Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 14, Episode 7 - Vanity's Bonfire - full transcript

In the criminal justice system,

sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.

In New York City, the dedicated detectives

who investigate these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

Tessa. Tessa.

Sweetie, come here.

I'm gonna get you!

Awoo!



Whoo!

What's with the sunscreen? You're turning into one of those

women we used to make fun of.

She's got your fair skin. She'll burn.

And what do you think?

- Look, what's that?
- Tessa, look. Oh!

Oh! Oh, yeah?

Oh, where you going?

Do you want to play? Do you want to come play?

I'm two dozen emails behind. Can you take the first shift?

Okay, sure, but listen, be quick, okay?

It's like they know I'm on kid duty.

Okay. Let's go play.

- Play, yeah. Play.
- Let's go play.



- Play? Play?
- Yeah, go play.

Mama.

Ma mama.

I'm at the playground. Talk loud and fast.

My best salesman had the wrong data

for his powerpoint.

- You bail him out?
- Oh, they're idiots.

- They can't even...
- Where's Tessa?

- She's playing in the sand.
- Tessa!

Tessa! Tessa?

Okay, she was right here.

Tessa!

Hey, hey. Tessa?

Tessa! Tessa!

- Tessa!
- Tessa!

- Tessa! Tessa! Tessa!
- Tessa! Tessa!

Are you okay, honey?

Josie, I need you to... I need you to stay calm,

now try to breathe, okay?

- Look, I'm telling you, she...
- There you go.

She was playing in the sand.

I took a call, I looked up, she was gone.

- What time was the call?
- I don't know.

Well, it'll be on your cell.

That's good. Take a breath, and tell me,

- what was Tessa wearing?
- Pink pants.

- A pink jacket.
- Okay.

This is from earlier this morning.

Oh, wait, wait, hold up.

Who's that?

See this guy in the park today?

- No. -
Un-uh.

One-year-old girl, blond
hair, pink outfit?

- Mm-mm. -
Excuse me, ma'am.

You see this man at the playground?

Not today, but he's been here before.

He's not a parent. They say he's on the list.

I take his picture and I call the precinct when I see him.

There.

- Allen Clyde?
- Police.

- I don't want trouble.
- Where is she?

You got a little girl in here, Allen?

- I didn't do anything.
- No?

You're a sex offender and you were at the playground.

What were you doing there this morning?

I work the night shift as a janitor.

I was just cutting through the park.

Talk to this little girl?

I just wanted to help her down.

- She was scared.
- Where is she?

I don't know. Her mother took her.

Try again, the mother doesn't know where she is.

No, no, I'm not lying! She left with her mom.

Yeah? What did the mother look like?

Uh, straight blond hair, see-through dress with, like,

a black pattern on it.

She's got that baby. Go find her!

Allen, you weren't supposed to be in that playground.

Let's go!

The sex offender from the playground falls asleep here?

- Not a good sign.
- Could be the joint he smoked.

Allen was winding down from a night shift.

The other mothers in the park said that they know this guy.

They said that he hangs around and he watches.

Tessa wasn't in his apartment. We checked the surrounding area.

He didn't have a lot of time to stash her.

Okay, wake him up, make him go over his morning.

This mother he saw take Tessa? Every detail.

The dad videotaped Tessa getting sunscreen put on.

I mean, is that what parents do now?

Just record everything?

Well, you don't want to miss a moment.

If my mother took me to Walmart for the Easter photo

and to the mall for the one with Santa,

by the time my sister came around?

No one even bothered with that.

Mm. Look, there's our SOR.

Allen claims he saw a blond woman take her.

Well, there's lots of blond moms.

Mm, you know, look for one in a floral dress.

- Like her?
- Yeah.

Hang on, isn't that the same diaper bag that Tessa's mom has?

And that's the dad's baby carrier.

So, Allen could be telling the truth?

No one looks twice at a mom leaving the park with a baby

- in her sling.
- Yeah.

Okay, I'll go tell Captain.

Downtown there's video surveillance everywhere.

We gotta go back over every single one of them.

That's Tessa. Who's that woman?

Well, we're trying to figure that out.

We got this from a security camera on Murray Street.

Now, you're sure...

that you've never seen her before?

No, no, she's not one of the moms.

Who is she? Why would she do this?

Well, sometimes when a woman takes a baby, it's because she's

fantasized a relationship with the child.

Oftentimes, they've watched the family.

I would have noticed her hanging around.

Your job, does it ever take you out of town?

Do you ever leave Tessa here with your husband?

Yes, Josie travels for work. What are you saying?

Now look, Braydon, we just want to find your daughter.

I would never bring another woman home.

Anyone else have access to your place?

Uh, Tessa's nanny is with her on weekdays.

Carmen Silva. She's Guatemalan, but she's been

here for ten years.

Okay, I'm gonna need her address.

Address, phone number, copy of her passport, I have all of it.

Oh, no, little Tessa? Who would take her?

Well, that's what we're trying to find out.

Who else lives here?

Uh, mi abuelita, mi mama, her sisters, my cousins.

Well, you watch Tessa 12 hours a day.

Anybody ever help you with her?

Or, you leave her alone with somebody?

Oh, no, no, I keep Tessa always with me.

I never take her to McDonald's.

I never let anyone in the house.

Have you ever seen this woman?

Yes. She's the one

who takes the pictures in the park of the babies.

- You know her name?
- No.

But for mother's day, she gave me

a picture she took of me and Tessa.

I bought a frame to keep it nice.

Open it up.

There's a missing baby. Open it up.

- Dia Nobile?
- What are you doing here?

Police.

Dia, we need to get that baby back to her mom and dad.

It's okay, I'm her mom.

You're taking good care of her.

Of course I am. She's mine.

So then, I know that you're gonna want to keep her safe

until we get all of this straightened out, right?

- You would help me with that?
- Absolutely, Dia.

You know, I have a daughter. I get it.

So the best thing right now, Dia,

is for you to let me hold her, okay?

Okay, just... please, be careful.

Hey, sweetie.

Come here, sweetheart, yeah.

It's okay, lovie. It's okay.

No, stop!

No, she's my baby! She's mine!

Dia Nobile, you're under arrest.

You can't arrest me. I'm her mother.

I put everything together in a folder.

It's on the dresser. Just look at it.

I will. We will.

It's all there.

Her birth certificate. It proves that I'm her mother.

- Please, please.
- It's okay, sweetie.

- Mommy. I want mommy!
- I know. I know, lovie.

The doctors say that physically she's fine.

- She's unhurt.
- You're okay, baby.

We can't thank you enough.

We'll be taking her home now.

Yeah, we just need to clear up a few things.

What else is there to clear up?

The woman who took Tessa, Dia Nobile, she has a bedroom

in her loft that's extremely similar to Tessa's.

And your nanny said that she didn't let her in.

Neither did we. We told you that.

Your apartment's not for sale, is it?

Well, it was on the market last spring.

You can check with our broker.

She also said that she gave birth to Tessa,

and that she gave her up for adoption.

So she's a nut job.

Well she does have a birth certificate for a baby girl,

same age as Tessa.

- But it's not Tessa's.
- Because you have that one?

Can we get a copy of that, just for protocol?

Uh, you are Tessa's biological mother?

Tessa was born through a surrogate.

- With Braydon's sperm.
- What difference does

that make? Why is that anyone's business?

Okay.

Was it through a private surrogacy, or through an agency?

Private.

Our lawyer found the birth mother.

She was a wonderful woman. Erin?

She was studying to be a vet.

We helped her pay her college bills,

- and she helped us.
- So you have all the paperwork?

Surrogacy agreement, adoption papers?

Yes, everything is in order. We can scan you the papers.

Tessa is ours.

So Josie didn't give birth to Tessa,

and Dia says she's the biological mother.

She swears that she was tricked

into letting them adopt Tessa.

And the Leddys swear that they've never seen

or heard of her before now?

- She sounds delusional.
- But she did have a file

waiting for us with a copy of the birth certificate

and the termination of her parental rights.

And St. Luke's confirms Dia delivered

"baby girl Nobile," no father listed,

the same week Tessa was born.

Nick, I mean, the Leddys did hold out on us.

Tessa was born to a surrogate,

and the Leddys didn't let us know that

until after we found her.

Okay, well how's their paperwork?

Uh, New York state birth certificate for a home birth,

the mother listed as an Erin Murphy,

the father, Braydon Leddy. A second birth certificate

listing Josie Leddy as the adoptive mother.

They also had the termination of Erin Murphy's parental rights.

And I just found a big red flag.

Dia's adoption papers and the Leddys' surrogacy agreement

were drafted by the same lawyer? Wendell Feeney?

Where is Mr. Feeney?

-
F-e-e-n-e-y? - Yeah.

Finding one Wendell Feeney out in Patchogue.

A personal injury lawyer.

Captain, I gotta tell you. By the look in her eye,

Dia may have a connection to this baby.

Well what I saw in her eye was a whole lot of crazy.

All right, look. We found the baby,

the kidnapper's in custody, we're done.

But still, Captain, come on.

It's worth tracking this guy down.

I mean, just to see if he's on the up and up?

All right, one conversation with the lawyer,

and then this moves off our plate.

I could have saved you the trip.

Wendell died from sepsis a month ago.

Went in for a hip replacement,

- never made it back.
- I'm so sorry.

And you were his law partner?

30 years.

You know, we're looking into an adoption

and a surrogacy, both about a year ago.

The birth mother was a Dia Nobile.

Adoption?

We don't do family...

That is his signature. It makes no sense.

Is it possible that Wendell made an exception?

Maybe someone pasted his signature onto this.

Wendell was always by the book.

Ms. Nobile is not showing as a client.

Okay.

Can you check Josie and
Braydon Leddy, L-e-d-d-y?

Mm, not them either.

If you could just check one more name?

A surrogate, Erin Murphy.

Okay, Erin Murphy I've got. But not for a surrogacy.

A slip and fall in a supermarket.

Erin Murphy? We've left messages with her,

- but she hasn't called us back.
- Did you ever meet her?

No, she was very busy with her college classes,

but we skyped.

We sent two detectives to her campus.

She's no longer registered there,

and she didn't leave a forwarding address.

Well, maybe when Feeney calls us back

we can find out where she is.

He won't be calling you back. He died a month ago.

Wait, Wendell Feeney's dead?

Well, we didn't know. We're not exactly in touch.

- How did you meet him?
- He's a cousin by marriage.

He heard me talking at our family reunion

about my fertility issues.

- He offered to help.
- Look, just tell us...

Did Feeney screw up the papers?

It could be more than just papers.

We're gonna need DNA from you.

You're saying I'm not Tessa's father?

Look, it's easy to confirm with a DNA test.

Braydon, just... do it.

Make this go away, please.

So once the DNA proves Tessa's mine,

I get her back, right?

Honey, even if she is your biological child,

you can't just steal her.

I gotta ask you a question.

Why'd you give her up?

Well, my lover, Tessa's father,

said it would only be temporary, just a few months.

His wife's dying.

She has a brain tumor.

But, meanwhile, a few months turns into a year,

and I miss her first steps, her first birthday.

It was just too much.

We're gonna need to talk to the father.

Dia, you've got a bail hearing tomorrow.

You're gonna need someone to confirm your story.

I can't. I mean, he'd be furious.

Well, honey, if we can't talk to him,

you're not gonna see Tessa.

It's Kent Webster, the dean at John Adams Law School.

He's related to that old judge, right?

Yeah, Clark's his dad.

And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Clark's distinguished, but Kent is gorgeous.

We met when I shot the cover photo for his alum magazine.

It was lust at first sight.

Dia Nobile made bail.

She has a healthy bank account for a freelancer.

Well, she might have a silent partner.

She's claiming that Tessa's father is Kent Webster.

Kent Webster?

He's on the short list for the Supreme Court,

she's a former yoga instructor.

On what planet do these two cross paths?

They met on a photo shoot.

The editor who fired her

still has an order of protection out against her.

Okay, I mean, she's unstable. But a lot of guys like drama.

Breaking news.

The Leddys' documents, Dia's adoption papers,

all fakes.

They were never filed with the court.

So baby girl Nobile's birth certificate

is the only legitimate document?

Everything else is part of a scam?

Feeney was the Leddys' cousin. Are they in on this?

Braydon Leddy believes with all his heart

he's that little girl's father.

Well, until the DNA comes back, we can't point fingers.

Well, we can't, but Dia has, right?

At Kent Webster.

Tread carefully. Benson, go with.

And at the school, not his home.

Dia Nobile.

I meet a lot of people.

Well, she photographed you for Alumni Magazine.

Oh, yeah, right, right. Why are you asking me?

Well, she says you're the father

of her one-year-old
daughter,

and that you forced her to give the baby up to another family.

I hardly know this woman.

So you're not her baby daddy?

Absolutely not. I barely know her.

She knows you.

She knows personal details about your career,

- your wife's illness.
- My father's a judge.

His autobiography came out this year.

Our lives are literally an open book right now.

Excuse me, Dean Webster?

Give me a second? Yeah?

A Dia Nobile called.

She said she'll meet you at home?

You need to let him go!

- He wants to raise Tessa with me.
- Kent! Who is this?

- Baby, I knew you'd come.
- Are you out of your mind?

- Come...
- Get...get away.

- Dia, step back.
- Get away!

Dia, step back!

Get this crazy woman off my property.

Go, come on.

Kent?

Get in the house. Come on.

Come on.

I'm not a stalker. Ken loves me.

He's got a funny way of showing it.

Well, he had to. She was right there.

Look at his text. My phone's in my bag.

"You're the only star in my galaxy,"

"my happiest place is in your golden triangle."

That's my favorite one.

And he sent these from his cell?

No, we have a private phone.

So there's no way to prove they're from him.

Yeah, but, he sent me pics of King Sebastian.

That's what we call it.

Okay.

Look, I swear, Tess is Kent's.

But, uh, I...

I scratched him. Can you get DNA from that?

- Hey, get CSU over here.
- Yeah, right away.

She kidnapped a baby?

- Wh...why is she out on bail?
- Have you had contact with her?

No. I mean, I...

I called her a year ago to thank her for the photos.

She called me back on my home phone a few too many times,

and my radar was up, and I changed the number.

So you never sent her any texts?

Is that what she said?

How about pictures?

- And I don't mean of your face.
- She's nuts.

You can check my phone. See for yourself.

She's obviously making the whole thing up.

I'll...I'll get that.

Has Kent mentioned Dia before?

No. No, he doesn't know her.

Hannah, had you heard of her?

- Of course not.
- Mom?

Eh, she's in my zumba class,

and I went out with her a few times.

I'm sorry. I didn't know.

I never would have talked to her.

Hannah, you couldn't have known.

She's right, sweetheart.

The woman is crazy.

Hannah, why don't you come talk to me for a second?

We had coffee two or three times.

And then she told me she knew my dad.

That he was charming, but everybody says that.

- She ever mention your mom?
- That's what's so messed up.

I mean, she talked about her a lot,

asking about her treatments and how I'm holding up.

So she got personal pretty quickly.

It's been hard with my mom sick.

I felt like she wanted to be my big sister.

Your marriage is solid?

Well, it hasn't always been perfect.

But since my diagnosis, Kent has been a rock.

Can't you get one of those

orders of selection to keep her away?

- You mean protection, honey.
- Oh.

It's okay.

It's my condition. The words get scrambled.

- I understand.
- If we get an OOP,

that's public.

Reporters outside the house. You don't need that.

You tell the nutcase, she comes anywhere near my family,

we'll press charges.

Sorry this took so long,

but custody disputes are not a priority around here.

Well, this could be more complicated than that.

I don't have all the answers yet,

but Dia Nobile is Tessa's biological mother.

- The DNA's a match.
- So she was telling

the truth about that. Who's the father?

You can rule out Braydon Leddy.

That's gonna be a difficult conversation to have.

And Kent Webster?

She scratched him up pretty good, and we have

more than enough DNA, but...

again, it's not at the top of the work list.

Is there any way to hurry that up?

'Cause Dia's claiming that Kent tricked her

into giving up their love child.

And the Leddys were tricked into believing

that baby Tessa came to them

- through a surrogate.
- You do know,

even if it turns out that Kent is the biological father,

there's no way I can prove he knew about the baby.

Oh, he knew. I mean, come on,

the sexting, the burner cell. He knocked up his mistress,

and then dummied up a bunch of legal papers to keep her quiet.

He's a sociopath.

He told her that this would be resolved

within a year, and now she's trying to remind him.

You know, Kent did send her photos of his "king."

Any way to verify?

Not without seeing the original in a similar state.

You want to ask for that subpoena?

How long for the DNA?

You sure it's his?

Bluff him.

I'm the father?

That's not possible.

DNA doesn't lie.

You might want to carefully consider your answer, Counselor.

Okay.

There is one possibility.

Yeah, we figured that.

After the photo shoot, I was, uh, tense.

Dia massaged my shoulders.

We were alone in the room,

and I-I got aroused.

My wife has been ill, and I...

This is incredibly embarrassing.

Go on.

In a moment of weakness,

I let her give me...

a manual release.

You can see how I didn't think that could

in any way father a child.

Just to be clear, you're saying that

Dia retrieved your semen,

and then used it to impregnate herself?

You see her do that?

No, I-I...when it was over, I left the room.

Imm...immediately.

You can appreciate that this is not something

that I want made public.

Or your wife to find out.

Okay. So one more question, Counselor.

How well do you know Wendell Feeney?

I don't think I know who that is.

No? Well he faked

the adoption papers for Dia's baby.

He faked a surrogacy agreement

to place the baby with the Leddys.

I had nothing to do with this.

Dia didn't even tell me she was pregnant.

He gave the sample at the clinic.

You can... you can check the shipping.

Tessa has Braydon's fair skin, and his smile.

Look at his baby pictures. This is a mistake.

I'm sorry.

And your surrogate, Erin Murphy?

She didn't give birth to Tessa. Dia Nobile did.

Oh, my God.

No. Wait, wait.

Feeney told me he handled everything.

He told me Tessa is our child.

- She is our child.
- Do you really think

they would give our daughter to that woman who kidnapped her?

That's up to the court.

Look, you have raised Tessa since birth.

I advise getting the best lawyer you can afford.

Detectives, I understand Mr. Feeney is deceased?

Yes, Your Honor.

Can anyone in his firm help us?

No, these jobs were off their books.

We searched his home and office. There's no paper trail.

Okay. We have a woman who gave up,

then kidnapped her own biological daughter.

We have custodial parents with fraudulent papers.

There's no evidence my clients

were aware of the fraud, Your Honor.

Objection! The lawyer was their cousin.

- Sit down, Ms. Nobile.
- We're sorry, Your Honor,

but Wendell Feeney was related to the Leddys.

He deceived Ms. Nobile

into believing they would only have temporary custody.

Yeah, they bought Tessa, and tried to cover it up

by pretending to have a surrogate.

No, how dare you!

This... We were lied to!

This woman, she kidnapped our child.

Enough.

All of you.

Ms. Nobile, whether or not

the Leddys were in league with Mr. Feeney,

you also used Mr. Feeney as your lawyer.

You signed away your parental rights.

How did you come to hire Mr. Feeney?

In order to protect the privacy of the father,

- I can't answer that, Your Honor.
- Are you really

just going to accept that? That is ridiculous.

Enough, Mr. Leddy. This is a difficult decision.

I know you've raised Tessa with care and love.

They both work!

They weren't even watching her in the park.

I won't warn you again, Ms. Nobile.

But given that Mr. Feeney was a relative of yours,

I need further assurance that you have no culpability.

In the meantime, I'm signing a temporary order

that Tessa Leddy be remanded to the ACS

pending a final custody hearing.

- Please, please, no.
- No. She's ours.

- She is mine!
- You're a crazy bitch!

Braydon, not in front of the judge.

I'm sorry, I'll have to ask the ACS officer

- to take custody.
- No...now?

- No, no, no.
- Please, please don't do this.

- Josie, Josie, Josie.
- Please, no, you can't.

- It's okay, look, Josie.
- You can't just take her away.

Please, don't take her from me. You can't do this, please.

It's okay, baby.

Now what? Now what do we do?

You prove that you weren't complicit in the fraud.

How? How do we prove that Feeney lied to us?

Did Feeney ever mention Kent Webster?

No, never.

You ever see his name on paperwork?

Maybe a notation in the file?

Overhear a phone call?

The Sunday that we picked Tessa up from Feeney's office,

he did call someone.

Right, it was quick. Just, "It's done, Your Honor."

"Your Honor."

Detectives, can't this wait?

- It's our anniversary.
- No, it can't.

We need to ask you some questions about Wendell Feeney.

I already told you, I don't know him.

Maybe. Did you know your father,

Judge Clark Webster, knew Feeney?

- Excuse me?
- Yeah.

The night that the Leddys picked up Tessa from Feeney,

he made a call to the judge.

Yeah, we did some checking.

It turns out Feeney's first year out of law school,

he was up on a felony charge, facing disbarment.

And your father vacated the judgment.

Saved Feeney's career.

Your father cleaned up Feeney's mess.

And 30 years later, he's cleaning up yours.

Did Ms. Nobile tell you this fantasy?

Feel free to ask my father.

Oh, we intend to. Under oath.

Good night, detectives.

Now that you've ruined our dinner,

can you leave us in peace?

- Daddy?
- What honey?

- Tell me this can't be true.
- What?

You were with her today? Kissing her?

Okay, honey, let me just... here, let me just...yeah...

- What's going on?
- Honey, no...

- Get off me!
- What?

Th...this is from today.

- This is your one-time
mistake? - Gillian...

Not here, okay? I can explain.

You bastard. How could you?

This is not what it looks like.

- This is exactly how it looks.
- Honey, honey...

Oh, that's why that whore came to our house?

You were screwing her this whole time?

You were screwing her in our house

- when I was in the hospital!
- Ms. Webster.

Ms. Webster, please.

You had a baby with her!

Now we know how they got these pictures.

Dia called the paparazzi on herself.

Ugh, LMZ got an anonymous tip from a female saying

that Kent Webster was meeting his mistress at a hotel.

Dia knew that he was going out for his anniversary,

so she wanted to punish him.

But none of this proves Kent set up

the fraudulent placement of Tessa.

Well, if he didn't do it, his father did.

When do we get to talk to the judge?

Well, it's too late. An hour ago,

the esteemed Judge Clark Webster went into the DA's office

and lied under oath to his associates.

He swore that he hadn't spoken to Feeney in over a decade.

- And they believed him?
- A local precinct just got

a report of a domestic disturbance at Dia's loft.

Tell them we'll handle it.

Turn around. Let me see your hands.

Detectives, Dia... Dia's been murdered.

Get your hands up where I can see them!

You can't think that I did this.

Yes, we can. Get your hands up!

Get 'em up!

Again, she was dead when I got there.

"She"? You mean your lover, Dia.

What time?

Maybe five minutes before you arrived.

What were you doing there?

I was upset about her harassment.

- I went to talk to her.
- Well, when you saw that she

wasn't really holding up her end of the conversation,

why didn't you call the police?

- I was about to.
- So it must've been your phone

that you were looking for in her desk drawer.

Personal items I wanted to retrieve.

While she was bleeding out. What could be so important?

Sex tapes.

Dia called and said she would leak them.

He can't hurt me anymore, but for Hannah, I-I...

I begged Kent to call her, get her to change her mind.

What time did Dia call?

3:00. I didn't check the block.

- Clock! Clock.
- Okay.

And Kent agreed to talk to Dia?

I have never heard him so angry.

Gillian said Dia called the house at 3:00?

She's confused, the tumor. It was 6:00.

- You sure?
- Yeah, I was in my club,

locker room. Local news came on.

'Cause the thing is, Counselor?

We have a five minute phone call

from Dia's landline to yours at 3:00 PM.

I was still in my office.

Listen...

My wife called me at 6:00.

She told me that Dia was threatening

to release a sex tape.

Let me see your cell phone.

She was dead when I got there.

Someone set me up.

Seriously? Who?

I don't know.

I need to talk to my wife.

Could have called his own cell.

Or his wife waited three hours to call.

It gives her enough time.

The woman is gravely ill. What are you saying?

Just that we should go back to her.

Before you do, check his alibi,

and see where Warner is on the timeline.

I couldn't lift any prints off the healing crystal,

but it is the murder weapon.

20 pounds, multiple blows.

Blunt force trauma with depressed skull fractures.

Can you pin down a time?

Rectal temperature at 8:00 PM was 94 degrees,

so sometime between 3:00 and 5:00.

- Not 6:00?
- Warm day?

Body wouldn't have cooled that fast.

Kent's alibi checked out.

Campus security puts him in his office till 4:00.

Club confirms he was there from 5:00 to 6:00.

Well, it does give him a little window.

What, so he kills her at 4:30

and comes back to the crime scene two hours later?

I'd like to think he's smarter than that.

Well, maybe he is.

I got an audio file of the 911 call?

Anonymous, from a payphone, at 6:10.

- Tell me if I'm crazy.
- Screams coming from

245 Vandam, top floor.

- I-I think someone's
being skirt. - Ma'am?

Uh, yes, hurt. I think someone's being hurt.

Not so anonymous.

Top floor.

- I-I think someone's
being skirt. - Ma'am?

- Uh, yes, hurt. I think someone's being...

- We can have a voice analysis done, but that's you,

isn't it Mrs. Webster?

Mrs. Webster?

Mrs. Webster, are you all right? Mrs. Webster!

Hey, we need an ambulance!

So the doctor says she had a focal seizure,

which is common for her kind of brain tumor.

He said we can talk to her, but not for long.

- Mrs. Webster.
- Don't call me that, please.

Okay.

Look, if you're feeling up to it, we'd like to

continue the conversation.

- Oh, honey, get me some juice.
- Hold up a second, Hannah.

Um, can you tell us where you went yesterday after school?

- I came home.
- To take care of me.

All afternoon?

- Yes.
- Well, how about your mom?

- Was she home all afternoon too?
- Mom?

Yeah, you don't have to answer that.

You go ahead out into the waiting room.

Go, darling.

She's trying to protect me.

It's...it's not fair to her.

How do you mean?

Dia did call me at 3:00 yesterday.

To tell you about the sex tape.

To gloat. She...

I told her that I-I wanted to talk to her.

She told me to come to her place.

And you thought you could reason with her?

Crazy, I know. She's driven me crazy.

When I got there,

I-I begged her to leave my family alone.

She just laughed in my face.

She...she told me that soon she would be Kent's wife,

and Hannah's new mom.

And I-I just lost it. I picked up the

crystal, and I...

I'm not sorry.

I went home and I took a nap,

and... Hannah woke me for dinner.

I called Kent and I told him to go to the loft.

And then you called 911.

I was so angry with him.

Gillian, you certainly have reason

to be angry with your husband.

But I noticed the other day...

that you couldn't pick up the water pitcher.

I mean, my partner had to do it for you, right?

Well, I have good days and bad.

Well, the crystal, the murder weapon,

how big was it?

Twice as heavy as that pitcher.

- Anger gave me strength.
- Gillian...

We saw Hannah's hurt.

She's been by your side through this whole thing.

Did she call you from Dia's?

No. No, Dia did. I told you that.

Dia didn't have your home number.

Kent changed it.

For his own sake, remember?

Gillian...

If Hannah confronted Dia,

a jury will understand her emotional state.

Would they?

A jury would
understand a 15-year-old

being invited over there for an apology,

and instead being shown a home-made sex video,

so she could understand how truly beautiful

their lovemaking was?

But if that's how this went down...

No, no. It didn't.

People always talk about the joy.

They say, "How sad it will be that you'll miss her...

her first kiss, her wedding."

What parents really want is...

to protect their child.

I'm...I'm begging you,

let me protect my child.

It's the last thing that I'll be able to do for her.

Please?

- Hannah.
- I need to give

- my mom her juice.
- Just a couple things...

She needs me.

I'm sorry.

Gillian has made sure that Hannah gets counseling.

For everything.

The counselor is gonna report directly to me.

Nick, I can do this on my own. If you have any doubts...

So... Gillian's confession.

She raised that heavy crystal

and repeatedly struck Dia's head?

Mothers have been known to lift a car

when their adrenaline's pumping.

Have we ruled out other suspects?

Her daughter, where was she?

Home, all afternoon, locked in.

Gillian Webster...

for the crime of

manslaughter in the first degree, how do you plead?

Guilty.

Bailiff, take the defendant into custody.

Mommy, no!

Shh, shh, shh, shh.