, I'm on commission here.
If either one of you is interested...
Hmm.
What's the fragrance?
Radishes?
You like it?
I've got it in after-shave.
Do you splash it on personally?
CURTIS: So this party,
was it on Thursday night?
Yeah, I told Sharon I was going
myself, wearing those shoes.
So you saw her there?
Her and everybody else.
Lots of models.
Some basketball players.
It went pretty late.
It was in the VIP room.
Was Sharon with
anybody in particular?
When I left she was talking to the
owner of the club. Something Scannell.
It looked pretty intense.
Frederick Scannell?
Yeah.
He likes to hobnob
with us beautiful people.
So you know this Scannell?
Yeah, from OCCB.
His file's thick enough to use
as a booster seat for my kids.
What? Rackets?
Nah! Drugs.
Funnels the money through restaurants,
nightclubs, you name it.
On paper he's
a major entrepreneur.
So the money's clean.
You ever bust him?
Not yet.
SCANNELL: Fringe benefit of owning
a club, the private parties.
Yeah.
Models, athletes.
I hate to be rude, but what do
you bring to the table? Drugs?
No drugs allowed here, Detective.
They're illegal.
It's my back room
my guests like.
They don't have to
mess with the rabble.
Just you.
I'm not so bad.
Sharon and I were getting
along very nicely.
Yeah. We heard you were having
a very intense conversation.
Yeah, I was trying
to get into her pants.
That's why
I have these parties.
CURTIS: And did you?
No. The guy she came
in with, Ken Soames.
The basketball player?
Yeah, decided he wanted
to leave the same way.
He interrupted us, rudely.
Yeah, he's slow,
but no jump shot.
Warms the bench when he's not
home on a drug suspension.
And he's a friend of yours.
What a coincidence.
First of all,
he's no friend of mine.
Second of all, if I was
in drugs, which I'm not,
I wouldn't sell them retail to anyone,
let alone a loser like Soames.
If he's such a loser, you
must've been pretty upset
when Sharon walked off
with him instead of you.
It was only 5:00 a.m.
The night was still young.
I ended up with a girl
from Cats. Very frisky.
Yo, I gotta get in the tub
before this cools off.
This'll just take a minute.
Sharon Lasko was a friend
of yours, am I right?
Yeah, we went out for a while.
It was pretty fun, but it's over.
We heard you were keeping it alive at 5:00 a.
M. At Scannell's place.
Those models, man, they
keep hours like Dracula.
I just wanted to go home.
Don't you mean, you just wanted
Sharon to go home with you?
Yeah. But she didn't.
We heard she did.
She went as far as the street
in front of my building.
I went upstairs.
She went to her place.
Did anyone see you go
your separate ways?
What is this?
You think I did something to her?
Well, your last drug suspension led
off with a DUI and a swing at a cop.
I mean, you're hotter off
the court than you are on.
Up yours. I went upstairs.
She went home.
If you don't believe me,
ask the limo driver.
He went up alone, but he
wasn't too happy about it.
So they argued?
Well, they were all over each other at first.
You know, 6:00 a.m., a little drunk.
Then he was like, " Come on, baby,
come on, baby, come on, baby."
And what was she like?
Well, she didn't want to.
He tried to drag her
out of the car.
And you, being
a good citizen...
I told him I'd call a cop
if he didn't lay off.
CURTIS: And?
She took care of it herself.
Almost slammed the door on his hand.
Too bad. Might've helped
his outside jump shot.
So where'd you take
her after that?
Home and then the aircraft
carrier with the museum.
The Intrepid?
Yeah.
I waited outside her place while she changed.
Then it was off to the river.
She was worried about how cold it was.
She was just wearing some skimpy dress.
Her message said she had a photo shoot.
Did you see a photographer?
No. She just got
out of the car.
MAN: How the hell am I
supposed to remember?
Hey, I'd remember.
You don't take in
1,200 tickets a day.
CURTIS: Hey, Lennie.
Mr. Nakiyama here
thinks he saw her.
I sold her a double espresso.
I thought maybe
she was Cindy Crawford.
Her name is Sharon Lasko, if
this is the woman you saw.
Yeah. I saw her.
No milk, four sugars.
I never heard of Sharon Lasko.
Well, maybe you've
just seen her face.
Yeah.
I saw her here.
Was there anybody with her?
What'd he look like?
We don't know.
A man with a camera.
Ah!
He paid for the espresso.
Did you get a good look at him?
I don't remember.
Hmm.
So she was either
with a photographer
or some tourist taking pictures
of the aircraft carrier.
She wouldn't drag herself down to
the Hudson after an all-night party
unless it was for a job.
Twenty-three years old.
She's into limos, jocks, drug dealers.
I guess you're planning a
convent for your girls.
I'm planning
to raise them right.
Hey, Rey, I got news for you.
All your advice is optional after
the day they buy their first bra.
Yeah, I'll lock
them in their room.
Then we'll arrest you.
Hey, look at this.
The Statue of Liberty?
Oh! Is that that thing
behind the red-head?
Now, look at this.
Lady Liberty again.
Two different models,
same photographer.
You see a pattern?
Some guys have favorite places.
Yeah, see who's partial
to big boats.
I'm new here. I don't know whether
that's under "aircraft carrier"
or "Intrepid."
Boats? Ships?
Flat-tops?
Oh, here we are, Intrepid.
Looks like a popular site.
Well, actually, a lot of these
are done by the same guy.
Ew!
Not your favorite?
Well, I've been here long enough
to hear of him. Rick Kasteler.
We don't represent him anymore.
What'd he do?
Screw up his f-stop?
F-stop is right.
A model he was working
with sued the agency.
Said he got up close and personal
with more than his lens.
We noticed how often you like to
shoot at the Intrepid, Mr. Kasteler.
Yeah. Well, it's just something about
long legs against those big gun barrels.
It works.
Cindy, the nose.
They can't get me a kid without a cold?
When was the last time
you shot there?
About three days ago.
With Sharon Lasko?
Yes. Why?
She's missing.
Missing?
Yeah. Have you seen her?
Let's take a break. No.
You seem to be the last
person to see her.
Except for whoever saw her
after I left the Intrepid.
When might that have been?
It was about 2:00
in the afternoon.
And what? You just left her sitting
there among the big gun barrels?
I was late to meet
my wife and son.
He was in a school play,
Peter and the Wolf.
Yeah, well, the thing is, Rick,
we can't seem to find anybody
who remembers hiring you
to do a shoot with Sharon.
(CHUCKLES)
Nobody hired me.
I was doing her a favor.
What kind of favor?
I know how to get these girls' composites
ready for TV and movie people.
Sharon was looking
to get into that area.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Curtis.
BRISCOE: And these kids?
You're advancing their careers
with the Mister Mittens campaign?
You never know, Detective.
You never know.
Okay, we're on our way.
They just found Sharon Lasko.
Carters unload dumpsters here.
That's probably how she traveled.
Dumpsters from where?
East Side, West Side,
all around the town.
This guy's pooch
uncovered the body.
How messed up is she?
A little banged up.
But there's a bloody
dent in her skull.
I'm willing to bet
that's pre-mortem.
(SIGHS)
Diet, exercise, make-up.
(SIGHS)
How do you like the photographer?
Not much.
He makes his living
shooting runny noses,
but he says Sharon Lasko expected
him to help make her a star.
He must've done a hell
of a sales job on her.
Maybe it included
a private session.
He gets too friendly
with Sharon, she gets mad.
You think his career could
handle another lawsuit?
Well, find out exactly
how he earned the last one.
He offered to take some intimate
portraits, no extra charge.
Said they'd really open doors.
The only door he wanted open was mine.
Did he get physical with you?
It started out
he was touching me.
He said the camera would pick up my glow.
Then it got too personal.
And he wouldn't stop?
No, he thought
I was enjoying it.
I had bruises to prove it.
Well, sounds like you
had a criminal case.
A body model topped up with silicone,
alone with a cheesy
camera-jockey shooting nudes?
A jury adds that up
and says it was my fault.
So where'd he take you?
His place?
No, he usually works out of his
house, but his wife was around.
He had the key to an apartment an ad
agency lets its visiting clients use.
BRISCOE: Hmm. Yum!
After you've finished, they're
gonna count all of these, Jenner.
Yeah. Don't forget
to search my shorts.
How long are you gonna be here?
I've got a friend coming over.
Yeah. Well, you might want to
make a call and cancel her.
Now was this place cleaned
up when you first got here?
Not really. I wasn't due
to come in until tomorrow
and I would have waited, I didn't
know you guys were coming.
Well, you stand there, you
don't touch anything else.
Can I put my clothes on?
Yeah. Please.
Swell place for a party.
Yeah. The PBA ought to make R and
R facilities like this an item
in the next negotiation.
Yeah. I'd settle
for a raise.
Will you lighten up?
Come on, picture this,
"Detective Rey Curtis
"on his afternoon break in
a Jacuzzi with a hooker."
Yeah. Picture me lying dead in an
alley with my wife standing over me.
Hey, what do you know?
A bucket of trash.
Cigarette butts.
Now, do we know, did Sharon smoke?
Most of them do. Two ticket stubs.
Adult admissions.
The Intrepid Museum.
So you're still absolutely sure you
left Sharon Lasko on that ship?
Yes. I already
told you.
And you went right from the
ship to the school play?
Yes.
You sure you didn't stop at
an apartment on East 52nd?
Has your wife ever been
to that apartment?
I bet she'd really like
that double tub.
I don't know anything about
what happened to Sharon.
I didn't even know
that she was missing.
Come on, Kasteler.
How'd it go down?
Were you trying to make
her glow for the camera?
You know, you can stop
lying about being there.
Forensics found your fingerprints and
the fingerprints of Sharon Lasko
at that little
ad agency playpen.
So what? I'm married.
I don't advertise.
You got her there, right?
You got her out of her clothes.
You got out the champagne.
So what's my motive?
I was having too good a time?
Maybe she wanted you to stop.
She would have gone all day.
BRISCOE: Would have?
So she did pull the plug
on your little party?
No. She'd been
up all night.
She said she needed some
coke to keep her going.
I didn't have any.
So she said stop.
You got frustrated, right?
You got mad.
No. I got on the phone
to a drug dealer I know.
I got his machine.
By then it was time to get to my kid's play.
Look, Sharon was in the shower when I left.
I swear to God.
ROGERS: She had intercourse within
a few hours before she died.
Any signs of rape?
No. No tearing.
No bruising.
Just enough to kill her.
Well, standard rape MO doesn't include
breaking the victim's skull with a bottle.
There was glass in the wound
and some bruises on the neck.
He tried to strangle her first?
She went down fighting.
There was skin under her nails.
A different blood type than the semen.
Whoever had sex with her didn't kill her.
You're sure of that?
Sorry. You're gonna have to catch
the guy that actually did it.
Thanks for the tip.
Anything else?
Yeah. There was cocaine
in her system.
Thanks again.
Kasteler said he didn't have any,
and the rest of his story checks.
So what'd she do?
Go back to Scannell?
Well, if he did have drugs, he
would've scored with her at the party.
But she walked out with Soames.
Who is also no stranger to the
world of controlled substances.
SOAMES: I told you, I never saw her again.
I'm clean now anyway.
BRISCOE: Yeah,
and I can slam-dunk.
Look, man, look, when
I first came into the league
things were pretty crazy, okay?
But I finally decided
I'd rather keep making
a million bucks a year
than inhale cocaine.
I mean, you find
that so hard to believe?
So where were you making
your money Friday afternoon?
Right here.
Practicing.
But you're still the guy who would know
where a girl could score some blow.
Look, Sharon wouldn't come to me.
She knew I was out of it.
So who?
That limo driver, Johnny.
The one who drove
you home from the party?
Yeah. The team
uses that service.
Johnny's always
trying to suck up.
Sharon and I did lines
in the back seat once.
He told her if she ever wanted
some more, just give him a call.
How come you never
mentioned this before?
What? I'm just gonna start talking
to a couple of cops about drugs?
Look, I didn't even know this had anything
to do with Sharon getting murdered.
Passengers ask me for drugs,
they ask me for prostitutes.
One guy even asked
where he could buy a gun.
We're not talking about the asking, Johnny.
We're talking about the getting.
Ken Soames used
to pack his nose
during any ride that lasted
longer than three minutes.
I don't know
where he got his stuff.
What about a pretty girl
like Sharon Lasko?
If she wanted some?
I'm sure she could get it.
But not from me.
Some people think it helps them perform.
I think it screws them up.
You were worried
about her career?
She rode in my car
a few times. We talked.
She said she was having trouble getting
work after the Apple Fizz campaign.
What about Friday?
You see her again after you dropped
her off at the aircraft carrier?
No, no. I headed out for an airport run,
I got caught in a jam on the Van Wyck.
You know, you guys are wasting
your time talking to me
when the guy who killed Sharon
is still running around.
Kasteler's waiting for a written apology.
Just don't mail it to his wife.
The basketball player's
alibi stands up.
What about the limo driver?
He would have been an easy way
for Sharon to feed her habit.
Traffic on the Van Wyck
always sucks.
Five will get you ten he knows
a shortcut through Brooklyn.
Yeah, he seemed a little funky.
Why would he kill her?
It sounds like Sharon Lasko was a
girl that was fun to do drugs with.
Hey, here we go.
Three outgoing calls while Kasteler
was at the ad agency pad with Sharon.
Kasteler said
he called a drug dealer.
Answering machine. Jerry.
VAN BUREN:
Give that to Narcotics.
Yeah, lmperial Palace?
How's your mu shu? Okay.
He says it's very, very good.
Kasteler really knows
how to treat a girl.
I'm sorry, wrong number.
East River Limo Service.
The one Johnny drives for.
All right.
Keep on it.
Two guys out with the flu.
A busted tranny.
And my mechanic was deported.
His papers looked kosher to me.
This was Friday afternoon.
Yeah, yeah, here we are.
Let's see.
Uh...
Okay.
Yeah, no. If a Sharon Lasko got a ride
in a limo, it wasn't one of ours.
Around 2:00.
She called you.
Hey, everybody who rides,
it's in the book.
Well, she might have been
looking for Johnny Stivers.
Johnny?
This was a model?
Good-looking?
Right. Not one of
those ugly models.
I picked up a call from a girl.
She sounded so bad she must've been gorgeous.
CURTIS: But she's not in the book?
Right. She wanted to
talk to Johnny directly.
I told her he was busy.
Airport runs back to back.
You're sure of that?
Hey, it's in the book.
So who drove the girl?
Nobody.
I just forwarded the call
to Johnny's cellular.
Where's Johnny now?
Far as I know, he's home.
And his car?
It's out there.
I'll show you.
A normal good washing
would've still left plenty,
but this seat
was steam cleaned.
You're not gonna find
anything off the surfaces.
One point for Johnny.
Ah!
But we do not stop at surfaces.
They do tune-ups, too.
Glass.
That's enough to compare with what
we found in Sharon Lasko's head.
Yeah. Now let's see how
this baby likes UV light.
Glass and blood.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
What is it?
I thought you were done with me?
Oh! It's just starting.
John Stivers, you're under arrest
for the murder of Sharon Lasko.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.
Hey, where are you going?
You also have the right to have
incriminating evidence in your apartment.
A bloodstained suit
would be nice.
Rey.
A shrine to
the late Sharon Lasko.
You'd think the murder rate
was at an all-time high,
instead of the lowest
in 10 years.
Pretty model, 15 minutes of
fame tragically cut short.
So is our budget.
This have to go to trial?
It won't be a long one.
She called Johnny Stivers for a
ride just before she got killed.
Blood's in his car and we know
he was infatuated with her.
An obsessed fan.
What was his motive?
Trying to get her autograph and he slipped?
The evidence is overwhelming
that he killed her.
I don't mind
letting a jury guess
what it was he wanted
from her and didn't get.
Hormones.
Offer to knock off a couple
of years off the sentence.
He'll take a plea.
Twenty-to-life
instead of 25?
It's a gift.
It is?
What do you give your girlfriends
on Valentine's Day, Jack?
Jewelry made out of twigs?
Do you really want to
go to trial, Deirdre?
Her blood was in his car.
His blood was under her fingernails.
He can do the full term.
Actually, I was thinking of
man one, say, three-to-nine.
Three years
for a brutal murder?
That's not thinking.
That's hallucinating.
POWELL: We'll see.
Here's my notice of
our affirmative defense.
Extreme emotional disturbance.
You walk in on your wife
in bed with a lover,
that's extreme
emotional disturbance.
Not the violent act of
some kind of obsessed fan.
That's not what it was.
Sharon and I had a relationship.
That's right. You were her driver.
What happened?
Did you get upset because she
made you give up a parking space?
She was doing it with that photographer.
I loved her. She loved me.
She did? I'm not aware there were
any photos of you above her bed.
POWELL:
Read the statute.
The reasonableness
of a defendant's emotion
is to be determined by the circumstances
as he perceived them to be.
It's irrelevant whether or not
his perceptions are correct.
Is there any indication that
Sharon Lasko and Johnny Stivers
were more than
passenger and driver?
Well, the police never looked.
They didn't have a reason to.
Well, we do now.
Does it really matter?
Even if he mistakenly believed
they had
a serious relationship,
he still qualifies for extreme
emotional disturbance.
Mistakenly, not idiotically.
If there are no grounds
for his alleged beliefs,
the jury will see
he's just lying.
We're not very close, but
he is my little brother.
I'm not gonna say
anything to hurt him.
He told us he killed her, Ms.
Stivers.
He said that?
Yes.
The only question
we have is why.
I don't know why
he does anything.
I only see him
a couple times a year.
I moved out of the house
when he was still a kid.
Would you know
if he had a girlfriend?
Me and the rest of the world.
If Johnny had a girlfriend it
would lead off the 6:00 news.
Not exactly
Mr. Popularity?
When he was in high school he
used to try out his lines on me
to work up the nerve to...
For the real girl.
"I'm Johnny, can I buy
you a cup of coffee?"
"Did anyone ever tell you,
you have nice eyes?"
He saw that one in a movie.
He talked about her all the time.
He drove her once in a while, you know.
What did he say about her?
That she was a good person.
Not stuck-up.
That she liked him.
Even though he was
just a limo driver?
Hey, I'm a limo driver,
I do great.
No offense.
It just seems he was
starstruck about her.
Yeah. We were in a bar once,
watching this ball game,
her commercial came on.
He went nuts, telling everybody
to shut up and watch.
Do you think
they were intimate?
I don't think so.
Did he say he did?
He said it was gonna happen.
He had taken her on a date to the
Ginger Club, said she got pretty hot.
He said he took her to the Ginger? Sure.
He took her there and dropped her off.
So there was nothing
going on between them?
Mmm.
She might have made nice with
the guy once in a while.
Made nice?
Talked nice.
I've seen the guy.
He's homely.
So she wasn't interested?
Look, there was one interesting
thing about that guy.
He had good cocaine, and he
gave it to her for free.
Could he have believed
that she loved him?
Hmm?
Did you ever want something from
a guy you weren't interested in?
Sure.
Smiled when
you asked him for it?
Let his arm
brush against your boob?
She led him on for drugs?
No. She wouldn't have
gone to bed for it.
But I think she made
a little sweet conversation.
It was pathetic. He never had a chance with her.
She was using him.
When he finally realized that,
it must've made him angry.
If you'll pardon my ignorance,
isn't your theory of the case
getting to be
a little like theirs?
They say he was
an outraged boyfriend
and you say he was an
outraged would-be boyfriend.
There's a world of difference
between a jealous lover
and some horny bastard who's mad
he can't get to first base.
Eloquent. Can't wait
for your closing argument.
Johnny Stivers' motive was
garden-variety frustration.
If that qualifies as extreme
emotional distress,
then almost any murderer qualifies.
They're all upset about something.
Just be careful you don't have a killer
who's more sympathetic than your victim.
BRISCOE: We found
her body in a landfill.
It had been thrown in a dumpster and
carried there in a garbage truck.
Was it bloody?
Yes, the skull was fractured
through to the brain.
I see.
And when you first interviewed
the defendant about her murder,
did he seem upset by it?
No. He acted as if
he barely knew her.
Did Mr. Stivers say that he saw Ms.
Lasko on the last day of her life?
Yes, he said he had driven
her home from a party
along with a basketball
player named Ken Soames.
And did he say what she and Mr.
Soames did in his presence?
He said they were
all over each other.
In a sexual way?
Yes.
Did he seem upset by that?
No, he didn't.
When you searched Mr.
Stivers' apartment after his arrest,
what did you find on the
wall of his bedroom?
All kinds of pictures
of Sharon Lasko,
ads cut out of newspapers,
calendars, you name it.
He didn't just have a photo
or two in a silver frame,
like a man might have
of his girlfriend?
Objection.
JUDGE FILMORE: Overruled.
No, it was a full-out shrine,
like somebody obsessed.
Move to strike.
The witness is not a psychologist.
Sustained. The jury will disregard
the witness's last remark.
I have no more questions.
Detective Briscoe, is this
one of the photographs
that you saw on
Mr. Stivers' bedroom wall?
Yes, one of the many.
Would you describe it, please?
It's a glossy photo of Sharon Lasko
with an inscription on the front.
POWELL: Please read it.
"To Johnny, my main man in a big car.
Love, Sharon."
Like the kind of note a man
might get from his girlfriend?
Objection.
He asked the same question.
And you objected.
And he overruled.
JUDGE: Counselors!
The objection is overruled.
The witness may answer.
BRISCOE:
What was the question?
Is that inscribed photograph
the kind of memento a man might
get from his girlfriend?
Possibly, yes.
JACK: Mr. Soames, were
you ever in the presence
of Sharon Lasko
and Johnny Stivers?
Yes. He used to
drive us sometimes.
And what kinds of things
would she say to him?
She'd ask him to drive her places.
She'd ask him to get her drugs.
And what kinds of things
would he say to her?
He'd try to make conversation,
try to impress her by telling
her about places he'd been,
celebrities he'd driven.
And how would she react?
When he wasn't around,
she'd laugh about him.
She knew he liked her.
She thought it was funny.
She didn't think highly of him?
She didn't think
anything of him.
And he knew that?
It was pretty obvious.
Thank you.
Mr. Soames, we've heard testimony
that on the day Ms. Lasko died,
you and she had sexual contact in
the back seat of Mr. Stivers' car.
It wasn't sexual.
What would you call it?
It was just like some making out,
some kissing, some petting.
And Mr. Stivers
could see you?
If he looked
in the rear-view mirror.
Did you and Ms. Lasko have more extensive
sexual contact in Mr. Stivers' car?
Yes.
What did you do?
After another party
once, we had sex.
Sexual intercourse?
Yeah.
And Mr. Stivers could see what Ms.
Lasko was doing?
I suppose.
And she performed this act
in Mr. Stivers' presence after
she knew how he felt about her?
Yeah, I guess so.
If you were in his place, how
would that make you feel?
Objection!
Withdrawn.
No further questions.
Well, I think her behavior with Soames
should have made things pretty clear
even to Johnny Stivers.
Men have a way of
deluding themselves.
I hope you're not speaking
from personal experience.
Not recent.
I hope.
She was having sex with
another man in front of him,
that's not exactly a valentine.
Yeah, but the defense brought it
up to make him look like a victim.
She did him wrong.
He was practically a stranger.
How could she have done him wrong?
Promiscuous women, Claire.
They still get put on trial
even after they're dead.
Whenever I drove her,
we talked.
She talked about her career
and personal things, too.
Her family, her brother, he was
having some trouble at school.
We've heard testimony that
she just ordered you around,
like a servant.
No. She loved me.
Mr. Soames was wrong?
Well, he wasn't always with us.
She was dumping him anyway.
How did you know that?
She told me.
That morning, when I brought
them home from the party,
she wouldn't go upstairs
with him.
She didn't want to.
Did you think that was
because you were there?
Yes. She wanted me to see
that things were changing.
She asked me to meet her later.
Did she tell you why?
Well, I had asked her for a coffee.
It was kind of a standing invitation.
She said she would.
And she said she wanted
me to get her some coke.
What did you do?
I got some for her, as a gift.
I knew she was tired.
Where did you get it?
Tenth Avenue, in the 40s.
It's not very hard to find.
And that afternoon
Sharon did call you?
Yeah, I was just
finishing up another job.
And I went right over
and picked her up.
What happened then?
I asked her if she wanted to
have a coffee in Little Italy.
And she said she didn't.
She just wanted the coke.
Did she tell you why?
Yeah. She said nothing went
better with sex than coke,
and she had just had sex
with that photographer.
What did you say to her?
I thought we had a date.
She laughed.
What else did she say?
"Home, James."
And she laughed again.
She was very high.
What happened then?
I got in
the back seat with her.
I couldn't understand
why she had changed.
She loved me.
She told me so.
I tried to kiss her.
We did that before, many times.
She slapped me,
said that I made her sick.
And I felt my neck
starting to get hot
and I hit her with a bottle.
But I never, never
wanted that to happen.
I loved that woman.
Quite a performance.
Everything but a chorus of
"You picked a fine time
to leave me, Lucille."
You really think he got that cocaine
for Sharon just as a favor?
He thought he was gonna
have a party with her,
like all the other guys.
She said no, and he got mad.
Wait a minute. He told the police that he
was booked all that day on airport runs,
and he was stuck in traffic
on the Van Wyck.
When did he have time to cruise
the West Side looking for drugs?
He couldn't have been
stuck in traffic too bad.
When Sharon called him,
he got right to her.
Maybe he was hanging around
waiting for her call.
He was obsessed with her.
So one of the airport
runs was a phony?
At least one had to be.
But why book a phony run?
He could have just said he didn't have a job.
Because it doesn't
create an alibi.
Premeditation.
Which makes
his whole defense a crock.
Those airport runs,
what do we know about them?
I don't know about those names, the
bookings go back a lot of months.
Your accountant doesn't make you
keep a paper trail that long?
I have a record of the charges,
but the names of the passengers?
I'm sorry.
Who paid for the limo?
It's a corporate account.
Okay, then, I'll take its name.
I don't know, these are
confidential business records.
This is a murder investigation.
I can have you subpoenaed.
Murder?
If you don't cooperate,
you could go to jail.
Wait a minute. This is just
some kind of little tax thing.
What is?
Well, I don't really
understand it.
The owner of the agency
used to book
a lot of dummy limousine runs
with Mr. Stivers.
To do what?
I don't know. That was between
him and the owner, Mr. Scannell.
Frederick Scannell was talking
with Sharon Lasko at the party
eight hours before
she was killed.
The police thought he was
trying to pick her up.
Scannell is
a major drug dealer.
This Johnny Stivers
works for him.
Stivers doles out drugs
to Sharon Lasko.
Wild idea, but her death just might
have something to do with drugs.
Which means something
to do with Scannell.
Get the police back into it.
We know Scannell has
a Colombian connection.
We know the stuff
lands in the Southeast.
He's been laughing
in my face for 10 years.
You can't make a move on him?
We can't even stop him from
getting a liquor license.
He's never within
100 miles of the product.
He uses cut-outs, couriers, safe
houses rented by other people.
Couriers, a guy in a limo
who fits in at the airport,
that's pretty good cover
for moving quantities.
Is there any correlation
between the dummy runs
Scannell booked Johnny Stivers
for and Scannell's activities?
Let's see, January 9th,
Scannell was in Palm Springs.
February 1st, Lake
Tahoe, and on and on.
And he worked pretty
hard to not to be around
while Johnny
was running his errands.
The only time
he was in the city
was the day
Sharon Lasko was killed.
Some sweetheart she picked
to get mixed up with.
You think he booked the phony limo
run to buy Johnny time to kill her?
He booked the limo. It didn't go anyplace.
And Johnny did kill her.
Why? What was Sharon
Lasko to Scannell?
He says just a potential roll in
the sack who turned him down.
So he had her killed?
I know some men who take rejection hard...
There's no evidence she was in
the drug business with him.
And she's not in the surveillance.
Maybe she was new.
Maybe she was discreet.
Well, the way she ran around
the last day of her life,
she doesn't impress me
as a very discreet person.
Go back to her friends.
Find out what the hell really happened.
Look, I've got closing
arguments tomorrow. Okay?
I can't believe you people.
I've been reading about this trial.
Why don't you dig Sharon
up and kick her around?
Hey, we just want to bury
her killer or killers.
Killers?
You got that creep.
He was part of
a major drug organization.
Oh, God.
Oh, what?
Sharon was doing great.
And part of doing great
in this business
is going to the right places
and being seen.
And at some of those places,
there's drugs involved.
And Sharon didn't know
how to just say no?
Look, she had a great look.
But she was insecure, and with the
drugs she felt more confident.
And the more confident you
are the better you look,
until you start showing up
late and looking like hell.
You think drugs led
Sharon into bad company?
I don't know.
I had to get her
out of my life.
It would really
help us to know,
could Sharon have been
involved in the drug business?
As a customer.
What about as a courier?
Models travel.
Sharon always
worked in New York.
Look, as far as I know,
her biggest drug connection
was her boyfriend,
that basketball player.
Come on, Soames, we all know her
modeling career was circling the bowl.
Look, I knew Sharon, okay?
The last thing she would
ever do is sell drugs.
Well, the last thing is what
people do when they're desperate.
You always had a good supply.
Maybe she was selling drugs to you?
That's ridiculous.
Where'd you get your coke?
It's not hard, although I know
you guys are working on it.
Smart guy.
We start poking
around in your life
and mail the results
to the commissioner,
you'll be hustling basketball
on the playgrounds.
What are you fellows coming
down on me for? Huh?
I mean, you know
I didn't kill Sharon.
You were at a party
given by Scannell.
Your girlfriend was in a
conversation with Scannell.
The guy that owns
the club? So what?
So how well
did Sharon know him?
She didn't.
She just met him that night.
How do you know that?
She didn't even know
who he was.
When we first walked in,
she asked me
if he was the spray-on hair
guy from the infomercials.
BRISCOE: So she had no
connection with Scannell?
SOAMES: No.
Look in her entire life she had that
one short conversation with him.
It was about drugs,
but it was stupid.
It was about drugs?
It wasn't business.
She was drunk, telling him some story
about how some jerk
tried to impress her
by showing her a whole
trunk full of cocaine.
A trunk full of cocaine?
Did Mr. Scannell seem
interested in that?
He would have seemed interested
to hear her hat size.
He wanted to do her.
Did she say who showed
her the cocaine?
I didn't even stop to listen.
I just wanted to take her home.
Was it Johnny Stivers?
A limo driver?
You said he was always
trying to impress her.
Yeah, but where would
he get that much blow?
(DOOR BUZZING)
Well, I'm glad you've come
to your senses, Jack.
Only the price has gone up since my
client's appearance on the stand.
Man one.
Year, year pro.
The price has gone
higher than that.
Our motion to amend
the indictment.
Murder one?
Killing a witness.
What are they talking about?
Your murder of Sharon Lasko, Mr.
Stivers.
It was a crime of
passion, like you said.
Only it was Frederick
Scannell's passion, wasn't it?
I don't know
anybody named Scannell.
Think about it.
If Scannell talks first, he gets
the deal, and you get to die.
My client and I have
been reading the papers.
Someone else has confessed
to this murder.
JACK: Someone who worked for Mr.
Scannell.
Here it comes again.
You guys never give up.
No, we don't.
I think Sharon Lasko had a very
important conversation with you
the night before she was murdered.
Yeah.
I said, " Do you want
to come to my place?"
She said,
"Maybe some other time."
She told you someone showed
her a trunk full of cocaine.
Did she?
Yes. And I think
it was your cocaine.
And that's not very likely.
I don't have any cocaine.
And you didn't like hearing that
from some dizzy bimbo at a party.
SAMPSON: Do you have
a theory here, McCoy,
or are you just spraying
Cheez Whiz into the wind?
JACK: Sharon Lasko
was blabbing to strangers
that Johnny Stivers showed her
a large amount of cocaine
that belonged to your client, in a vehicle
that was regularly used by your client.
So your client ordered
Mr. Stivers to kill her
before she blabbed
to the wrong stranger.
And you're gonna
prove this how?
We have Mr. Stivers.
The guy's about to get off with a
slap on the wrist for manslaughter.
You think he's gonna
confess to murder one?
They're here.
JACK: Let's ask him.
We're leaving now.
That would be
a mistake, Mr. Scannell.
You'd miss your only chance
to avoid a death sentence.
I thought we had the offer?
First one to talk
wins life in prison.
If I'm the master criminal
you say I am,
this guy wouldn't stay alive six
months in prison if he talks.
Make another threat, you'll
leave this office under arrest.
Don't exert yourself.
I don't care if you do kill me!
Shut up.
Fred.
He knew I loved her, he
thought that made it funny.
You're an idiot.
You can still walk out of here.
I got a call to go to a
corner on the East Side.
He got into the car
with two men.
He said Sharon
had to be shut up
and she was so stupid there
was only one way to do it
and it was up to me,
because it was my fault.
I told him I couldn't
kill her, I loved her.
He said fine,
then they'd kill her and me.
One of the men took out a gun.
I was very scared.
I'm... I'm so sorry.
Deal, Jack?
Murder two.
The maximum.
Now you're gonna die.
I'm doing it for Sharon.
This kid falls in love with a girl he
had no chance in the world to get.
And in a stupid, hopeless
attempt to impress her,
he shows her $1 million
worth of cocaine.
Yeah. I guess etchings
don't work anymore.
And as a result, he ends
up having to kill her.
It's a story for Sophocles.
Or Larry, Moe and Curly.
Yeah, I always
loved those guys.
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.
Stop! Stop!
Give me that!
Somebody hold the guy!
Hey, you!
Get him! This guy
stole my purse!
POLICEMAN:
We're gonna get you!
Hold it right there!
Come back here!
Hey!
Stay where you are!
(GRUNTING)
I tell you to stop
and you stop.
I was trying to catch a cab.
Yeah, well,
we'll give you a ride.
He put it in there.
I saw him.
Are you Sharon Lasko?
No, I'm Mrs. Dubinsky.
That's not mine.
That's mine.
Ah! Looks like
you've been a busy boy.
Central, we've got a 10-22 on
6th Avenue and Spring Street,
with a male in custody.
Do you have a previous 10-22 with a
complainant named Lasko, Sharon,
white female, 23?
MAN ON RADIO:
Checking.
Sir, this looks like blood.
WOMAN: I want
to press charges.
Do I have to go down
to the police station?
MAN: Lasko, Sharon. Reported missing
three days ago. Some kind of model.
Where is she?
I don't know
anything about that.
I was in rehab till last night.
And I see they did an excellent job.
Where'd you get the wallet?
CURTIS: Okay, so exactly when?
And exactly where?
I got out of
the clinic about 6:00.
We haven't checked that.
But we did.
I came over here
to hang around.
What?
To meet somebody?
I needed to clear my head.
That rehab really messes it up.
All right. So you're out here breathing
the clean, fresh air. Then what?
It was around here somewhere.
You want me to call CSU?
No, let's spread out
a little bit.
Now, you're sure you never met
this model someplace else before?
Yeah, I was at the model's ball.
That's why I'm still wearing my tuxedo.
CURTIS: Hey, Lennie.
I got a jacket over here.
With more blood.
Lots more blood.
Monogrammed Sharon.
BRISCOE: If she's lucky
she'll just catch a cold.
Sharon Lasko's agent reported
her missing three days ago.
She didn't show up for a
meeting with an advertiser
who was considering using
her for some big commercial.
So what did
Missing Persons get?
These. Her agent brought them in.
Her first calendar.
A still from her commercial
for Green Apple Fizz
and these are
called head shots.
CURTIS: That's it?
Well, plus the message
on her answering machine
said she was on a photo shoot.
But her agent checked
the agencies that use her,
and no one knows
about any shoot.
You tend to remember somebody
who looks like this.
That's got to help when
you go knocking on doors.
Well, Missing Persons
wouldn't know.
They told me they've
been a little backed up.
What? Missing Persons is too backed
up to investigate a missing person?
Well, they figured a 23-year-old
model, she runs with a fast crowd.
Her agent said last year
she went off for a week
with a Saudi Arabian prince.
Any family?
Parents.
In Astoria.
She won a Miss Schoolgirl contest
when she was in the third grade.
Her talents were
singing and tap.
I called that guy
at Missing Persons.
He acted like she was some
party girl running around.
When did you talk
to Sharon last?
It's been a couple of weeks.
She's been so busy with work.
BRISCOE:
Do you know where?
I think she was
doing a catalog.
She used to call us
every time she got a job,
but she's so successful now.
Yeah. They tend to
drift away a little.
She comes to dinner
at least once a month.
But she only eats
vegetables now.
They have to be
so thin, you know.
It's a full-time job.
The diet, the exercise, the make-up.
How about her friends?
Do you know any of their names?
She used to room
with Monica Wickes.
You see her picture
everywhere now.
Wait. Here.
Here, here she is with Sharon
when they did a Value Bin ad.
They were just starting out.
Detective, find her
for us. Please?
What do you mean she's missing?
Nobody's seen her
for a few days.
Her parents are worried.
We understand she's
done this once before.
Some Arab prince?
Ahmad.
He met her backstage at a Bernilli show.
Took her to Prague for a weekend.
Is he still in her life?
Not after that Monday.
He's a charter member of the
Model of the Week Club.
Uh...
(CLEARS THROAT) Well, could he have
given her name to another member?
I wouldn't know.
Her parents said you
used to be roommates.
One room in Chelsea.
We were running around
from agency to agency
with portfolios
we had taken in Queens.
Why'd you split up?
We started making enough money
to afford our own apartments.
Sharon always wanted
one with a balcony.
So when's the last time
you saw her?
A couple of weeks ago.
I was out dancing with friends.
She was with
a girl named Amber.
AMBER: I talked to her
on Thursday.
She wanted to borrow my aqua silk shoes.
She was going to a party at Psycho.
And that would be?
The nightclub.
What's the matter?
She didn't have enough shoes of her own?
My thinking exactly.
I mean, she's Miss Green Apple Fizz
and I'm still pushing Femme
Elegante for a day job.
Look, I'm on commission here.
If either one of you is interested...
Hmm.
What's the fragrance?
Radishes?
You like it?
I've got it in after-shave.
Do you splash it on personally?
CURTIS: So this party,
was it on Thursday night?
Yeah, I told Sharon I was going
myself, wearing those shoes.
So you saw her there?
Her and everybody else.
Lots of models.
Some basketball players.
It went pretty late.
It was in the VIP room.
Was Sharon with
anybody in particular?
When I left she was talking to the
owner of the club. Something Scannell.
It looked pretty intense.
Frederick Scannell?
Yeah.
He likes to hobnob
with us beautiful people.
So you know this Scannell?
Yeah, from OCCB.
His file's thick enough to use
as a booster seat for my kids.
What? Rackets?
Nah! Drugs.
Funnels the money through restaurants,
nightclubs, you name it.
On paper he's
a major entrepreneur.
So the money's clean.
You ever bust him?
Not yet.
SCANNELL: Fringe benefit of owning
a club, the private parties.
Yeah.
Models, athletes.
I hate to be rude, but what do
you bring to the table? Drugs?
No drugs allowed here, Detective.
They're illegal.
It's my back room
my guests like.
They don't have to
mess with the rabble.
Just you.
I'm not so bad.
Sharon and I were getting
along very nicely.
Yeah. We heard you were having
a very intense conversation.
Yeah, I was trying
to get into her pants.
That's why
I have these parties.
CURTIS: And did you?
No. The guy she came
in with, Ken Soames.
The basketball player?
Yeah, decided he wanted
to leave the same way.
He interrupted us, rudely.
Yeah, he's slow,
but no jump shot.
Warms the bench when he's not
home on a drug suspension.
And he's a friend of yours.
What a coincidence.
First of all,
he's no friend of mine.
Second of all, if I was
in drugs, which I'm not,
I wouldn't sell them retail to anyone,
let alone a loser like Soames.
If he's such a loser, you
must've been pretty upset
when Sharon walked off
with him instead of you.
It was only 5:00 a.m.
The night was still young.
I ended up with a girl
from Cats. Very frisky.
Yo, I gotta get in the tub
before this cools off.
This'll just take a minute.
Sharon Lasko was a friend
of yours, am I right?
Yeah, we went out for a while.
It was pretty fun, but it's over.
We heard you were keeping it alive at 5:00 a.
M. At Scannell's place.
Those models, man, they
keep hours like Dracula.
I just wanted to go home.
Don't you mean, you just wanted
Sharon to go home with you?
Yeah. But she didn't.
We heard she did.
She went as far as the street
in front of my building.
I went upstairs.
She went to her place.
Did anyone see you go
your separate ways?
What is this?
You think I did something to her?
Well, your last drug suspension led
off with a DUI and a swing at a cop.
I mean, you're hotter off
the court than you are on.
Up yours. I went upstairs.
She went home.
If you don't believe me,
ask the limo driver.
He went up alone, but he
wasn't too happy about it.
So they argued?
Well, they were all over each other at first.
You know, 6:00 a.m., a little drunk.
Then he was like, " Come on, baby,
come on, baby, come on, baby."
And what was she like?
Well, she didn't want to.
He tried to drag her
out of the car.
And you, being
a good citizen...
I told him I'd call a cop
if he didn't lay off.
CURTIS: And?
She took care of it herself.
Almost slammed the door on his hand.
Too bad. Might've helped
his outside jump shot.
So where'd you take
her after that?
Home and then the aircraft
carrier with the museum.
The Intrepid?
Yeah.
I waited outside her place while she changed.
Then it was off to the river.
She was worried about how cold it was.
She was just wearing some skimpy dress.
Her message said she had a photo shoot.
Did you see a photographer?
No. She just got
out of the car.
MAN: How the hell am I
supposed to remember?
Hey, I'd remember.
You don't take in
1,200 tickets a day.
CURTIS: Hey, Lennie.
Mr. Nakiyama here
thinks he saw her.
I sold her a double espresso.
I thought maybe
she was Cindy Crawford.
Her name is Sharon Lasko, if
this is the woman you saw.
Yeah. I saw her.
No milk, four sugars.
I never heard of Sharon Lasko.
Well, maybe you've
just seen her face.
Yeah.
I saw her here.
Was there anybody with her?
What'd he look like?
We don't know.
A man with a camera.
Ah!
He paid for the espresso.
Did you get a good look at him?
I don't remember.
Hmm.
So she was either
with a photographer
or some tourist taking pictures
of the aircraft carrier.
She wouldn't drag herself down to
the Hudson after an all-night party
unless it was for a job.
Twenty-three years old.
She's into limos, jocks, drug dealers.
I guess you're planning a
convent for your girls.
I'm planning
to raise them right.
Hey, Rey, I got news for you.
All your advice is optional after
the day they buy their first bra.
Yeah, I'll lock
them in their room.
Then we'll arrest you.
Hey, look at this.
The Statue of Liberty?
Oh! Is that that thing
behind the red-head?
Now, look at this.
Lady Liberty again.
Two different models,
same photographer.
You see a pattern?
Some guys have favorite places.
Yeah, see who's partial
to big boats.
I'm new here. I don't know whether
that's under "aircraft carrier"
or "Intrepid."
Boats? Ships?
Flat-tops?
Oh, here we are, Intrepid.
Looks like a popular site.
Well, actually, a lot of these
are done by the same guy.
Ew!
Not your favorite?
Well, I've been here long enough
to hear of him. Rick Kasteler.
We don't represent him anymore.
What'd he do?
Screw up his f-stop?
F-stop is right.
A model he was working
with sued the agency.
Said he got up close and personal
with more than his lens.
We noticed how often you like to
shoot at the Intrepid, Mr. Kasteler.
Yeah. Well, it's just something about
long legs against those big gun barrels.
It works.
Cindy, the nose.
They can't get me a kid without a cold?
When was the last time
you shot there?
About three days ago.
With Sharon Lasko?
Yes. Why?
She's missing.
Missing?
Yeah. Have you seen her?
Let's take a break. No.
You seem to be the last
person to see her.
Except for whoever saw her
after I left the Intrepid.
When might that have been?
It was about 2:00
in the afternoon.
And what? You just left her sitting
there among the big gun barrels?
I was late to meet
my wife and son.
He was in a school play,
Peter and the Wolf.
Yeah, well, the thing is, Rick,
we can't seem to find anybody
who remembers hiring you
to do a shoot with Sharon.
(CHUCKLES)
Nobody hired me.
I was doing her a favor.
What kind of favor?
I know how to get these girls' composites
ready for TV and movie people.
Sharon was looking
to get into that area.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Curtis.
BRISCOE: And these kids?
You're advancing their careers
with the Mister Mittens campaign?
You never know, Detective.
You never know.
Okay, we're on our way.
They just found Sharon Lasko.
Carters unload dumpsters here.
That's probably how she traveled.
Dumpsters from where?
East Side, West Side,
all around the town.
This guy's pooch
uncovered the body.
How messed up is she?
A little banged up.
But there's a bloody
dent in her skull.
I'm willing to bet
that's pre-mortem.
(SIGHS)
Diet, exercise, make-up.
(SIGHS)
How do you like the photographer?
Not much.
He makes his living
shooting runny noses,
but he says Sharon Lasko expected
him to help make her a star.
He must've done a hell
of a sales job on her.
Maybe it included
a private session.
He gets too friendly
with Sharon, she gets mad.
You think his career could
handle another lawsuit?
Well, find out exactly
how he earned the last one.
He offered to take some intimate
portraits, no extra charge.
Said they'd really open doors.
The only door he wanted open was mine.
Did he get physical with you?
It started out
he was touching me.
He said the camera would pick up my glow.
Then it got too personal.
And he wouldn't stop?
No, he thought
I was enjoying it.
I had bruises to prove it.
Well, sounds like you
had a criminal case.
A body model topped up with silicone,
alone with a cheesy
camera-jockey shooting nudes?
A jury adds that up
and says it was my fault.
So where'd he take you?
His place?
No, he usually works out of his
house, but his wife was around.
He had the key to an apartment an ad
agency lets its visiting clients use.
BRISCOE: Hmm. Yum!
After you've finished, they're
gonna count all of these, Jenner.
Yeah. Don't forget
to search my shorts.
How long are you gonna be here?
I've got a friend coming over.
Yeah. Well, you might want to
make a call and cancel her.
Now was this place cleaned
up when you first got here?
Not really. I wasn't due
to come in until tomorrow
and I would have waited, I didn't
know you guys were coming.
Well, you stand there, you
don't touch anything else.
Can I put my clothes on?
Yeah. Please.
Swell place for a party.
Yeah. The PBA ought to make R and
R facilities like this an item
in the next negotiation.
Yeah. I'd settle
for a raise.
Will you lighten up?
Come on, picture this,
"Detective Rey Curtis
"on his afternoon break in
a Jacuzzi with a hooker."
Yeah. Picture me lying dead in an
alley with my wife standing over me.
Hey, what do you know?
A bucket of trash.
Cigarette butts.
Now, do we know, did Sharon smoke?
Most of them do. Two ticket stubs.
Adult admissions.
The Intrepid Museum.
So you're still absolutely sure you
left Sharon Lasko on that ship?
Yes. I already
told you.
And you went right from the
ship to the school play?
Yes.
You sure you didn't stop at
an apartment on East 52nd?
Has your wife ever been
to that apartment?
I bet she'd really like
that double tub.
I don't know anything about
what happened to Sharon.
I didn't even know
that she was missing.
Come on, Kasteler.
How'd it go down?
Were you trying to make
her glow for the camera?
You know, you can stop
lying about being there.
Forensics found your fingerprints and
the fingerprints of Sharon Lasko
at that little
ad agency playpen.
So what? I'm married.
I don't advertise.
You got her there, right?
You got her out of her clothes.
You got out the champagne.
So what's my motive?
I was having too good a time?
Maybe she wanted you to stop.
She would have gone all day.
BRISCOE: Would have?
So she did pull the plug
on your little party?
No. She'd been
up all night.
She said she needed some
coke to keep her going.
I didn't have any.
So she said stop.
You got frustrated, right?
You got mad.
No. I got on the phone
to a drug dealer I know.
I got his machine.
By then it was time to get to my kid's play.
Look, Sharon was in the shower when I left.
I swear to God.
ROGERS: She had intercourse within
a few hours before she died.
Any signs of rape?
No. No tearing.
No bruising.
Just enough to kill her.
Well, standard rape MO doesn't include
breaking the victim's skull with a bottle.
There was glass in the wound
and some bruises on the neck.
He tried to strangle her first?
She went down fighting.
There was skin under her nails.
A different blood type than the semen.
Whoever had sex with her didn't kill her.
You're sure of that?
Sorry. You're gonna have to catch
the guy that actually did it.
Thanks for the tip.
Anything else?
Yeah. There was cocaine
in her system.
Thanks again.
Kasteler said he didn't have any,
and the rest of his story checks.
So what'd she do?
Go back to Scannell?
Well, if he did have drugs, he
would've scored with her at the party.
But she walked out with Soames.
Who is also no stranger to the
world of controlled substances.
SOAMES: I told you, I never saw her again.
I'm clean now anyway.
BRISCOE: Yeah,
and I can slam-dunk.
Look, man, look, when
I first came into the league
things were pretty crazy, okay?
But I finally decided
I'd rather keep making
a million bucks a year
than inhale cocaine.
I mean, you find
that so hard to believe?
So where were you making
your money Friday afternoon?
Right here.
Practicing.
But you're still the guy who would know
where a girl could score some blow.
Look, Sharon wouldn't come to me.
She knew I was out of it.
So who?
That limo driver, Johnny.
The one who drove
you home from the party?
Yeah. The team
uses that service.
Johnny's always
trying to suck up.
Sharon and I did lines
in the back seat once.
He told her if she ever wanted
some more, just give him a call.
How come you never
mentioned this before?
What? I'm just gonna start talking
to a couple of cops about drugs?
Look, I didn't even know this had anything
to do with Sharon getting murdered.
Passengers ask me for drugs,
they ask me for prostitutes.
One guy even asked
where he could buy a gun.
We're not talking about the asking, Johnny.
We're talking about the getting.
Ken Soames used
to pack his nose
during any ride that lasted
longer than three minutes.
I don't know
where he got his stuff.
What about a pretty girl
like Sharon Lasko?
If she wanted some?
I'm sure she could get it.
But not from me.
Some people think it helps them perform.
I think it screws them up.
You were worried
about her career?
She rode in my car
a few times. We talked.
She said she was having trouble getting
work after the Apple Fizz campaign.
What about Friday?
You see her again after you dropped
her off at the aircraft carrier?
No, no. I headed out for an airport run,
I got caught in a jam on the Van Wyck.
You know, you guys are wasting
your time talking to me
when the guy who killed Sharon
is still running around.
Kasteler's waiting for a written apology.
Just don't mail it to his wife.
The basketball player's
alibi stands up.
What about the limo driver?
He would have been an easy way
for Sharon to feed her habit.
Traffic on the Van Wyck
always sucks.
Five will get you ten he knows
a shortcut through Brooklyn.
Yeah, he seemed a little funky.
Why would he kill her?
It sounds like Sharon Lasko was a
girl that was fun to do drugs with.
Hey, here we go.
Three outgoing calls while Kasteler
was at the ad agency pad with Sharon.
Kasteler said
he called a drug dealer.
Answering machine. Jerry.
VAN BUREN:
Give that to Narcotics.
Yeah, lmperial Palace?
How's your mu shu? Okay.
He says it's very, very good.
Kasteler really knows
how to treat a girl.
I'm sorry, wrong number.
East River Limo Service.
The one Johnny drives for.
All right.
Keep on it.
Two guys out with the flu.
A busted tranny.
And my mechanic was deported.
His papers looked kosher to me.
This was Friday afternoon.
Yeah, yeah, here we are.
Let's see.
Uh...
Okay.
Yeah, no. If a Sharon Lasko got a ride
in a limo, it wasn't one of ours.
Around 2:00.
She called you.
Hey, everybody who rides,
it's in the book.
Well, she might have been
looking for Johnny Stivers.
Johnny?
This was a model?
Good-looking?
Right. Not one of
those ugly models.
I picked up a call from a girl.
She sounded so bad she must've been gorgeous.
CURTIS: But she's not in the book?
Right. She wanted to
talk to Johnny directly.
I told her he was busy.
Airport runs back to back.
You're sure of that?
Hey, it's in the book.
So who drove the girl?
Nobody.
I just forwarded the call
to Johnny's cellular.
Where's Johnny now?
Far as I know, he's home.
And his car?
It's out there.
I'll show you.
A normal good washing
would've still left plenty,
but this seat
was steam cleaned.
You're not gonna find
anything off the surfaces.
One point for Johnny.
Ah!
But we do not stop at surfaces.
They do tune-ups, too.
Glass.
That's enough to compare with what
we found in Sharon Lasko's head.
Yeah. Now let's see how
this baby likes UV light.
Glass and blood.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
What is it?
I thought you were done with me?
Oh! It's just starting.
John Stivers, you're under arrest
for the murder of Sharon Lasko.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.
Hey, where are you going?
You also have the right to have
incriminating evidence in your apartment.
A bloodstained suit
would be nice.
Rey.
A shrine to
the late Sharon Lasko.
You'd think the murder rate
was at an all-time high,
instead of the lowest
in 10 years.
Pretty model, 15 minutes of
fame tragically cut short.
So is our budget.
This have to go to trial?
It won't be a long one.
She called Johnny Stivers for a
ride just before she got killed.
Blood's in his car and we know
he was infatuated with her.
An obsessed fan.
What was his motive?
Trying to get her autograph and he slipped?
The evidence is overwhelming
that he killed her.
I don't mind
letting a jury guess
what it was he wanted
from her and didn't get.
Hormones.
Offer to knock off a couple
of years off the sentence.
He'll take a plea.
Twenty-to-life
instead of 25?
It's a gift.
It is?
What do you give your girlfriends
on Valentine's Day, Jack?
Jewelry made out of twigs?
Do you really want to
go to trial, Deirdre?
Her blood was in his car.
His blood was under her fingernails.
He can do the full term.
Actually, I was thinking of
man one, say, three-to-nine.
Three years
for a brutal murder?
That's not thinking.
That's hallucinating.
POWELL: We'll see.
Here's my notice of
our affirmative defense.
Extreme emotional disturbance.
You walk in on your wife
in bed with a lover,
that's extreme
emotional disturbance.
Not the violent act of
some kind of obsessed fan.
That's not what it was.
Sharon and I had a relationship.
That's right. You were her driver.
What happened?
Did you get upset because she
made you give up a parking space?
She was doing it with that photographer.
I loved her. She loved me.
She did? I'm not aware there were
any photos of you above her bed.
POWELL:
Read the statute.
The reasonableness
of a defendant's emotion
is to be determined by the circumstances
as he perceived them to be.
It's irrelevant whether or not
his perceptions are correct.
Is there any indication that
Sharon Lasko and Johnny Stivers
were more than
passenger and driver?
Well, the police never looked.
They didn't have a reason to.
Well, we do now.
Does it really matter?
Even if he mistakenly believed
they had
a serious relationship,
he still qualifies for extreme
emotional disturbance.
Mistakenly, not idiotically.
If there are no grounds
for his alleged beliefs,
the jury will see
he's just lying.
We're not very close, but
he is my little brother.
I'm not gonna say
anything to hurt him.
He told us he killed her, Ms.
Stivers.
He said that?
Yes.
The only question
we have is why.
I don't know why
he does anything.
I only see him
a couple times a year.
I moved out of the house
when he was still a kid.
Would you know
if he had a girlfriend?
Me and the rest of the world.
If Johnny had a girlfriend it
would lead off the 6:00 news.
Not exactly
Mr. Popularity?
When he was in high school he
used to try out his lines on me
to work up the nerve to...
For the real girl.
"I'm Johnny, can I buy
you a cup of coffee?"
"Did anyone ever tell you,
you have nice eyes?"
He saw that one in a movie.
He talked about her all the time.
He drove her once in a while, you know.
What did he say about her?
That she was a good person.
Not stuck-up.
That she liked him.
Even though he was
just a limo driver?
Hey, I'm a limo driver,
I do great.
No offense.
It just seems he was
starstruck about her.
Yeah. We were in a bar once,
watching this ball game,
her commercial came on.
He went nuts, telling everybody
to shut up and watch.
Do you think
they were intimate?
I don't think so.
Did he say he did?
He said it was gonna happen.
He had taken her on a date to the
Ginger Club, said she got pretty hot.
He said he took her to the Ginger? Sure.
He took her there and dropped her off.
So there was nothing
going on between them?
Mmm.
She might have made nice with
the guy once in a while.
Made nice?
Talked nice.
I've seen the guy.
He's homely.
So she wasn't interested?
Look, there was one interesting
thing about that guy.
He had good cocaine, and he
gave it to her for free.
Could he have believed
that she loved him?
Hmm?
Did you ever want something from
a guy you weren't interested in?
Sure.
Smiled when
you asked him for it?
Let his arm
brush against your boob?
She led him on for drugs?
No. She wouldn't have
gone to bed for it.
But I think she made
a little sweet conversation.
It was pathetic. He never had a chance with her.
She was using him.
When he finally realized that,
it must've made him angry.
If you'll pardon my ignorance,
isn't your theory of the case
getting to be
a little like theirs?
They say he was
an outraged boyfriend
and you say he was an
outraged would-be boyfriend.
There's a world of difference
between a jealous lover
and some horny bastard who's mad
he can't get to first base.
Eloquent. Can't wait
for your closing argument.
Johnny Stivers' motive was
garden-variety frustration.
If that qualifies as extreme
emotional distress,
then almost any murderer qualifies.
They're all upset about something.
Just be careful you don't have a killer
who's more sympathetic than your victim.
BRISCOE: We found
her body in a landfill.
It had been thrown in a dumpster and
carried there in a garbage truck.
Was it bloody?
Yes, the skull was fractured
through to the brain.
I see.
And when you first interviewed
the defendant about her murder,
did he seem upset by it?
No. He acted as if
he barely knew her.
Did Mr. Stivers say that he saw Ms.
Lasko on the last day of her life?
Yes, he said he had driven
her home from a party
along with a basketball
player named Ken Soames.
And did he say what she and Mr.
Soames did in his presence?
He said they were
all over each other.
In a sexual way?
Yes.
Did he seem upset by that?
No, he didn't.
When you searched Mr.
Stivers' apartment after his arrest,
what did you find on the
wall of his bedroom?
All kinds of pictures
of Sharon Lasko,
ads cut out of newspapers,
calendars, you name it.
He didn't just have a photo
or two in a silver frame,
like a man might have
of his girlfriend?
Objection.
JUDGE FILMORE: Overruled.
No, it was a full-out shrine,
like somebody obsessed.
Move to strike.
The witness is not a psychologist.
Sustained. The jury will disregard
the witness's last remark.
I have no more questions.
Detective Briscoe, is this
one of the photographs
that you saw on
Mr. Stivers' bedroom wall?
Yes, one of the many.
Would you describe it, please?
It's a glossy photo of Sharon Lasko
with an inscription on the front.
POWELL: Please read it.
"To Johnny, my main man in a big car.
Love, Sharon."
Like the kind of note a man
might get from his girlfriend?
Objection.
He asked the same question.
And you objected.
And he overruled.
JUDGE: Counselors!
The objection is overruled.
The witness may answer.
BRISCOE:
What was the question?
Is that inscribed photograph
the kind of memento a man might
get from his girlfriend?
Possibly, yes.
JACK: Mr. Soames, were
you ever in the presence
of Sharon Lasko
and Johnny Stivers?
Yes. He used to
drive us sometimes.
And what kinds of things
would she say to him?
She'd ask him to drive her places.
She'd ask him to get her drugs.
And what kinds of things
would he say to her?
He'd try to make conversation,
try to impress her by telling
her about places he'd been,
celebrities he'd driven.
And how would she react?
When he wasn't around,
she'd laugh about him.
She knew he liked her.
She thought it was funny.
She didn't think highly of him?
She didn't think
anything of him.
And he knew that?
It was pretty obvious.
Thank you.
Mr. Soames, we've heard testimony
that on the day Ms. Lasko died,
you and she had sexual contact in
the back seat of Mr. Stivers' car.
It wasn't sexual.
What would you call it?
It was just like some making out,
some kissing, some petting.
And Mr. Stivers
could see you?
If he looked
in the rear-view mirror.
Did you and Ms. Lasko have more extensive
sexual contact in Mr. Stivers' car?
Yes.
What did you do?
After another party
once, we had sex.
Sexual intercourse?
Yeah.
And Mr. Stivers could see what Ms.
Lasko was doing?
I suppose.
And she performed this act
in Mr. Stivers' presence after
she knew how he felt about her?
Yeah, I guess so.
If you were in his place, how
would that make you feel?
Objection!
Withdrawn.
No further questions.
Well, I think her behavior with Soames
should have made things pretty clear
even to Johnny Stivers.
Men have a way of
deluding themselves.
I hope you're not speaking
from personal experience.
Not recent.
I hope.
She was having sex with
another man in front of him,
that's not exactly a valentine.
Yeah, but the defense brought it
up to make him look like a victim.
She did him wrong.
He was practically a stranger.
How could she have done him wrong?
Promiscuous women, Claire.
They still get put on trial
even after they're dead.
Whenever I drove her,
we talked.
She talked about her career
and personal things, too.
Her family, her brother, he was
having some trouble at school.
We've heard testimony that
she just ordered you around,
like a servant.
No. She loved me.
Mr. Soames was wrong?
Well, he wasn't always with us.
She was dumping him anyway.
How did you know that?
She told me.
That morning, when I brought
them home from the party,
she wouldn't go upstairs
with him.
She didn't want to.
Did you think that was
because you were there?
Yes. She wanted me to see
that things were changing.
She asked me to meet her later.
Did she tell you why?
Well, I had asked her for a coffee.
It was kind of a standing invitation.
She said she would.
And she said she wanted
me to get her some coke.
What did you do?
I got some for her, as a gift.
I knew she was tired.
Where did you get it?
Tenth Avenue, in the 40s.
It's not very hard to find.
And that afternoon
Sharon did call you?
Yeah, I was just
finishing up another job.
And I went right over
and picked her up.
What happened then?
I asked her if she wanted to
have a coffee in Little Italy.
And she said she didn't.
She just wanted the coke.
Did she tell you why?
Yeah. She said nothing went
better with sex than coke,
and she had just had sex
with that photographer.
What did you say to her?
I thought we had a date.
She laughed.
What else did she say?
"Home, James."
And she laughed again.
She was very high.
What happened then?
I got in
the back seat with her.
I couldn't understand
why she had changed.
She loved me.
She told me so.
I tried to kiss her.
We did that before, many times.
She slapped me,
said that I made her sick.
And I felt my neck
starting to get hot
and I hit her with a bottle.
But I never, never
wanted that to happen.
I loved that woman.
Quite a performance.
Everything but a chorus of
"You picked a fine time
to leave me, Lucille."
You really think he got that cocaine
for Sharon just as a favor?
He thought he was gonna
have a party with her,
like all the other guys.
She said no, and he got mad.
Wait a minute. He told the police that he
was booked all that day on airport runs,
and he was stuck in traffic
on the Van Wyck.
When did he have time to cruise
the West Side looking for drugs?
He couldn't have been
stuck in traffic too bad.
When Sharon called him,
he got right to her.
Maybe he was hanging around
waiting for her call.
He was obsessed with her.
So one of the airport
runs was a phony?
At least one had to be.
But why book a phony run?
He could have just said he didn't have a job.
Because it doesn't
create an alibi.
Premeditation.
Which makes
his whole defense a crock.
Those airport runs,
what do we know about them?
I don't know about those names, the
bookings go back a lot of months.
Your accountant doesn't make you
keep a paper trail that long?
I have a record of the charges,
but the names of the passengers?
I'm sorry.
Who paid for the limo?
It's a corporate account.
Okay, then, I'll take its name.
I don't know, these are
confidential business records.
This is a murder investigation.
I can have you subpoenaed.
Murder?
If you don't cooperate,
you could go to jail.
Wait a minute. This is just
some kind of little tax thing.
What is?
Well, I don't really
understand it.
The owner of the agency
used to book
a lot of dummy limousine runs
with Mr. Stivers.
To do what?
I don't know. That was between
him and the owner, Mr. Scannell.
Frederick Scannell was talking
with Sharon Lasko at the party
eight hours before
she was killed.
The police thought he was
trying to pick her up.
Scannell is
a major drug dealer.
This Johnny Stivers
works for him.
Stivers doles out drugs
to Sharon Lasko.
Wild idea, but her death just might
have something to do with drugs.
Which means something
to do with Scannell.
Get the police back into it.
We know Scannell has
a Colombian connection.
We know the stuff
lands in the Southeast.
He's been laughing
in my face for 10 years.
You can't make a move on him?
We can't even stop him from
getting a liquor license.
He's never within
100 miles of the product.
He uses cut-outs, couriers, safe
houses rented by other people.
Couriers, a guy in a limo
who fits in at the airport,
that's pretty good cover
for moving quantities.
Is there any correlation
between the dummy runs
Scannell booked Johnny Stivers
for and Scannell's activities?
Let's see, January 9th,
Scannell was in Palm Springs.
February 1st, Lake
Tahoe, and on and on.
And he worked pretty
hard to not to be around
while Johnny
was running his errands.
The only time
he was in the city
was the day
Sharon Lasko was killed.
Some sweetheart she picked
to get mixed up with.
You think he booked the phony limo
run to buy Johnny time to kill her?
He booked the limo. It didn't go anyplace.
And Johnny did kill her.
Why? What was Sharon
Lasko to Scannell?
He says just a potential roll in
the sack who turned him down.
So he had her killed?
I know some men who take rejection hard...
There's no evidence she was in
the drug business with him.
And she's not in the surveillance.
Maybe she was new.
Maybe she was discreet.
Well, the way she ran around
the last day of her life,
she doesn't impress me
as a very discreet person.
Go back to her friends.
Find out what the hell really happened.
Look, I've got closing
arguments tomorrow. Okay?
I can't believe you people.
I've been reading about this trial.
Why don't you dig Sharon
up and kick her around?
Hey, we just want to bury
her killer or killers.
Killers?
You got that creep.
He was part of
a major drug organization.
Oh, God.
Oh, what?
Sharon was doing great.
And part of doing great
in this business
is going to the right places
and being seen.
And at some of those places,
there's drugs involved.
And Sharon didn't know
how to just say no?
Look, she had a great look.
But she was insecure, and with the
drugs she felt more confident.
And the more confident you
are the better you look,
until you start showing up
late and looking like hell.
You think drugs led
Sharon into bad company?
I don't know.
I had to get her
out of my life.
It would really
help us to know,
could Sharon have been
involved in the drug business?
As a customer.
What about as a courier?
Models travel.
Sharon always
worked in New York.
Look, as far as I know,
her biggest drug connection
was her boyfriend,
that basketball player.
Come on, Soames, we all know her
modeling career was circling the bowl.
Look, I knew Sharon, okay?
The last thing she would
ever do is sell drugs.
Well, the last thing is what
people do when they're desperate.
You always had a good supply.
Maybe she was selling drugs to you?
That's ridiculous.
Where'd you get your coke?
It's not hard, although I know
you guys are working on it.
Smart guy.
We start poking
around in your life
and mail the results
to the commissioner,
you'll be hustling basketball
on the playgrounds.
What are you fellows coming
down on me for? Huh?
I mean, you know
I didn't kill Sharon.
You were at a party
given by Scannell.
Your girlfriend was in a
conversation with Scannell.
The guy that owns
the club? So what?
So how well
did Sharon know him?
She didn't.
She just met him that night.
How do you know that?
She didn't even know
who he was.
When we first walked in,
she asked me
if he was the spray-on hair
guy from the infomercials.
BRISCOE: So she had no
connection with Scannell?
SOAMES: No.
Look in her entire life she had that
one short conversation with him.
It was about drugs,
but it was stupid.
It was about drugs?
It wasn't business.
She was drunk, telling him some story
about how some jerk
tried to impress her
by showing her a whole
trunk full of cocaine.
A trunk full of cocaine?
Did Mr. Scannell seem
interested in that?
He would have seemed interested
to hear her hat size.
He wanted to do her.
Did she say who showed
her the cocaine?
I didn't even stop to listen.
I just wanted to take her home.
Was it Johnny Stivers?
A limo driver?
You said he was always
trying to impress her.
Yeah, but where would
he get that much blow?
(DOOR BUZZING)
Well, I'm glad you've come
to your senses, Jack.
Only the price has gone up since my
client's appearance on the stand.
Man one.
Year, year pro.
The price has gone
higher than that.
Our motion to amend
the indictment.
Murder one?
Killing a witness.
What are they talking about?
Your murder of Sharon Lasko, Mr.
Stivers.
It was a crime of
passion, like you said.
Only it was Frederick
Scannell's passion, wasn't it?
I don't know
anybody named Scannell.
Think about it.
If Scannell talks first, he gets
the deal, and you get to die.
My client and I have
been reading the papers.
Someone else has confessed
to this murder.
JACK: Someone who worked for Mr.
Scannell.
Here it comes again.
You guys never give up.
No, we don't.
I think Sharon Lasko had a very
important conversation with you
the night before she was murdered.
Yeah.
I said, " Do you want
to come to my place?"
She said,
"Maybe some other time."
She told you someone showed
her a trunk full of cocaine.
Did she?
Yes. And I think
it was your cocaine.
And that's not very likely.
I don't have any cocaine.
And you didn't like hearing that
from some dizzy bimbo at a party.
SAMPSON: Do you have
a theory here, McCoy,
or are you just spraying
Cheez Whiz into the wind?
JACK: Sharon Lasko
was blabbing to strangers
that Johnny Stivers showed her
a large amount of cocaine
that belonged to your client, in a vehicle
that was regularly used by your client.
So your client ordered
Mr. Stivers to kill her
before she blabbed
to the wrong stranger.
And you're gonna
prove this how?
We have Mr. Stivers.
The guy's about to get off with a
slap on the wrist for manslaughter.
You think he's gonna
confess to murder one?
They're here.
JACK: Let's ask him.
We're leaving now.
That would be
a mistake, Mr. Scannell.
You'd miss your only chance
to avoid a death sentence.
I thought we had the offer?
First one to talk
wins life in prison.
If I'm the master criminal
you say I am,
this guy wouldn't stay alive six
months in prison if he talks.
Make another threat, you'll
leave this office under arrest.
Don't exert yourself.
I don't care if you do kill me!
Shut up.
Fred.
He knew I loved her, he
thought that made it funny.
You're an idiot.
You can still walk out of here.
I got a call to go to a
corner on the East Side.
He got into the car
with two men.
He said Sharon
had to be shut up
and she was so stupid there
was only one way to do it
and it was up to me,
because it was my fault.
I told him I couldn't
kill her, I loved her.
He said fine,
then they'd kill her and me.
One of the men took out a gun.
I was very scared.
I'm... I'm so sorry.
Deal, Jack?
Murder two.
The maximum.
Now you're gonna die.
I'm doing it for Sharon.
This kid falls in love with a girl he
had no chance in the world to get.
And in a stupid, hopeless
attempt to impress her,
he shows her $1 million
worth of cocaine.
Yeah. I guess etchings
don't work anymore.
And as a result, he ends
up having to kill her.
It's a story for Sophocles.
Or Larry, Moe and Curly.
Yeah, I always
loved those guys.