Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–2011): Season 1, Episode 2 - Art - full transcript
Detectives Goren and Eames sort through a palette of colorful characters when they probe the slayings of a museum curator and an art authenticator, and they soon discover evidence of copied masterpieces that makes an arrogant Austrian dealer their prime suspect -- but the key hinges on finding the elusive forger. Meanwhile, as Goren reveals a surprising knowledge of art -- and the German language -- the investigators figure that the best way to find a forger is to enlist the aid of another forger.
Narrator: In New York
City's war on crime,
the worst criminal offenders
are pursued by the detectives
of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
Don't you put me off, Bernard.
I've been trying to
reach you all morning.
I can't do this over the phone.
I'm coming down to the city.
Yes, it's that important.
Prototype just arrived.
You should be very proud.
Gloria, I...
I've got to go home.
This kid emergency, and I...
I'll see you tomorrow.
Man: Americans always panic.
Don't patronize me.
This is potentially
ruinous to both of us.
Who else knows?
She didn't say. My impression
is it's new information.
I don't think she
told anybody else.
- Will she take money?
- It's not about that with her.
She's worried
about her reputation.
Okay.
Okay what?
I'll help you.
I have to go back
to the studio tonight.
Again? Bernie...
- Listen, could you not...
- Could I not what?
We've been talking for months
about your taking on less work.
- I'm still tied up
with a few things.
- Bernie,
you're exhausted all the time
and stressed out. It's not worth it.
So we have less money. Big deal.
You know? Big deal.
(buzzer sounds)
I'm sorry. I couldn't
find a cab and...
I thought this was
going to be private.
Mr. Langer knows all about it.
I'm sure we can sort this out
like civilized people, my dear.
That's hard to imagine with
the position you've put me in.
This can work to your advantage.
(buzzer sounds)
Now who's that?
Bernard? Bernard, where are you?
Didn't you hear the phone...
Oh my God.
(theme music playing)
The wife ID'd this
one. Bernard Jackson.
Some kind of art authenticator.
My LT thought we should call you
guys on account of the art angle.
This one's about art? You
better call the mayor, too.
The wife said that's her husband's
.38 which he kept for protection.
She doesn't know
the hanging beauty.
Anne Ellis. ID from the Champlain
Museum of Art up in Troy.
She's the curator.
Pictures, car keys,
hotel passkey.
What's Mrs. Jackson's story?
Bernard was working late. When
he didn't come home in the morning,
she cabbed it down here.
Found everything as is.
She's got gunpowder
on the right one.
We'll, do a test,
just to be sure.
Test her shirt and sleeve. I
want to see the dispersal pattern.
And check the box cutter
near the spool for prints.
Popular opinion's got this
pegged as a murder-suicide.
I never trust opinion polls.
This rope is frayed
down to here.
- She was hoisted up?
- Could be.
Officer: The fraying doesn't mean
anything one way or the other.
Does this mean anything?
(blows)
Glasses are missing.
Yes, and probably washed.
Tell the MEs to run
a tox on both victims
for alcohol and sedatives.
Well, I think we're ready
to see Mrs. Jackson.
I've been told they want to check my
hands for gunpowder, as if I shot Bernie.
- It's just routine procedure.
- It's not routine for me.
I don't know what
I'm going to do now.
We're very sorry for your loss.
The dead woman's
name is Anne Ellis.
She's the curator at
a museum up in Troy.
- Your husband ever mention her?
- No.
Maybe he was doing
some work for her.
Are you sure their relationship
was strictly... professional?
It had to be.
Four months ago my
husband had prostate surgery.
It affected his...
Nothing we tried worked.
He was planning to slow down,
maybe go back to
teaching at the Art Institute.
The surgery really scared him.
Why would that
woman do this to him?
You say double
homicide, this test says
the dead woman's hand
was positive for gunpowder.
The back-blast pattern's wrong.
There was no residue on her shirt.
And the MEs found enough
Ruphinol in her system
to knock out a horse.
Does it work the other
way? He slips her a mickey,
strings her up,
and shoots himself?
Doesn't jibe with the blast
pattern around his wound.
A double homicide it is.
What about Jackson's wife?
No gunpowder on her. Her doorman
has her home until 6:00 in the morning.
And Anne Ellis's husband was
home in Troy all night with their kid.
That checks out with the calls he
made to her hotel during the night.
All right, I'm going to
give this one last shot.
This guy kept a lot
of art in his workshop.
I saw a Tibetan thangka
worth over 100 grand,
a Goya etching
worth a half a mil easy.
A Chinese blue and white
moon vase worth 200 grand.
A lot of stuff that would've
been easy pickings in a robbery.
All my favorite theories
shot to hell in 60 seconds.
Anything in her hotel room?
An overnight bag,
no sexy lingerie.
There's a Mr. Ellis here. Says
he's supposed to talk to you.
She was found hanging in the
workshop of Bernard Jackson.
She had been drugged.
What was she doing there?
Eames: We were
hoping you could tell us.
I don't know who
Bernard Jackson is.
This was a business trip for
the museum, kinda last minute.
She made a lot of
business trips to the city?
Last few months,
every couple of weeks.
She found these donors who were
giving a painting to the museum.
Monet.
A painting like that, that's...
quite a coup for a small museum.
It was very important to her.
She spent a lot of time
sucking up to these people.
I thought that's who
she was seeing last night.
You know their names?
Blunt. Rachel and Bill, I think.
Annie said they had a big place
on 5th Avenue just
up from the Met.
Oh, God.
What the hell happened to her?
Eames: She didn't
call you at all that day?
No. Neither did Bernard.
Bernard Jackson?
You knew him as well?
He authenticated the
Monet when we bought it.
Goren: You bought it at auction?
Uh, no. From a
collector in Europe.
Whose idea was it to donate
it to the Champlain Museum?
Rachel spent her summers in the
area. Thought it would be a nice gesture.
Bernard gave me the idea.
He'd said places like the Met have
more art than they know what to do with.
- But up in Troy...
- Our little Monet would be a star.
That's what Bernard said.
You like art, Detective?
I like this. It's a Lachaise.
Bronze. One of only
three cast from the mold.
How do you know?
Does it have a
number on the bottom?
There's no number.
It's just a documented fact.
Eames: Were you aware Jackson
and Mrs. Ellis knew each other?
They met because of our Monet.
- But we didn't know how well
they knew each other.
- Oh.
You think there was
something going on there?
Well, murder-suicide
speaks for itself, doesn't it?
It certainly does.
When's the last time
you spoke with Mrs. Ellis?
A few days ago.
But there was supposed to be a little
ceremony to dedicate the new gallery.
But she said it was going to have
to be postponed a couple of weeks.
She say why?
Um...
some problem with the contractor.
They botched the lighting.
Right. It's a Monet.
It's all in the lighting.
Thank you.
They're simply
investigating the tragic end
of a tragic love affair.
He tried to pretend he didn't,
but one of them
knew a lot about art.
And where did he come by this
knowledge, at the police academy?
Come on, William,
even the art world doesn't
know a lot about art.
You said nothing could go wrong.
Nothing has gone wrong.
Jackson just could
not keep it in his pants.
How could he have been so stupid
getting involved with that girl?
Look on the bright side...
If anything does go wrong,
we can always blame Jackson.
He's hardly in a
position to deny it.
It's beautiful.
Impressionists are too pretty.
Right. You probably like those
sweaty naked people in the next room.
Lucien Freud? As
a matter of fact, I do.
You can't put that
stuff in your home.
- You can't live with it.
- I'm not interested
in living with it,
I'm interested in
thinking about it.
Woman: Hello.
I see you found our treasure.
- Exquisite, isn't it?
- It's beautiful.
It's destined to be
Annie's legacy, I'm afraid.
She worked so hard
to line up the donation...
The funding to
build this gallery.
She had a lot riding on it?
Well, we're not a rich museum.
The added security
alone is a burden.
But a $10 million gift
will put us on the map.
We heard the gallery dedication was
postponed because of a lighting problem.
The lighting? Oh, no.
No, the Blunts had
a last minute conflict.
Annie was adamant we
couldn't go ahead without them.
Could we see her office?
Mm-hmm.
I can't tell you how
shocked we were.
Annie was the last
person we expected to...
Well, you know.
- Die?
- I mean in those circumstances.
I can only imagine how
her husband must feel.
Have you heard of the
Vaughn-Dixon Chem-Test company?
- No.
- They're in New Mexico.
They sent Annie a receipt to
test paint chips from an oil painting.
I don't see why.
We use two companies here,
in New York and in New Jersey.
She probably didn't want anyone
to know she was having tests done.
This says that the test on
the paint was inconclusive.
What paint?
Well, apparently Annie
thought your exquisite Monet
might be an exquisite fake.
The museum just let
you take their painting?
With the help of a court order.
They're afraid of looking like
idiots if it turns out it's a forgery.
If it is, it's a damn good one.
The paints were hand-made
by grinding naturally
occurring minerals,
mixing them with linseed oil. It's
the way Monet would've done it.
You found cadmium
red in the paint.
- Didn't they use
vermillion back then?
- Only until 1872.
That's four years before
the date of this painting.
"Green specks of
unknown origin."
Yeah, well, we're still
working on that one.
Maybe Madame Monet dropped
some green beans in the paint bucket.
- What about the canvas?
- Mid-19th century.
Forgers take paintings by
unknown artists of the same period,
strip them down to the
canvas and paint over them.
Then what would've tipped
off Annie that it might be a fake?
The craquelure of
the paint varnish.
When it's... When
it ages naturally,
the cracks are uneven.
When it's aged artificially,
the cracks have a
uniform pattern like this.
- You did your homework.
- Yeah.
- (beeping)
- Okay...
here's how it works.
1945 on... Hiroshima, Nagasaki,
A-bomb tests, worldwide
radiation levels go through the roof.
Radiation is absorbed
by every living thing,
including linseed,
which finds its way
into oil paints
mixed after 1945.
Paintings made after 1945
have a higher radiation level.
Which this one
shouldn't have, but does.
This Monet was painted at
least 30 years after Monet died.
Wouldn't he be surprised?
If he knew who the previous
owner was, he wrote it down.
But I couldn't tell you
where he kept those records.
Do you think that's
who killed Bernie?
Seeing as they sold a forgery
to the Blunts for millions,
they have a pretty good motive.
You're not saying Bernie
knew it was a forgery?
Our experts think he did.
We're sorry.
He could've been fooled.
It could have been
an honest mistake.
Why? He's made mistakes before?
He used to work
almost exclusively
for an insurance company.
Last year, it was discovered
a rare Greek statue
he authenticated for a
museum in Los Angeles
turned out to be a Roman copy.
And the company let him go?
It worked out for the best.
He was making more
money freelancing.
- For RSL Galleries.
- Among others.
He authenticated the Monet for
them. They must've handled the sale.
We got 11 invoices to RSL,
half dozen to other clients.
- Totals just over 100 grand.
- No, that can't be right.
Bernie put almost
a million dollars
into our accounts
over the last year.
- From his art business?
- Yes.
This report is unreliable.
The radiation test
didn't lie, Mr. Langer.
Americans are so
impressed with science,
when it's as much
myth as religion.
There's also the cracking
of the paint varnish.
Again, a matter of opinion.
You'll forgive me if I
credit my expertise,
as well as Bernard's, with a bit more
authority than some stupid machine.
Then you're not worried
the other paintings
that Jackson authenticated
might be forgeries?
- Not at all.
- Then where did
the paintings come from?
From European sellers who
wish to remain anonymous.
How about a list of the paintings
and the American buyers?
That information
is also confidential.
Americans are also impressed
with other things, like subpoenas.
We'd be glad to show you
how impressive they can be.
There's nothing in life
I enjoy quite as much
as being threatened
by a beautiful woman.
Let me get you that list.
Monet's "Spring Violets"
was in the Albertina Museum
in Vienna in 1935.
But the painting was on
loan from a private collection.
Ursula and David Leibermann.
Lesen sie Deutsch?
Ja, ausrechend.
I learned in the Army.
This day is ever
more delightful.
Is that where you
got the painting from,
the Leibermann family?
No. They all met
an unfortunate end.
Wonderful collection
they had. Very tragic.
Here's your information.
Six months ago, Langer sold
"Rainy Night" by Pissarro.
- What's the next painting?
- A Cezanne.
Here. "Rainy Night" by Pissarro,
property of the Abraham family,
Linz, Austria, 1936.
"The Stone Road" by Cezanne,
property of the
Sternberg family,
Vienna, 1938.
"Mister Langlois" by Renoir,
property of Julius
Schkolnick, Vienna, 1937.
Langer's paintings were
owned by Jewish families.
And they all met
an unfortunate end.
We have the most extensive
list of stolen Jewish art,
thanks ironically to
the Nazis themselves.
They kept very precise records.
Uh-huh, here's one. Let
me just check something.
How come alarms didn't go off when
this Monet went out on the market?
These were private sales. We
never knew they were on the market.
Here. Those the
paintings on your list?
They're all there.
What's this list from?
The manifest of a U-boat that
sank in the North Sea in 1945.
All your paintings
were on board,
presumably on their
way to South America.
What I don't understand is how could
anyone recover these masterpieces
from the bottom of the ocean?
By painting them yourself.
Maybe the paintings
never made it on the sub.
Maybe some Nazi SOB
stored them in his attic.
- I nominate one
of Langer's relatives.
- I'm betting they're all forgeries.
There's only one way to find
out for sure... test each painting.
- You have a list. Start dialing.
- We left messages.
- No one's rushing to call back.
- What's that about?
Nobody likes to be
told they're a sucker.
Even the Blunts and the Champlain
Museum are disputing the test results.
That's one explanation
for their behavior.
Why don't you find the
explanation that works for you?
As for the Renoir we
bought from Mr. Langer,
we donated it to
the Tufnel Museum.
- The Tufnel?
- It's in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Why that museum?
The bigger museums are
swimming with Impressionists.
- But in Des Plaines...
- Your Renoir would be a star.
- That's precisely what DeWitt said.
- After speaking with Mr. Jackson
and Mr. Langer.
We consulted with
them, naturally.
If you don't mind me asking, how
much did you pay for the Renoir?
One and a half million dollars.
Bit of a bargain.
Still, a nice gift for
a small museum.
Here's the deal. Last
year, Mr. DeWitt Foster
decided to exercise
his stock options.
Overnight he's worth 20 million.
He thinks his stocks are going to
be worth more if he holds onto them.
- Except the market takes a dive.
- Right.
So now his stocks
are worth three million.
The crunch comes
when he gets his tax bill.
The IRS assessed his taxes based
upon what the stocks were worth
back when he
exercised his options.
- When they were worth 20 million.
- He gets a tax bill for
eight million.
He needs to cut his tax bill.
Hence the donation to a museum.
The assessed value of this
painting is 14 million bucks.
That's a $7 million tax break.
And he paid only one
million-five for the painting.
That's why they
call it a bargain.
- A tax scam?
- A very good tax scam.
- Are the museums in on it?
- Doubtful.
Langer and his clients
targeted small regional museums
who couldn't afford
their own testing.
They took Jackson's
authentication at face value.
Except for Mrs.
Ellis up in Troy.
Her suspicions gave
Jackson second thoughts
about his participation
in the scam.
Langer killed them both.
You think. I think.
This scam has a
built-in defense...
Plausible deniability.
The buyers can claim they didn't
know they were buying forgeries.
Langer can claim he was duped
by whoever supplied
him with the paintings.
They all can point
their finger at Jackson.
There is one person that
can't say they didn't know.
The forger.
Find him, and the
dominoes will fall.
The art theft squad at the FBI
might have a line on this guy.
Talk to them. I need
to practice my German.
Tax fraud? How mundane.
But smart, and I like smart.
I want to get one thing
straight between us.
It's not a crime
selling forgeries
to people who know
they're buying forgeries.
Am I correct to assume
murder is still a crime?
Yes.
There's a lot of people
involved here, Mr. Langer.
But we're light on evidence.
If we put pressure on
people, someone'll talk.
Why start with me?
(speaking German)
- I have nothing to tell you.
- You have a lot to tell me.
You not only sold
those paintings,
you painted them.
What makes you think that?
They were made by
a master technician.
Not like Van Meegeren
and his fake Vermeers,
but someone who
could recreate the...
The work of many artists.
An artist in his own right.
No. This person would have to be
devoid of artistic
vision and an American.
Americans have no
idea what art is anymore.
You filled this building
with motorcycles...
und called it art.
Is that what you're doing
with these paintings?
Thumbing your nose at us?
Whatever I'm doing,
it hardly entails
painting frauds...
and signing someone else's name.
I do not know of any man who could
subjugate his ego to such an extent.
A woman. He said a man's
ego would get in the way.
- Do you have transparencies
of the paintings?
- Yeah.
Reproductions. You
make any money at this?
They retail for
500 at art fairs,
cost me 20. You tell me.
Hit the lights.
This is one of the best
forgeries I've seen in a long time.
Tell me about the materials.
Period canvas,
paints hand-mixed
with linseed oil.
It's hanging in a museum,
like a couple
of yours, I'll bet.
I'll never tell.
Goren: What, you
seeing something?
Maybe.
See this?
Yeah, it's like a
cut in the paint.
With a palette knife.
They all have it.
Crescent shape.
Man...
she's gotten good.
- You know her?
- Yeah.
She used to do restorations for
the Met to support her painting.
Name's Sylvia Moon.
You've been saying and
saying it's about to happen.
This is not a good day to
issue ultimatums, my dear.
I want people looking
at my paintings.
- They are looking
at your paintings.
- You made me promises,
you son of a bitch.
You better keep them.
Artists.
You owe me two canvases.
You finish them,
then you get your show.
Goren: Sylvia Moon?
Yes. Who are you?
I'm Detective Eames.
This is Detective Goren.
- We need to talk to you.
- I'm in the middle
of some work.
We'll only take a few minutes.
Hey, this... it's nice.
He can't help himself.
Can I come in?
I guess so.
Careful. It's still drying.
That smell, linseed oil...
You grind your own paints.
The pigments are
better that way.
Just the way the
Impressionists used to do it.
Some of them.
What is it you
want to talk about?
- You grind them in this?
- Yes.
I'm sorry, my studio
isn't open for tours.
Now, I'm trying to
get a show ready.
Eames: Do you know Rudy Langer?
He owns a gallery.
Everybody knows Rudy.
You should put
this in your show.
Where's it going to be?
That hasn't been finalized yet.
Yellow tangs, clownfish.
I like your set-up.
It's very... relaxing.
This how you control the algae?
Yes.
It says here you
crush the tablets
before you put
them in the aquarium.
Yes.
You crush these
green tablets in there...
same as your paints.
Yes. Why?
Guess it wasn't the
green beans after all.
The chemical analysis showed
the green specks in the paint
were composed of simazine,
which is the active
ingredient in the algae tablets.
You did the Monet, the
Renoir, the Cezanne,
and all the other forgeries.
- They're not forgeries.
- Sylvia...
They're original works based on
source material by other artists.
I even signed them with my mark.
Why did you paint
them in the first place?
As color exercises.
That's how you learn to
paint. By copying the masters.
They teach you it's okay to
pass them off as the real thing?
I didn't. Rudy knew
exactly what he was getting,
and so did the buyers.
Goren: An original
painting by Sylvia Moon?
Yes.
Identical in every
respect to a Monet?
Not at all.
Art is about context.
A romanticist like Monet,
painting flowers at the
dawn of the machine age,
isn't the same as a
21st century woman
painting the same flowers
at the dawn of the cyber age.
The message is different.
What was Bernard
Jackson's message
when he signed
the authentications?
I don't know what
you're talking about.
He certified that your
painting was a Monet.
I don't know who this person is,
and I have no control over what people
do with my paintings once they buy them.
And that's the bottom
line, Detectives.
Now... this interview's over.
A lot of people have
bought your work?
I mean...
aside from color exercises?
There are several
collectors very interested.
They're waiting for my new show.
Your new show?
Who's putting it on?
- Rudy Langer.
- Well, that's funny.
He told me that...
only someone
devoid of artistic vision
could paint those forgeries.
If she didn't
misrepresent her paintings
to Langer or anybody else,
she might be off the hook.
- Doesn't give us much leverage.
- So much for falling dominoes.
Take another run at the
Blunts and the other buyers.
They're all alibied for
the night of the murder,
and they're saying they
were misled by Jackson.
Carver: Seems like
we've been here before.
- Sylvia Moon knew Jackson.
- Carver: What?
This is from a group
show two years ago.
It says that she graduated from
the New York Art Institute in '91.
Katherine Jackson said her
husband used to teach there.
I knew. Some part of me knew
you were stringing me along!
- Never.
- But to go bragging about it?
To tell the police that I am
"devoid of artistic vision"?!
I had to throw
them off the track.
Don't you know what
this is like for me?
Can you even conceive
what this show meant?
- You can't...
- Sylvia, don't be like this.
We have to be careful now.
I don't care anymore!
Don't look at those!
That's bad art!
There's no art in this gallery.
This man is a fraud!
Stop looking!
Yes, Bernard had a reputation.
There were flings
with other faculty.
What about the
students? Sylvia Moon?
That's a name I haven't
heard in a long time.
Yes, there was some involvement.
Bernard had to leave
when we found out.
Under threat of a lawsuit,
we allowed Sylvia to graduate.
Or otherwise she
wouldn't have graduated?
There was always strong
draftmanship in her work.
That's not the same
thing as artistry.
Was she admitted the
same way she graduated?
No. She had to apply twice
before she was accepted.
The second time, the committee
thought she showed
impressive growth in a year.
There's no question, her
second canvas was brilliant.
We even used it in
our publicity materials.
- We'd love to see it.
- Oh.
And would you happen to
know where she got her BFA?
I'll look it up.
Her last year here
she took "Art of Southeast
Asia" with Professor Gilsdorf,
"Portraiture" with
Professor Diniacopoulos...
- This is odd.
- Eames: What?
She got credit for her
classes, but no grades.
No grades? I wish I had
known about this place.
Okay, I remember this.
Ms. Moon was in
residence that year,
and her roommate, Zoe
Payton, she suicided.
So the college
gave Sylvia a "bye."
College policy.
Because of the trauma.
Do you remember how
the roommate killed herself?
Hanged herself in her room.
Zoe was our only
child. Killed my wife.
Just took 10 years to do it.
Did you have any warning
Zoe might hurt herself?
She'd keep things to herself,
but she felt things very
deep, just like my wife.
She'd broken up with some
boy a few weeks before.
Did she ever mention her
roommate, Sylvia Moon?
She found her, poor girl.
Really broke her up.
They were friends.
Took art classes together.
This room hasn't changed much
- since your daughter died, has it?
- No.
Eames.
What's the matter?
Did Sylvia visit here?
No, I don't think so.
And this is one of your
daughter's paintings?
She did that her freshman year.
Same person did both paintings.
She flipped the rope
over the crossbeam...
Those acoustic tiles come out...
And tied it to the radiator.
The chair was
kicked over right here.
Was she tested for drugs?
They found Quaaludes.
Goren: Is this her bed here?
Uh, yes. Think so.
These tiles have been replaced.
You have the maintenance
record for this room?
Yep, a few years ago...
replaced a bent pipe
and some broken brackets.
Well, now I see it.
- Joan, thank God. They arrested me.
- For what?
- Carver: Tax fraud.
- Not this again.
- Eames: She knew Bernard Jackson.
- Carver: Knew him quite well.
You had a relationship
with him at the Art Institute.
- No, I didn't...
- Carver: Don't even try denying it.
Now as to the murders,
we believe Mr. Langer
committed them,
but we need your
help to prove it.
I don't know. I wasn't there.
We lifted over 120 different
fingerprints from the workshop.
It won't take much to match
yours with one of those.
She helps you, what
does she get in return?
She pleads to grand larceny
two, she gets probation,
and we'll talk to the US
Attorney about the tax charges.
That's if we get
her full cooperation.
Rudy asked me to...
help them talk to this
woman, this curator.
They said they were
going to pay her off.
I stayed a half an hour.
She was still alive when I left.
When you left, where
was Mrs. Ellis standing?
- Near the table.
- Which table?
One of them. I don't
know which one.
- Where was Mr. Langer?
- He was near the bookcase.
At least four bookcases.
I'm getting lost in
the geography here.
We're going to have to bring her
down to Jackson's loft to show us.
Do I need to explain what
full cooperation means?
She was standing right here.
So just about two feet
from where she was hanged.
You don't mind? I'm
going to put this here.
Was she drinking anything?
She had a glass of wine.
What half-full, almost empty?
- Less than half-full.
- Eames: Who poured it for her?
- Rudy.
- Goren: Who else had wine?
- I did... and Rudy.
- Jackson was where?
There, next to that bookcase.
- And Rudy?
- Leaning against that table.
There was a bottle and a ring
left by a glass.
Then who was
sitting in this chair?
You see, we found two rings
left by glasses on this table.
Yeah, I'm thinking...
Annie Ellis was feeling woozy
from the knockout
pills in her drink.
- Mm-hm.
- She sat down
and put her glass here.
That leaves one
glass unaccounted for.
Rudy's glass was
over by the bottle.
So whose glass do you think...
Maybe Jackson had
a glass after I left.
The Medical Examiner checked him for
alcohol. He didn't have anything to drink.
Then that leaves
only your glass.
It's possible I could've put
my glass there when I left.
Right next to Annie's. She was already
sitting in this chair when you left.
No, she was
standing right there.
No way. Not with all
the pills in her system.
You said yourself her
drink was almost finished.
If she had passed
out and fallen down...
there'd be bruises on her
and... and broken glass.
No, she was passed out
in this chair, wasn't she?
I don't remember now.
And the plan was what? To
kill her and dispose of her body?
I don't know what they planned.
But Jackson got cold feet.
Langer had to shoot him,
and then he wiped
gunpowder on Annie.
I wouldn't know.
And why did he drag Annie all the
way over there... hang her from a rafter?
There are perfectly good
pipes right above this chair.
Strong looking pipes.
Ah, what do you think?
They strong enough
to hold Annie's weight?
I think she's told you
everything she knows.
I don't think so.
I think she has experience
in hanging things from pipes.
Remember these pipes?
You should, they were
in your dorm room.
Goren: How about it, Sylvia?
You tried hanging
something from these pipes,
and they broke on you.
You didn't want that
happening again.
It's not true.
So you and Langer,
you dragged Annie
all the way over here.
- You hanged her
from this beam...
- No, I wasn't here then!
And tied the rope
off at the radiator,
just like you did Zoe Payton.
Zoe committed suicide.
You didn't kill her?
- You didn't steal her painting?
- No, that was my painting.
Your painting of her
parents' living room?
Yes. I've been there.
Then what happened to you?
How come they say that you
never lived up to your promise?
I have. I've done
great paintings.
But they just
didn't look like this.
Is that it?
Everybody just wanted you
to keep doing the same thing?
They wouldn't give me a chance.
But Rudy Langer did.
He was giving you
your own show...
in return for knocking off
a Monet, a Cezanne...
- She already admitted to that.
- It was worth it.
Your one chance to make
them see your vision...
your talent.
Make them see you, right?
That's all I needed.
Then that stupid woman
from that stupid little museum
was going to mess
the whole thing up.
- We were going to pay her off.
- She wouldn't take the money.
She wanted to
expose you as a fraud...
As someone who made a
living off the work of dead artists.
I told you, I left.
Jackson wanted to let her go.
This man who slept
with you, used you...
was going to let her ruin you...
- so you killed him!
- It was Rudy.
- No, you shot him!
- Rudy did it. He knew
where the gun was.
He did it. I couldn't stop him.
Goren: You were there.
Oh my God.
And then you
helped him kill Annie.
You don't know...
You don't know what it's like.
What, to work so hard?
Yes.
And still be a nobody.
Yes.
Welcome to the human race.
Goren: Heir Langer...
What is it now?
Did you know there's
an original Salvador Dali
hanging at Rikers Island?
He donated it in the '60s.
That's fascinating.
You're going to get
to see it firsthand.
You're under arrest for murder.
That's impossible.
You can't do this to me.
We can and we just did.
(speaking German)
What was that all about?
Told him he missed
the boat on Sylvia Moon.
Now that she's
an admitted killer,
he could've made a
fortune off her paintings.
(theme music playing)
City's war on crime,
the worst criminal offenders
are pursued by the detectives
of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
Don't you put me off, Bernard.
I've been trying to
reach you all morning.
I can't do this over the phone.
I'm coming down to the city.
Yes, it's that important.
Prototype just arrived.
You should be very proud.
Gloria, I...
I've got to go home.
This kid emergency, and I...
I'll see you tomorrow.
Man: Americans always panic.
Don't patronize me.
This is potentially
ruinous to both of us.
Who else knows?
She didn't say. My impression
is it's new information.
I don't think she
told anybody else.
- Will she take money?
- It's not about that with her.
She's worried
about her reputation.
Okay.
Okay what?
I'll help you.
I have to go back
to the studio tonight.
Again? Bernie...
- Listen, could you not...
- Could I not what?
We've been talking for months
about your taking on less work.
- I'm still tied up
with a few things.
- Bernie,
you're exhausted all the time
and stressed out. It's not worth it.
So we have less money. Big deal.
You know? Big deal.
(buzzer sounds)
I'm sorry. I couldn't
find a cab and...
I thought this was
going to be private.
Mr. Langer knows all about it.
I'm sure we can sort this out
like civilized people, my dear.
That's hard to imagine with
the position you've put me in.
This can work to your advantage.
(buzzer sounds)
Now who's that?
Bernard? Bernard, where are you?
Didn't you hear the phone...
Oh my God.
(theme music playing)
The wife ID'd this
one. Bernard Jackson.
Some kind of art authenticator.
My LT thought we should call you
guys on account of the art angle.
This one's about art? You
better call the mayor, too.
The wife said that's her husband's
.38 which he kept for protection.
She doesn't know
the hanging beauty.
Anne Ellis. ID from the Champlain
Museum of Art up in Troy.
She's the curator.
Pictures, car keys,
hotel passkey.
What's Mrs. Jackson's story?
Bernard was working late. When
he didn't come home in the morning,
she cabbed it down here.
Found everything as is.
She's got gunpowder
on the right one.
We'll, do a test,
just to be sure.
Test her shirt and sleeve. I
want to see the dispersal pattern.
And check the box cutter
near the spool for prints.
Popular opinion's got this
pegged as a murder-suicide.
I never trust opinion polls.
This rope is frayed
down to here.
- She was hoisted up?
- Could be.
Officer: The fraying doesn't mean
anything one way or the other.
Does this mean anything?
(blows)
Glasses are missing.
Yes, and probably washed.
Tell the MEs to run
a tox on both victims
for alcohol and sedatives.
Well, I think we're ready
to see Mrs. Jackson.
I've been told they want to check my
hands for gunpowder, as if I shot Bernie.
- It's just routine procedure.
- It's not routine for me.
I don't know what
I'm going to do now.
We're very sorry for your loss.
The dead woman's
name is Anne Ellis.
She's the curator at
a museum up in Troy.
- Your husband ever mention her?
- No.
Maybe he was doing
some work for her.
Are you sure their relationship
was strictly... professional?
It had to be.
Four months ago my
husband had prostate surgery.
It affected his...
Nothing we tried worked.
He was planning to slow down,
maybe go back to
teaching at the Art Institute.
The surgery really scared him.
Why would that
woman do this to him?
You say double
homicide, this test says
the dead woman's hand
was positive for gunpowder.
The back-blast pattern's wrong.
There was no residue on her shirt.
And the MEs found enough
Ruphinol in her system
to knock out a horse.
Does it work the other
way? He slips her a mickey,
strings her up,
and shoots himself?
Doesn't jibe with the blast
pattern around his wound.
A double homicide it is.
What about Jackson's wife?
No gunpowder on her. Her doorman
has her home until 6:00 in the morning.
And Anne Ellis's husband was
home in Troy all night with their kid.
That checks out with the calls he
made to her hotel during the night.
All right, I'm going to
give this one last shot.
This guy kept a lot
of art in his workshop.
I saw a Tibetan thangka
worth over 100 grand,
a Goya etching
worth a half a mil easy.
A Chinese blue and white
moon vase worth 200 grand.
A lot of stuff that would've
been easy pickings in a robbery.
All my favorite theories
shot to hell in 60 seconds.
Anything in her hotel room?
An overnight bag,
no sexy lingerie.
There's a Mr. Ellis here. Says
he's supposed to talk to you.
She was found hanging in the
workshop of Bernard Jackson.
She had been drugged.
What was she doing there?
Eames: We were
hoping you could tell us.
I don't know who
Bernard Jackson is.
This was a business trip for
the museum, kinda last minute.
She made a lot of
business trips to the city?
Last few months,
every couple of weeks.
She found these donors who were
giving a painting to the museum.
Monet.
A painting like that, that's...
quite a coup for a small museum.
It was very important to her.
She spent a lot of time
sucking up to these people.
I thought that's who
she was seeing last night.
You know their names?
Blunt. Rachel and Bill, I think.
Annie said they had a big place
on 5th Avenue just
up from the Met.
Oh, God.
What the hell happened to her?
Eames: She didn't
call you at all that day?
No. Neither did Bernard.
Bernard Jackson?
You knew him as well?
He authenticated the
Monet when we bought it.
Goren: You bought it at auction?
Uh, no. From a
collector in Europe.
Whose idea was it to donate
it to the Champlain Museum?
Rachel spent her summers in the
area. Thought it would be a nice gesture.
Bernard gave me the idea.
He'd said places like the Met have
more art than they know what to do with.
- But up in Troy...
- Our little Monet would be a star.
That's what Bernard said.
You like art, Detective?
I like this. It's a Lachaise.
Bronze. One of only
three cast from the mold.
How do you know?
Does it have a
number on the bottom?
There's no number.
It's just a documented fact.
Eames: Were you aware Jackson
and Mrs. Ellis knew each other?
They met because of our Monet.
- But we didn't know how well
they knew each other.
- Oh.
You think there was
something going on there?
Well, murder-suicide
speaks for itself, doesn't it?
It certainly does.
When's the last time
you spoke with Mrs. Ellis?
A few days ago.
But there was supposed to be a little
ceremony to dedicate the new gallery.
But she said it was going to have
to be postponed a couple of weeks.
She say why?
Um...
some problem with the contractor.
They botched the lighting.
Right. It's a Monet.
It's all in the lighting.
Thank you.
They're simply
investigating the tragic end
of a tragic love affair.
He tried to pretend he didn't,
but one of them
knew a lot about art.
And where did he come by this
knowledge, at the police academy?
Come on, William,
even the art world doesn't
know a lot about art.
You said nothing could go wrong.
Nothing has gone wrong.
Jackson just could
not keep it in his pants.
How could he have been so stupid
getting involved with that girl?
Look on the bright side...
If anything does go wrong,
we can always blame Jackson.
He's hardly in a
position to deny it.
It's beautiful.
Impressionists are too pretty.
Right. You probably like those
sweaty naked people in the next room.
Lucien Freud? As
a matter of fact, I do.
You can't put that
stuff in your home.
- You can't live with it.
- I'm not interested
in living with it,
I'm interested in
thinking about it.
Woman: Hello.
I see you found our treasure.
- Exquisite, isn't it?
- It's beautiful.
It's destined to be
Annie's legacy, I'm afraid.
She worked so hard
to line up the donation...
The funding to
build this gallery.
She had a lot riding on it?
Well, we're not a rich museum.
The added security
alone is a burden.
But a $10 million gift
will put us on the map.
We heard the gallery dedication was
postponed because of a lighting problem.
The lighting? Oh, no.
No, the Blunts had
a last minute conflict.
Annie was adamant we
couldn't go ahead without them.
Could we see her office?
Mm-hmm.
I can't tell you how
shocked we were.
Annie was the last
person we expected to...
Well, you know.
- Die?
- I mean in those circumstances.
I can only imagine how
her husband must feel.
Have you heard of the
Vaughn-Dixon Chem-Test company?
- No.
- They're in New Mexico.
They sent Annie a receipt to
test paint chips from an oil painting.
I don't see why.
We use two companies here,
in New York and in New Jersey.
She probably didn't want anyone
to know she was having tests done.
This says that the test on
the paint was inconclusive.
What paint?
Well, apparently Annie
thought your exquisite Monet
might be an exquisite fake.
The museum just let
you take their painting?
With the help of a court order.
They're afraid of looking like
idiots if it turns out it's a forgery.
If it is, it's a damn good one.
The paints were hand-made
by grinding naturally
occurring minerals,
mixing them with linseed oil. It's
the way Monet would've done it.
You found cadmium
red in the paint.
- Didn't they use
vermillion back then?
- Only until 1872.
That's four years before
the date of this painting.
"Green specks of
unknown origin."
Yeah, well, we're still
working on that one.
Maybe Madame Monet dropped
some green beans in the paint bucket.
- What about the canvas?
- Mid-19th century.
Forgers take paintings by
unknown artists of the same period,
strip them down to the
canvas and paint over them.
Then what would've tipped
off Annie that it might be a fake?
The craquelure of
the paint varnish.
When it's... When
it ages naturally,
the cracks are uneven.
When it's aged artificially,
the cracks have a
uniform pattern like this.
- You did your homework.
- Yeah.
- (beeping)
- Okay...
here's how it works.
1945 on... Hiroshima, Nagasaki,
A-bomb tests, worldwide
radiation levels go through the roof.
Radiation is absorbed
by every living thing,
including linseed,
which finds its way
into oil paints
mixed after 1945.
Paintings made after 1945
have a higher radiation level.
Which this one
shouldn't have, but does.
This Monet was painted at
least 30 years after Monet died.
Wouldn't he be surprised?
If he knew who the previous
owner was, he wrote it down.
But I couldn't tell you
where he kept those records.
Do you think that's
who killed Bernie?
Seeing as they sold a forgery
to the Blunts for millions,
they have a pretty good motive.
You're not saying Bernie
knew it was a forgery?
Our experts think he did.
We're sorry.
He could've been fooled.
It could have been
an honest mistake.
Why? He's made mistakes before?
He used to work
almost exclusively
for an insurance company.
Last year, it was discovered
a rare Greek statue
he authenticated for a
museum in Los Angeles
turned out to be a Roman copy.
And the company let him go?
It worked out for the best.
He was making more
money freelancing.
- For RSL Galleries.
- Among others.
He authenticated the Monet for
them. They must've handled the sale.
We got 11 invoices to RSL,
half dozen to other clients.
- Totals just over 100 grand.
- No, that can't be right.
Bernie put almost
a million dollars
into our accounts
over the last year.
- From his art business?
- Yes.
This report is unreliable.
The radiation test
didn't lie, Mr. Langer.
Americans are so
impressed with science,
when it's as much
myth as religion.
There's also the cracking
of the paint varnish.
Again, a matter of opinion.
You'll forgive me if I
credit my expertise,
as well as Bernard's, with a bit more
authority than some stupid machine.
Then you're not worried
the other paintings
that Jackson authenticated
might be forgeries?
- Not at all.
- Then where did
the paintings come from?
From European sellers who
wish to remain anonymous.
How about a list of the paintings
and the American buyers?
That information
is also confidential.
Americans are also impressed
with other things, like subpoenas.
We'd be glad to show you
how impressive they can be.
There's nothing in life
I enjoy quite as much
as being threatened
by a beautiful woman.
Let me get you that list.
Monet's "Spring Violets"
was in the Albertina Museum
in Vienna in 1935.
But the painting was on
loan from a private collection.
Ursula and David Leibermann.
Lesen sie Deutsch?
Ja, ausrechend.
I learned in the Army.
This day is ever
more delightful.
Is that where you
got the painting from,
the Leibermann family?
No. They all met
an unfortunate end.
Wonderful collection
they had. Very tragic.
Here's your information.
Six months ago, Langer sold
"Rainy Night" by Pissarro.
- What's the next painting?
- A Cezanne.
Here. "Rainy Night" by Pissarro,
property of the Abraham family,
Linz, Austria, 1936.
"The Stone Road" by Cezanne,
property of the
Sternberg family,
Vienna, 1938.
"Mister Langlois" by Renoir,
property of Julius
Schkolnick, Vienna, 1937.
Langer's paintings were
owned by Jewish families.
And they all met
an unfortunate end.
We have the most extensive
list of stolen Jewish art,
thanks ironically to
the Nazis themselves.
They kept very precise records.
Uh-huh, here's one. Let
me just check something.
How come alarms didn't go off when
this Monet went out on the market?
These were private sales. We
never knew they were on the market.
Here. Those the
paintings on your list?
They're all there.
What's this list from?
The manifest of a U-boat that
sank in the North Sea in 1945.
All your paintings
were on board,
presumably on their
way to South America.
What I don't understand is how could
anyone recover these masterpieces
from the bottom of the ocean?
By painting them yourself.
Maybe the paintings
never made it on the sub.
Maybe some Nazi SOB
stored them in his attic.
- I nominate one
of Langer's relatives.
- I'm betting they're all forgeries.
There's only one way to find
out for sure... test each painting.
- You have a list. Start dialing.
- We left messages.
- No one's rushing to call back.
- What's that about?
Nobody likes to be
told they're a sucker.
Even the Blunts and the Champlain
Museum are disputing the test results.
That's one explanation
for their behavior.
Why don't you find the
explanation that works for you?
As for the Renoir we
bought from Mr. Langer,
we donated it to
the Tufnel Museum.
- The Tufnel?
- It's in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Why that museum?
The bigger museums are
swimming with Impressionists.
- But in Des Plaines...
- Your Renoir would be a star.
- That's precisely what DeWitt said.
- After speaking with Mr. Jackson
and Mr. Langer.
We consulted with
them, naturally.
If you don't mind me asking, how
much did you pay for the Renoir?
One and a half million dollars.
Bit of a bargain.
Still, a nice gift for
a small museum.
Here's the deal. Last
year, Mr. DeWitt Foster
decided to exercise
his stock options.
Overnight he's worth 20 million.
He thinks his stocks are going to
be worth more if he holds onto them.
- Except the market takes a dive.
- Right.
So now his stocks
are worth three million.
The crunch comes
when he gets his tax bill.
The IRS assessed his taxes based
upon what the stocks were worth
back when he
exercised his options.
- When they were worth 20 million.
- He gets a tax bill for
eight million.
He needs to cut his tax bill.
Hence the donation to a museum.
The assessed value of this
painting is 14 million bucks.
That's a $7 million tax break.
And he paid only one
million-five for the painting.
That's why they
call it a bargain.
- A tax scam?
- A very good tax scam.
- Are the museums in on it?
- Doubtful.
Langer and his clients
targeted small regional museums
who couldn't afford
their own testing.
They took Jackson's
authentication at face value.
Except for Mrs.
Ellis up in Troy.
Her suspicions gave
Jackson second thoughts
about his participation
in the scam.
Langer killed them both.
You think. I think.
This scam has a
built-in defense...
Plausible deniability.
The buyers can claim they didn't
know they were buying forgeries.
Langer can claim he was duped
by whoever supplied
him with the paintings.
They all can point
their finger at Jackson.
There is one person that
can't say they didn't know.
The forger.
Find him, and the
dominoes will fall.
The art theft squad at the FBI
might have a line on this guy.
Talk to them. I need
to practice my German.
Tax fraud? How mundane.
But smart, and I like smart.
I want to get one thing
straight between us.
It's not a crime
selling forgeries
to people who know
they're buying forgeries.
Am I correct to assume
murder is still a crime?
Yes.
There's a lot of people
involved here, Mr. Langer.
But we're light on evidence.
If we put pressure on
people, someone'll talk.
Why start with me?
(speaking German)
- I have nothing to tell you.
- You have a lot to tell me.
You not only sold
those paintings,
you painted them.
What makes you think that?
They were made by
a master technician.
Not like Van Meegeren
and his fake Vermeers,
but someone who
could recreate the...
The work of many artists.
An artist in his own right.
No. This person would have to be
devoid of artistic
vision and an American.
Americans have no
idea what art is anymore.
You filled this building
with motorcycles...
und called it art.
Is that what you're doing
with these paintings?
Thumbing your nose at us?
Whatever I'm doing,
it hardly entails
painting frauds...
and signing someone else's name.
I do not know of any man who could
subjugate his ego to such an extent.
A woman. He said a man's
ego would get in the way.
- Do you have transparencies
of the paintings?
- Yeah.
Reproductions. You
make any money at this?
They retail for
500 at art fairs,
cost me 20. You tell me.
Hit the lights.
This is one of the best
forgeries I've seen in a long time.
Tell me about the materials.
Period canvas,
paints hand-mixed
with linseed oil.
It's hanging in a museum,
like a couple
of yours, I'll bet.
I'll never tell.
Goren: What, you
seeing something?
Maybe.
See this?
Yeah, it's like a
cut in the paint.
With a palette knife.
They all have it.
Crescent shape.
Man...
she's gotten good.
- You know her?
- Yeah.
She used to do restorations for
the Met to support her painting.
Name's Sylvia Moon.
You've been saying and
saying it's about to happen.
This is not a good day to
issue ultimatums, my dear.
I want people looking
at my paintings.
- They are looking
at your paintings.
- You made me promises,
you son of a bitch.
You better keep them.
Artists.
You owe me two canvases.
You finish them,
then you get your show.
Goren: Sylvia Moon?
Yes. Who are you?
I'm Detective Eames.
This is Detective Goren.
- We need to talk to you.
- I'm in the middle
of some work.
We'll only take a few minutes.
Hey, this... it's nice.
He can't help himself.
Can I come in?
I guess so.
Careful. It's still drying.
That smell, linseed oil...
You grind your own paints.
The pigments are
better that way.
Just the way the
Impressionists used to do it.
Some of them.
What is it you
want to talk about?
- You grind them in this?
- Yes.
I'm sorry, my studio
isn't open for tours.
Now, I'm trying to
get a show ready.
Eames: Do you know Rudy Langer?
He owns a gallery.
Everybody knows Rudy.
You should put
this in your show.
Where's it going to be?
That hasn't been finalized yet.
Yellow tangs, clownfish.
I like your set-up.
It's very... relaxing.
This how you control the algae?
Yes.
It says here you
crush the tablets
before you put
them in the aquarium.
Yes.
You crush these
green tablets in there...
same as your paints.
Yes. Why?
Guess it wasn't the
green beans after all.
The chemical analysis showed
the green specks in the paint
were composed of simazine,
which is the active
ingredient in the algae tablets.
You did the Monet, the
Renoir, the Cezanne,
and all the other forgeries.
- They're not forgeries.
- Sylvia...
They're original works based on
source material by other artists.
I even signed them with my mark.
Why did you paint
them in the first place?
As color exercises.
That's how you learn to
paint. By copying the masters.
They teach you it's okay to
pass them off as the real thing?
I didn't. Rudy knew
exactly what he was getting,
and so did the buyers.
Goren: An original
painting by Sylvia Moon?
Yes.
Identical in every
respect to a Monet?
Not at all.
Art is about context.
A romanticist like Monet,
painting flowers at the
dawn of the machine age,
isn't the same as a
21st century woman
painting the same flowers
at the dawn of the cyber age.
The message is different.
What was Bernard
Jackson's message
when he signed
the authentications?
I don't know what
you're talking about.
He certified that your
painting was a Monet.
I don't know who this person is,
and I have no control over what people
do with my paintings once they buy them.
And that's the bottom
line, Detectives.
Now... this interview's over.
A lot of people have
bought your work?
I mean...
aside from color exercises?
There are several
collectors very interested.
They're waiting for my new show.
Your new show?
Who's putting it on?
- Rudy Langer.
- Well, that's funny.
He told me that...
only someone
devoid of artistic vision
could paint those forgeries.
If she didn't
misrepresent her paintings
to Langer or anybody else,
she might be off the hook.
- Doesn't give us much leverage.
- So much for falling dominoes.
Take another run at the
Blunts and the other buyers.
They're all alibied for
the night of the murder,
and they're saying they
were misled by Jackson.
Carver: Seems like
we've been here before.
- Sylvia Moon knew Jackson.
- Carver: What?
This is from a group
show two years ago.
It says that she graduated from
the New York Art Institute in '91.
Katherine Jackson said her
husband used to teach there.
I knew. Some part of me knew
you were stringing me along!
- Never.
- But to go bragging about it?
To tell the police that I am
"devoid of artistic vision"?!
I had to throw
them off the track.
Don't you know what
this is like for me?
Can you even conceive
what this show meant?
- You can't...
- Sylvia, don't be like this.
We have to be careful now.
I don't care anymore!
Don't look at those!
That's bad art!
There's no art in this gallery.
This man is a fraud!
Stop looking!
Yes, Bernard had a reputation.
There were flings
with other faculty.
What about the
students? Sylvia Moon?
That's a name I haven't
heard in a long time.
Yes, there was some involvement.
Bernard had to leave
when we found out.
Under threat of a lawsuit,
we allowed Sylvia to graduate.
Or otherwise she
wouldn't have graduated?
There was always strong
draftmanship in her work.
That's not the same
thing as artistry.
Was she admitted the
same way she graduated?
No. She had to apply twice
before she was accepted.
The second time, the committee
thought she showed
impressive growth in a year.
There's no question, her
second canvas was brilliant.
We even used it in
our publicity materials.
- We'd love to see it.
- Oh.
And would you happen to
know where she got her BFA?
I'll look it up.
Her last year here
she took "Art of Southeast
Asia" with Professor Gilsdorf,
"Portraiture" with
Professor Diniacopoulos...
- This is odd.
- Eames: What?
She got credit for her
classes, but no grades.
No grades? I wish I had
known about this place.
Okay, I remember this.
Ms. Moon was in
residence that year,
and her roommate, Zoe
Payton, she suicided.
So the college
gave Sylvia a "bye."
College policy.
Because of the trauma.
Do you remember how
the roommate killed herself?
Hanged herself in her room.
Zoe was our only
child. Killed my wife.
Just took 10 years to do it.
Did you have any warning
Zoe might hurt herself?
She'd keep things to herself,
but she felt things very
deep, just like my wife.
She'd broken up with some
boy a few weeks before.
Did she ever mention her
roommate, Sylvia Moon?
She found her, poor girl.
Really broke her up.
They were friends.
Took art classes together.
This room hasn't changed much
- since your daughter died, has it?
- No.
Eames.
What's the matter?
Did Sylvia visit here?
No, I don't think so.
And this is one of your
daughter's paintings?
She did that her freshman year.
Same person did both paintings.
She flipped the rope
over the crossbeam...
Those acoustic tiles come out...
And tied it to the radiator.
The chair was
kicked over right here.
Was she tested for drugs?
They found Quaaludes.
Goren: Is this her bed here?
Uh, yes. Think so.
These tiles have been replaced.
You have the maintenance
record for this room?
Yep, a few years ago...
replaced a bent pipe
and some broken brackets.
Well, now I see it.
- Joan, thank God. They arrested me.
- For what?
- Carver: Tax fraud.
- Not this again.
- Eames: She knew Bernard Jackson.
- Carver: Knew him quite well.
You had a relationship
with him at the Art Institute.
- No, I didn't...
- Carver: Don't even try denying it.
Now as to the murders,
we believe Mr. Langer
committed them,
but we need your
help to prove it.
I don't know. I wasn't there.
We lifted over 120 different
fingerprints from the workshop.
It won't take much to match
yours with one of those.
She helps you, what
does she get in return?
She pleads to grand larceny
two, she gets probation,
and we'll talk to the US
Attorney about the tax charges.
That's if we get
her full cooperation.
Rudy asked me to...
help them talk to this
woman, this curator.
They said they were
going to pay her off.
I stayed a half an hour.
She was still alive when I left.
When you left, where
was Mrs. Ellis standing?
- Near the table.
- Which table?
One of them. I don't
know which one.
- Where was Mr. Langer?
- He was near the bookcase.
At least four bookcases.
I'm getting lost in
the geography here.
We're going to have to bring her
down to Jackson's loft to show us.
Do I need to explain what
full cooperation means?
She was standing right here.
So just about two feet
from where she was hanged.
You don't mind? I'm
going to put this here.
Was she drinking anything?
She had a glass of wine.
What half-full, almost empty?
- Less than half-full.
- Eames: Who poured it for her?
- Rudy.
- Goren: Who else had wine?
- I did... and Rudy.
- Jackson was where?
There, next to that bookcase.
- And Rudy?
- Leaning against that table.
There was a bottle and a ring
left by a glass.
Then who was
sitting in this chair?
You see, we found two rings
left by glasses on this table.
Yeah, I'm thinking...
Annie Ellis was feeling woozy
from the knockout
pills in her drink.
- Mm-hm.
- She sat down
and put her glass here.
That leaves one
glass unaccounted for.
Rudy's glass was
over by the bottle.
So whose glass do you think...
Maybe Jackson had
a glass after I left.
The Medical Examiner checked him for
alcohol. He didn't have anything to drink.
Then that leaves
only your glass.
It's possible I could've put
my glass there when I left.
Right next to Annie's. She was already
sitting in this chair when you left.
No, she was
standing right there.
No way. Not with all
the pills in her system.
You said yourself her
drink was almost finished.
If she had passed
out and fallen down...
there'd be bruises on her
and... and broken glass.
No, she was passed out
in this chair, wasn't she?
I don't remember now.
And the plan was what? To
kill her and dispose of her body?
I don't know what they planned.
But Jackson got cold feet.
Langer had to shoot him,
and then he wiped
gunpowder on Annie.
I wouldn't know.
And why did he drag Annie all the
way over there... hang her from a rafter?
There are perfectly good
pipes right above this chair.
Strong looking pipes.
Ah, what do you think?
They strong enough
to hold Annie's weight?
I think she's told you
everything she knows.
I don't think so.
I think she has experience
in hanging things from pipes.
Remember these pipes?
You should, they were
in your dorm room.
Goren: How about it, Sylvia?
You tried hanging
something from these pipes,
and they broke on you.
You didn't want that
happening again.
It's not true.
So you and Langer,
you dragged Annie
all the way over here.
- You hanged her
from this beam...
- No, I wasn't here then!
And tied the rope
off at the radiator,
just like you did Zoe Payton.
Zoe committed suicide.
You didn't kill her?
- You didn't steal her painting?
- No, that was my painting.
Your painting of her
parents' living room?
Yes. I've been there.
Then what happened to you?
How come they say that you
never lived up to your promise?
I have. I've done
great paintings.
But they just
didn't look like this.
Is that it?
Everybody just wanted you
to keep doing the same thing?
They wouldn't give me a chance.
But Rudy Langer did.
He was giving you
your own show...
in return for knocking off
a Monet, a Cezanne...
- She already admitted to that.
- It was worth it.
Your one chance to make
them see your vision...
your talent.
Make them see you, right?
That's all I needed.
Then that stupid woman
from that stupid little museum
was going to mess
the whole thing up.
- We were going to pay her off.
- She wouldn't take the money.
She wanted to
expose you as a fraud...
As someone who made a
living off the work of dead artists.
I told you, I left.
Jackson wanted to let her go.
This man who slept
with you, used you...
was going to let her ruin you...
- so you killed him!
- It was Rudy.
- No, you shot him!
- Rudy did it. He knew
where the gun was.
He did it. I couldn't stop him.
Goren: You were there.
Oh my God.
And then you
helped him kill Annie.
You don't know...
You don't know what it's like.
What, to work so hard?
Yes.
And still be a nobody.
Yes.
Welcome to the human race.
Goren: Heir Langer...
What is it now?
Did you know there's
an original Salvador Dali
hanging at Rikers Island?
He donated it in the '60s.
That's fascinating.
You're going to get
to see it firsthand.
You're under arrest for murder.
That's impossible.
You can't do this to me.
We can and we just did.
(speaking German)
What was that all about?
Told him he missed
the boat on Sylvia Moon.
Now that she's
an admitted killer,
he could've made a
fortune off her paintings.
(theme music playing)