Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 3, Episode 18 - Guilt - full transcript

(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.

[Machine drilling]

(Peters)
Sounds like Desert Storm.

(Ferguson)
No, it's Con Ed.

They're smarter
than Saddam.

Work all night,
wake everybody up.

We turn on the lights,
the tube...



(Peters)
And they get to bill everybody
for 24 hours.

You see what I mean?
It's a conspiracy.

[Drilling continues]

I'll start up on two.

Oh, my God.
Ferguson, get up here.

[Mice squealing]

(Ferguson)
This door shouldn't be open.

Call the cops.

[People chattering]

(Parks)
Dr. Walsh? Fay?

She's been on
the... the faculty
12 years.

Well, some people
have their priorities
a little bit screwed up.

I knew they were idiots
taking cases of rats.

But I never dreamed
they were dangerous.



You heard from them before?

Well, one thing
about lunatics,
they make a lot of noise.

We've had our share
of demonstrations.

These lunatics, you know
any of their names?

[Sighing]
I-I'm the Dean
of Students.

You'd have to ask someone
in the Biology Department.

Look, if you don't mind,
I've been trying
to contact her husband.

[Police radio chattering]

How's it go?

"No more pencils,
no more books?"

(Pelkie)
Professor here
took one in the back.

Large entry wound,
large caliber.

Dead no more than
a couple of hours.

You'd think
with all the students
around the campus,

somebody would've noticed.

Con Ed, late shift.

We got here,
you couldn't hear
Axel Rose.

[Door banging]

(Logan)
Hey, Flynn, you know,
to catch the bad guys,

we're gonna need
some evidence.

Couple of witnesses
wouldn't hurt, either.

[Sighing]
Well, we got

plenty of witnesses,
Lennie.

And with a hunk of cheese,
maybe they'll talk.

I should have
made her come along.

[Clicking tongue]

Cape May, Jersey shore.
We have a house there.

But it was always work
with Fay.

She hadrt left
the lab for six months,
except to sleep or eat.

These animal rights people...

They're the animals,
Detective.

Were the rats in your
wife's experiments killed?

Before you step
on the sympathy train,
Detective

think about
the countless people,
real live human beings

who would benefit
from her work.

I pleaded with the university
to add security.

She got threats recently?

A five-minute spot
on Frontline

and Fay became a target
for the lunatic fringe.

Picketing, hate mail.

When I got home
this morning,

there's this message
on the machine.

Do you mind
if we listen to it?

It was so profane,
I erased it.

I didn't wanna upset Fay.

We got four or five
like that a month.

You'd think

people would have
better things.

You wouldn't have saved
any of that mail?

Yeah.

[Phone ringing]

(Sonja)
How'd you like
to live there, Detective?

Yeah, well,
it's not exactly
the Waldorf.

You're being generous.

If the minks survive
their own cannibalism,

the ranchers choose
between electrocution,

gassing or breaking
their necks.

And voila,
a fur coat for the wife.

So what are you doing
to stop it?

We demonstrate,
write letters,
organize boycotts.

Anything to draw attention
to the cause of non-humans.

What's anything?

Fay Walsh, right?

We figured we'd be
on your Top 10 list.

Somebody did sign
your name on the wall.

It's not the first time.

I didn't like what Dr. Walsh
was doing, Detective,

but I believe in life,

and that includes
human life.

Well, maybe
some of your members
aren't as generous.

You think we could get
a list of them?

You have a briefcase?

We have over 10,000 members.

They got 2,000 members
in Manattan alone.

I didn't know we had
that many animals.

You ought to ride
the subways.

Maybe we can narrow it down
to a couple of hundred
with yellows.

Uh, yeah, maybe I can
save you some time.

Last year, Brooklyn,
the, uh, research facility

of B & C Pharmaceuticals
was firebombed.

Yeah, let me guess,
they used animals
in their experiments.

Yeah, the parking lot,
somebody painted
"Innocent Victims" in red.

Did anybody
stake a claim?

Yeah, they arrested
a Dirk Chesney

founder of some
underground organization,
"The Animal Rights Crusade."

Boys in the Six-Four
did a heck of a workup,
but not enough to go to trial.

[Phone ringing]

For
an underground organization,

they got a higher profile
than Cher.

Hmm, the Animal Rights Crusade
has been connected

with three
laboratory bombings
since '89.

Every time, signed their name
in red paint.

(Briscoe)
Hunting season last year

Chesney led some protestors
through the woods
in Pennsylvania.

They chased away the deer.

Talk about stupid,
Chesney was shot
through the calf.

Maybe he should've
stayed in school.

Chesney dropped out
of Manattan Institute
of Technology in 1979.

Hey, wonder if he kept
his student ID.

You know, Judge Beame
spends his vacations
deer hunting.

I bet he thinks
we have enough for a warrant.

(Norbash)
Yeah, my wife wanted to
hold out for a clean-cut type.

I told her, you can't
judge a book, you know,
by its cover.

Chesney never bothers anyone,
never asks for anything,
pays rent on time.

[Meowing]

Jeez, the lease says
no pets.

What's it say
about a zoo?

[Cats meowing]

I'm gonna call
my lawyer.

Whers the last time
this guy cleaned
the litter box?

(Logan)
Animal Watch.

"No Future For Fur."

He's got some library.

The Anarchist's Guidebook,

Handbook
to Civil Disobedience,

Discourses on Dissent.

Just wastes a lot of paper
to keep saying the same thing.

(Logan)
What will the Tree People say?

[Door closing]

Dirk Chesney?

(Logan)
Hey, come here!

(Chesney)
Let me go.

Put your hands up!
Put your hands up!

I didn't do anything!

(Briscoe)
Oh, yeah? What's your hurry,
then, huh?

I suppose you
didn't do anything
with this, huh?

I think Mr. Chesney'd
be more comfortable
down at the station.

I know I would.

The measure of a society

is the way it cares
for its helpless members.

And you're raising
human consciousness
by murdering scientists?

You have a better way?

Is that a confession?

Yeah, it is.

I confess to being a member
of the most murderous race
in history.

Savages aren't in the jungles,
they're in the laboratories.

Does that include
the Manattan Institute?

There are victims,
and there are victimizers.

So you're a hero to every rat.

Over the past 10 years,
Manattan Institute

has slaughtered shore birds,
rabbits, dogs.

They're animals, not specimens
to be used and killed.

What comes around
goes around.

And what goes around
for murder is life
in a little cage.

But no one comes
to let you out.

I didn't kill that woman.

But don't expect
a sympathy card.

Okay, so what picket line
were you on Sunday night?

Try Dr. Arnold Chen.

And what animal
was he torturing?

Me. Dr. Chen
is my acupuncturist.

[Siren wailing]

[Sighing]

[Inales]

If you wanna keep him,
you better find
a different gun.

Fay Walsh was shot
with a.410.

Someone tiptoes
through the campus gates

with a shotgun,
and nobody notices?

You know, the.410 is
the smallest gauge shotgun
made.

Somebody's got
a pretty strange
sense of humor.

It's the gun of choice
for museums.

They use it to collect
scientific specimens.

Like bird specimens?

Yeah.

Well, maybe no one
took that gun
through the campus gates:

Maybe the gun
was already there.

(Delaney)
Dart gun, 20-gauge,
cyanide jars, .410 shotgun.

Nobody's signed it out
since '89.

Needed some gulls
for a pollution experiment.

I don't think anybody
at the Institute
had anything to do with it.

There you go...

(Briscoe)
Whoa, whoa, whoa.

I can almost see
my face in the shine.

[Clicking]

Smells like someone
forgot to sign it out
last week.

Didrt anyone
clue these people in
about firearm safety?

It was locked in the closet.

We got some prints
on the door.

And the gun?

The only thing in there
that's been cleaned

since the Jets
won Super Bowl.

Prints don't match Chesney's.

And Dr. Chen confirmed
he had 25 needles
in his can Sunday night.

So it wasrt
the loony bird.

Well, someone wanted
the professor dead.

Yeah, someone with access
to the equipment locker.

(Susan)
What's the difference between

a Stalin purge
and a Walsh midterm?

Stalin tried to re-educate you
before he killed you.

Graduate sense of humor.

I don't think Fay won any
Professor of the Year
awards.

Did any of these
Henny Youngmans

have a key
to the equipment room?

Sure, we gave them keys
so they wouldn't wake up

the professors
after midnight.

Lab Hell.
It certainly would
put me over the edge.

Listen, you get some sleep,
you take the C.

You don't kill the teacher.

You take a C,
you don't get
your graduate degree.

If you're coming
from Beijing
with your family honor

riding on
that piece of paper.

Oh, I think Fay
might have ticked
some people off.

Really? You got some names?

I think
you'd have to look
at her grade book.

[Phone ringing]

Still feels strange
being inside
a teacher's office.

Oh.

Well, this is typical Fay.

She hadrt even
looked at the exams,

and the grades
are due in next week.

Wort be the same
around here without her.

(Logan)
She ever mention
any trouble with the students?

(Linda)
She was a scientist.

Teaching was
a necessary evil.

She couldn't even tell you
the name of a student.

Oh, still, she filled up
a classroom.

Yeah, well,
with the boom in biotech,

everybody wants
a piece of the pie.

There's really
that kind of money
in patenting genes?

Fay had venture capitalists
taking her out to dinner.

So why didn't she
hire a stockbroker

instead of
Riggs Investigative Services?

Fay Walsh. Smart lady.

Tsk, a shame.

Yeah. Well,
your client checks out,

you don't think about
callir us?

Ex-client.

After six months
of runnir around in circles,

you start to get dizzy.

Closed the account
a couple of weeks ago.

What was it,
somebody sneakir
into her laboratory?

Try her bedroom.

She thought her husband
was cheatir?

Hey, infidelity's
my specialty.

This guy's good.

Translation,
you never caught them.

Never caught 'em
in the act.

Hell, I never even saw them
have a cup of coffee together.

But there were other signs.

Letters, lot of
telephone hang-ups.

Did you at least
get a name?

Susan Boyd.

Redhead, administration.

And not bad-lookir.

How did she sound?

[Susan on tape]
Please, Donald,
you promised me.

You know that
until we're rid of Fay,

we can't be together
completely.

So the sooner the better.

[Susan sighing]

There's no reason
to be afraid, sweetheart.

I love you.

I'm with you.

Three weeks ago
she left that
on his answering machine,

only she didn't know
his phone was beir tapped
by Riggs.

Any others?

Nothing incriminating.

The way I see it,
the professor

finally found his nerve.
End of story.

Come on, she was talking
to a machine,

and I didn't hear Walsh
say anything.

He didn't have to.
It's evidence of a step

in furtherance
of conspiracy.

A conspiracy to do what?
I didn't hear her say
anything about murder.

Hey, you don't need a Ph.D.
To read between the lines.

He had a key
to the building
and equipment room,

which means he had access
to the gun.

He also had access
to a divorce lawyer's
phone number.

The wife's patents hit,
and she's drivir to work
in a new Mercedes.

But if they're divorced,
hubby is stuck ridir a bus.

Okay, talk to him.

(Donald)
Susan Boyd?

Sure, I've talked to her.
She's in my department.

But anything more than that
is ridiculous.

We have a tape that implies
you were on intimate terms.

I have no idea
of what you're talking about.

Your wife hired
an investigator.

Oh, my God.

[Sighing]

For someone so brilliant,

Fay could be
pretty foolish sometimes.

I loved my wife, Detective.

Every time I looked at her,
I could still see
the grad student

that walked into
my classroom 15 years ago.

And what did you see
when you looked
at Susan Boyd?

I won't dignify that.

Look, this Boyd woman
made it embarrassingly clear

that she was attracted to me.

Did you do anything
about it?

I ignored it.

[Sighing]

I don't know,
eight months ago,

Fay received
an unsettling phone call
from her.

She confronted me,
and I reassured her.

I told her it was
an infatuation.

And did you
confront Ms. Boyd?

Fay and I discussed that,
and we thought that

if we just let it be,
it would go away.

But, uh, apparently not.

Takir a trip?

[Exhales]

I'm scheduled to lecture
in Boston tomorrow.

My friends tell me
to get on with my life.

I'm not sure that I can.

[Sighing]

Hardly a day in mourning,
and he's back
on the lecture circuit?

When my Uncle Eddie died,

Aunt Ruthie bought
a Great Dane

and started
knitting sweaters
for it.

There's no rules
about grief.

Bobby? Yeah, it's Mike.
So what you got?

Yeah.

You're kidding.
Okay, thanks a lot.

LUD's from Susan Boyd.

The night of the murder,
she talked to Walsh
five times

for a total
of 26 minutes.

What about
after the murder?

The next day she calls
the Marymount Hotel
in Boston.

Guess who happens
to be staying there?

The grieving professor.

The day after
Mrs. Walsh was killed,
a Mrs. Walsh calls the hotel

says she'll be joining
Mr. Walsh for the trip.

Doesrt sound like
a schoolgirl crush to me.

That's crazy.
He's a married man.

Don't waste your breath
and my time.

Fay Walsh hired
an investigator.

Then he must have
been confused.

Dr. Walsh and I
worked together, that's all.

You were
under surveillance
for six months.

Well, you pay somebody
enough money,

they tend to see things
that aren't there.

I get paid
by the city, Susan.

I heard the tape
of your message to him
loud and clear.

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

Let me put it to you
this way.

The jury's gonna hear
the same tape I heard.

They catch you in a lie,
believe me,

they're gonna go
the distance on this.

25 years to life.

All right,

[sighing]

Donald and I were
seeing each other.

But I swear to you
we had nothing to do
with killing Fay.

So why the lie?

Isn't it obvious?

We knew you'd draw
the wrong conclusions,
and we were right.

On the tape you said
you wanted to get rid of Fay.

I was talking
about divorce,
not murder.

We're civilized people.

Ask as many times as
you like, Detective,
I can only tell you the truth.

I have never and will never
have anything to do
with Susan Boyd.

(Briscoe)
I suppose you werert
gonna have anything

to do with her
in a hotel in Boston?

What the hell are you
talking about?

Reservations for two
at the Marymount.

I reserved a room
for myself, alone.

And Susan Boyd changed it
to a room for two.

And I knew nothing about it.

If you don't mind, Detective.

I spent 10 years
as a professor of law.

Groupies come in
all shapes and sizes.

This situation
is hardly unique.

It is when somebody
winds up dead.

Donald stopped loving Fay
years ago.

But he didn't wanna
hurt her.

That's why he put off
the divorce.

That must have
made you very angry.

[Sighing]
Of course it upset me.

But I was
willing to wait.

The night of the murder...

We were together,
in my apartment.

We often were
when Fay worked late.

It was a kind of
an anniversary.

Three years.

He gave me this.

Anyone see you?

No, we fell asleep
on the couch.

We didn't kill Fay.

Well, if you were together,
Susan,

why did you call him
at his apartment?

Well, that wasrt me,
that was Donald.

He called Fay
before she went to the lab.

See, she thought
he was calling
from out of town.

It's not a story,
for crying out loud.

I spent the weekend alone.

Well, then explain
this to me, Professor.

If you were
at the house at the shore,
and your wife was at the lab,

who was in your apartment
in Manattan

to answer five phone calls
from Susan Boyd?

When I got home, there were
obscene phone calls

on my answering machine.

I thought they were
from the animal rights people.

Had I known they were
from this Boyd woman,

don't you think
I would have told you?

Not if you conspired with her
to kill your wife.

I loved my wife.
I did not kill her!

[Sighing]
Wes, help me.
You gotta do something here.

Tell me, Detective,

does Fay's investigator
have any photos of my client
with this woman?

[Clearing throat]
Well, private eye
working by himself,

it's pretty tough
to cover his apartment

her apartment,
and the house at the beach.

Susan Boyd has never been

in my apartment
or my beach house

and I certainly
haven't set foot
inside her apartment.

(Logan)
What a shame.
There goes his alibi.

What, she copped
to the affair?

She said they spent
all night together
in her apartment.

He's making a lot of noise
to the contrary.

Yeah, maybe too much.

Even if they're
sleeping together,

doesn't mean
they're murderers.

(Profaci)
We're talkir about
Bonnie and Clyde.

Ten days ago, a woman bought
a box of.410 slugs

at Frank's Guns 'r Stuff,
Cape May.

Jersey requires
a driver's license
and a signature.

Susan Boyd?

Fay Walsh.

(Cragen)
What, she bought the slugs
that killed her?

Whoa, whoa,
wait a minute.

The professor said
his wife hadrt been

out of the city
in six months.

A C-note says
the store owner ID's
our Ms. Boyd.

Arrest both of them.
Hunting seasors over.

If I ever go back
to teaching,

I'll use this in my
Trial Practice class, Ben.

Prime example
of how to get a dismissal

after the prosecution
presents its case.

Unless they rewrite
the textbooks, Wesley,

uh, circumstantial evidence
can go a long way
toward a conviction.

Circumstantial evidence, yes.

A footlocker full of
non sequiturs?

I wouldn't hold my breath.

He had access
to the murder weapon, motive.

What kind of motive?

I loved Fay.

Only Susan Boyd
tells quite a different story.

Either she's lying
or she's crazy.

I swear to you, I never even
looked at her twice.

You wife didn't think so, sir,
and I doubt if a jury will,

after they've heard
the message she left
on your machine.

I don't know anything
about a message...

First of all,
it wasrt a conversation,
it was a soliloquy.

Second, the jury
will never hear it.

[Paper rustling]

Thursday morning,

we can have
cappuccino and biscotti
in Judge Bertram's chambers.

Your boys didn't
have a warrant, Ben?

Uh, we didn't need one,
Your Honor.
We didn't make the tape.

It was recorded
by a private investigator
hired my Mrs. Walsh.

And in case anyone
is behind in their reading,

federal law prohibits persons
who are not party
to a conversation

from secretly recording it.

My client, Ms. Boyd,
had no idea

the Walsh's phone line
was tapped.

And my client
wasrt even a party
to the conversation.

So who the hell
was she talking to?

(Burke)
The Walsh's answering machine.

Wesley, the Federal Act
was intended

to protect privacy,
not murderers.

Take your complaints
to the Supreme Court, Ben.

They just upheld
a California decision

excluding
a privately made tape,

even though it revealed
a conspiracy.

In the Otto case,
neither party knew

their conversation
was being taped.

I don't think I dozed off,
Counselor.

Didrt our learned colleagues
just say

their clients were
unaware of the phone tap?

Ms. Boyd may not have known
that her call was being taped

by the investigator,

but she certainly knew
that the answering machine

was recording
her conversation.

As such, she had no right
to the expectation of privacy.

(Burke)
That's right, Ben.

She expected one other person
to hear it: Donald Walsh.

That's major hair-splitting,
Wesley.

It's the kind of
personal grooming
the Supreme Court loves.

Sorry, Ben.

[Clearing throat]
Tape is out.

[Knocking on desk]

(Schiff)
Judge Bertram, huh?

[Snickering]

He just took his name off
Judge Renquist's gift list.

One small step for privacy,
a giant leap for conspiracy.

Burke's already calling
for a sit-down tomorrow.

What are you gonna do?

Most likely,
without the tape,
we'll get dismissed.

Well, maybe not.

If Walsh heard what was
on the answering machine,

he can testify
as to what Susan said.

We cut a deal.

Hard to have an affair
with your girlfriend
in prison.

Maybe we
can convince Ms. Boyd

that Walsh
doesn't love her

as much as
she thinks he does.

I'd check my diet, Mr. Stone.

Too much sugar,
you lose a little clarity.

Without the tape...

Oh, I have a feeling
we're gonna do
a lot better than the tape.

Why would Dr. Walsh testify?

Maybe he doesn't like the idea
of 25 years in prison.

Wesley Burke's
smarter than that.

He's got to know
there's no case.

And he's got to know
about the unpredictability
of a jury.

I don't think
he wants his client
acting like a deer

caught in the headlights
of an 18-wheeler.

Donald would never
turn on me.

(Stone)
Ms. Boyd, we are
talking about a man

who murdered his wife
after 15 years of marriage.

I wouldn't count
on his loyalty.

Mr. Burke has already
called our office.

We're meeting with him
tomorrow.

You could go to prison
for something you didn't do.

She testifies,
you charge her with nothing.

She conspired to...

And you know
Walsh's conviction

depends upon what
Susan says on the stand.

Let's hear her story.

He talked about it.

You know,
wouldn't it be great
if she were dead.

And I told him

there's no way
I would consider
anything like that.

Yet you continued to see him.

[Gasping]

You... you think about it
afterwards,

you think it's just
some sort of joke.

He's just trying to show me
how much he loves me.

[Sniffling]

If I believed that
he could kill Fay,

there's absolutely no way
I would be involved
with that man.

You bought the shells.

He told me
they were for hunting.

She had nothing to do
with the murder.

[Sniffing]
You have to tell Donald
that they forced me.

Deal?

Fay found notes on his desk.

Said there were
a lot of hang-ups
when she answered the phone.

She was convinced her husband
was seeing another woman.

Did Mrs. Walsh have any idea

who this other woman
in her husband's life was?

An administrator
in the Biology Department.

A woman named Susan Boyd.

(Stone)
Thank you.

Mrs. Walsh
employed your services
for how long, Mr. Riggs?

Six months.

In that time, did you ever see

the defendant
and Susan Boyd together?

They worked
in the same building.

Sir, can you state
beyond a reasonable doubt,

that Susan Boyd
and Donald Walsh

were having an affair?

No.

Thank you.

No more questions.

The last 18 years,
I have owned
Frank's Guns 'r Stuff.

Largest ammunition retailer
in a 100-mile radius.

Did you ever sell ammunition
to the defendant?

Every hunting season,
he'd buy his birdshot
for upland game

and goose-shot for waterfowl.

Did he ever purchase
.410 slugs?

Not him,
but his wife did.

(Stone)
How did you know

that it was Mrs. Walsh,
Mr. MacCrae?

State law says we need to see
a driver's license.

Is this the woman
who claimed to be
Fay Walsh, sir?

Yes, sir.

Let the record show
that the witness identified
a photo of Susan Boyd.

Thank you.

You testified
that your store does
a very good retail business.

I said we do better
than anyone else
in the county.

On an average day,
how many customers do you see?

25 to 30
during hunting season.

So, excluding Sundays,

that's 180 customers a week,
give or take.

Sure.

So, since Fay Walsh
came into your store

almost five months ago,
you tended
over 3,500 customers.

Isn't that right?

Yeah.

So, uh, tell me, sir,

how many times did this woman,

who claimed to be Mrs. Walsh
come into your store?

Just that one time.

Thank you. No more questions.

Burke managed to raise
reasonable doubt
with every witness.

Yeah,
that's his trademark.

Takes the clearest picture,
jiggles the lens,

everything's out of focus,
the jury has to acquit.

Not after they hear
Boyd's testimony.

Unless he discredits her
the same way.

Prep the girl again.

Adam, we've been
over it a dozen times.

With Wesley, 13 is the charm.

I was at Donald's house
at the shore for the weekend.

He was going to
take me hunting.

We went into town
to buy some bullets.

Who purchased the shells,
Ms. Boyd?

(Susan)
I did.

He couldn't find his license.
We found Fay's in the dresser.

I pretended to be her.

Very good. Paul.

Where were you the night
Fay Walsh was killed,
Ms. Boyd?

I had dinner at my office,

did a little work,
and then I went home.

Uh, Ms. Boyd, we've been
over this before.

On cross examination,
when the defense
asks their questions,

you keep
your answers short.

The court only wants to know
where you were
the night of the murder.

What should I say?

[Sighing]

I'll ask the question
on direct

and you say
you were home alone
in your apartment.

[Whispering]
All right.

[Sighing]

You'll do fine.

Well, he said it many times,

if only he could
get rid of Fay,
then we could be together.

Did he ever talk
about divorcing her?

I begged him to.

But Fay's research.

See, he said
that he was entitled
to his share.

He taught her everything.

If she were
granted the patents
after the divorce,

he might not be able to share
in the profits,
is that correct?

I don't recall
the witness being qualified

as an expert
in matrimonial law.

Withdrawn.
No further questions.

How often did you
and Dr. Walsh see each other?

Several times a week.

And where did these
rendezvous take place?

[Sighing]

In his office,
Cape May on weekends,
and my apartment.

All that sneaking around,
it must've been frustrating.

We didn't sneak around.

Donald is very proud
of our relationship.

Then can you tell me
why Mr. Riggs,

a trained professional,
never once saw you together?

Well, maybe he's not very good
at what he does.

Or you're lying
about everything.

Objection!

(Burke)
Withdrawn.

True or false, Ms. Boyd,

you told the police
that Donald was with you

the night Fay was murdered?

Yes.

But now you're telling us
that you were home alone.

Were you lying then,
or are you lying now?

Objection.

Overruled.

[Exhales]

You're lying now, aren't you?

No.

I was in my apartment alone.

Tell me, Ms. Boyd,

did Mr. Stone tell you
to say that?

Yes.

Your Honor...

And in exchange for this
perjured testimony,
he dropped all charges

against you, isn't that true?

Yes.

Your Honor, I object
to Mr. Burke's depiction
of this...

I object, too, Your Honor.

I object to the entirety
of this witness's testimony.

[Banging gavel]

Both of you, in my chambers.

She said under oath
you told her what to say.

I told her
how to say it.

Now who's
splitting hairs, Ben?

I want a dismissal.

And then we'll talk
about sanctions
against Mr. Stone.

Cool it, Wesley.

I thought you'd
have taken off your blinders
when you left academia.

Your Honor, I did not...

I believe you, Ben.

Only your witness's testimony
is tainted.

As such, I'm going
to instruct the jury

that they may
disregard her testimony
in its entirety.

Ms. Foreperson,
have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

On the sole count
of the indictment,
murder in the second degree,

how do you find?

We find the defendant
not guilty.

[Chuckling]

Congratulations.

[People chattering]

Burke dangled the carrot,
she bit it off
and left you hanging.

She was confused.
There was nothing
I could do.

You could've
gone over her testimony
another 100 times.

Ms. Boyd
was a bad witness.
Nothing could change that.

Or she was a smart witness.

You saying
she planned this?

She cuts a deal,
promises to give us Walsh,

falls apart on the stand,
he walks, they live
happily ever after.

Nobody's that smart.

If Paul is right,
and that woman was lying,
her deal is won'thless.

Yeah, and if I'd bought
Microsoft at $10,

I'd have a house
in Palm Beach.

In the case
against the professor,
we had the girl's testimony.

In the case against the girl,
we have nothing.

And double jeopardy
kills any leverage
we would have with Donald.

She said
she's been seeing him
for two years.

She must have
told somebody something.

For how long?

Thanks.

Nobody
in the Biology Department
ever saw them together.

What about her friends
outside the Institute?

Her neighbors
never saw her
with anyone.

I called her parents
in Short Hills,

the housekeeper said
they were vacationing
in the South of France.

[Phone ringing]

Robinette.

Hold on.

It's a Judge Feldman
from Newark.

He wants to talk
about Susan Boyd.

It seems
she does have a history.

You know, it didn't hit me
until the papers
published her picture.

I knew her
as Susan Daly.

Boyd must be
her maiden name.

Please, sit down.

She was married?

Widowed.

Married to the second violin
at the Philharmonic.

She came to work for me
a few months
after he was killed

in a car accident.

You look surprised.

I didn't know
she was a lawyer.

Yale Law.

Turned down Wall Street
for a carrel in our library.

She gave me
first-class work,
and on time.

Something my other clerks
never heard of.

But even a Cray computer
blows a fuse
every now and then.

She had a breakdown?

She was
deeply disturbed.

One night
we were working late.

Ordered in Chinese
to my chambers.

Harmless, right?

Susan took it
as a marriage proposal.

She started writing me memos,
professing her undying love.

She rented a house
down the block,
just to be close.

For a while,
I thought it was flattering,

but when she started
calling my wife...

Nothing happened
between Susan and me,

and still it almost
cost me my marriage.

Yale Law School never heard
of Susan Boyd or Susan Daly.

Not only didn't she graduate,
she didn't even apply.

You mean
she knew enough

to fool
a Superior Court judge
for over a year?

It gets better.

On her employment application
to Manattan Institute,

she claimed to have
a Master's from Cornell.

She faked that, too?
What about the marriage?

Pure fantasy.

The only Daly
at the Philharmonic
is alive

and happily married
for the last 25 years.

Maybe Walsh was
telling the truth.

If she was smart enough
to con Judge Feldman,

my guess is
that the whole
cross-examination

at the Walsh trial
was staged.

They werert
having an affair,

but she lies on the stand
to protect him?

Yeah, well, one thing
both Walsh and the judge
agreed on,

is that lady's crazy.

Crazy enough to kill?

The pattern
seems to be there.

Disappointing youth,
inappropriate phone calls,
letters, visits.

It's a psychotic disorder
called erotomania.

English, Liz.

She's delusional.
My guess:

Susan honestly believes
she's having an affair
with Walsh.

So in her mind,
she was telling the truth
when she testified.

She may act and look normal,
but talk to her
about the affair,

and you'll probably learn
that she's getting
coded messages

from the pattern of his ties.

Things as unrelated
as his expense report
or a song on the radio.

Do the symptoms
include violence?

Not usually,
but there are cases
of the subject

attacking the buffer,

the obstacle
to completing their romance.

I.e., Fay Walsh.

Unfortunately, we don't have
enough physical evidence
to go to trial.

Judge Feldman told me
Susan rented a house
near his.

Exactly.

Proximity feeds the delusion
that she's having a life
with him.

Liz, Walsh said that he spent
weeks at a time
at the Cape May house.

Could Susan stand
being away from him
that long?

I doubt it. Some erotomaniacs
camp outside
their object's house,

steal garbage,
anything personal,
as mementos.

Susan Boyd,
518 Ocean Avenue, Cape May.

(Stone)
Good. Call Briscoe and Logan.

I'll call Judge Scott
for a warrant.

[Door opening]

Looks like my first place.

Looks like my place now.

[Clearing throat]

The New York Public Library
isn't this well stocked.

Law, medicine...

Smart and crazy.
That's a helluva pair.

(Logan)
Lennie.

Donald Walsh,
this is your life.

You got baby pictures,
his high school yearbook.

(Robinette)
His socks?

And the shells
that killed his wife, .410.

[Rattling]

New York State
Driver's License, Fay Walsh.

Only, Susars picture's on it.

Pick her up.

Susan Boyd,
you're under arrest
for the murder of Fay Walsh.

You have the right
to remain silent.

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

Do you understand that?

You have the right
to an attorney.

She already admitted
she purchased the shells.

She said Donald used them
for hunting.

So she kept a souvenir
of a wonderful weekend
at the shore.

A wonderful weekend alone.

Are you gonna start this
again, Mr. Stone?

Yes, I am, Ms. Boyd.

Well, you're
wasting your time.

What Donald and I have
is real.

What about Judge Feldman?

[Sighing]

That was a mistake.

He took advantage of me.

He says you're disturbed.

(Keith)
What, he's moonlighting
as a shrink?

Dr. Walsh agrees with him.

Donald would never deny
our love.

Please send in Dr. Walsh.

[Door shutting]

Tell them, Donald.

Tell them what we mean
to each other.

I have never and will never
have anything to do with you.

I understand what's going on.

They put you up to this,
didn't they?

Nobody put me up to anything.

Very good, Mr. Stone.

You've certainly
had your fun.

Now, Donald,
the game's over.

Tell them the truth.

You're a lunatic.

[Whispering]
I understand.

You don't have to worry
about anything, sweetheart.

I forgive you.

He gave me this bracelet.

Now, why would he do that
if he didn't love me?

[Unzipping]

[Papers rustling]

He sent me letters

telling me
how much he loves me.

Telling me that
if only Fay were dead,
then he could be with me.

"To Security.
Dr. Fay Walsh
will be working late

"in the lab
this coming weekend.
Because of the recent threats

"by animal activist groups

"please post extra security.

"I will be out of town.

Signed, Donald Walsh."

Thank you, Doctor.

[Door opening]

It's obvious
she's incompetent.

But she's not legally insane.

Ms. Boyd,

you knew what you were doing
when you committed the murder.

I will give you
manslaughter one,

provided you get
psychiatric treatment.

That's absurd.

There's absolutely no way
that I will agree
to a plea of insanity.

Do you think for one instant

that Dr. Donald Walsh
would love somebody
who's insane?

Susan, it's not insanity,
it's diminished capacity.

I'm fully aware
of the penal law, Mr. Keith.

The implication
is that I'm not
of my right mind.

Susan, it is the difference
between eight years
and 25 years in jail.

(Susan)
That's meaningless to me.

This is a conspiracy
to keep me from Donald.

Susan, you need help.

You're fired.

Prepare yourself, Mr. Stone.

I'm taking charge
of my own case.

Susan Boyd's
going for a record.

This is her sixteenth motion.

I doubt
we'll ever get to trial.

She uses
an out-of-date prison library

and her work is
better than anything

I've seen
from a Wall Street law firm.

"The truth is ugly,
so we put our prophets
in prison."

Oscar Wilde?

Charles Manson.