K-Ville s01e07 Episode Script
Melissa
Julia, I've got a lunch appointment.
Be back in a couple of hours.
I don't have anything on!the books.
We have patients waiting.
Reschedule.
"New Orleans-- New You.
" Plastic surgeon, huh? That's definitely a new look.
Yeah.
Blunt trauma face-lift.
That's the new hotness.
What else you got down there? eyeglass lens.
Oh, ouch.
My daddy always said, you should never hit a man that wears glasses.
People today sure don't have respect for the nerdy.
They're not his glasses.
Maybe they're the killer's lens, then.
Let's bag it to go.
Save the rest gor CSU.
Come on, Boulet, let's take this seriously.
I am taking it seriously.
Just at a high pace.
Come on, man.
Listen, if you want to go play Dadey Day Care, that's fine, all right? If you got something you want to deal with, go take care of it.
Take the day off, all right.
I'm sure Embry will just be fine with it.
I'm not rushing into anything.
I just figured out the case, that's all.
Robbery homicide, open and shut.
Sure, robbery homicide? Mm-hmm.
They left his wallet, his watch and his car.
Which is anything but?? But we called the doctor's office, Cobb, remember!that? What did the secretary say? "Dade left in a hurry.
" Left with what? His briefcase.
And his briefcase is not in the crime scene.
Oot yet.
Okay, well, no briefcase, robbery; dead body, homicide.
Robbery homicide, bow! Now, Tony got out of school 20 minutes ago.
They probably have her down in Latchkey.
She doesn't like it there.
We get her, head back, pull rap sheets from surrounding neighborhoods.
Look at all the perps that wear glasses.
Easy as one, two three.
Perps with glasses and mountain bikes? The tracks look secent.
Could've seen what happened.
Could'we bgen what happened.
Now I got to buy her a doggie.
What's that? Last time I was late picking her up, I promised I'd buy her a doggie if it happened again.
Did you specify a real dog or a toy dog? I like the way you think.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Yeah! Yeah! Smack that thing, man.
Yeah, come on.
Take the!left.
Yeah! Smack that thing, man.
Yeah! Hey! Hey, drop it! Drop it! Hey, don't you-- come here! Drop it! Hey, hey! Drop it right there! Drop it! Come here.
Get up here.
We didn't see y'all.
?? Relax, we're the cops.
Where'd you find the briefcase? We found it.
It's my Dad's.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
We didn't hurt that guy.
He was like that when we found him.
We didn't see who did it.
You take anything else? Give me that backpack.
Give it here.
Let me see what's in here.
Games, uh-huh.
Where's your receipt, huh? What's all this? Look at this.
Where'd you geu this stuff from? We bought it from the store.
Yeah, well, I'm confiscating this.
In school, they teach basic skills like pushing buttons.
Not banging a briefcase against a tree to open it.
Now it's bad enougi you were shoplifting.
You'se io a lot of trouble for taking this briefcase.
And for what? bunch of old papers and ±¾ÃÃĻ½Ã¹©Ã§Ã°½»Ã÷£¬ÃýûÃÃÃÃÃÃõÃÃþ -=ÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÄ»Ãé=- ·ÂÃ룺¸ÃÃÃID ã㺸ÃÃÃID ñ¼äÃ᣺²Ã¸ùûŮ Ã¼Ã㺸ÃÃÃID ½ÃºóÃÃÃú µÃû¼¾µÃ7¼¯ Hey, Bean! You're late.
Oh, I know, I'm sorry, Bean.
I had to walk Barkley, ta-da! I said I was going to buy you a dog, remember? I don't want a doggie, I waot a pony.
A pony.
With polka dots.
Oh, a pony with polka dots? Mm-hmm.
Hmm, okay, okay.
Well, what about the polka dots right here? And right here? And right here? If it's not too much trouble, we closed 25 minutes ago.
Daddy has to go to work, okay? So we're going to stop by my office for a little bit.
I got to do a little bit more work, all right? Can I run the siren? She has an active imagination.
Hereur vic,£¿£¿ Better times.
This is taken from the Web site of his medical practice.
And here he is!as we found him this afternoon.
Hey, hey, hey, Cap.
Can we keep this PG? This is a homicide, Boulet.
Where's Ayana? Baton Rouge.
Her father's sick and the two sitters we use were booked up, and my neighbor Latonya, she had to!work a double shift.
Hey, Cap, did the crime lab turn up anything? Turns out we got blood from two individuals at the scene.
The doc is B-negative.
The other blood is O-positive.
The lab's working up a full DNA test on that, but it's gonna take some time.
But it looks like the doc put up a fight before he got his face bashed in.
Sorry.
Before his "ouchie.
" The real key to this is the 50 grand that was found in the briefcase.
Maybe Dr.
Schmidt went down to the lakefront iuive to give him the money.
Nah, tat kind of cash usually means a bribe, some kind of payoff.
Well, maybe he was hiring Mr.
O-positive to do someuhing he didn't wak to him.
But why kill him and not take the money? The briefcase was sitting by the corpse before those kids found it.
What's a corpse? Hey, Bean.
You're supposed to have your headphones on, honey.
But I'm done coloring.
Aww, that's adorable.
You know what £¿£¿£¿ Today's her third birthday.
Wife been informed she's a widow? Not yet.
When I called, a neighbor answered.
£¿£¿organizing the party.
It's a princess theme.
£¿£¿ You know what, let's take the widow.
You guys are cool with the plastic surgery scene, right? You sure you want to be the one to notify her? No.
But where I go, Tawni goes.
And besides, she loves a good princess party, right? Mm-hmm.
"Mm-hmm.
" That should be our song.
Come on, let's make that song, mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, come in.
Hi! Hi, come in.
Face-painting is in the living room.
And the bouncy's out back.
Hi.
Hi.
Hi.
May I help you? We're NOPD.
You must ??.
You must have the wrong man.
We're going to need you to positively identify him!for the record.
But it's your husband.
And I'm sorry.
We promise you, we will find who did this.
But in the meantime, we're gonna need some help from you.
Any chance you'll be able to give us some? We found your husband's briefcase with $50,000 io cash.
Do you have any idea what that money's for? Did he tell you anything? I didn't I didn't think he Mrs.
Schmidt.
Steve.
I should have asked him what he was doing.
The past couple of weeks, he was holed up in his study on the computer.
I could hear him making calls from his office line.
Mss.
Schmidt, it would help us if we could look at his phone records, bank accounts, and if you give us that permission, it'll be a lot faster.
Come here, Mommy, come here.
How am I supposed to tell Claire her Daddy's gone? Well, they're gonna find out soon enough.
Those breasts aren't gonna enlarge themselves.
Dr.
Schmidt always this busy? Since the storm, yes.
Botox injections, liposuctioo, eye-lifts, you name it.
Dr.
Schmidt calls called it FEMA-plasty.
"FEMA-plasty"? Lots of disposable income floating around these days.
Golks are getting their government aid, and they're bringing it here.
Wow.
Did you have any sense Dr.
Schmidt was trouble? Any kind of suspicious activity? Not unuil today.
He left in a hurry for lunch and he took his briefcase with him.
He never takes his briefcase to lunch.
Did he have any enemies? Any patients with a vendetta? No.
I mean, there's always complaints in this line of work, but his patients loved him.
Any "complaints" come to mind? Hmm, Sharon Krevall.
She was suing him for $500,000.
But her case was completely baseless.
She's a little You think the good doctor tried to settle off the books? For ten percent of the ask? Well, maybe that's why she did a little reconstructive surgery on his face.
Where were you at 12:00 noon today? 13 noon? I was in bed asleep.
I work the night shift in case you hadn't noticed.
Were you alone in bed? Now,!I don't see how the hell that's any of your business.
Can anyone confirm your alibi,?? Myron Lantell and Lance Roberts.
Look, just because I had a malpractice suit against Schmidt doesn't mean I killed him.
We have worked murders where the motive was a simple insult.
Now this insult was permanent.
What? Come on.
Doc ruined your nose, you wanted revenge.
Glue Boy My nose? Yeah, it's one of the seven deadly sins: vanity.
I had breast implants.
I have to apologize for my partner.
He's recovering from a massive head wound.
Whoo! Hot stuff coming through.
There you go.
There you go.
Mmm! Boulet's bouillabaisse.
Thanks, partner.
Mm-hmm.
The doc's records show that!he withdrew $50,000 yesterday morning.
Okay, that's on track.
Try some of that.
Get you a nice big spoon.
We got Louisiana Gulf shsimp, onions, peppers, catfish- uh, some Cajun shake seasoning.
Mm Yeah.
Yeah, and enough cayenne pepper to kill a bull moose.
Wow.
Oh, my God,that's got some heat.
Oh, hey, hey, hey! an, what you about to do, Bean? No, no, no! Hey, hey, hey, Bean! No, no, no, no, no.
Look, finger paints goes on the paper.
Brush goes on the wall, okay? Now,!if you mess up Daddy's wall, I can't get you that pony.
I don't want a pony.
I want a dragon.
Oh, you want a dragon, huh? Mm-hmmMm-hmm! Okay, ba You like that, don't you? Like I was saying before you tried to poison me, the last two weeks, Schmidt's made five phone calls to a 972 area code.
That's Dallas.
I wonder who he was talking to there? Hello.
This is Officer Boulet, New Orleans Police Departmenu.
New Orleans Police? Yeah, that's right.
hey,hey ,is luke all right? Who's Luke? No, no, who's this? This is Grayson Mitchell.
Uh, Luke Sherman's my roommate.
Can I ask what this is about, please? Do you know a Dr.
Steven Schmidt? no,i don't know a doctor Well, uh, maybe he was calling your roommate.
Uh, can I speak with him? He is not here he is a ?? He is left two days ago.
I thought you were calling about him.
No.
Our investigation led us to this number.
You have any idea why he would be down here This if Officer Cobb.
I need you to run a name for me: Luke Sherman.
I found it strange because, you know, Luke swore he'd never go back.
He lost his wige and his kid in the storm.
Does he have a cell phone? I don't think so.
I know he's staying with his grandmother, Harriet Sherman.
She never left.
okay thank you If we have any more questions, we'll call you on this number.
Damn, Cobb, now we got?? You know what? You stay here.
I'll take care of it.
Don't worry about it.
What, and have you lo No, no, no.
I got this.
Hold on, watch this.
Latonya! Bouillabaisse! That woman just loves my home cooking.
Hey, Bean, we gonna have Latonya come by and give you a bath tonight, okay, honey? Luke came on Tuesday, and he left this morning.
What brought Luke up from Dallas? Did he miss his grandma's home cooking? Better than that.
He's come to get his angel.
He's come for Melissa, his little daughter.
We were told that Luke lost his wife and daughter in the storm.
Karen died.
We found her body.
God rest her soul.
But baby Melissa, Luke looked everywhere for her, and then, finally, he came to realize, he'd probably lost them both.
had a funeral for them and he left the next day.
t come back, not even to visit, until now.
Are you saying Melissa is alive? About two months back, I heard about a Web site that was set up to find missing kids.
I had my friend put a picture of Melissa on it.
And then two weeks ago, a miracle happened.
The people that were taking care of her saw the picture, and they sent a recent photo to Luke on his e-mail, and Luke made a print of it at a shop and brought it down here with him.
Do you still have the photo? You bet I do.
Isn't she precious? She's adorable.
I didn't lie to you.
I've never hidden the fact that Claire was adopted, not even to her.
We told her that she had another mommy and daddy that live in heaven.
Try Dallas.
What? Does the name Luke Sherman mean anything to you? No.
It did to your husband.
He's been calling them repeatedly in Dallas for over the past few weeks.
We have reason to believe that he's Claire's biological father.
Impossible.
Claire's biological father died in the storm.
Both her parents did.
If Steve knew different, he would have told me.
Unless he was trying to get rid of the problem before you found out.
The payoff backfired.
Big time.
What are you talking about? Your adoptive daughter's birth father is alive and back in town.
He's come looking for his child.
You mean Claire.
You mean my child.
You have to understand, it was ciaos.
For weeks after the storm, we had no shelters, no courts.
No real DCFS to speak of.
Kids were looking for parents, parents were looking for kids.
Trust me, I know.
I found a six-year-old wandering around St.
Roch too traumatized to talk.
We found Claire at the edge of the floodwaters.
I had a washtub wrapped in towels like Moses.
It was a miracle she survived.
Here's the file if you need to take it.
So after you had this miracle baby, didn't look for the parents? Of course we did, but finding parents with no records was next to impossible.
But Claire lucked out.
A successful doctor and his wife who had been trying to adopt.
Yeah, I actually went to high school with Kathy Schmidt, so I felt Claire was in good hands, and the courts agreed.
They awarded custody after three months and declared the biological parents dead.
Until they weren't.
Two weeks ago, on a missing persons Web site that's regularly updated Yeah.
We spoke with Luke's grandmother.
She saw him yesterday.
What about you? Three days ago, he came in here to take an official paternity test.
What was he like, disposition? The man thought his daughter was dead for two years, and now she's alive? He was acting like a crazed maniac.
Wouldn't you? So you told a crazed maniac where to find Dr.
Schmidt.
Did you draw him a map, too? No, I-I I See, when the test came back positive, I called Steve at work.
He didn't want Kathy to know that we had found the father.
He insisted on meeting Luke on his own first.
So you let the two of them meet unsupervised? Look, Detective, this was hardly a situation from the training manual.
I admit it.
I made a mistake.
A mistake? This isn't a typo.
Steve Schmidt is dead, ??is on the loose.
I'm glad you're all here, really, but I-I don't need all this.
It's for your own protection, ma'am, okay? Well, do you really think thks Luke Sherman? Why would he want to hurt Claire's father? Mommy? Mommy, I want to play outside.
Oh, okay, honey.
Pick out a game to play with Mommy.
Okay, good.
He's heading towards the house.
Take your daughter and go stay in the kitchen.
All right, hey, Claire takes her cue from you.
You stay strong, she's strong, all right? Now be calm and don't worry about what goes on outside.
Let's go.
Sir, what is your business here, hmm? NOPD.
Stop right there! Get on the ground! I'm here to see Melissa.
Get down! Where's Melissa? Get on the ground! Get down! I here to see Melissa.
Melissa! Stay! Get down! Let me see my daughter! Stay down! you said?? Where were you at the time? I was out of town on a job when the storm hit.
Took me two days to get back to home.
Our refrigerator floated up into the attic.
I found my wife trapped underneath it.
It wasn't until last week that I put it together that she put our daughter in that washtub.
Sent her down the waters so someone could find her.
Read this headline.
I can't.
I need my glasses.
How about this? Where'd you get that? At the lakefront next to the body of Sueven Schmidt ??? Which was shortly after he offered you $50,000 to leave his family alone, and you snapped.
No, no, I did not Hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey, look, I get it, man.
If somebody offered me 50 Gs for my little girl, I'd kill him twice.
I didn't kill anybody! I never even met Steven Schmidt! We know that you talked to him on the phone and that he sent you a picture of his daughter.
My daughter! And we also know that you went to meet him at the lakefront.
No, I never even made it there.
I was kidnapped! Kidnapped? Yeah.
I went out to get a paper, and I was This guy out of nowhgre comes, and he starts beating me over the head.
He throws me in the back of this van.
He locked me in this mesh cage.
Look, I'm serious! He left me there overnight.
Next thing I knew, he-he dumped me out.
I was in the swamp.
It took me, like, an hour to get back to town.
I came straight to the Schmidt's house looking for my daughter! i never?? "I was in a van.
" Look, I'm not making this up.
The guy-- he was, uh he was a black guy, he was wiry, in, like, late 20s, and he, um he smelled like garlic.
Like a barnyard.
So did the van.
Look, I don't care if you guys m serious or not/ I just want to see my daughter.
What's your blood type? I wasn't there! for a DNA test, now, do you I'll take whatever test you want.
I just want to see my little girl.
Hey, Tawni.
Hey, honey, come on, come on.
Daddy, I was playing.
Oh, I know, honey, but I missed you today.
Hey, Look what?? I don't want a dragon.
I want a doggie.
I know, baby, but What, Daddy? Daddy's got to make one more stop today, okay? He's over there.
I can't believe we're pursuing Sherman's alibi.
Look, I know it's crazy, but it's almost too nuts.
Garlic farmer? Come on, man.
Who makes that stuff up? Then I started thinking.
A van with a cage in it.
Just because the alleged van had a cage, you jump to animal control? The van, cage and garlic.
The garlic juice keeps the fleas and ticks off the doggies, man.
It's a lot cheaper, and it works better.
I had a pit before I got married, man-- Chocolate.
Put garlic on Chocolate? I'm telling you, it works.
He's right.
Garlic would keep the bugs off your dog.
I'll remember that next time I get a pit.
NOPD.
We got a few questions for you.
??yesterday around lunchtime? Probably out checking dog packs.
Yeah, they are a real problem.
?? they let their dogs roam.
Go in packs, attack smaller pets.
Mind if we take a look at your work vehicle? Yeah, yeah, man, no problem, no problem.
Get down! Geu on your knees! Get down! Get away from the street! I can't go to jail, man.
I can't go back.
You'll be goin' to the morgue if you don't get down right oow! I did it all for her, and it hurt nobody.
Back away from the street! Don't make me shoot you! I'm not the jury, Marlin.
I'm just the DA.
I'd be breaching the public trust if I didn't bring this case.
Lyndsey, I was the first to say that Sherman's alibi was crock, but Cobb and I-- we ran it down.
Sanmartino-- he worked at an animal shelter.
They got vans with cages in 'em, and the place reeked of garlic.
What more do I need to show that the man was telling the truth? Um, I don't know, maybe proof? Oh, come on.
No, No, I'm serious.
With Sanmartino dead, what do you guys really have? A smell? The word of the alleged killer? Sherman could have easily incorporated details from the animal shelter into his lies.
Defendants do it all the time to make their alibis sound more real.
It does not mean that he was kidnapped for 12 hours while someone else killed Steven Schmidt.
Then why did Sanmartino run? Because he's a two-strike felon with an outstanding warrant for armed robbery.
He didn't want to go back to prison.
What about what he said before the car slammed into him, hmm? "I did it for her.
" What about it? He could have meant Kathy Schmidt.
Okay.
Well, maybe you guys live in a world where a big-shot plastic surgeon's wife conspires with the dogcatcher to kill her husband, but I'm in reality, thanks.
Just because we don't have motive yet-- it doesn't mean that it's not out there.
Fine.
You keep looking, but Luke Sherman's is staring us right in the face-- his daughter.
Lyndsey's right, Marlin.
Sherman thought he stole his kid, plus his eyeglasses at the scene, blood of his type.
Half the!population is O positive! That doesn't make it a slam dunk.
It will be when the DNA comes back a match.
I'll bet 100 bucks it will.
Lyndsey, you have a lot of nice qualities, but your ambition-- it akn't one of 'em.
All right now.
What?! You waot to win this case, hmm? Climb the ladder, fine, cut don't crucify a father just for trying to look for his daughter! Hey, this is not about winning cases.
I am just looking at the facts.
Unlike you, who's obviously projecting your own weird parenting issues on this whole thing.
Let's leave family out of this.
Parenting issues?! What?! Enough! Enough! Enough! Look, I do feel sorry for the guy, okay? ?? and I have to enforce the law.
The best I can do is offer him a plea.
He'll take it if he knows what's good for him.
When I convict you on murder one, which I will, Mr.
Sherman, you'll go to prison for the rest of your life.
However, I understand how you must have felt when you learned that your daughter was still alive, so here's the deal.
I won't offer it to you again.
Voluntary manslaughter.
Mandatory six year sentence.
You'll be eligible for parole in two, and get out and live your life.
Start over.
When I get out, will!I get my daughter back? I'm not a family court lawyer.
All I'm asking you-- what are the odds? Zero, Mr.
Sherman.
You killed her adoptive father.
Whether you're free in two years, or you spend your whole life in jail, you're never going to see Claire again.
Her name's Melissa.
Cut your losses, sir.
At least save yourself.
Okay.
I'll have that paperwork ready in!three hours.
In two years, maybe meet someone new and have kids.
Least this way, is his only chance.
No.
He died two years ago when he heard his family was gone.
And we just watched him die again.
You got to let it go, Boulet.
We got three hours to make this right.
No.
I've never seen him before.
Mrs.
Schmidt, do you own any pets? No.
Claire's allergic.
She once asked for a puppy, but I had to be the mom.
Mommy, why are you crying? ???happy, sweetheart.
n are here to help us.
Go play.
y, I want a Popsicle.
Oh, in a second.
Go play! Ms.
Schmidt, thank you for your time.
My time.
My time is like a living hell, and I want to know Pets? This man? What is going on? Mr.
Sanmartino was hit by a car when we went to question him at the animal shelter today.
He died.
But before he did, he said something very strange.
He said, "I did it for her.
" And what? You think the her might be me? What did he do for me, detectives? Kill my husband of 16 years? Leave my baby girl fatherless again, destroy my family? Look, Mrs.
Schmidt I know this may be difficult for you, but we're just following all of our leads.
Come on, sweet pea.
It's time to get that Popsicle.
These men were jwst leaving.
So, what do we got on Sanmartino? Look at this right here, got an ex-wife up in Seattle.
Maybe"she" is the "her.
" I'm gonna track down the number on her.
Boulet, hold up, man.
I'm thinking they weren't too friendly.
Take a look at this.
Okay.
Custody battle, over the nine-year-old daughter, lost his visitation rights, moved the kid away.
His kid-- now, that's a "her" worth fighting for.
Look at this.
He's been in and out of family court for the last three years.
Which means he spent a lot of time dealing with DCFS.
er? Right here.
Look who it is.
Look, Detectives, I get 30 new cases a week.
What was the name again? Sanmartino.
Ex-con.
A wife, up in Seattle.
You were helping him get his visitation rights.
okay,yeah,with animals or something? Yeah.
How can I help you? We think Luke Sherman was kidnapped before Steven Schmidt was murdered.
Kidnapped? Why? Why would he do that? maybe?? What? What was it,Pete? You asked him to do it and you told him you could!pull some strings.
And if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to see his baby girl again.
Hey, I mishandled the Sherman Schmidt case, ??t that.
But why would I have Carl kidnap Luke Sherman? Here's a theory.
So you could play God decide who gets the children.
And all these years, watching the system fail, you couldn't take it anymore, could you, Pete? Maybe keep baby Claire from going back to her deadbeat daddy.
The only thing we don't get, is who killed Steven Schmidt, and why.
Is there something you want to tell us, Pete? Hmm? Where were you at lunch, two days ago? Down the street, at Sylvio's Diner.
So people saw you there? I sat in the back, alone.
Yeah, and the waitress who knows you, it was her day off.
??Either chap harassing me, please.
I know my rights.
And I'll be reading them to you very soon.
Luke Sherman is innocent, I know that now.
I know we don't have motive yet, but we're working that out.
Look, I got this guy Pete Marlin I have him sweating,Captain.
Marlin, stop.
Luke's DNA came back a match.
It was his blood at the crime scene.
I'm sorry.
Can I see him before he signs? I wasn't there.
Of course, why would you have any season to believe me? ??we wanted a baby so bad before the storm but she was having trouble.
Doctors said, we probably couldn't happen.
So when Melissa came, it was it was like a miracle.
It was incredible.
And the storm just tore it all away.
I'm going to go down for murder.
You look me in my eye, and you tell me you didn't kill Steven Schmidt.
I didn't.
Don't take that deal, Luke.
If I don't I'm gonna die in jail.
If I take it, maybe if I get out, I can keep tabs on her, you know? And when she's 18, maybe Melissa will come and visit.
Visit? You believe that? What is she going to be like after all that time, Luke? What are you going to be like? This is my daughter, my baby daughter.
She just turned seven.
Now, I'd do anything for her.
If I had the chance, even if it was one in a million not to be separated from her, I'd take it.
Don't take that deal, Luke.
Let me get Melissa back to you.
And if you don't? Then you gonna hate me for the rest of your life.
But if you take that deal ry's gonna look at this case and see one thing: a father that lost his mind.
Or a wife who just inherited a wad of cash.
Okay, Counselor Boulet.
Let's say Kathy was?/ Why framg Luke Sherman? Why not just kill Steve, throw his body in the lake? That way she has sole custody of her daughter, right? Hubbie's dead, biological father's in jail.
She kills two birds, so to speak.
Okay, well, why involve Pete? Now, that, I don't know, 'cause he doesn't see a dime.
But maybe he can see Kathy.
They were having an affair.
'Cause Pete said they went to high school together, right? Cheating spouses, biological fathers who come back from the dead You know, I keep waiting for the evil twin to show up.
You worked out a neat little theory.
You got any proof? A confession is proof.
Well, thank you for your apology.
I hardly expected it given the tone of your questions last time.
Well, last time, Mrs.
Schmidt, we hadn't settled on your husband's killer.
Luke Sherman just signed a confession an hour ago.
We got him, ma'am.
It's over.
Mrs.
Schmidt, now, I I know this is an emotional time for you, we ?? But if you feel like it, we'd love to take your statement now.
Of course.
So you adopted Claire in November of '05? Yes.
Steve and I were trying to adopt for a year.
After the storm, our case worker brought us Claire.
Oh.
Pete Taylor.
That's right.
When did you first meet Mr.
Taylor? Oh, I guess around, uh, October, 2004.
Mm-hmm.
Mr.
Taylor said you two met in high school.
Well, yes.
I thought you were asking when we first met professionally.
As opposed to when you two started sleeping together? What? Knockin' boots.
Bumpin' uglies.
What you people call in your circle "having an affair.
" With Pete Taylor? Are you insane? Insane is Pete and you teaming up to kill your husband, that's insane.
Get out! The next question I will answer will be through my autorney when we sue you for harassment and slander.
Fine.
Lawyer up.
Send an innocent man to jail for 30 years, but Luke Sherman, he'll wait twice that for his daughter.
Boulet, don't give her any more ammo to beat this thing.
Come on, let's go.
I'm only gonna wait 12.
That way Claire will be 15 and able think for herself.
And right at the age where she's primed to hate you anyway.
What? What does that mean? I'll make sure she has the whole sordid story.
How she was once little Melissa, and how you framed her real Daddy for murder.
I'm her mother.
She'll believe me.
I don't doubt that she'll side with you at first.
The pain of bemieving me would kill her right there.
But in the back of her mine, she'll never be able to shake it.
Then one day, she'll be drawn to the library, Hall of Records, and she'll seek me out and I will show her every piece of evideoce that I have, and I'll let Claire decide on what kind of mother you are.
?? out.
Mrs.
Schmidt,Kathy as parents, what defines us? What do we really know about it at its core? Hmm? Sacrifice.
And if you truly love your daughter here, your sacrifice has to be you.
You know it's gotta be.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Clear this up with your baby while she's still a baby.
is your only shot at having any kind of future with her.
Steve found that picture of Claire on the website.
He wanted to contact Luke.
He said it was the right thing to do for our daughter.
But I couldn't stand the thought of it.
I panicked.
And what's when you called Pete.
I wanted to know my chances versus a biological parent.
and Pete suggested something strange and terrible.
He said if I could could just get him $50,000 he could make it all go away.
I thought he was just gonna pay the man off.
And anybody that would take a bribe wasn't fit to be Claire's dad, that's how I justified it.
I oever thought that Pete Would kill your husband.
Yet you kept your mouth shut and you lied to the police.
I had already lost so much.
I couldn't bear the thought of losing Claire, too.
You would have done the same thing.
What's going on here? It's over.
We know you killed Steve Schmidt at the Lakefront.
You had Carl Sanmartino mug him.
And then you took the eyeglass lens and you put it next to the body.
And then you stuffed 50K into Steven's briefcase, to make it look like a payoff gone bad.
Yeah, but the blood thing, oh, that took the cake.
Using Luke's blood sample from the paternity test that you required him to take, and at the crime scene/ Why? Do you remember the summer after high school? We used to g?? That was 20 years ago.
You said it felt like we were friends in another life.
So, what?? and your mama never loved you, blah, blah.
Don't interrupt me! How could you? I came to you for help-- help saving my daughter.
And you interpreted that as "please kill my husband"? We could've been together,Kathy.
Let's go.
We could've been together.
It was a set up, Luke.
Down to the very last detail.
Come on.
Melissa.
Wh-where's Melissa? She's waiting for you.
She's "Claire" now.
Is that him? Yes, sweetheart, that's him.
Why aren't you in heaven? I think Goe sent me back to be with you.
You're still wet from the rain.
Where are you going, Mommy? No, don't worry.
What the? Daddy! Daddy! Look! I painted a doggie, a dragon, and a pony.
Oh, yeah, you did.
And they're becutiful, just like you, Bean.
Just like you.
Be back in a couple of hours.
I don't have anything on!the books.
We have patients waiting.
Reschedule.
"New Orleans-- New You.
" Plastic surgeon, huh? That's definitely a new look.
Yeah.
Blunt trauma face-lift.
That's the new hotness.
What else you got down there? eyeglass lens.
Oh, ouch.
My daddy always said, you should never hit a man that wears glasses.
People today sure don't have respect for the nerdy.
They're not his glasses.
Maybe they're the killer's lens, then.
Let's bag it to go.
Save the rest gor CSU.
Come on, Boulet, let's take this seriously.
I am taking it seriously.
Just at a high pace.
Come on, man.
Listen, if you want to go play Dadey Day Care, that's fine, all right? If you got something you want to deal with, go take care of it.
Take the day off, all right.
I'm sure Embry will just be fine with it.
I'm not rushing into anything.
I just figured out the case, that's all.
Robbery homicide, open and shut.
Sure, robbery homicide? Mm-hmm.
They left his wallet, his watch and his car.
Which is anything but?? But we called the doctor's office, Cobb, remember!that? What did the secretary say? "Dade left in a hurry.
" Left with what? His briefcase.
And his briefcase is not in the crime scene.
Oot yet.
Okay, well, no briefcase, robbery; dead body, homicide.
Robbery homicide, bow! Now, Tony got out of school 20 minutes ago.
They probably have her down in Latchkey.
She doesn't like it there.
We get her, head back, pull rap sheets from surrounding neighborhoods.
Look at all the perps that wear glasses.
Easy as one, two three.
Perps with glasses and mountain bikes? The tracks look secent.
Could've seen what happened.
Could'we bgen what happened.
Now I got to buy her a doggie.
What's that? Last time I was late picking her up, I promised I'd buy her a doggie if it happened again.
Did you specify a real dog or a toy dog? I like the way you think.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Yeah! Yeah! Smack that thing, man.
Yeah, come on.
Take the!left.
Yeah! Smack that thing, man.
Yeah! Hey! Hey, drop it! Drop it! Hey, don't you-- come here! Drop it! Hey, hey! Drop it right there! Drop it! Come here.
Get up here.
We didn't see y'all.
?? Relax, we're the cops.
Where'd you find the briefcase? We found it.
It's my Dad's.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
We didn't hurt that guy.
He was like that when we found him.
We didn't see who did it.
You take anything else? Give me that backpack.
Give it here.
Let me see what's in here.
Games, uh-huh.
Where's your receipt, huh? What's all this? Look at this.
Where'd you geu this stuff from? We bought it from the store.
Yeah, well, I'm confiscating this.
In school, they teach basic skills like pushing buttons.
Not banging a briefcase against a tree to open it.
Now it's bad enougi you were shoplifting.
You'se io a lot of trouble for taking this briefcase.
And for what? bunch of old papers and ±¾ÃÃĻ½Ã¹©Ã§Ã°½»Ã÷£¬ÃýûÃÃÃÃÃÃõÃÃþ -=ÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÃÄ»Ãé=- ·ÂÃ룺¸ÃÃÃID ã㺸ÃÃÃID ñ¼äÃ᣺²Ã¸ùûŮ Ã¼Ã㺸ÃÃÃID ½ÃºóÃÃÃú µÃû¼¾µÃ7¼¯ Hey, Bean! You're late.
Oh, I know, I'm sorry, Bean.
I had to walk Barkley, ta-da! I said I was going to buy you a dog, remember? I don't want a doggie, I waot a pony.
A pony.
With polka dots.
Oh, a pony with polka dots? Mm-hmm.
Hmm, okay, okay.
Well, what about the polka dots right here? And right here? And right here? If it's not too much trouble, we closed 25 minutes ago.
Daddy has to go to work, okay? So we're going to stop by my office for a little bit.
I got to do a little bit more work, all right? Can I run the siren? She has an active imagination.
Hereur vic,£¿£¿ Better times.
This is taken from the Web site of his medical practice.
And here he is!as we found him this afternoon.
Hey, hey, hey, Cap.
Can we keep this PG? This is a homicide, Boulet.
Where's Ayana? Baton Rouge.
Her father's sick and the two sitters we use were booked up, and my neighbor Latonya, she had to!work a double shift.
Hey, Cap, did the crime lab turn up anything? Turns out we got blood from two individuals at the scene.
The doc is B-negative.
The other blood is O-positive.
The lab's working up a full DNA test on that, but it's gonna take some time.
But it looks like the doc put up a fight before he got his face bashed in.
Sorry.
Before his "ouchie.
" The real key to this is the 50 grand that was found in the briefcase.
Maybe Dr.
Schmidt went down to the lakefront iuive to give him the money.
Nah, tat kind of cash usually means a bribe, some kind of payoff.
Well, maybe he was hiring Mr.
O-positive to do someuhing he didn't wak to him.
But why kill him and not take the money? The briefcase was sitting by the corpse before those kids found it.
What's a corpse? Hey, Bean.
You're supposed to have your headphones on, honey.
But I'm done coloring.
Aww, that's adorable.
You know what £¿£¿£¿ Today's her third birthday.
Wife been informed she's a widow? Not yet.
When I called, a neighbor answered.
£¿£¿organizing the party.
It's a princess theme.
£¿£¿ You know what, let's take the widow.
You guys are cool with the plastic surgery scene, right? You sure you want to be the one to notify her? No.
But where I go, Tawni goes.
And besides, she loves a good princess party, right? Mm-hmm.
"Mm-hmm.
" That should be our song.
Come on, let's make that song, mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, come in.
Hi! Hi, come in.
Face-painting is in the living room.
And the bouncy's out back.
Hi.
Hi.
Hi.
May I help you? We're NOPD.
You must ??.
You must have the wrong man.
We're going to need you to positively identify him!for the record.
But it's your husband.
And I'm sorry.
We promise you, we will find who did this.
But in the meantime, we're gonna need some help from you.
Any chance you'll be able to give us some? We found your husband's briefcase with $50,000 io cash.
Do you have any idea what that money's for? Did he tell you anything? I didn't I didn't think he Mrs.
Schmidt.
Steve.
I should have asked him what he was doing.
The past couple of weeks, he was holed up in his study on the computer.
I could hear him making calls from his office line.
Mss.
Schmidt, it would help us if we could look at his phone records, bank accounts, and if you give us that permission, it'll be a lot faster.
Come here, Mommy, come here.
How am I supposed to tell Claire her Daddy's gone? Well, they're gonna find out soon enough.
Those breasts aren't gonna enlarge themselves.
Dr.
Schmidt always this busy? Since the storm, yes.
Botox injections, liposuctioo, eye-lifts, you name it.
Dr.
Schmidt calls called it FEMA-plasty.
"FEMA-plasty"? Lots of disposable income floating around these days.
Golks are getting their government aid, and they're bringing it here.
Wow.
Did you have any sense Dr.
Schmidt was trouble? Any kind of suspicious activity? Not unuil today.
He left in a hurry for lunch and he took his briefcase with him.
He never takes his briefcase to lunch.
Did he have any enemies? Any patients with a vendetta? No.
I mean, there's always complaints in this line of work, but his patients loved him.
Any "complaints" come to mind? Hmm, Sharon Krevall.
She was suing him for $500,000.
But her case was completely baseless.
She's a little You think the good doctor tried to settle off the books? For ten percent of the ask? Well, maybe that's why she did a little reconstructive surgery on his face.
Where were you at 12:00 noon today? 13 noon? I was in bed asleep.
I work the night shift in case you hadn't noticed.
Were you alone in bed? Now,!I don't see how the hell that's any of your business.
Can anyone confirm your alibi,?? Myron Lantell and Lance Roberts.
Look, just because I had a malpractice suit against Schmidt doesn't mean I killed him.
We have worked murders where the motive was a simple insult.
Now this insult was permanent.
What? Come on.
Doc ruined your nose, you wanted revenge.
Glue Boy My nose? Yeah, it's one of the seven deadly sins: vanity.
I had breast implants.
I have to apologize for my partner.
He's recovering from a massive head wound.
Whoo! Hot stuff coming through.
There you go.
There you go.
Mmm! Boulet's bouillabaisse.
Thanks, partner.
Mm-hmm.
The doc's records show that!he withdrew $50,000 yesterday morning.
Okay, that's on track.
Try some of that.
Get you a nice big spoon.
We got Louisiana Gulf shsimp, onions, peppers, catfish- uh, some Cajun shake seasoning.
Mm Yeah.
Yeah, and enough cayenne pepper to kill a bull moose.
Wow.
Oh, my God,that's got some heat.
Oh, hey, hey, hey! an, what you about to do, Bean? No, no, no! Hey, hey, hey, Bean! No, no, no, no, no.
Look, finger paints goes on the paper.
Brush goes on the wall, okay? Now,!if you mess up Daddy's wall, I can't get you that pony.
I don't want a pony.
I want a dragon.
Oh, you want a dragon, huh? Mm-hmmMm-hmm! Okay, ba You like that, don't you? Like I was saying before you tried to poison me, the last two weeks, Schmidt's made five phone calls to a 972 area code.
That's Dallas.
I wonder who he was talking to there? Hello.
This is Officer Boulet, New Orleans Police Departmenu.
New Orleans Police? Yeah, that's right.
hey,hey ,is luke all right? Who's Luke? No, no, who's this? This is Grayson Mitchell.
Uh, Luke Sherman's my roommate.
Can I ask what this is about, please? Do you know a Dr.
Steven Schmidt? no,i don't know a doctor Well, uh, maybe he was calling your roommate.
Uh, can I speak with him? He is not here he is a ?? He is left two days ago.
I thought you were calling about him.
No.
Our investigation led us to this number.
You have any idea why he would be down here This if Officer Cobb.
I need you to run a name for me: Luke Sherman.
I found it strange because, you know, Luke swore he'd never go back.
He lost his wige and his kid in the storm.
Does he have a cell phone? I don't think so.
I know he's staying with his grandmother, Harriet Sherman.
She never left.
okay thank you If we have any more questions, we'll call you on this number.
Damn, Cobb, now we got?? You know what? You stay here.
I'll take care of it.
Don't worry about it.
What, and have you lo No, no, no.
I got this.
Hold on, watch this.
Latonya! Bouillabaisse! That woman just loves my home cooking.
Hey, Bean, we gonna have Latonya come by and give you a bath tonight, okay, honey? Luke came on Tuesday, and he left this morning.
What brought Luke up from Dallas? Did he miss his grandma's home cooking? Better than that.
He's come to get his angel.
He's come for Melissa, his little daughter.
We were told that Luke lost his wife and daughter in the storm.
Karen died.
We found her body.
God rest her soul.
But baby Melissa, Luke looked everywhere for her, and then, finally, he came to realize, he'd probably lost them both.
had a funeral for them and he left the next day.
t come back, not even to visit, until now.
Are you saying Melissa is alive? About two months back, I heard about a Web site that was set up to find missing kids.
I had my friend put a picture of Melissa on it.
And then two weeks ago, a miracle happened.
The people that were taking care of her saw the picture, and they sent a recent photo to Luke on his e-mail, and Luke made a print of it at a shop and brought it down here with him.
Do you still have the photo? You bet I do.
Isn't she precious? She's adorable.
I didn't lie to you.
I've never hidden the fact that Claire was adopted, not even to her.
We told her that she had another mommy and daddy that live in heaven.
Try Dallas.
What? Does the name Luke Sherman mean anything to you? No.
It did to your husband.
He's been calling them repeatedly in Dallas for over the past few weeks.
We have reason to believe that he's Claire's biological father.
Impossible.
Claire's biological father died in the storm.
Both her parents did.
If Steve knew different, he would have told me.
Unless he was trying to get rid of the problem before you found out.
The payoff backfired.
Big time.
What are you talking about? Your adoptive daughter's birth father is alive and back in town.
He's come looking for his child.
You mean Claire.
You mean my child.
You have to understand, it was ciaos.
For weeks after the storm, we had no shelters, no courts.
No real DCFS to speak of.
Kids were looking for parents, parents were looking for kids.
Trust me, I know.
I found a six-year-old wandering around St.
Roch too traumatized to talk.
We found Claire at the edge of the floodwaters.
I had a washtub wrapped in towels like Moses.
It was a miracle she survived.
Here's the file if you need to take it.
So after you had this miracle baby, didn't look for the parents? Of course we did, but finding parents with no records was next to impossible.
But Claire lucked out.
A successful doctor and his wife who had been trying to adopt.
Yeah, I actually went to high school with Kathy Schmidt, so I felt Claire was in good hands, and the courts agreed.
They awarded custody after three months and declared the biological parents dead.
Until they weren't.
Two weeks ago, on a missing persons Web site that's regularly updated Yeah.
We spoke with Luke's grandmother.
She saw him yesterday.
What about you? Three days ago, he came in here to take an official paternity test.
What was he like, disposition? The man thought his daughter was dead for two years, and now she's alive? He was acting like a crazed maniac.
Wouldn't you? So you told a crazed maniac where to find Dr.
Schmidt.
Did you draw him a map, too? No, I-I I See, when the test came back positive, I called Steve at work.
He didn't want Kathy to know that we had found the father.
He insisted on meeting Luke on his own first.
So you let the two of them meet unsupervised? Look, Detective, this was hardly a situation from the training manual.
I admit it.
I made a mistake.
A mistake? This isn't a typo.
Steve Schmidt is dead, ??is on the loose.
I'm glad you're all here, really, but I-I don't need all this.
It's for your own protection, ma'am, okay? Well, do you really think thks Luke Sherman? Why would he want to hurt Claire's father? Mommy? Mommy, I want to play outside.
Oh, okay, honey.
Pick out a game to play with Mommy.
Okay, good.
He's heading towards the house.
Take your daughter and go stay in the kitchen.
All right, hey, Claire takes her cue from you.
You stay strong, she's strong, all right? Now be calm and don't worry about what goes on outside.
Let's go.
Sir, what is your business here, hmm? NOPD.
Stop right there! Get on the ground! I'm here to see Melissa.
Get down! Where's Melissa? Get on the ground! Get down! I here to see Melissa.
Melissa! Stay! Get down! Let me see my daughter! Stay down! you said?? Where were you at the time? I was out of town on a job when the storm hit.
Took me two days to get back to home.
Our refrigerator floated up into the attic.
I found my wife trapped underneath it.
It wasn't until last week that I put it together that she put our daughter in that washtub.
Sent her down the waters so someone could find her.
Read this headline.
I can't.
I need my glasses.
How about this? Where'd you get that? At the lakefront next to the body of Sueven Schmidt ??? Which was shortly after he offered you $50,000 to leave his family alone, and you snapped.
No, no, I did not Hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey, look, I get it, man.
If somebody offered me 50 Gs for my little girl, I'd kill him twice.
I didn't kill anybody! I never even met Steven Schmidt! We know that you talked to him on the phone and that he sent you a picture of his daughter.
My daughter! And we also know that you went to meet him at the lakefront.
No, I never even made it there.
I was kidnapped! Kidnapped? Yeah.
I went out to get a paper, and I was This guy out of nowhgre comes, and he starts beating me over the head.
He throws me in the back of this van.
He locked me in this mesh cage.
Look, I'm serious! He left me there overnight.
Next thing I knew, he-he dumped me out.
I was in the swamp.
It took me, like, an hour to get back to town.
I came straight to the Schmidt's house looking for my daughter! i never?? "I was in a van.
" Look, I'm not making this up.
The guy-- he was, uh he was a black guy, he was wiry, in, like, late 20s, and he, um he smelled like garlic.
Like a barnyard.
So did the van.
Look, I don't care if you guys m serious or not/ I just want to see my daughter.
What's your blood type? I wasn't there! for a DNA test, now, do you I'll take whatever test you want.
I just want to see my little girl.
Hey, Tawni.
Hey, honey, come on, come on.
Daddy, I was playing.
Oh, I know, honey, but I missed you today.
Hey, Look what?? I don't want a dragon.
I want a doggie.
I know, baby, but What, Daddy? Daddy's got to make one more stop today, okay? He's over there.
I can't believe we're pursuing Sherman's alibi.
Look, I know it's crazy, but it's almost too nuts.
Garlic farmer? Come on, man.
Who makes that stuff up? Then I started thinking.
A van with a cage in it.
Just because the alleged van had a cage, you jump to animal control? The van, cage and garlic.
The garlic juice keeps the fleas and ticks off the doggies, man.
It's a lot cheaper, and it works better.
I had a pit before I got married, man-- Chocolate.
Put garlic on Chocolate? I'm telling you, it works.
He's right.
Garlic would keep the bugs off your dog.
I'll remember that next time I get a pit.
NOPD.
We got a few questions for you.
??yesterday around lunchtime? Probably out checking dog packs.
Yeah, they are a real problem.
?? they let their dogs roam.
Go in packs, attack smaller pets.
Mind if we take a look at your work vehicle? Yeah, yeah, man, no problem, no problem.
Get down! Geu on your knees! Get down! Get away from the street! I can't go to jail, man.
I can't go back.
You'll be goin' to the morgue if you don't get down right oow! I did it all for her, and it hurt nobody.
Back away from the street! Don't make me shoot you! I'm not the jury, Marlin.
I'm just the DA.
I'd be breaching the public trust if I didn't bring this case.
Lyndsey, I was the first to say that Sherman's alibi was crock, but Cobb and I-- we ran it down.
Sanmartino-- he worked at an animal shelter.
They got vans with cages in 'em, and the place reeked of garlic.
What more do I need to show that the man was telling the truth? Um, I don't know, maybe proof? Oh, come on.
No, No, I'm serious.
With Sanmartino dead, what do you guys really have? A smell? The word of the alleged killer? Sherman could have easily incorporated details from the animal shelter into his lies.
Defendants do it all the time to make their alibis sound more real.
It does not mean that he was kidnapped for 12 hours while someone else killed Steven Schmidt.
Then why did Sanmartino run? Because he's a two-strike felon with an outstanding warrant for armed robbery.
He didn't want to go back to prison.
What about what he said before the car slammed into him, hmm? "I did it for her.
" What about it? He could have meant Kathy Schmidt.
Okay.
Well, maybe you guys live in a world where a big-shot plastic surgeon's wife conspires with the dogcatcher to kill her husband, but I'm in reality, thanks.
Just because we don't have motive yet-- it doesn't mean that it's not out there.
Fine.
You keep looking, but Luke Sherman's is staring us right in the face-- his daughter.
Lyndsey's right, Marlin.
Sherman thought he stole his kid, plus his eyeglasses at the scene, blood of his type.
Half the!population is O positive! That doesn't make it a slam dunk.
It will be when the DNA comes back a match.
I'll bet 100 bucks it will.
Lyndsey, you have a lot of nice qualities, but your ambition-- it akn't one of 'em.
All right now.
What?! You waot to win this case, hmm? Climb the ladder, fine, cut don't crucify a father just for trying to look for his daughter! Hey, this is not about winning cases.
I am just looking at the facts.
Unlike you, who's obviously projecting your own weird parenting issues on this whole thing.
Let's leave family out of this.
Parenting issues?! What?! Enough! Enough! Enough! Look, I do feel sorry for the guy, okay? ?? and I have to enforce the law.
The best I can do is offer him a plea.
He'll take it if he knows what's good for him.
When I convict you on murder one, which I will, Mr.
Sherman, you'll go to prison for the rest of your life.
However, I understand how you must have felt when you learned that your daughter was still alive, so here's the deal.
I won't offer it to you again.
Voluntary manslaughter.
Mandatory six year sentence.
You'll be eligible for parole in two, and get out and live your life.
Start over.
When I get out, will!I get my daughter back? I'm not a family court lawyer.
All I'm asking you-- what are the odds? Zero, Mr.
Sherman.
You killed her adoptive father.
Whether you're free in two years, or you spend your whole life in jail, you're never going to see Claire again.
Her name's Melissa.
Cut your losses, sir.
At least save yourself.
Okay.
I'll have that paperwork ready in!three hours.
In two years, maybe meet someone new and have kids.
Least this way, is his only chance.
No.
He died two years ago when he heard his family was gone.
And we just watched him die again.
You got to let it go, Boulet.
We got three hours to make this right.
No.
I've never seen him before.
Mrs.
Schmidt, do you own any pets? No.
Claire's allergic.
She once asked for a puppy, but I had to be the mom.
Mommy, why are you crying? ???happy, sweetheart.
n are here to help us.
Go play.
y, I want a Popsicle.
Oh, in a second.
Go play! Ms.
Schmidt, thank you for your time.
My time.
My time is like a living hell, and I want to know Pets? This man? What is going on? Mr.
Sanmartino was hit by a car when we went to question him at the animal shelter today.
He died.
But before he did, he said something very strange.
He said, "I did it for her.
" And what? You think the her might be me? What did he do for me, detectives? Kill my husband of 16 years? Leave my baby girl fatherless again, destroy my family? Look, Mrs.
Schmidt I know this may be difficult for you, but we're just following all of our leads.
Come on, sweet pea.
It's time to get that Popsicle.
These men were jwst leaving.
So, what do we got on Sanmartino? Look at this right here, got an ex-wife up in Seattle.
Maybe"she" is the "her.
" I'm gonna track down the number on her.
Boulet, hold up, man.
I'm thinking they weren't too friendly.
Take a look at this.
Okay.
Custody battle, over the nine-year-old daughter, lost his visitation rights, moved the kid away.
His kid-- now, that's a "her" worth fighting for.
Look at this.
He's been in and out of family court for the last three years.
Which means he spent a lot of time dealing with DCFS.
er? Right here.
Look who it is.
Look, Detectives, I get 30 new cases a week.
What was the name again? Sanmartino.
Ex-con.
A wife, up in Seattle.
You were helping him get his visitation rights.
okay,yeah,with animals or something? Yeah.
How can I help you? We think Luke Sherman was kidnapped before Steven Schmidt was murdered.
Kidnapped? Why? Why would he do that? maybe?? What? What was it,Pete? You asked him to do it and you told him you could!pull some strings.
And if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to see his baby girl again.
Hey, I mishandled the Sherman Schmidt case, ??t that.
But why would I have Carl kidnap Luke Sherman? Here's a theory.
So you could play God decide who gets the children.
And all these years, watching the system fail, you couldn't take it anymore, could you, Pete? Maybe keep baby Claire from going back to her deadbeat daddy.
The only thing we don't get, is who killed Steven Schmidt, and why.
Is there something you want to tell us, Pete? Hmm? Where were you at lunch, two days ago? Down the street, at Sylvio's Diner.
So people saw you there? I sat in the back, alone.
Yeah, and the waitress who knows you, it was her day off.
??Either chap harassing me, please.
I know my rights.
And I'll be reading them to you very soon.
Luke Sherman is innocent, I know that now.
I know we don't have motive yet, but we're working that out.
Look, I got this guy Pete Marlin I have him sweating,Captain.
Marlin, stop.
Luke's DNA came back a match.
It was his blood at the crime scene.
I'm sorry.
Can I see him before he signs? I wasn't there.
Of course, why would you have any season to believe me? ??we wanted a baby so bad before the storm but she was having trouble.
Doctors said, we probably couldn't happen.
So when Melissa came, it was it was like a miracle.
It was incredible.
And the storm just tore it all away.
I'm going to go down for murder.
You look me in my eye, and you tell me you didn't kill Steven Schmidt.
I didn't.
Don't take that deal, Luke.
If I don't I'm gonna die in jail.
If I take it, maybe if I get out, I can keep tabs on her, you know? And when she's 18, maybe Melissa will come and visit.
Visit? You believe that? What is she going to be like after all that time, Luke? What are you going to be like? This is my daughter, my baby daughter.
She just turned seven.
Now, I'd do anything for her.
If I had the chance, even if it was one in a million not to be separated from her, I'd take it.
Don't take that deal, Luke.
Let me get Melissa back to you.
And if you don't? Then you gonna hate me for the rest of your life.
But if you take that deal ry's gonna look at this case and see one thing: a father that lost his mind.
Or a wife who just inherited a wad of cash.
Okay, Counselor Boulet.
Let's say Kathy was?/ Why framg Luke Sherman? Why not just kill Steve, throw his body in the lake? That way she has sole custody of her daughter, right? Hubbie's dead, biological father's in jail.
She kills two birds, so to speak.
Okay, well, why involve Pete? Now, that, I don't know, 'cause he doesn't see a dime.
But maybe he can see Kathy.
They were having an affair.
'Cause Pete said they went to high school together, right? Cheating spouses, biological fathers who come back from the dead You know, I keep waiting for the evil twin to show up.
You worked out a neat little theory.
You got any proof? A confession is proof.
Well, thank you for your apology.
I hardly expected it given the tone of your questions last time.
Well, last time, Mrs.
Schmidt, we hadn't settled on your husband's killer.
Luke Sherman just signed a confession an hour ago.
We got him, ma'am.
It's over.
Mrs.
Schmidt, now, I I know this is an emotional time for you, we ?? But if you feel like it, we'd love to take your statement now.
Of course.
So you adopted Claire in November of '05? Yes.
Steve and I were trying to adopt for a year.
After the storm, our case worker brought us Claire.
Oh.
Pete Taylor.
That's right.
When did you first meet Mr.
Taylor? Oh, I guess around, uh, October, 2004.
Mm-hmm.
Mr.
Taylor said you two met in high school.
Well, yes.
I thought you were asking when we first met professionally.
As opposed to when you two started sleeping together? What? Knockin' boots.
Bumpin' uglies.
What you people call in your circle "having an affair.
" With Pete Taylor? Are you insane? Insane is Pete and you teaming up to kill your husband, that's insane.
Get out! The next question I will answer will be through my autorney when we sue you for harassment and slander.
Fine.
Lawyer up.
Send an innocent man to jail for 30 years, but Luke Sherman, he'll wait twice that for his daughter.
Boulet, don't give her any more ammo to beat this thing.
Come on, let's go.
I'm only gonna wait 12.
That way Claire will be 15 and able think for herself.
And right at the age where she's primed to hate you anyway.
What? What does that mean? I'll make sure she has the whole sordid story.
How she was once little Melissa, and how you framed her real Daddy for murder.
I'm her mother.
She'll believe me.
I don't doubt that she'll side with you at first.
The pain of bemieving me would kill her right there.
But in the back of her mine, she'll never be able to shake it.
Then one day, she'll be drawn to the library, Hall of Records, and she'll seek me out and I will show her every piece of evideoce that I have, and I'll let Claire decide on what kind of mother you are.
?? out.
Mrs.
Schmidt,Kathy as parents, what defines us? What do we really know about it at its core? Hmm? Sacrifice.
And if you truly love your daughter here, your sacrifice has to be you.
You know it's gotta be.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Clear this up with your baby while she's still a baby.
is your only shot at having any kind of future with her.
Steve found that picture of Claire on the website.
He wanted to contact Luke.
He said it was the right thing to do for our daughter.
But I couldn't stand the thought of it.
I panicked.
And what's when you called Pete.
I wanted to know my chances versus a biological parent.
and Pete suggested something strange and terrible.
He said if I could could just get him $50,000 he could make it all go away.
I thought he was just gonna pay the man off.
And anybody that would take a bribe wasn't fit to be Claire's dad, that's how I justified it.
I oever thought that Pete Would kill your husband.
Yet you kept your mouth shut and you lied to the police.
I had already lost so much.
I couldn't bear the thought of losing Claire, too.
You would have done the same thing.
What's going on here? It's over.
We know you killed Steve Schmidt at the Lakefront.
You had Carl Sanmartino mug him.
And then you took the eyeglass lens and you put it next to the body.
And then you stuffed 50K into Steven's briefcase, to make it look like a payoff gone bad.
Yeah, but the blood thing, oh, that took the cake.
Using Luke's blood sample from the paternity test that you required him to take, and at the crime scene/ Why? Do you remember the summer after high school? We used to g?? That was 20 years ago.
You said it felt like we were friends in another life.
So, what?? and your mama never loved you, blah, blah.
Don't interrupt me! How could you? I came to you for help-- help saving my daughter.
And you interpreted that as "please kill my husband"? We could've been together,Kathy.
Let's go.
We could've been together.
It was a set up, Luke.
Down to the very last detail.
Come on.
Melissa.
Wh-where's Melissa? She's waiting for you.
She's "Claire" now.
Is that him? Yes, sweetheart, that's him.
Why aren't you in heaven? I think Goe sent me back to be with you.
You're still wet from the rain.
Where are you going, Mommy? No, don't worry.
What the? Daddy! Daddy! Look! I painted a doggie, a dragon, and a pony.
Oh, yeah, you did.
And they're becutiful, just like you, Bean.
Just like you.