Law & Order (1990–2010): Season 6, Episode 20 - Girlfriends - full transcript

The death of a college student at her school library appears to be connected to her involvement in a co-ed prostitution ring.

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.

SAM: So man is...
The three.

Why rush to get the degree just to
be an adjunct at some state college?

Here,
"Contemporary Parnassians."

Anti-romantics.

Well, form over feeling
should be right up your alley.

What are you looking for?



Heredia's word choices.

In his Cleopatra sonnet, why
doesn't he call Anthony "Anthony"?

Anthony disrupts
the alexandrine verse.

No, he calls him "the Roman."

Same number of syllables.

Well, maybe one of the academy
critics has something.

Ask Baudelaire.

You know, a lot of these
books are out of order.

Mike.

What? You find something?

Mike!

JONES: Her name is Bridget Kaylin, a senior.
I was first to respond.

I put out the signal through
my dispatcher, campus police.

BRISCOE: Who can get into
this part of the library?



Anybody with a student ID,
plus alumni.

Members of the community
can buy a library pass.

If there's anything else
our department can do...

You can start by standing here.

(PEOPLE CLAMORING)

She's still warm. Dead maybe an hour.
Her panties are down.

There've been two rapes on
campus in the last six weeks.

Maybe your department could
do something about that.

The mark on her neck,
strangled?

Maybe.

The head wound looks like she
might have fallen onto this.

Did anybody hear anything?

No. It was pretty
deserted up here.

"Phenomenology as Metaphor."
No wonder it's deserted.

You're thinking
this is our rapist?

This wasn't a robbery.
There's still cash in her wallet.

How does your rapist operate?

Comes up behind the girls,

strangles them till they're
weak, gets them down.

This girl had marks
on her neck.

RALSTON: So it fits.
Now all we got to do is catch him.

He work the library before?
Dorms.

Areas accessed by
student pass keys.

Had my people
watching the dorms.

But not the library.

32 officers,
eight-hour shifts.

I'm stretched pretty thin here.

But there's a student
anti-rape group.

They do some patrolling,
conduct awareness seminars.

What about the patrolling?

They stop lone men, demand an
explanation of their presence.

(BELL TOLLING)

SUSAN: Campus police?

They don't want to know
what's going on.

What is going on?

You mean aside from one woman
murdered and 17 assaulted?

Well, we heard
there were two rapes.

A woman strangled,
knocked down, jumped on.

That's the only thing
they call rape.

What were the other 15?

They call it consensual sex,
flirting, a misunderstanding.

You'd be amazed how many
"misunderstandings" there are

with drunk fraternity boys.

Women tell us things
they don't tell the police.

Then how are the police
supposed to know about it?

They wouldn't do
anything if they did.

Hey, we're the police.
We're here. We're listening.

Fine. Talk to these men.
They're all sexual predators.

We gave the list to campus police,
but they didn't do anything.

Jack Miniver. One of our teams spotted
him outside the library last night.

He refused to say
what he was doing there.

I was just walking across the
quad to a bar on Broadway.

I didn't feel like I had to
explain myself to feminazis.

You didn't go into the library?

(LAUGHS SARCASTICALLY)
Not if I can help it.

So what time did you
leave the bar?

10:00. Do we really have
to talk about this?

Why does it say rapist here,
right next to your name?

Because they're twisted.

BRISCOE: Did anybody see
you leave the bar?

Look, you want to know
what this is about?

About six months ago
I met a girl at a party.

A freshman. There was a keg,
she had a few drinks.

We ended up in the sack.

In the morning,
her upper-class advisor

convinced her that she
had been date-raped.

And had she?
Sure.

Because I was supposed to know that
when she said yes, it didn't count

because her blood-alcohol
level was above.085.

You see, I forgot to give her
the blood test.

Because you were too busy

dragging a drunk 17-year-old
girl back to your room?

I was drunk, too.

That does not make me a
rapist or a murderer.

You read about the college
where they have a rule

that a guy has to get permission for
every stage of a make-out session?

"Can I touch you here? Thank you.
Now, can I put my hand there?"

Isn't that the way
you do it, Lennie? Beg?

Mr. Young Married.

You don't even have any
idea what you're missing.

Yeah, late-night reruns
of I Dream of Jeannie.

Isn't that sexual harassment?

File a charge.

How did that
suspect list turn out?

It's a mixed bag.

Everything from a sophomore
who got suspended for assault

to a professor who told a joke
that some women found offensive.

(SIGHS)

I'm waiting.

Oh, no. You, Rey,
you tell it so well.

Why is rape impossible?

Because a woman can run a lot
faster with her dress up

than a man can
with his pants down.

That is offensive.

The worst part is
it's not funny.

But it doesn't make the
guy a murder suspect.

What about the Miniver boy?

He was brought up on date
rape before a student court.

They cleared him.

How about you?

I wouldn't date him.

Go see the M.E.
And tell me when you get to first base.

I don't know if this is
good news or bad news.

Your victim wasn't raped, and there's
no indication anybody tried.

So her pants were down

because the killer wanted it to
look like it was the campus rapist?

Or it was the campus rapist and
he likes his victims breathing.

He strangles her, she falls and hits
her head, and he changes his mind.

His first two victims.
Mottled marks on the neck.

Big hands.
Two of them.

Bridget Kaylin.
The only mark is a single narrow band.

CURTIS: So he
brought a tool.

His hands got tired?

Plus there's no occlusion of the
vessels in her head or neck.

Death was instantaneous
from the blow to the head.

Epidural hematoma.

She was dead
before she was strangled.

We rented this apartment
for her last year.

She said she couldn't study
in the dorm, too noisy.

Did she have friends
in the dormitory?

Bridget had a lot of friends.

She was always popular.

What are you doing, Mary?

Can't you sit down?

Burt, we'll go home
in a minute.

The mortuary wants to know
what we want to bury her in.

It can wait.

We were wondering, did
Bridget have any boyfriends?

No. No. I don't think
she was seeing anyone.

I have daughters myself, Mr.
Kaylin. Are you sure you'd know?

She was 21 years old, Burt, living by
herself in an apartment in New York City.

She'd tell us
about a boyfriend.

There was that
business student last year.

Fernilli.
This is expensive.

BURT: Maybe she bought
it on sale.

Bridget works at the campus
store, five afternoons a week.

Diamond studs?
Did you give these to her, Burt?

I knew she wanted them.
I thought maybe for graduation.

My parents want to pull me out of school.
I graduate in six weeks.

I still can't believe it. In the library?
Can you catch this guy?

We're trying.
Were you all pretty close?

We met here every day.

She usually walks in, like, now.
That was her chair.

What did you do here?
Boy watching?

College boys?
We just came for the coffee.

What about Bridget?
She have a boyfriend?

DONNA: Not since Brent.

The business student?

He moved to L.A.
Last summer.

How about somebody off campus?
Older? With money?

A "sugar daddy"?
Is that what you call it?

I guess the name survives
every generation.

Bridget was more interested in a
guy with a good sense of humor.

Yeah, she used to go to museums.
She was an art history major.

So where would she have gotten an
expensive pair of diamond earrings?

Bridget? Oh, I don't think so.
She was on scholarship.

Did anybody see her yesterday?

We grabbed a burger before she
went to the library. About 5:00.

CURTIS: After work?

After step aerobics.

Mondays, Thursdays
and Fridays. 3:00 to 4:00.

(SIREN WAILING)

So, I guess she didn't
work at the campus store

five afternoons a week.

She lied to Mom and Dad?
Call Ripley.

(HORNS HONKING)

Well, she got those
earrings from somewhere.

What do they call
a sugar daddy nowadays?

So, Lennie, what do you
want to be buried in?

My 25th-century space suit, on
one of the moons of Jupiter.

Hey, she's 21 years old.
What does she need sleeping pills for?

Yeah, well, things aren't all sweet
and relaxed like when you were a kid.

Champagne cork.
I guess she was celebrating something.

She made the dean's list
when she was a freshman.

Birthday card.

"To the woman who made me whole.
Yours eternally, Brent."

Yeah, until he moved
to La-La Land.

(EXHALES)

Credit card bill
from last month.

Barrington Hotel Grill, $14.
Health club, $300.

Barrington
Hotel Grill again, $12.

Matches.
Barrington Hotel Grill.

If she's meeting her rich boyfriend
there, how come she's buying?

Not exactly a college hangout.

Good, none of those
college boys around.

What can I do
for you gentlemen tonight?

Well, maybe you could help us
out with a little information.

You ever seen this girl in
here with her boyfriend?

Her boyfriend?
You're kidding, right?

Actually, we're not.

Okay, I'll play.

I've seen her here
lots of times

with lots
of different boyfriends.

She's a working girl.

This girl was hooking?
I saw her report card.

Yeah, and here's
the supplement.

We ran her prints
through the system,

it comes back to a Jane Monroe.

Arrested for prostitution?

A month ago.
She used a fake ID.

There were no priors so the
computer didn't complain.

So she paid her fine
and went back to school.

What the hell
was this girl thinking?

Well, the campus store
only pays $6 an hour.

Every one of her johns
just became a suspect.

Track them down.
Who arrested her?

Scapelli, from Vice.
I know him from when he walked the beat.

Well, I usually check
into the Murchison.

Not the Barrington?

Not on our budget.
I play a poor traveling salesman.

I check in. I find an ad
for an escort service,

outcall massage,
and I call them up.

Okay. So, they ask what you want.
What do you order?

One time white, one time black,
nondiscrimination rules.

Then they show up.

I talk.
Talk about the weather.

Talk about the flight
I had in from Omaha.

If they're suspicious,
I show them the coat.

Franklin Tailors,
Omaha's finest.

Then we make the deal.
Sexual conduct in exchange for a fee.

All right, this is the girl we were
talking about. You recognize her?

Oh, yeah. She tried to cry
her way out of the arrest.

(LAUGHING)

Not too many even bother, you know.
This is the ad I called to get to her.

"Beautiful girls available
for all occasions."

The number's a floating pager,
basically, impossible to track.

Here, Rey, tell them
you have an occasion.

That's great, sweetness.
I can't wait to see you.

Okay. Okay, put your mommy
back on the phone, all right?

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Yeah?
DONNA: Room service.

Six weeks to graduation, right?

Are you going
to tell my parents?

You're prostituting yourself and
that's what you're worried about?

We were always careful.
Nothing ever happened.

Your friend got killed.

By some psycho rapist.

She wasn't raped, Donna.

Now, our best theory is that she got
killed by somebody she met on the job.

Now, we could have saved a lot of time
if you had told us what she was doing.

It didn't seem like
the thing to mention.

CURTIS: How many
of you are in this?

Me, Lisa, you met her,
and Bridget started it.

When?
Last fall.

Why?

She wanted the money.

So? Who doesn't?

Guys would take her out and spend
$300 for dinner and a show

when all they wanted
was to go to bed with her.

She figured why not save the
time and skip the boring play?

Why not? There's crazy people.
There's AIDS.

We would always use condoms.

Bridget was murdered.

We want to talk to her customers.
Who were they?

I just know mine.

Who took the phone calls
when somebody answered the ad?

Who sent you out?

Shelly. She just got involved
with us a couple of months ago.

She kind of took over
the scheduling.

(EXHALES)

Ms. Taggert, we need to talk
to you about Bridget Kaylin.

(BELL TOLLING)

I don't know what else
I could tell you.

Anyway, I know this is
going to sound terrible,

but I've got to meet a real estate broker.
I'm in between apartments.

Where are you living?

With my father.

What do you want
to know, anyway?

The names of
Bridget Kaylin's johns.

Her what?

We know, Ms. Taggert.

Detective Curtis here
is the Mr. Jenkins

you sent Donna Richland to last
night at the Hapgood House.

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

Donna told us.

That I sent her to a hotel?

Look, all we need are the names of the
people you sent Bridget Kaylin to.

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

We're not out to get your little prostitution ring.
All we want to do is...

Look, I don't know what Donna
told you, but this is ridiculous.

I have an appointment.
I'm late.

You want a warrant to search
her father's apartment?

That's where she's been living.

I mean, if she has a little black
appointment book, that's where it'll be.

The only problem is, guys,

I can't tell a judge you expect to
find evidence of a murder there.

Why not?

Well, because you don't.

I mean, the appointment book
wouldn't be evidence of murder,

just a list of potential
investigatory leads.

Which could lead
to evidence of the murder.

Well, then you could
get a search warrant.

So what do we do?
Stop men on the street

and ask them if they
killed Bridget Kaylin?

Or that book may not be
evidence of murder,

but it's definitely
evidence of prostitution,

which, I believe,
still is a crime.

(PHONE RINGING)

Very nice.

MR. TAGGERT:
My daughter isn't home.

We have a warrant
to search her possessions.

Shelly's? What for?
Look, I covered those checks that she wrote.

Sir, if you could just
show us her room.

I want to see that warrant.

"Evidence of prostitution"?
Are you crazy?

I'm sorry, Mr. Taggert.
We're not here to discuss it.

Are these your daughter's
things, or your wife's?

I'm a widower.
I'm calling my lawyer right now.

Is this your daughter's room?

Right now.

Some way for him
to get the news.

Nice clothes.

This is the same designer
Madonna wears.

What are you,
moonlighting at Vogue?

Hey, I live with four women.

Hey, hey, hey!

My grandmother had
one of these.

I bet she doesn't have
one of these.

"Jonathan Freeman.
Half and half. $400. Bridget."

Oh, man, this is perfect.

Your name is in the book
four times, Mr. Freeman.

Every time with Bridget Kaylin.

My wife is going to walk through
that door in about six minutes.

Bridget Kaylin's dead.
I think that makes her a little worse off.

Look, I'm sorry, okay,

but I didn't kill her, if
that's what you're thinking.

I hadn't even seen her in a while.
What did that book say?

Lt'd been a while.
What happened, you had a fight?

No. I called her again.

She said she wasn't accepting
any more dates. That was that.

Unless you wanted
another date real bad.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

Look, when did this happen?
Thursday night?

I was with my wife
at my in-laws.

Fellas, if you want
to kill me, too, ask them.

You can count on it.

I read about it. I was going to call
you guys, but I didn't know anything.

Sounds like you were
one of her regulars.

Yeah. Why not?
She was a wonderful girl.

I wanted to write a letter
to her parents but, you know.

Did you meet her
through the ad?

Yes. I don't have a wife.

I don't like to make love
to my pizza pies.

Well, did you ever
think about dating?

Yeah. I mean, there are many
beautiful 20-year-old girls

who want to go out with me.

Well, how about
a nice 50-year-old widow?

Let me see. 20-year-old
beauty, 50-year-old widow.

For $200, I think
I'll take the beauty.

Two hundred dollars?
That's a real nice relationship.

You don't understand.

Bridget and I, we had some fun.
Not just in the bedroom.

She took me once
to the modern museum

and explained to me about those
pictures that are all the same color.

When was the last time
you saw her, Mr. Pappas?

About a month ago,
she said she was quitting.

CURTIS: She say why?

Yeah, I think she met
somebody, a boy.

I don't know,
just a feeling I had.

So I took her out, you
know, to say goodbye.

Went to one of those Russian
clubs in Brighton Beach.

I had this picture taken.
Souvenir.

The cameo.

Beautiful, isn't it?

I think her boyfriend
gave it to her.

I told you the first time,
she didn't have a boyfriend.

What about a green cameo?

Yeah. It was new.

Was she wearing it
when you had burgers

before she went to the library?

Yes.

Well, it wasn't on her
when we found her.

Matter of fact, it was in
Shelly Taggert's desk drawer.

Shelly's?

Yeah. How did she
and Bridget get along?

Okay. I mean...
You found it at Shelly's?

That's right.

Then Shelly must have seen her
that night, before it happened.

And everything was okay
between them?

Come on. I mean, they did kind of
have an argument that afternoon.

About what?

I don't know.

I went into the coffee house,

and they were there, kind
of snapping at each other.

Bridget left.
Shelly said it was none of my business.

She had the cameo.
We picked it up and ran it over to the M.E.

The band matches the marks
on Bridget Kaylin's neck.

Like it was ripped off.

Plus we pulled prints from
Shelly Taggert's notebook.

They match prints on Bridget
Kaylin's study desk in the library.

To which Shelly Taggert
had easy access.

And she knew about
the campus rapist to try

and throw us off the scent.

Motive?
Bridget wanted to quit hooking.

Maybe the arrest scared her.

Maybe Shelly wanted her
to keep on, who knows?

We know they were
fighting about something.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Mr. Taggert, we have a warrant
for the arrest of your daughter.

Would you please step aside?

She's not here.

Where is she?
She went away.

Went away where?

Europe.

I always told her I'd send her
when she finished college.

I can't arrest your daughter at the moment, sir.
I'll settle for you.

Since when is the father legally
accountable for the sins of the child?

I notice you didn't bother
to say "alleged sins."

My daughter
didn't murder anybody.

Oh, she just ran up bad debts
and ran a prostitution ring?

This whole thing is ridiculous.

Then why don't you
tell us where she is,

so we can all sit down together

and have a good laugh about it?

I don't know where she is. She hasn't called.
I am very worried about her.

I suggest that
you worry about yourself.

Aiding the flight
of a criminal constitutes

hindering prosecution,
and that's a felony.

If you can prove he knows
she committed a crime.

He doesn't, and you can't.

Is Mr. Taggert
under arrest?

Come on, Barry.

Family values.
Think he knows where she is?

What do you think
she's doing for money?

Supposed to be some kind
of lvy League madam.

There's money in that,
isn't there?

She has $300 in her
checking account.

She has a safe deposit box, too, but
she disappeared over the weekend.

She didn't have
a chance to get to it.

Her father told the police
he sent her to Europe,

either to discourage us
or because it's true.

Take a look at his
bank accounts,

charge cards,
business accounts.

What does he do?

Shoe importer.
Sole proprietor.

Runs his personal expenses
through the company.

Crack open the piggy bank,
see what tumbles out.

NAOMI: I've known Shelly
since she was born.

We need all of Mr.
Taggert's records for the last month.

She started coming in here after
school when her mother died.

Mr. Taggert has done a wonderful
job of raising her alone.

I mean, maybe she's a
little spoiled, but...

Which files, Ms. Fleming?

The last month.

Well, here's a letter of credit

for a container of suede
pumps from the Philippines.

Is this the kind
of thing you want?

Anything initiated by Mr. Taggert.
Anything relating to Shelly.

Well, Shelly would be
in the payroll files.

Oh, she's an employee?

Since she was 12 years old.

Doing what?
Modeling shoes.

She was a perfect size 5.
Excuse me. Those are orders.

Unless you're prepared to ship

open-toed slingbacks
to Bentsen's in Boston.

Okay, we can sit down and sort
through everything together.

I really am very busy.

Or the officers can take everything
and we'll sort it out later.

(SIGHS)

In here.

CLAIRE: This guy never saw
a meal he couldn't deduct.

He sends shoe buyers
to the Ice Capades?

Trade show week.

Let's see.

$2,000 wire transfer to
Zurich, day before yesterday.

Does he get his shoes
from Switzerland?

Asia.

Credit card receipt for a
coach ticket to Geneva

the day Shelly disappeared.

It's marked
"fashion scouting."

This guy even deducts his
daughter's expenses as a fugitive.

This Ice Capades group,

it includes a Jonathan Freeman.

One of Bridget's clients.

Where's Shelly's
appointment book?

February 21st, Walter Schwartz.
Donna. $400.

February 21st. Business entertainment.
Walter Schwartz. $400.

He was entertaining his buyers
with his daughter's girlfriends.

We can charge him with that
and hindering prosecution.

Forget about those.

The shoe company was mixed up
with the prostitution ring.

That's enterprise corruption.

A grand jury can order all
of Taggert's assets seized.

Bye-bye,
Swiss wire transfers.

Hello, Shelly Taggert.

DONNA: We still worked off
the ad part of the time.

But Shelly brought in some
new customers on her own.

She'd handle the arrangements,
when and where.

I'd show up and do the job.
Shelly would pay me afterward.

JACK: Is it your testimony
that you would meet men

where and when Shelly
Taggert instructed you to?

That you'd have sex
with those men,

and then Shelly would pay
you for your services?

Yes.

I show you this list
of shoe buyers

who dealt with
Barry Taggert's company.

Are those the men Shelly
Taggert set you up with?

Yeah.

I was pretty amazed when I realized
this was her father's company.

Why was that?

I don't think my parents
would have approved.

Shelly said her dad was cool.

Cool?

She lived with a guy
freshman year.

Her dad paid their rent.
Stuff like that.

He took us all out to dinner one night.
Me, Lisa, Bridget.

Was he cool?

He told us he wanted us to wear
his company's shoes on our dates,

so that the buyers could see
how good they looked.

SPECTOR:
I'm a forensic accountant.

I perform audits for the purpose
of uncovering business fraud.

JACK: And at the request of the
District Attorney of New York County,

did you analyze the books and records
of the Taggert Shoe Company?

I did.

What did you find?

Among other things, a lot of
questionable tax deductions.

Including payments
to Shelly Taggert?

Yes, she was on the payroll.

As a provider of prostitutes?

No.

As a consultant.
Her specific duties weren't listed.

Did you find any pattern
in the payments to her?

Yes. They were very high
after trade show weekends.

They correlated with certain
business entertainment expenses.

That would be the entertainment
of certain male shoe buyers?

Yes, at $400 per occasion.

Was the nature
of these entertainments

described anywhere
in Mr. Taggert's records?

The IRS requires it.

Mr. Taggert called them
"guided nature hikes."

Enterprise corruption,
very creative.

You do realize that the statute
was intended to be used

against organized crime.

This was
organized prostitution.

For the purpose
of selling shoes.

Not exactly Al Capone.
Do you have any idea where the girl is?

We've put her on Interpol.
The Swiss police are looking for her.

Meanwhile, we dry up her funds.
A pincer movement.

Where'd you do your graduate work?
Law school or West Point?

Whatever works, Adam.

Well, you're certainly
not going to prosecute

the father
for enterprise corruption.

They're going
to scream bad faith.

They can scream
all they want to.

Only I get to talk
to the grand jury.

JACK: Ladies
and gentlemen,

you've now heard all
the witnesses we have

to present in this matter.

I'm asking you
to return an indictment

of enterprise corruption
against Barry Taggert.

Yeah?

I'm still a little confused,
Mr. McCoy.

The corrupt enterprise
is the prostitution ring,

not the shoe company?

That's right.
But I'm also asking you,

in accordance with Article
460.30 of the penal law,

to file a special information

seeking the forfeiture of the
assets of the Taggert Shoe Company.

But you just said the shoe company
isn't the corrupt enterprise.

They're linked,
and the law says

that the State
can take any property

affording a source of influence
over the corrupt enterprise.

JACK: I know you'll do
the right thing.

Now, this is the crepe.
It comes in black, brown, ecru, sage and...

Mr. Taggert,
put down the shoe.

Now, is this really necessary?

You're under arrest
for enterprise corruption.

You have the right
to remain silent.

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

You have the right
to an attorney.

Yes, I have one.
He was expecting this.

I'll be back in two hours.
Ask Naomi to show you the simulated lizard.

When you get back, Mr.
Taggert, you'll be reporting to him.

Hi. Jerold Spector.

The court has appointed him
provisional receiver of your assets,

pending their forfeiture
upon your conviction.

Forfeiture?
I have 16 employees.

The officers here will safeguard
the integrity of your assets.

No payment will be made
on any account

without the approval
of Mr. Spector.

How am I supposed
to stay in business?

You know what?
I don't think you're supposed to.

They're here.

Well, I hope you're happy,
McCoy.

Should I be?

It's only been a week and
already I'm laying people off.

That bean counter that you
sent in won't authorize

ordinary business expenses.

All you have to do is prove they
won't go to your fugitive daughter.

She's not hiding in the Lucky
Shoe Factory in Shanghai.

How do we know that?

Look, Shelly did not
kill that girl.

Then she has nothing to fear
by returning to stand trial.

We're on her trail anyway,
Mr. Taggert.

The Swiss police
just found her last hotel.

JACK: And with Mr. Spector
on your back,

she must be getting damn close to
being evicted from her new one.

CLAIRE: She'll be arrested any day.
Then she'll be extradited.

What if she comes back
on her own?

She gets a fair trial.

I drop this charge against you.
Mr. Spector goes home.

Did you tell all that
to the grand jury, Mr. McCoy?

You can use my phone.

Call her.

"Case number 69842.
People v. Shelly Taggert.

"Charge is Murder
in the Second Degree."

Plea?

Not guilty.

Ms. Kincaid?

The defendant operated a
prostitution business, Your Honor.

She's charged with killing
one of her prostitutes.

So that's her?
Welcome home, Ms. Taggert.

Given that she fled the
country to avoid arrest,

the People request
she be held without bail.

My client returned
voluntarily to clear her name.

Voluntarily, because she was
broke and about to be arrested.

We make our own beds around here.
She fled once, bail is denied.

"Co-ed hooker hooked."

What were these girls thinking?

They should have been
applying to graduate schools.

They say they wanted the money.

Maybe they thought
it was some kind of thrill.

Plus, they got to thumb their
noses at conventional morality.

And replaced it with what?

CLAIRE: There is a school
of thought

that if a women owns her own body
for recreation and procreation,

she also has
the right to sell it.

And where is
that school located?

Anyway, Shelly Taggert
wasn't selling her own body.

She sold other women's.

Fortunately for you,
the jury's going to hate her.

We can also prove that
she argued with the victim

on the day she was killed,

a cameo from the victim's neck
ended up in her desk drawer.

Wounds from the victim's neck

match the cameo's band
like it was ripped off.

She killed her for the cameo?

I don't know,

and I don't need to know.

This is a madam
killing a prostitute.

It happens with pimps and streetwalkers
on 11th Avenue all the time.

You're saying these girls
are no different?

CLAIRE: Oh, I'm sure
they liked to think they were.

Shelly Taggert still says
she didn't do it.

To us. But what do you think
she said to her father

when he helped her skip out?

That she had to take off for
Switzerland in the dead of night

because the ski runs
were melting?

I never said that I just came
home and found my daughter gone.

I've been honest
that I helped her.

Then you must have discussed
why she was going.

We did. But it had nothing
to do with Bridget's murder.

But you knew about the murder.
She knew about the murder.

We discussed the police
investigation of prostitution.

She was afraid
she'd be arrested.

Even though the police
had told her

that they weren't
interested in those charges?

I don't know what
the police told her.

She did.

It doesn't matter
what the police said.

Shelly was scared.
She was embarrassed.

Mr. Taggert,
it takes an awful lot

to embarrass your daughter,
doesn't it?

Objection.

Sustained.

Mr. Taggert, didn't your daughter
tell you that she wanted to flee

because she'd killed
Bridget Kaylin? No.

Are you sure you're not
lying to protect her?

I wouldn't do that.

No. You'd send her
to Europe,

you'd spend thousands of dollars,
you'd risk your business

but you wouldn't lie?

I work for a company
that operates 17 stores.

Lot of shoe vendors
want our business.

I guess Mr. Taggert felt
the need to treat me well.

And that included providing
you with prostitutes?

He had some girls in a hospitality
suite at a footwear show.

Including Bridget Kaylin?

Yes.

Did you see her
after that first occasion?

Yes. I liked her.

Mr. Taggert gave me the number
to call to arrange more dates.

The girl who answered
the phone set them up.

Who was that girl,
Mr. Freeman?

Well, I realized it was Shelly, Mr.
Taggert's daughter.

So this was a full-service
family business?

He provided the shoes, his
daughter provided her friends.

Objection.

Sustained.

Mr. Freeman, are you sure
that the woman

who set up your dates with Bridget
Kaylin was Shelly Taggert?

Yes. I knew her

from when I had gotten her
a summer sales job

once at her father's request.

She quit after two weeks.

She preferred
selling Bridget Kaylin?

Objection.

Sustained.

That's enough, Mr. McCoy.

When did you see her last?

A few weeks
before she was killed.

I had been trying to see her.
I called her directly.

But she said she wouldn't
be making any more dates.

Did you ever discuss
that fact with the defendant?

Yes. I called Shelly to make
some other arrangement.

I told her Bridget
was quitting.

Shelly got very angry, but
she said I shouldn't worry.

She'd take care of it.

I only meant that
I'd get him somebody else.

Another prostitute?

Yes.

I just started this whole
thing to help my father.

I knew what was going on
at those trade shows

with his clients
and those escorts,

and I knew they were
trouble, they stole.

So you volunteered to help out?

I knew what Bridget and her friends were doing.
I told my father.

We've heard testimony
that you and she argued

the day she was killed.

Yeah, about her borrowing my
outfits and not returning them.

We fought like little girls about clothes.
It was stupid. It was nothing.

Did you see Bridget
the night she was killed?

No.

Then how did your fingerprints
come to be on her study desk?

We used to study in the
stacks together all the time.

I used to sit at
that desk sometimes.

Did you ever see
your father in the library?

Yes. He would sometimes come
and meet me and Bridget,

and then take us for a drink.

He met her through me.

Did he have any trouble
getting into the stacks?

He's an alumnus.
He has a card.

I see.

What about Bridget's cameo?

How did that come to be in the
apartment you shared with your father?

My father brought it there.
He told me...

Approach, Your Honor.

There's only one place the
witness can be going with this.

So? Let's hear
her testimony.

If Mr. McCoy has an objection,
he can make it then.

After she accuses her
father of this murder?

Once that bell is rung,
I can't unring it.

I want an offer of proof
before she says another word.

I'll see the lawyers and Ms.
Taggert in my chambers. Now.

It's a desperate act
by the defendant

to manufacture
reasonable doubt.

There is no evidence
to support the allegation.

That's what we're here
to determine, Mr. McCoy.

Is it in fact your intention,
Ms. Taggert,

to accuse your father
of this murder?

He told me he killed Bridget.

Did he tell you why?

Not really.

I know he was having
an affair with her.

If you don't mind, I'll
ask you to wait outside.

It's not credible.

Isn't that for the jury
to decide?

Assuming this affair
even happened,

it's not evidence
that he committed murder.

He confessed to her, Jack.
That's evidence,

and it's supported
by your evidence,

the cameo was found
in his apartment.

An affair gone south
would establish motive.

It's a nice story. Why don't we just
blame it on some random black man,

or a Colombian drug dealer?

Because they didn't do it.

Says Ms. Taggert.
Her father's alleged confession is hearsay.

SHORE: It's an admission.

To a defendant.

So it's only admissible
if the person

who supposedly made it is dead,

out of the jurisdiction,
or refuses to testify

on the ground
of self-incrimination.

Mr. Taggert's alive,

and I just saw him five
minutes ago in the courtroom.

Are you expecting, Ms. Shore,

that Mr. Taggert will take the
Fifth if called to testify?

I'll have to talk to him.

He's a prosecution witness.

Now he's a potential
defense witness.

I have a right to interview him

without big brother
looking over my shoulder.

Given this defendant's
flair for surprises,

I think the People should hear
what Mr. Taggert has to say

at the same time
the defense does.

I hope you feel rewarded for all
your sacrifices, Mr. Taggert.

Your daughter says
you're a murderer.

I've advised my client
to remain silent.

Just what your daughter
wants you to do.

I know you've always
indulged her, sir,

but isn't this a little much,
even for you?

Mr. McCoy, you are here
to listen, not to badger.

Well, I'm not hearing anything.

I have nothing to say.

If you take the Fifth, your
daughter will have plenty to say.

SHORE: Mr. Taggert,

is it your intent to take
the Fifth Amendment

if asked if you
killed Bridget Kaylin?

Yes.

Fine. We're done here.

I'm not.

What about your alleged affair
with Bridget Kaylin, sir?

That's not covered
by the Fifth.

That lasted for six months.

I took her to Saint Barts.
I bought that cameo.

There are witnesses.

Satisfied, Mr. McCoy?

No.

What floor of the library
was Bridget Kaylin on

when she was killed,
Mr. Taggert?

Just tell me that,
and I'll believe you.

I plead the Fifth.

I was home that night, studying,
when my father came in.

He was very upset.

SHORE: How could you tell?

He didn't say hi.

He just poured a drink

and then he started to cry.

What did he say?

He had just had
a fight with Bridget,

she wanted to break up with him.
She said he was too old.

He grabbed and pushed her.

And it was an accident,
but she was dead.

Did he have this cameo,
People's Exhibit 11, with him?

Yes.

He said he grabbed Bridget by it
and it broke off in his hand.

He didn't even realize he
had it until he got home.

If it was an accident,

why didn't he turn himself
over to the police?

He said he was afraid
they'd investigate

and find out
about the prostitution.

He didn't want me
to get in trouble.

He was only thinking about me.

Thank you.

JACK: If your father killed
Bridget Kaylin,

why were you the one
who fled the country?

I told you, he didn't want
me to get in trouble.

Over the nonexistent
prostitution charges?

I didn't think
that they were nonexistent.

I never thought
I'd be arrested for murder.

It wasn't murder anyway.

He didn't mean to kill her.

And he didn't mean
to take the cameo with him?

No. Even though he
gave it to her?

You're sure he didn't
want to get it back?

Objection.
Calls for speculation.

I'll rephrase.
You're sure you didn't want it back?

Why would I?

I don't know.

Why did it wind up
in your desk drawer?

I was hiding it.

I thought it might be
used for evidence.

I wanted to protect my father.

You and he are close,
aren't you?

Yes.

Being so close,

how did you feel
about your father

giving expensive jewelry
to Bridget Kaylin?

It was none of my business.

But she was your business.

How did you feel
about your father

getting involved
with one of your whores?

Why are you doing this?

I didn't kill her.
And he didn't mean to.

(CRYING)

She fell and she hit her head.

You're sure about that,
aren't you?

Yes.
Because you were there!

Because you pushed her!

No. He told me.

He told me. I'm sorry, Daddy.
I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

The defendant will rise.

On the sole count
of the indictment,

murder in the second degree,
how do you find?

We find the defendant,
Shelly Taggert, not guilty.

JUDGE BARRY: The defendant is dismissed.
Court is adjourned.

Thanks, Daddy.

I'm afraid your celebration
ends now, Mr. Taggert.

You're arresting me for murder?

I would if I thought
you were guilty.

(HORNS HONKING)

Barry Taggert, you're under
arrest for enterprise corruption.

You have the right
to remain silent...

You dropped all that
when I brought her back.

That was before you took
part in this charade.

Daddy, I'll go get your lawyer.

CLAIRE: That's nice of you,
Ms. Taggert.

Your father's business
is gone, he's going to prison.

It's all right, honey.
Sure.

If she's half as good to you as you've
been to her, maybe she'll visit.

Daddy, you know I will.