Rizzoli & Isles (2010–2016): Season 4, Episode 11 - Judge, Jury and Executioner - full transcript

Jane and Maura investigate the death of judge Kathleen Harper who collapsed and died as she entered the courtroom where her teenage daughter Ashley was playing the part of a prosecutor in a mock trial. The cause of death is anything but obvious but the autopsy reveals Harper had received an injection of Ritalin, a drug she normally took. She also had a broken rib but that likely occurred when lawyer Roger Torson administered CPR. A few dabs of paint leads them to a stairwell where she had obviously been attacked. Elsewhere, Jane becomes concerned when she opens her mother's mail and learns of the $27,000 she owes the IRS.

[GAVEL POUNDS]

MAN: It's a pleasure to have you
high-school mock trialers in my courtroom.

And so we begin in the matter
of the state vs. Fontaine.

Good evening.

My name is Ashley Harper,
and I represent the state.

In plain, simple language,

this was an act of violence
motivated by sheer greed.

We will prove that Robert
Fontaine armed himself with

a semi-automatic pistol and entered
Estate Diamonds jewelry store.

- MAN: Judge Harper?
- ASHLEY: Mom?!

Oh, my God! Mom?!



- Kathleen?
- Oh, my God!

Someone call 911!
Ashley.

Ashley, let me help her.

What's wrong with her?

What's wrong with her?!

Kathleen?

- Can you hear me?
- Please, Mr. Thorson, help her!

Kathleen!

Oh, God. No.
[SOBBING]

Oh, please, no.

N-no, Ma. I want regular.

But... no, you can't
have caffeinated beverages

- this late in the day, Jane.
- Okay, Maura says I can't drink it.

So, can I have an I.V. Drip, please?



No, but you can try
one of these instead...

my new espresso brownies.

Business is booming!

Angela, you should really be
offering some healthy snacks.

I do. They just don't sell.

Maura, come on.
Don't be so virtuous.

- Hmm?
- Oh, my.

See? Look, I sold 45 brownies yesterday.

And I've been averaging
an extra $100 a week.

I'm glad you're saving
for retirement, Ma.

Yeah, me, too.
Excuse me, girls.

- Did you see her face?
- I think she's hiding something.

Hey, Ma.
I want you to meet Mark, my lawyer.

- How do you do?
- Mom.

- You look so familiar.
- Yeah, well, I'm kind of famous.

- Or infamous.
- You've seen my commercials.

"Mark... the shark."

Call me.

Call me.

Call me.

You.

- You're the man.
- Boom.

Ladies.

Do not tell me you hired
that man as your lawyer.

Okay, I won't tell you, even
though you seem to know already.

"Shark" is from the
German word "schurke,"

- which means "greedy parasite."
- Hear that? "Parasite."

Why didn't you go with Frost's lawyer?!

He's an expert at
personal-injury claims.

Mark says there's too many
people suing the Storrow Center.

Can you believe even
people who weren't squished

- in that garage want money?
- Okay, well, thank God you and T.J.

And Detective Frost weren't squished.

Yeah. I got to go tell Lydia

- Mark's about to get me a settlement.
- You two together?

No, but we will be once she
knows I can support her and T.J.

[CELL PHONE VIBRATES]

- Oh, my God.
- What is it?

Judge Harperjust
died in the courthouse.

Oh, no!

L-I've testified in front of her.

- ANGELA: You knew her?
- Yeah.

She was one of the good guys.

JANE: Judge Harper's courtroom
was on the second floor.

- What was she doing up here?
- She was a mock-trial advisor.

JANE: Well, that explains
all the kids in suits.

I did mock trial.
I always wanted to be the bad guy,

- but they made me the prosecutor.
- That's very impressive.

It's highly competitive.

I never made the team.

- That's not possible.
- The advisor said I was..."wordy."

You?

KORSAK: I knew her husband.

He was a brilliant defense attorney.
Died a few years ago.

Makes this all the more tragic.

Oh, God. Don't tell
me that's her daughter.

Afraid it is.

Oh, no! Was she here
when her mother collapsed?

Yeah.
How did you know she collapsed?

- Subdermal bleeding on both knees.
- Okay, what do we have?

She adjourned her own
courtroom at 5:00,

and she checked in students
when they arrived here at 5:10.

Left at 5:25, didn't come back

until after the competition started.

- Where did she go?
- Nobody knows.

- But she left her briefcase here.
- Okay, let's have CSRU collect that.

- We'll go through it later.
- MAURA: She has a broken rib.

- Did someone give her CPR?
- Yeah.

Uh, Roger Thorson, the
other mock-trial advisor.

From what he said, it sounds
like she went into convulsions.

JANE: Convulsions...

So if it was a seizure,
are we looking at natural causes?

Well, convulsions are
a neurological response

to many stimuli... physiological,

pharmacological, idiopathic.

So, maybe?

- FRANKIE: Hey.
- FROST: Frankie's assigned to this?

Yeah, I asked for more help
till we can rule out homicide.

I'm gonna go finish interviewing
Roger and the daughter.

- Okay.
- Hmm.

There's a wet, tacky
substance on her palm.

- Appears to be paint.
- It's institutional beige.

I'd describe it as more

of a taupe or a sand color,
perhaps even a muted coral

with a hint of abalone shell.

- Am I being wordy?
- A little.

[###]

- Hey. What do you need?
- JANE: Um...

there's paint on the victim's hand.

Can you find out which area of the
courthouse was being painted today?

- Any idea where to start?
- Wherever she was coming from.

- Well, let's split up. I'll look, too.
- All right. Thanks.

Be right back.

Roger's telling me that he and
Judge Harper are old friends.

- They went to law school together.
- Yeah, we had lunch today

to prepare for the competition.

I can't believe she's gone.

Ashley...
did your mom have any medical

conditions that you know about?

No. My mom was really healthy.

Do you know why she
wasn't in the courtroom

when you started the competition?

- No.
- I didn't even see her leave.

I asked Judge Manning if we
could wait for her, but he...

...he said he'd take away points
if I didn't start.

It's okay.

Is there, uh, someone
that can take care of her?

There's her grandma
that lives with them.

I'll take her home.

Come on, sweetie.

[CELL PHONE VIBRATES]

It's Frost.

Hey, Frost. Put you on speaker.

Frankie found what looks
like a left palm print

on the Northeast stairwell
between the second and third floors.

That's the stairwell
closest to this courtroom.

- Anything else?
- Her purse is on the landing.

Can you show me?

- Where's her wallet?
- Right here.

Full of cash and credit cards.

- So it wasn't robbery.
- Hmm.

Sergeant Korsak, do you
have your magnifying glass?

Thank you.

What is it?

I was examining her neck
and I noticed blood.

There's a tiny puncture wound

at the base of the skull.
Could be from a hypodermic needle.

- Someone injected her?
- Look at this.

- Appears to be a scratch.
- Yeah. From a hypodermic needle.

So she fought off
someone in the stairwell

who managed to kill her anyway.

I need to know what was in the
syringe that killed her, Maura.

And I can't tell you.

- You know how this works.
- How is it that we can put a

Rover on Mars, but the damn crime lab

can't find a toxin unless
we tell them what to look for?

NASA lost control of that Rover.

And science is hard.
You know, they can't test for everything.

I need to narrow it down.

There are hundreds
of thousands of drugs.

- Yes, I know.
- Well, whatever was in that syringe

sent her into convulsions,
so that should narrow it down.

Are you questioning my process?

No.

- Yes.
- Okay, we don't know what

caused the convulsions.
It could be anything from drugs

to household cleaning products,

pesticides, a chemical.

Okay, okay. I'm not questioning.
You'll figure it out.

Did you do the nail scrapings yet?

Yes. Nothing under the fingernails.

But this scratch on her hand is from
the same gauge needle as the injection.

- And she has well-developed gastrocnemii.
- Calf muscles?

- How did you know?
- Well, you pointed,

and she has the legs of a runner.

Yeah, she has an old injury...
fracture of the left patella.

- See the pins?
- Yeah.

What does that tell us?

- I don't know yet.
- You know she put her

husband through law school
when she was a paralegal?

Yeah, she was an extraordinary woman.

And now her kid is an
orphan.

This makes me sick.

- We'll get it, Jane.
- I hope so.

- It's just not right.
- It's never right.

KORSAK: She's got 10 or 15 cases
on her docket every day.

Drugs, guns, murder.

That's your average day
for a felony-trial judge.

- Did you go through her briefcase?
- FROST: Yeah.

Mainly research, case law, notes.
She was well-organized.

This one's marked
"extensions," but it's empty.

Maybe she was reviewing
extended sentences.

She leaves her chambers
on the second floor

and arrives on the sixth floor

at 5:10, talks to her students,
then leaves the courtroom at 5:25,

but stumbles back in
and dies at 5:36.

Wait, how do you know it was 5:36.

The kid who played the court
clerk hit the time clock

when Ashley stopped
her opening statement.

Okay, so, we found her stuff

in the stairwell, which says to me
she was going back to her office.

She was a runner.

So how long would it take her to run
down and back up four flights of stairs?

- Frost?
- KORSAK: Okay.

Well, this might be something.

She was assigned a high-profile
prescription-drug case.

- The defendant was a prominent doctor.
- What, he was selling drugs?

Yeah. To the two-six gang.
But his attorney filed

a substitution-of-judge
motion today.

So the Doctor didn't want
Judge Harper to hear his case.

Well, why would he?

She was tough on professionals
who commit crimes.

Yeah. And she refused to
recuse herself.

So maybe the Doctor thought

the only way to get Judge Harper
off the case was to kill her.

A doctor could cook up
a lethal injection.

Yeah.

Forty-five seconds.

- For what?
- To run up four flights of stairs.

Above and beyond the
call of duty, Detective.

So why was the judge
gone for 11 minutes?

Did she stop and talk to
someone in the stairwell?

- Maybe she knew her killer.
- That would explain why the only

defensive wound is the scratch
with the needle on her hand.

She reacted too late,
after she'd been injected.

Where are we on those security cameras?

The whole building's
covered except the stairwells.

All right. Go through it all.

We need an exact list of every person
that was in the courthouse today.

- I'll help you.
- Thanks, Frankie.

Jane, did you hear what Tommy did?

- Does it involve a shark?
- Yeah. What an idiot.

- Frost, maybe you can talk to him.
- I tried.

He called me after
he saw "Mark the shark's" ad.

If he'd just chill, he'd
eventually get six figures,

- at least that's what my guy says.
- FRANKIE: Sounds about right

for having to be trapped
inside a collapsed

- building for eight hours.
- You guys could have died.

I still have residual pain
in my wrist.

- And Tommy had a head injury.
- Yeah.

FROST: That's, uh, Judge Harper's
law clerk. I had her come in.

- I see why. She's hot.
- Hmm.

- It's part of the investigation.
- Mm...

FROST: And she's too smart for you,
anyway.

You have me confused with my brother.

- Let me do the interview with you.
- No. You heard Jane.

I want you to go through all the
security footage from the courthouse,

make a list of all the people
that entered and exited.

Check the court dockets, too.

Come on, Frost.

I'm gonna try to find
where the doctor was

when Judge Harper was
being attacked.

We noticed she had an
S.O.J. Motion on her docket.

Did she pass on the legal sufficiency,

or did she assign the
recusal to another Judge?

How do you know all that?
Are you a lawyer?

- No, but he played one in high school.
- Oh, you did mock trial.

Me, too.

Judge Harper didn't recuse herself,

so the doctor had to go before
anotherjudge for a final ruling.

That motion was denied
late this afternoon.

Like I said, killing Judge Harper's a way
to get your case reassigned.

I can't believe anyone
would want to kill her.

That doctor was the exception.

There were plenty of defendants

that wanted to be
assigned to her courtroom.

- Why is that?
- She believed in rehabilitation

and tried to assign
defendants to prison programs

that could help them
turn their lives around.

Any attorneys or defendants
on her other cases

- that were squawking about her?
- Just the routine stuff.

- Any grievances filed against her?
- You'd have to check with the CJC.

- Commission on judicial conduct.
- Thank you, Counselor.

When's the last time
you saw Judge Harper?

Right before 5:30.
She ran back into her office to grab

- something she'd forgotten.
- What was it?

I didn't ask.

She was rushing to get back
to her daughter's competition.

- When did you leave the courthouse?
- Around 5:30.

Oh, come on.

I loved my boss.

She was one of the few
judges that made it possible

for women to advance in law.

Did Judge Harper ever take the stairs?

Always.

She was a fitness nut.

Any health problems you know of?

Being ajudge is stressful.

Sometimes she'd complain
of dizziness, fatigue.

Afew times, she...

Tell us what you know, Ms. Barlow.

This is how you can help her.

Afew times, it... seemed like
she was slurring her speech.

Like she'd been drinking?

Yes.

So you dissected the judge's liver.

You're sure she wasn't a drinker?

Uh, yes. Her liver was near perfect.

No sign of alcohol abuse.

You ordered the Satan special?

"Seitan." It's a wheat protein
used as a meat substitute.

- Okay, I get it. It's... it's theme night.
- What?

We're investigating a mock trial.
You ordered mock meat.

It is very nutritious.

They dissolve the starch
to an insoluble gluten

- and then cook this elastic mass.
- Can't wait to dig in.

Oh, uh, the extended
panel results came back.

- What? Why didn't you tell me?
- 'Cause you were busy

accusing me of ordering you
food from the underworld.

I love seitan.
Okay, tell me.

She tested positive for the
presence of amphetamines.

- Judge Harper?
- Yeah. It could be a false-positive.

Many drugs share similar metabolites,
but I will have to test every one

with a similar chemical makeup.

Again with the testing.

You know, you could be
one of the most impatient

- human beings I know.
- But you're not sure?

Maybe you should test it.

- You're wrecking my appetite.
- No! Maybe that's the insoluble

gluten mass that you ordered?
[RATTLING]

Got your mail.

Oh, thanks, Tommy.
Do you mind putting it on the desk?

- What's in the bag?
- Oh, cans and bottles for recycling.

Garbage bags are breeding grounds

for bacterial and fungal pathogens,

including salmonella, e. Coli 0157,

shigella dysentery, legionella,
listeria monocytogenes...

She's not gonna stop talking
unless you take that outside.

- Aeromonas hydrophila...
- Well, I never got sick.

There's 20 bucks worth of
cans and bottles in there.

- Look at her. Her head's about to explode.
- Staphylococci aureus.

Look, Maura. See?

Cool, Jane.

Is Ma back yet?

No. Cavanaugh took her out to dinner.

- Tommy, would you like some food?
- Uh... Yeah, l-I don't eat... that.

All right, well, since you're here,
can we talk about your lawsuit?

No. We can't.

It's my life, Jane.

I know it's your l...

- What about T. J?
- What about him?

Look, Mark says he can
get me the money now.

Frost's guy says it's gonna
be at least another year.

- I need it now.
- I think it's shortsighted and stupid.

You can't see me as anything other
than a stupid screw-up, can you?

What? Tommy, come on!
Tommy!

- Tommy, stay and have some tea.
- No, I just came by to drop off

the cans and bottles for Ma.

- W-why are you bringing garbage to Ma?
- Because she needs my help,

and she doesn't see me
as a screw-up.

That's why.

I really shouldn't be that hard on him.

He has such a big heart.

And you aren't listening.
You're going through your mail.

Oh. Um, I just like
sorting and organizing.

I know.
[MAURA GASPS]

What?

It's from the IRS.

- I think it's an audit.
- What are you worried about?

You break out into hives if you lie.

I mean, if you cheat on your taxes,
you're probably gonna get leprosy.

It's not for me.

It's for your mother.

What?

What are you doing?

Mail tampering is a crime.

Oh, my God.

She owes $27,000 in back taxes.

What? How is that possible?

- She doesn't even make that in a year.
- My father.

He probably cheated on their taxes.

No wonder she's been
trying to make extra money.

Tommy probably knows.

That's why he's recycling
bottles and cans for her.

Well, why does she tell
Tommy and not me and Frankie?

What?
What is that face?

What?

Tommy doesn't judge.

So, while you two were

with the hot law clerk,
we were going through 4 million

hours of security footage.

Frankie, cue up the show.

FRANKIE: We found Dr. Simmons,

AKA Dr. Oxycontin, coming and going.

Well, that's him and his attorney
entering the courthouse

yesterday at 9:05 AM.
And...

...that's Dr. Simmons and the same

attorney leaving at 5:02 P.M.

Right after their motion for
a new judge was denied.

Yep. And Judge Harper was ambushed

in the stairwell around 5:30,
so the doctor didn't do it,

unless he paid someone to do it for him.

Maybe we run a list of everyone

at the courthouse against anyone
with ties to the two-six gang

that Dr. Simmons was selling to.

- That's who he'd hire, right?
- Makes sense.

I'll be right there.

- What do you want to do about Ma?
- Nothing. Maura's right.

We do judge.

And Ma doesn't want us to know.

You shouldn't have opened up her mail.

- I wanted to help, Frankie.
- She doesn't want our help.

- It just makes me so sad.
- Me, too, Janie.

Not a single two-six gang

member or known associate
was in that courthouse yesterday.

- A gang-free day?
- Two-six, anyway.

I checked.

- Where's Jane?
- She and Frankie went to grab coffee.

- What's up?
- We have a cause of death.

Judge Harper died of
methylphenidate overdose.

- Translation?
- She had toxic levels

of ritalin in her system.

Who the hell
kills someone with ritalin?

No one, apparently.
I ran it against all solved and

unsolved homicides... nothing.

Well, it's a common enough drug.
It's used to treat ADHD.

Yeah, the drug unit is always

busting college kids who abuse it.

Helps them stay up and study.

Maybe it's one of the kids
on the mock-trial team.

FROST: That's what I've been thinking.

I'm trying to get into the
mock-trial website, but damn.

These kids are smart these days.

Come on.
[TAPPING KEYBOARD]

Let me in.

But wouldn't that smart teenager realize
that we'd eventually trace the drug?

Plenty of M.E.'s
wouldn't have caught that.

You said mock trial was competitive?

One kid I knew put
his fist through a wall

when he got cast as an understudy.

Tried to put his fist through my face
when he heard I got his role.

- Yeah!
- What?

I just beat an 128-bit encryption.

MAURA: MockYourAdvisors. Com?

Wow, look at all these
complaints about Judge Harper.

Frost, scroll down.

Look at the quote from "Max"...

"I'm sick of Ashley and her tiger mom.

I say we give Judge
Harper this sentence...

...Death by lethal injection."

I hope writing death
threats was worth it, Max.

You're all are being very literal,

and you have no right
to search my locker.

- We don't?
- The Supreme Court decided the

need to maintain order outweighs

the privacy interests in
students in New Jersey vs. TLO,

if, and only if, you
have articulable facts.

- You want "articulable facts"?
- I think he does, Detective Frost.

FROST: The comments
you made constitute

threats sufficient
to justify the search.

The Supreme Court also stated that
if the manner in which the search

is conducted is reasonably related
to the objective, it's allowed.

Wrong.

I don't see a warrant,
and I'm not giving consent.

JANE: Oh, that's okay.

We've not only met the
reasonable suspicion standard

but also the higher one...
probable cause.

That's sufficient to satisfy
your 4th Amendment concerns.

- Very nice, Detective Rizzoli.
- Thank you, Detective Frost.

- Your locker is messy, Max.
- Whatever.

Look, I'll admit I was
pissed at Judge Harper.

I am much more qualified than Ashley,
but my mom isn't the advisor.

So you threatened Judge
Harper with a lethal injection,

- and then you killed her.
- Right.

I'm not stupid enough to kill ajudge.

Besides murder one looks kind
of crappy on a transcript.

JANE: Ritalin.

A drug offense looks pretty crappy, too.

It's not illegal to take ritalin.

It is if you don't have a
prescription. Do you got one?

- I want to cut a deal.
- Now we're talking.

I'll give up my dealer if
you'll agree not to charge me

for an electronically
communicated threat.

Well, what if we want to
charge you for murder, as well?

I'm the backup prosecutor.

I never even left the courtroom.
Want my dealer or not?

I didn't sell ritalin to anybody.

I just gave a couple pills to a friend.

At least, I thought Max was a friend.

I need to know where you
got the ritalin, Ashley.

Ashley was diagnosed
with ADHD when she was 11.

Her pediatrician prescribed
it to help her concentrate.

So how long have you been taking it?

- I don't anymore.
- My daughter was worried

that Ashley was retreating from her life

because she was embarrassed
about the medication.

- So she let her stop taking it.
- How long ago was that?

About seven months.

Right, honey?

ASHLEY: Yeah.

So if you'd stopped taking the ritalin,

where did you get the
pills to give to Max?

I found a bottle in
mom's medicine cabinet.

- GRANDMOTHER: Ashley!
- ASHLEY: A lot of kids take ritalin.

You know how huge the
workload is senior year,

on top of college
applications and mock trial?

Okay...

I took some pills for me
and I gave some to Max.

What ajerk.

Thank you for telling me the truth.

Why would somebody kill my mom?

I don't know yet,

but I want you to know
that it is very important

to me to find out.

Thank you.

I knew your mom.
She was a good person.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Ashley.

And yours, Mrs. Phillips.

Hey, Dr. Isles. I'm just reading a
law review article

Judge Harper and Roger Thorson
wrote when they were at BCU,

"Rehabilitation instead of retribution."

- She was amazing.
- Thinking about the road not taken?

What's the matter with your wrist?

I've had intermittent
tingling and stingers

ever since I broke it in
the parking-garage collapse.

- What did your doctor say?
- He sent me to a neurologist.

She said there
wasn't any nerve damage.

- Well, that's good.
- So why am I still having pain?

I have a thought.

Let me try something, but no guarantees.

I'm ready to try anything.

Except needles, because
I don't...

I don't like needles.

This won't hurt. I promise.

Okay.

The large intestines, L.I. Of 11,

on the affected side
near to the left elbow.

- Ooh, what are you doing to him?
- Shh.

Acupuncture is supposed to be
performed in a calm environment.

With all of your masks
of death staring at him?

They're tribal ritual masks.

- You don't find them soothing?
- Um...

...not really.
- Huh.

Mm!

Should you be doing that?

- I'm certified.
- In acupuncture?

I got a perfect score on the
NCCAOM exam in acupuncture

and on the foundations of
traditional Chinese medicine

- and the clean needle technique.
- All right, I'm not busting you.

- I'm just asking.
- Oh.

All right, give me an
update on Judge Harper.

Something interesting came back on her
hair sample. She'd been taking ritalin

for at least six months
prior to her death.

Did she have ADHD like her daughter?

Well, there was no evidence
of that in her medical history,

and no doctor seems to
have prescribed it for her.

- Hmm.
- L-I don't mean to be a bad patient,

- but I've stopped feeling calm.
- Okay.

The last one.

Try not to move.

Why was she taking ritalin?

I don't know.
But there were significant levels

- of inert excipients in her blood.
- Pill binders?

Yes. Which wouldn't be
present if taken orally.

So you're saying the killer injected her

- with dissolved pills?
- Yes.

Look, Jane, whoever did this had

to have known she took ritalin
and tried to make it look accidental.

Mm-hm.

These are Judge Harper's
medical records from law school.

I was curious about her dizzy spells
since they weren't alcohol-related.

The injury to her patella occurred

between her second and third year...

- I wonder how she fractured it.
- She was a runner. Maybe she fell.

No, I don't think so.

She told the treating doctor
that she didn't remember falling.

He ordered a lumbar puncture.

Aha!

- Her hypocretin levels were low.
- Aha!

Why are we saying "aha"?

Well, it correlates with
the HLA gene test I ordered.

- Aha!
- Aha!

Judge Harper fell
because she blacked out.

She suffered from narcolepsy.

- That's why she was taking ritalin.
- Yes.

Okay, wait. Why wasn't
it in her medical records,

and why didn't she have
her own prescription?

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.
Judge Harper clerked

for Judge Juliet Coker
when she was in law school.

- Excuse me.
- Yeah.

Judge Coker was tossed from the bench

when someone found out
she was taking medication

for bipolar disorder and leaked it.

MAURA: Well,
if she was taking medication,

why was she removed?
Was there evidence that her

- condition affected herjudgment?
- No.

No, it wasn't about her condition.

She was a rising star.

The boys' club wouldn't have liked that.

- They used it to get rid of her.
- So Judge Harper saw firsthand

what happens when your competitors

know your weaknesses
and your medical history.

Which is why she kept
her narcolepsy a secret.

Somebody knew.

Oh, I can't today, Angela.

I dipped into Zorba's baklava at lunch.

I just tried to make my monthly

electronic payment to the IRS.

Frank Sr.'s back taxes?

They told me that I have a zero balance.

- You think Frank paid it off?
- No.

My sources tell me
he's completely broke.

Was it you?

I promised you
I would not interfere, and I didn't.

Well, then, maybe it
was a clerical mistake.

When they find it, are
they gonna throw me in jail?

I'm gonna have to tell
them it's gonna take me

22 years to pay off that bill.

I might know someone I can call,
find out what's up.

Really? Thanks.

- Hey, Ma.
- Hi, honey.

- Everything okay?
- Yeah. Yeah, of course.

I was just trying to give a
brownie to Sergeant Korsak.

But he'd rather have some
carrots instead.

No charge.

- Thanks.
- Yeah.

I found something in Judge
Harper's phone records,

a guy named Dustin Williams
who's been calling her

- every day for weeks.
- Frost, can you check Frankie's list,

see if Dustin Williams was
in the courthouse yesterday?

Yeah, but wait. How would he
know that she took ritalin?

Did you check to see if he filed

- a formal complaint against her?
- He did.

FROST: Dustin Williams is on the list

and didn't leave the
courthouse until 5:45 PM.

You filed a formal complaint
against Judge Harper.

- To get justice for my son.
- Joey Williams is your son?

- That's right.
- He was convicted of burglary.

Judge Harper sentenced him to
up to three years at Starbridge.

- Why there?
- Ask Judge Harper.

She's dead.

She said since Joey was 17
and a first-time offender,

it would be a good place
to turn his life around.

She put him with scum!

FROST: You seem pretty angry,
Mr. Williams.

Angry enough to kill ajudge
who sentenced your son?

I didn't kill anybody.

Then what were you doing
at the courthouse yesterday?

Trying to get what I'm entitled to,

copies of Joey's case file,

so I could sue that
hellhole of a prison.

KORSAK: Joey didn't much like it there.

- They extended his sentence.
- They added four years.

- What did he do?
- Nothing!

They said he attacked
someone, but that wasn't Joey.

He was scared out of his mind.

I begged Judge Harper
to get him out of there.

Is that why you kept calling her?

She said she believed he
didn't deserve that extension.

- She said she'd look into it.
- Did she?

She didn't do a damn thing.

It's because of her my son's dead.

- When did he die?
- Last week.

Prison gave me some bullshit
story about kidney failure,

but Joey never had any
problem with his kidneys.

- And you blame Judge Harper for that?
- Hell yeah. She put him in there.

I bet she was taking kickbacks.

You go ahead, arrest me.

Charge me with her murder.

I'll confess, as long as
you look into my son's death.

Judge's financials are clear.

I knew she wasn't taking kickbacks.

She wasn't that kind of person.

Dad's alibi checks out.

Clerk's office said he showed up

at 4:30 and refused to leave
without his son's file.

Court security hauled him out at 5:45.

Judge Harper
believed in rehabilitation.

Is that why she sent Joey to Starbridge?

Can you pull up their website?

FROST: Got it.

Nice prison... a library, classrooms,

basketball court, computer room.

- It's minimum security.
- Yeah. Mostly first-time offenders.

An 18 percent recidivism rate?

That's low.
Starbridge should run all the prisons

if they can turn 82 percent of their
inmates into solid citizens.

Frost, pull up Starbridge's financials.

They showed record profits

- in the last two quarters.
- Must be a big place.

Every prison gets paid by the prisoner.

Let's look at anyone
Judge Harper sentenced there.

Every one of them was
a first-time offender.

Jane, they all had
their sentences extended.

For the same thing. Look.
It says "behavior violations."

Same as Joey Williams.

The extensions file in her briefcase.

She was checking into
Joey's extended sentence,

and somebody took the
contents of that file.

I have Joey Williams' autopsy
reports from Starbridge.

I checked it against all
of his medical records.

He has a blood condition,

benign familial erythrocytosis.

What's that mean?

Well, his red-blood-cell count
was consistently elevated,

but his autopsy CBC blood test

showed no signs of elevation.

- That's not possible.
- JANE: Yeah, it is.

It wasn't Joey's blood.

Judge Harper had a daughter that was 17.

She cared about teenagers.

Joey was 17.

She was looking into Starbridge.

- We need to go there.
- KORSAK: It's a private prison.

They're
not just gonna let you poke around.

They might.

If they think
we're all on the same side.

- Do you know this Dustin Williams guy?
- Better than I'd like to.

Us, too... he's been raising
holy hell at the station.

He's even asked Dr. Isles

here to exhume his son's body

- to do another autopsy.
- He's like a bad penny, that one.

We need got to him off our back.

Yeah. So just give us the 25-cent tour,

and we will sign off on this thing

- and finally be rid of that nut ball.
- Nothing would make me happier.

Fantastic.

"Starbridge: Do your time, cross
the bridge to a better life."

MAN: We try to make a difference.

That's why we only take
minimum-security offenders.

How do you manage
such a low recidivism rate?

MAN: We have a lot to offer.

Classes to get your high-school GED,

college courses,

counseling, fitness center.

- We've got it all.
- Mm.

Uh, we would love to see
where you house the prisoners.

Oh, that's off limits,
even to the good guys.

- Sorry.
- No problem.

[JANE MOANS]

[JANE MOANS]

Jane, are you alright?

Oh.

No.

Oh, no. Uh, you know, she
has terrible dysmenorrhea.

Do you have a ladies' room?

Uh, there's only one.

It's... It's all the way

- on the other side of the facility.
- I need that one!

Oh, l-I'm gonna... I'm gonna
come with you, Detective.

Excuse us.

Jane...

- You ever have a female partner?
- No.

- Pfft.
- What a pain in the ass.

You're telling me.

- Where did you get that card?
- Borrowed it.

This is making me very itchy.

I'll get you some Benadryl.
All right, come on.

We got to figure out
what happened to Joey.

Go.

There's four people to a one-man cell.

- Are those gang tattoos?
- Yeah, hard-core gangbangers.

They're not first-time offenders.

And this definitely
isn't minimum security.

"Monday and Friday"?

Well, how could a prison offer

inmates access to medical care
for only six hours a week?

Dig deep. Find his records.

Staphylococcus bacteria
must be teeming in here,

- along with e. Coli.
- Don't start again.

Here it is. Here it is.

Joseph Williams' medical records.

- Frost?
- Hit me.

Get into the bureau
of prisons database.

Okay.

Pull up a listing of
all Starbridge inmates.

What are you looking for?

Sort for longest to shortest
sentences, and then start reading.

Okay.
"Murder one, murder one,

second-degree murder."

A lot of those.
"Assault with a deadly weapon."

Lots of those.
And lots of rapes.

Does that sound like a place
to send a 17-year-old

first-time burglar?

I'm surprised the kid lasted
as long as he did.

Jane... Joey Williams

- didn't die of kidney failure.
- You sure?

Well, I'd prefer to do an autopsy.

I'd prefer to be in Hawaii.

What does it say in his report?

Okay, look, what Starbridge

reported to the state
conflicts with his chart.

He had elevated blood CO2 levels.

That's consistent with
suffocation, not kidney failure.

FROST: It would be in Starbridge's

interest to cover up a prison murder
to keep their contract with the state.

Judge Harper must have pressed
Starbridge after Joey's death.

I think we just found motive.

Jane, there's ritalin here.

[CELL PHONE VIBRATES]
It's Korsak.

Warden's on
high alert, looking for us.

Frost, did you find Judge Harper

- on yesterday's courthouse footage?
- I wasn't looking for her, but I can.

- Okay. Jane, let's go.
- Okay. Track her.

I want to know everyone
that she talked to yesterday.

Okay. Korsak is texting
me. Now, come on.

We need to get out of here.

Frost, I got to go. Bye.

Oh, man.
I thought I was gonna have

to visit you at Starbridge.

Oh. We should have called.

How did you get away from the warden?

- You don't want to know.
- Yeah, I do.

- I said I needed a tampon.
- Worked like a charm.

I've found something, Jane.

Judge Harper and Roger Thorson
had coffee together.

Yeah, uh, they went over the
mock trial. He told us about it.

But something happened
between them.

Watch.

That's quite a disagreement.

JANE: Zoom in on that file folder.

It's the "extensions" folder.

So she was talking about
Joey's sentence extension.

Why are they arguing?

Wait, Frost, stop. Go back.

What's on that paper she's showing him?

It's a complaint to the
office of bar counsel.

Judge Harper wanted someone disbarred.

Who? Hit "play."

Well, whatever he said made
her rip up that complaint.

What do we know about Roger Thorson?

They were friends, went
to law school together.

They even co-wrote
articles for the Law Review.

He's a corporate attorney now.

Does he have any connection
to Starbridge?

Checking.

- His firm represents them.
- Who else does he represent?

FROST: No one.

Okay.

So, he gave Judge Harper

the sales job on Starbridge.

That's why she was sentencing
first-time offenders there.

She thought they were on the same side.

The law review article
you were reading,

"Rehabilitation instead of retribution."

She learned too late
that Roger had sold out.

Tens of millions of dollars
at stake with a private prison.

Wait, it...
It wasn't just about the money.

She was threatening to get him disbarred
with the complaint that she tore up.

- He'd lose everything.
- Keep watching.

Look what he's doing now.

Emptying the "extensions" folder.

And taking a manila envelope.

The law clerk said the judge
came back for something.

Permission slips!

That's why she left the courtroom.
Well, you're not allowed

to start the competition
until you've turned in all

the kids' permission slips.

Let's get a warrant.

Detectives, approach, please.

Thank you, your honor.

- Are those the permission slips?
- Any news?

The kids are just about to come in
to finish the mock-trial competition.

Yeah, I have some news, Roger,

starting with the permission slips

that you took from
Judge Harper's briefcase.

I'm sorry?

- She left them in the courtroom.
- No.

You convinced her that she
left them in her office.

That way you could
start the competition.

JANE: Everyone was watching Ashley.

No one noticed you slip out,

and you waited for Judge
Harper in the stairwell,

and then you injected her with ritalin.

You're out of your mind!

I tried to save her.
I gave her CPR.

JANE: Yeah, you had to think fast.

What if she had been
able to talk, Roger?

That must have shocked the hell out
of you when she made it back here.

FROST: You knew about her narcolepsy

diagnosis, knew she took ritalin.

- This is obscene.
- JANE: Yes, it is.

We executed a search
warrant at your house.

We found paint from the stairwell

and fibers from the judge's dress
on the suit you were wearing.

Of course you did!

I was trying to start her heart.

- She was my friend.
- And you made sure you touched her

- in case you were ever a suspect.
- That's not true!

No? Since when did CPR
require a syringe filled with ritalin?

What syringe?

Oh, the supposed murder weapon?

Do you have that? Did you...
did you recover it when

- you tore apart my house?
- I'm sure you disposed of it.

Luckily, you carried that
syringe out of the courthouse

in your suit pocket.

We found traces of ritalin

and her blood on your clothes.

Hey!
Hi, Vince.

My friend at the IRS confirms it.

Your debt is paid off.

Oh, I feel like I just got my life back!

He's not supposed to be drinking.

- It's a soda.
- Oh.

Hey, everyone, next round's on me!

[ALL CHEERING]

You, too, Jane.
And, of course, you, too, Maura.

- What are you doing, Tommy?
- I'm celebrating.

My case against the
Storrow Center settled.

- Oh, Tommy!
- Tommy, hey.

Listen...

maybe it's best that you don't
spend your money like this.

Ma, I want you to stop worrying, okay,

about me, and now you can

stop worrying about, you know,

your financial issues.

Tommy, you didn't.

- Didn't what?
- You paid off her debt?

- You paid off the IRS?
- $27,000?

How do you two know?!

- Vince?
- Don't look at me.

I didn't say a word.

Uh... well... we...

No. I.

I... wa...

- It was just a long story...
- I told them.

Look, you shouldn't have to
do everything on your own.

They wanted to help, just like me.

Oh, come here, Tommy.

Thank you.

Ma, I can't breathe.

Listen...
I'm gonna pay you every penny, son.

I promise... with interest.

- Ma, look. I owe you plenty.
- No, I...

- Wow.
- I'm proud of you, Tommy.

You're the man that Pop never was.

You don't have to get
all mushy on me, Jane.

Well, I can if I want to!

Oh, I love you so much.

I love you. And listen, okay.

You are not allowed to do
this on your own, all right?

- Frankie and I will split it with you.
- Thanks, Jane.

Well, listen, since
we're all hugging here,

- can I hug Maura, too?
- You bet.

- Hands where I can see them.
- TOMMY: What?

What about you, Korsak?

You want a hug? Come on!
Ripped By mstoll