Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s02e09 Episode Script
Shandeh
The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.
In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
What am I supposed to do with this? That's all I can spare right now.
You want my kids living on Happy Meals? Sandi, I shouldn't even be here.
Why are you being this way, Danny? You know where you wanna be.
Sammy's raving about this smoked salmon he found in Nova Scotia.
Lockport.
Okay.
You went there this morning.
Mom, she has kids.
They're not your kids.
Kelly called.
She needs to talk to you.
Yeah, hi, honey.
It's Daddy.
Put Mommy on.
It's Dad.
You just got in? Yes.
You know, the traffic.
What's up? I won't be able to make it this afternoon.
My sister's coming in for the day.
Oh, no, that's not acceptable.
You have to call them and tell them that we'll be there.
We'll talk tonight.
Don't start with me, Mom, okay? Mike's coming in from Binghamton.
All the cousins can be together.
What date is that? The fourth.
I can't.
It's the first day of Sukkoth.
Sukkoth, the Festival of the Booths.
And don't try to tell me that sounds any weirder than the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Mom hasn't seen your kids since, what, just before Easter.
I know.
Maybe I'll just drive up one Sunday with Jordie and Sharon.
Is everything okay with you and Danny? You keep asking that.
Yes.
The business just takes up a lot of his time.
I have to run.
Housekeeper leaves at 4:00, and I don't want the kids coming home to an empty house.
Tell Mom I'll call her tonight.
Kelly, we can still talk.
Law & Order CI The lady who drove the kids home from school found her about 5:30.
Where was Mr.
Sussman? Oh, he got home from work at 6:15.
We were already here.
He looked pretty shook-up.
We'll see.
See the hand spread across her neck? It's almost a foot wide.
And this bruise here.
See? Knuckle marks.
Smaller hand.
Yeah.
A second assailant.
Came from that side.
She didn't stand a chance.
Oh, but she fought back.
Her nails are torn.
Threads from a gauze bandage? Now, that's antiseptic cream.
One of them might have been wearing a bandage.
She came over the top of the hood to get away from them.
But why did she go back in the car? The way out.
Instead of overwhelming her as soon as she got out of the car, they hesitated.
They gave her an opening.
And then when they regained control, they used excessive force to kill her.
Amateurs.
I thought that other detective I talked to, he was running things.
Your borough president called the police commissioner.
That's how the case came to us.
Your family's prominent in the community.
Well, my father was a very important man.
He helped a lot of people.
Children, come in the kitchen with Grandma.
Yeah, go ahead.
It's a terrible thing they had to find their mother that way.
Sussman Kosher Foods.
I see your trucks around all the time.
Everything good between you and your employees? Yeah, we have no complaints.
You and Mrs.
Sussman? Anything we should know about? Everything was fine.
The kids are doing well.
We had our health.
You have something in your eyes? No.
Why? Blinking your eyes a lot, that usually means you have something in your eyes.
Or that your stress level has gone up.
It's called the blink rate.
Well, of course, I'm under a lot of stress.
Of course.
Do you know where your wife was earlier this afternoon? Her sister Anna had come down from Albany for the day.
Kelly was meeting her in the city.
Would she have been wearing any jewelry? She always had her wedding ring and a necklace that I bought her for our 10th anniversary.
It had three diamonds, for me and each of the kids.
She always told me everything was fine.
She was very private about her marriage.
But something made you ask.
Our mother had a stroke a few months ago.
I was calling Kelly late at night with progress reports.
A lot of times, Danny wasn't there.
Where did she say he was? At some religious observance.
You know, prayers.
What religious observance takes place late at night outside the home? I wouldn't know.
I'm not Jewish.
- Oh, Kelly converted.
- Yes.
So her children could be raised in their father's faith.
Kelly was familiar with the Jewish traditions? She had to be.
The Sussmans are a very religious family.
Could you write down the dates and the times that you called her at home? There are three daily prayers in the Jewish tradition and a man might leave the home to go pray with the minion, with nine other men.
Sussman might have had a legitimate reason to be out.
Except that the last prayer takes place in the early evening.
Which Mrs.
Sussman would have known, being familiar with the traditions.
She was covering for her husband.
Seems to be part of her M.
O.
She didn't let on that there were problems.
She was better at it than he was.
Two months ago, Tuesday night, 11:10 p.
m.
, he made a withdrawal for a thousand bucks from an ATM on the 600 block of Cuthpert Boulevard.
What's the date on that? There was a call to a business on Cuthpert.
Here.
Same day, from his cell phone, at 5:00 p.
m.
To Stan's Show Supplies.
One block down from the ATM.
Stan's Show Supplies Monday, June 24 Sussman, one of his checks bounced.
We were holding his order until he came up with one grand cash.
What was in his order? I don't remember.
Show stuff.
You mean, like in Stan's Show stuff? Maybe we should ask Stan.
There is no Stan.
There's Mr.
Harland, and he's gonna be back here in an hour, and I gotta get these orders out.
We'll write you a note, how you were helping with a murder investigation.
Now, Sussman's in the food business.
What does he need lighting equipment for? Sussman told me he did charity events.
Rented to Firefly Enterprises for delivery on 10th Avenue in Manhattan.
Spotlights, glitter ball, smoke machine.
What's this abbreviation for? A bubble bath setup.
It's a clear Lucite bathtub.
Charity events.
Charity must be the girl who takes the bubble baths.
Hey, how long I gotta wait in the car? Huh? Don't we gotta do a thing tonight? Next time will be on the house, baby.
It's gonna take at least an hour to get all the way up there.
Since when did you grow a brain, huh? Come on.
Pearl's Strip Club Monday, June 24 Sussman's got the lease till the end of the year.
After that, it's available.
Why'd he close up? I don't know.
Business was good.
Is there a problem with the lights? Fuse box blew three weeks ago.
Just like that? Well, two days later I got a letter from Sussman's lawyer wanting to break the lease on account of the electrical problem.
- Do you mind if we have a look? - No, go ahead.
They poured acid behind the connector.
That's blood.
Well, he splashed acid on his arm.
He would've had to reach in.
He came over here to wash it off, and he used this to wipe his wound.
Gauze fibers on Kelly Sussman.
Yeah, from the bandages of the killer.
He used this to cover his burn.
Murderer, arsonist, jack of all trades.
Yeah, master of none.
The Arson Squad confirmed they found traces of acid.
So this works for you? Sussman risking jail time for arson just to skip out on a lease? - Money's money.
- Small money.
And what's this guy doing running a strip joint? - You have to ask? - He wasn't running it alone.
He filed a change of ownership two months ago.
He used to have a partner.
And she spells it with an "I.
" That's right.
Sandi.
Sandi Tortomassi.
But I'm not a partner in the club anymore.
I sold my share two months ago.
Problems with your partners? No.
Why would you think that? Well, we just heard that the place was packed every night.
The only reason you would sell is if you had a beef with your partners.
Not to mention there was an attempted arson there a few weeks ago.
By the way, is that something burning? You're baking cookies.
- Peanut butter.
- For my kids.
And for the record, I didn't have any beef with my partners.
I wanted to pursue other interests.
Like baking cookies? Your other partners, that's Daniel Sussman? - Yes.
His company.
- Firefly Enterprises.
The same people who own this house.
We happened to notice Firefly put up the money for this place.
That was a loan, against the return on share of the club.
A loan against your return? By the way, is there a Mr.
Tortomassi? He's a drunk, passed out in a trailer park in Ohio.
Ohio? Didn't Firefly buy a condo in Dayton? - That was for my mother.
- Another loan.
You are shouldering a lot of debt.
My share of the club went to pay off the other loans.
That was the arrangement when I cashed out.
So, let's see, he put up the money What was your contribution again? I chose the decor, the ambience.
I supervised the employees.
Waitresses, bouncers.
Strippers.
And that's where you have a lot of experience, right? Oh, it's the outfit.
Not exactly the standard issue Westchester soccer mom.
You're very toned and flexible.
Sussman catch your act at a strip club? Is that how you met? You know, if you're trying to humiliate me, I've heard it all before.
I want you to leave now, before my kids get up from their nap.
How did you find out where Sandi used to work? She never told strangers what she did for a living.
Even strippers have to file W-2s.
Your manager said you used to share a place with her.
Yeah, before she got the house.
She had some help with that, from this man, Daniel Sussman? Yeah, sure, Danny.
He met Sandi here? Danny'd come in, throw around a lot of money.
He really liked Sandi.
He told her he wanted to give her the world.
And she probably thought he could afford it.
Sandi liked him because he was a gentleman.
Bought her a house, set her up in a business.
That was all his idea.
Maybe her idea was to be the next Mrs.
Sussman.
Sandi respected his marriage.
That's why she broke up with him.
She didn't want him to put his family through a divorce on account of her.
You keep putting your hand on your datebook.
Hey! Hey, give me that.
That's what people do when they're, you know, they're nervous.
They touch things to boost their confidence, especially when they're trying to remember something.
"Respectful to his marriage.
" "She dumped him.
" It's crib notes.
And Sandi called you to tell you what to say in case we dropped by.
Let's try the truth.
She wanted him to leave his wife.
No.
She broke up with him.
After his wife found out what he was doing.
- His wife knew? - She called our place.
She thought I was the one having the affair with Danny.
She called me all kinds of names, I don't even know.
You remember any of them? There was one she kept repeating.
Kurva, or something like that.
I couldn't understand her half the time.
She had this accent.
Everybody in America knows Yiddish words.
Why should Kelly be any different? Kurva? That's a prostitute, isn't it? Where did Kelly learn a word like that? She was in the family for so long.
Maybe she had occasion to hear it.
The young woman who got the call said that Kelly had an accent.
Kelly didn't have an accent, did she? Okay, I called her.
You found out about the affair.
I told Danny to stop, and he stopped.
Did your daughter-in-law know? He told her.
You made sure he did.
She had a right to know.
You don't start fresh by keeping secrets.
Is that what they were doing? They were starting fresh? They have children, a home, people who know and respect them.
This other thing meant nothing to Danny.
It meant 350 grand for the house in Westchester, $200,000 for the strip club.
Kelly knew nothing about that.
How could she not? Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappearing from their account.
Unless Unless Danny was taking it from the family business.
My son lost his head.
This really is a family business, isn't it? Relatives have invested their savings.
Some of them even work here.
If they ever found out what Danny did They wouldn't find out.
The money was paid back.
It's still a crime.
And if Kelly knew what he'd done for this woman, she might not be so forgiving.
One word from her, and your son would've gone to jail.
No, no, no.
Danny would never hurt Kelly.
It's that woman.
She had her claws into him.
She called me here after I spoke to her friend, and she said nobody was going to come between her and Danny.
She said that she had friends in that world.
People who would hurt anyone who got in her way.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
You want some of this? What are you doing? We gotta get lost for a while.
How about Miami? Big party town, dance all night.
We could rent a boat and cruise the cooze.
Hey, we driving or Maybe if you tell me what you're looking for, I can save you the trouble.
That really didn't work out for us.
You should go next door with your kids.
This warrant says I can stay and watch, - so that's what I'm gonna do.
- Excuse me.
We found this on the floor of her garage.
Is this yours? Be careful.
No.
It's not mine.
We found it in your garage.
I don't know how it got in there.
That's okay, we do.
Sandi Tortomassi, you're under arrest for murder.
I didn't do it.
I didn't have any reason to do it.
Getting rid of the wife gave you a clear shot at Danny.
I don't wanna marry him.
Didn't your mother ever tell you? "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for" So you're saying that you can talk Danny into anything.
Well, you saw the house he bought me.
And the strip club.
My idea.
That's just money.
Guys toss money at women every day.
Well, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.
Oh? Like what? Last April, his son's birthday party.
His bar mitzvah.
What, Danny invited you? I brought two girls from the club.
Danny told his family we were with the trucker's union.
Well, you really have this little guy under your thumb, don't you? I can see why.
Must've been some workout you gave him in that big bedroom of yours.
Sure.
When the kids weren't around.
And where'd you go when you had that place with your friend? You and Danny go to a hotel? Not so often, he'd get tired of it.
Good.
Then you shouldn't have a problem remembering the hotels and dates.
I can't believe she did it.
She knew no matter what would have happened I would never marry her, or someone like her.
She knew that.
So, we're looking for two men.
Maybe former bouncers.
If you can think of any names, it would help.
I can't think of anybody.
I can't think.
I can't think! You proved that.
Getting mixed up with some bottle blonde boom-boom girl.
You don't have to tell me.
I know that.
I shamed my family.
I don't know, what was I thinking? Well, it was worth it.
Bet this girl gave you quite a ride.
No wonder you were still making the drive up to Westchester every other morning.
Did you go bareback or use a condom? Condom.
/ You buy them on the way up there or did you keep a box next to the bed? She had them.
Really? That's funny.
Because we searched her room.
We didn't find anything.
Bathroom either.
No condom, no diaphragm, no pills.
There goes that blink rate again.
Do you remember the hotels you stayed in with Sandi before you bought her the house? We've got the itemized bills from your stays.
One afternoon, you ordered two movies, rated PG.
Room service, two hamburgers, two salads, two desserts, two massages and you used the gym.
That's all in the space of four hours.
When did you find the time for sex? Or was that between the hamburger and the massage? Another missed opportunity.
One of many, right, Danny? Well, how did she wiggle out of it? Did she have cramps? She said the mood wasn't right? She was worried about her kids? She just wanted to cuddle? She really kept you going, didn't she? For two years, Danny.
Two years, and not once.
Right, Danny? Not a once.
It was okay.
I didn't mind, really.
Oh, come on.
What, are you made of marble? You were dying for it.
And she kept upping the ante.
A condo for Mom, a house for the kids, a strip club for her.
A dead wife for you.
No.
- She talked you into it.
- No.
I would never hurt Kelly.
I respected her.
That's the truth.
She did so much for me, so much to make a family.
Okay, Danny, that's enough.
It is now clear you consider him a suspect.
He's invoking his right to silence.
Him.
Her.
Him and her.
Take your pick.
It won't be either unless we find the men who did the actual killing.
Well, I don't think that he has it in him.
I mean, the girl played "keep away" for two years.
Ordinary man would be frustrated, angry.
He's not an ordinary man, he's a murderer.
He's a child.
I'm with him.
Four hours before Kelly was killed, there were two calls from Sussman's office to a no name prepaid cell phone.
Can we trace that cell phone to an owner? No.
But the number turned up in a hooker's phone book when she was busted three months ago.
Yolanda Starr Corbin.
She's a Greenpoint regular.
Greenpoint Long Island, New York Thursday, June 27 All God's children need loving.
Which one of God's children gave you this number a couple of months ago? We'll just have to call it.
Tell whoever answers you gave it to us.
Please, don't do me like that.
We already have an idea who he is.
He's got a burn on his arm, right? It's Big Louis.
That's what I know him by.
He's armed and crazy.
But you have his number.
He made me take it.
Said if I get in trouble, call him.
Guess what? You're in trouble.
Louis Bernoff.
Priors for drug possession, lewdness.
What's wrong with your arm? Car battery leaked.
Do you know her? Nope.
Him? Nope.
How about her? Nope.
You should.
Those are your handprints around her neck.
You killed her.
We're gonna match your DNA to the rag you left at the strip club when you tried to burn it down.
Big trouble for Big Louis.
But you can help yourself by telling us which one of these two here hired you.
I checked Big Louis backwards and forwards.
The phone calls are still the only thing that connect him with Sussman and the girl.
- Crystal meth.
- No, thanks.
It belongs to Big Louis' roommate, Nicky Ross.
Big time tweaker according to the neighbors.
The second killer.
Oh, and the neighbor saw Big Louis lugging a large suitcase down the stairs two days ago.
Maybe Nicky left the cap off the toothpaste.
Large pepperoni.
The night before Kelly Sussman was killed.
"Nashot Chayl"? "Nashot Chayl.
" Nashot, that's Hebrew.
- Women, woman.
- Figures you'd know that.
But Chayl, I don't know.
Valor.
Nashot Chayl is women of valor.
Three years of Hebrew school.
Women of valor.
Sounds like a self-help group for Jewish women.
Nashot Chayl Center Brooklyn, New York Friday, June 28 Kelly came to us two months ago.
She wanted a divorce.
But she wanted to make sure she did everything right by our Jewish laws.
She didn't want any problems getting custody of her kids.
Why would there be problems? If she wanted custody, she'd have to convince the religious authorities that she'd continue raising the children in the Jewish faith.
Don't family court judges decide custody? Well, judges who are elected by a community listen to their religious leaders.
Wouldn't be smart of them to alienate voters.
No, it wouldn't be smart.
So we help to prepare a get, a Jewish divorce decree.
Then she had to present it to her husband for him to sign.
Sounds pretty straightforward.
Except Kelly had to find two witnesses to go with her.
People active in her synagogue.
She couldn't find anyone.
No one wanted to be her witness.
Even her rabbi wouldn't help.
The Sussman family They carry a lot of weight in the community.
Danny Sussman didn't want a divorce.
He wanted a reconciliation.
But Kelly had no choice.
If she didn't have a get, she'd risk losing her kids in a custody fight.
When Kelly cancelled the mediation, did she reschedule? No.
So the reconciliation was off? She told me she had a better way of getting what she wanted.
Custody of her kids.
I told her, no matter what, Danny'd make a problem.
You know what, Danny's never been the problem.
I mean, he doesn't have the clout or the backbone to bend the community to his will.
But his mother does.
She cleaned up his mess when he stole money, and now she's fighting to save his marriage.
I can't find the invoice for the Gellis account.
Do you have it? - Danny? - I can't help it, Mom.
She destroyed Kelly.
Now she's gonna destroy me.
Stop it, stop it.
I deserve it.
I brought her into our life.
- Don't talk like that.
- I deserve what happens to me.
You deserve what you let happen.
We have friends, influence, respect.
They don't respect me.
They respect the name your father gave you.
The name you gave your son.
If you can't stand up for yourself, at least stand up for the name.
I wish Dad was still here.
It's better he's not.
Kelly was working in one of the big hotels in New York City when she met Danny.
She told me he was very sweet.
A real gentleman.
She didn't tell me he was a Jewish gentleman.
And that bothered you? Well, I was wishing that Kelly would meet a nice Catholic boy.
Just like I'm sure Mrs.
Sussman wished her son had met a nice Jewish girl.
Is that the impression that she gave you? Oh, she didn't warm up to Kelly till after the wedding.
We never even got a hug from that woman.
Your daughter was a devout Catholic? Well, she grew up in the church.
She sang in the choir.
She loved the Virgin Mary.
Well, then, converting to Judaism must have been a big decision for her.
Was that something that Danny pressured her to do? Not Danny.
He just wanted to be with Kelly.
They even talked about eloping.
Mrs.
Sussman.
She made a big stink.
And Kelly was stubborn.
But then Kelly gave in.
All of a sudden.
Did she explain why? No.
Two weeks later they were married.
No, sir, I'm not sure what evidence they're developing.
I know, but Yes, sir.
The Brooklyn DA's moving on the girl.
They're tangling with some community pressure over there.
A community known as Ursula Sussman.
You still haven't sold me on that yet.
And what's all this? Thirteen-year-old checks from her account.
Am I gonna kick myself for asking? This one's for $75,000 made out to cash.
Just before her son's wedding Could've been for the dress, for the reception hall.
The second check is the same amount.
$75,000 to cash three months later, in April.
And it's just a week after her Her grandson was born.
I need to see my friend, Max.
He's a rabbi.
We need to get Danny and his mother in here.
He knows we have this meeting? He's usually back from lunch by now.
I'm sorry.
There was a long line at the bodega.
Did Detective Eames explain that we needed some things clarified? Yes.
About my marriage.
Yeah, right.
You and your wife were trying to make a fresh start.
Yes.
We were trying.
Your idea or hers? Well, both.
We both wanted to go for counseling.
Sussman pickles.
I've always been a big fan.
You made appointments at the Nashot Chayl Center? Yes.
Kelly arranged it.
The people there told us when she first contacted them, Kelly was dead set on a divorce.
Oh, that's between a husband and a wife.
These people shouldn't be blabbering about confidential information.
Well, I guess it really doesn't matter now, does it? I guess not.
You felt Well, you still feel guilty.
I mean, you would have given her anything she wanted in the divorce.
Even custody of the kids? She was a good mother and fighting over custody would have hurt them.
What if Kelly went back to the Catholic church? Under Jewish law, the kids wouldn't have been considered Jewish anymore, would they? She wouldn't have done that.
What, someone who'd been hurt? Who was angry, divorced, alone? Who knows what she'd do? Well, thank heaven there was someone in the family still thinking straight.
Right, Mrs.
Sussman? I mean, if it wasn't for you, Kelly might've run off with your grandchildren and turned them into who knows what.
Kelly just needed some time to get over her anger.
Well, she got over it, all right.
Do you wanna know what she told them at the center? She told them that she had a way of getting what she wanted.
Not from you, but from your mother.
What do you suppose she meant by that? We don't know.
We're not mind readers.
Neither are we.
But we're pretty good at connecting the dots.
First dot, Big Louis Bernoff.
You might know him as a murder suspect.
But six years ago, he was also the owner of a van he bought used from his father, the mechanic.
That sound familiar? Because your dad helped Louis' father immigrate from the Soviet Union, I mean, just like he helped hundreds of other refugees.
You dad even gave him the contract to service your company's delivery vans.
So, that means nothing.
Your father helped hundreds of people, thousands.
This is - It's just a - Just a Fluke? It could be a fluke if Sandi Tortomassi hired him to kill Kelly.
But she didn't.
Your wife wasn't a threat to her.
Your wife was a threat to your mother.
Oh, that's just ridiculous.
Kelly had something on her.
Something so shameful that Kelly thought your mother might give up her grandkids to keep it quiet.
That's not true.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Second dot.
Your pregnant Catholic fiancee.
Three words that made your mother very unhappy.
That's okay.
Kelly's mother wasn't too thrilled about it either.
Especially when she converted out of the blue.
Or should I say out of the green? That summer after you were married, Kelly bought her mother a house for a $150,000? Yes, that was a settlement that she'd gotten for an old car accident.
Third dot.
Two $75,000 checks drawn from your mother's account 13 years ago.
Kelly bought the house with those checks.
The first one is dated one week before Kelly converted.
The second one is dated two days after your son's Bris, after his circumcision that welcomed him into the faith.
If anyone found out, all the good will, all the influence your father garnered from his good work and his religious devotion would have disappeared like smoke in the wind.
Your family name would have been disgraced, and the family business.
Kelly was gonna tell everyone.
Unless your mother let her have custody of your kids.
Mom, tell me you She did.
She hired Big Louis to kill your wife and plant her necklace in your girlfriend's garage.
I'll bet that your mother doesn't think that she even did anything wrong.
I'll bet that she thinks that she was just cleaning up another one of your messes.
Aren't you gonna get angry at her? She killed your wife! Come on, Danny.
When are you gonna grow up? When are you gonna take your balls back from her? How could you, Mom? How in the hell could you? If you'd only listened.
I told you she was no good for you.
So I did what I had to do.
For the family.
Always for the family.
What family? You killed the family! You're under arrest, Mrs.
Sussman, for murder.
Please turn around.
Danny, do something.
Danny, do something! She broke the laws of her faith, so what does she do about it? You commit one sin, the next ones come a little easier.
In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
What am I supposed to do with this? That's all I can spare right now.
You want my kids living on Happy Meals? Sandi, I shouldn't even be here.
Why are you being this way, Danny? You know where you wanna be.
Sammy's raving about this smoked salmon he found in Nova Scotia.
Lockport.
Okay.
You went there this morning.
Mom, she has kids.
They're not your kids.
Kelly called.
She needs to talk to you.
Yeah, hi, honey.
It's Daddy.
Put Mommy on.
It's Dad.
You just got in? Yes.
You know, the traffic.
What's up? I won't be able to make it this afternoon.
My sister's coming in for the day.
Oh, no, that's not acceptable.
You have to call them and tell them that we'll be there.
We'll talk tonight.
Don't start with me, Mom, okay? Mike's coming in from Binghamton.
All the cousins can be together.
What date is that? The fourth.
I can't.
It's the first day of Sukkoth.
Sukkoth, the Festival of the Booths.
And don't try to tell me that sounds any weirder than the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Mom hasn't seen your kids since, what, just before Easter.
I know.
Maybe I'll just drive up one Sunday with Jordie and Sharon.
Is everything okay with you and Danny? You keep asking that.
Yes.
The business just takes up a lot of his time.
I have to run.
Housekeeper leaves at 4:00, and I don't want the kids coming home to an empty house.
Tell Mom I'll call her tonight.
Kelly, we can still talk.
Law & Order CI The lady who drove the kids home from school found her about 5:30.
Where was Mr.
Sussman? Oh, he got home from work at 6:15.
We were already here.
He looked pretty shook-up.
We'll see.
See the hand spread across her neck? It's almost a foot wide.
And this bruise here.
See? Knuckle marks.
Smaller hand.
Yeah.
A second assailant.
Came from that side.
She didn't stand a chance.
Oh, but she fought back.
Her nails are torn.
Threads from a gauze bandage? Now, that's antiseptic cream.
One of them might have been wearing a bandage.
She came over the top of the hood to get away from them.
But why did she go back in the car? The way out.
Instead of overwhelming her as soon as she got out of the car, they hesitated.
They gave her an opening.
And then when they regained control, they used excessive force to kill her.
Amateurs.
I thought that other detective I talked to, he was running things.
Your borough president called the police commissioner.
That's how the case came to us.
Your family's prominent in the community.
Well, my father was a very important man.
He helped a lot of people.
Children, come in the kitchen with Grandma.
Yeah, go ahead.
It's a terrible thing they had to find their mother that way.
Sussman Kosher Foods.
I see your trucks around all the time.
Everything good between you and your employees? Yeah, we have no complaints.
You and Mrs.
Sussman? Anything we should know about? Everything was fine.
The kids are doing well.
We had our health.
You have something in your eyes? No.
Why? Blinking your eyes a lot, that usually means you have something in your eyes.
Or that your stress level has gone up.
It's called the blink rate.
Well, of course, I'm under a lot of stress.
Of course.
Do you know where your wife was earlier this afternoon? Her sister Anna had come down from Albany for the day.
Kelly was meeting her in the city.
Would she have been wearing any jewelry? She always had her wedding ring and a necklace that I bought her for our 10th anniversary.
It had three diamonds, for me and each of the kids.
She always told me everything was fine.
She was very private about her marriage.
But something made you ask.
Our mother had a stroke a few months ago.
I was calling Kelly late at night with progress reports.
A lot of times, Danny wasn't there.
Where did she say he was? At some religious observance.
You know, prayers.
What religious observance takes place late at night outside the home? I wouldn't know.
I'm not Jewish.
- Oh, Kelly converted.
- Yes.
So her children could be raised in their father's faith.
Kelly was familiar with the Jewish traditions? She had to be.
The Sussmans are a very religious family.
Could you write down the dates and the times that you called her at home? There are three daily prayers in the Jewish tradition and a man might leave the home to go pray with the minion, with nine other men.
Sussman might have had a legitimate reason to be out.
Except that the last prayer takes place in the early evening.
Which Mrs.
Sussman would have known, being familiar with the traditions.
She was covering for her husband.
Seems to be part of her M.
O.
She didn't let on that there were problems.
She was better at it than he was.
Two months ago, Tuesday night, 11:10 p.
m.
, he made a withdrawal for a thousand bucks from an ATM on the 600 block of Cuthpert Boulevard.
What's the date on that? There was a call to a business on Cuthpert.
Here.
Same day, from his cell phone, at 5:00 p.
m.
To Stan's Show Supplies.
One block down from the ATM.
Stan's Show Supplies Monday, June 24 Sussman, one of his checks bounced.
We were holding his order until he came up with one grand cash.
What was in his order? I don't remember.
Show stuff.
You mean, like in Stan's Show stuff? Maybe we should ask Stan.
There is no Stan.
There's Mr.
Harland, and he's gonna be back here in an hour, and I gotta get these orders out.
We'll write you a note, how you were helping with a murder investigation.
Now, Sussman's in the food business.
What does he need lighting equipment for? Sussman told me he did charity events.
Rented to Firefly Enterprises for delivery on 10th Avenue in Manhattan.
Spotlights, glitter ball, smoke machine.
What's this abbreviation for? A bubble bath setup.
It's a clear Lucite bathtub.
Charity events.
Charity must be the girl who takes the bubble baths.
Hey, how long I gotta wait in the car? Huh? Don't we gotta do a thing tonight? Next time will be on the house, baby.
It's gonna take at least an hour to get all the way up there.
Since when did you grow a brain, huh? Come on.
Pearl's Strip Club Monday, June 24 Sussman's got the lease till the end of the year.
After that, it's available.
Why'd he close up? I don't know.
Business was good.
Is there a problem with the lights? Fuse box blew three weeks ago.
Just like that? Well, two days later I got a letter from Sussman's lawyer wanting to break the lease on account of the electrical problem.
- Do you mind if we have a look? - No, go ahead.
They poured acid behind the connector.
That's blood.
Well, he splashed acid on his arm.
He would've had to reach in.
He came over here to wash it off, and he used this to wipe his wound.
Gauze fibers on Kelly Sussman.
Yeah, from the bandages of the killer.
He used this to cover his burn.
Murderer, arsonist, jack of all trades.
Yeah, master of none.
The Arson Squad confirmed they found traces of acid.
So this works for you? Sussman risking jail time for arson just to skip out on a lease? - Money's money.
- Small money.
And what's this guy doing running a strip joint? - You have to ask? - He wasn't running it alone.
He filed a change of ownership two months ago.
He used to have a partner.
And she spells it with an "I.
" That's right.
Sandi.
Sandi Tortomassi.
But I'm not a partner in the club anymore.
I sold my share two months ago.
Problems with your partners? No.
Why would you think that? Well, we just heard that the place was packed every night.
The only reason you would sell is if you had a beef with your partners.
Not to mention there was an attempted arson there a few weeks ago.
By the way, is that something burning? You're baking cookies.
- Peanut butter.
- For my kids.
And for the record, I didn't have any beef with my partners.
I wanted to pursue other interests.
Like baking cookies? Your other partners, that's Daniel Sussman? - Yes.
His company.
- Firefly Enterprises.
The same people who own this house.
We happened to notice Firefly put up the money for this place.
That was a loan, against the return on share of the club.
A loan against your return? By the way, is there a Mr.
Tortomassi? He's a drunk, passed out in a trailer park in Ohio.
Ohio? Didn't Firefly buy a condo in Dayton? - That was for my mother.
- Another loan.
You are shouldering a lot of debt.
My share of the club went to pay off the other loans.
That was the arrangement when I cashed out.
So, let's see, he put up the money What was your contribution again? I chose the decor, the ambience.
I supervised the employees.
Waitresses, bouncers.
Strippers.
And that's where you have a lot of experience, right? Oh, it's the outfit.
Not exactly the standard issue Westchester soccer mom.
You're very toned and flexible.
Sussman catch your act at a strip club? Is that how you met? You know, if you're trying to humiliate me, I've heard it all before.
I want you to leave now, before my kids get up from their nap.
How did you find out where Sandi used to work? She never told strangers what she did for a living.
Even strippers have to file W-2s.
Your manager said you used to share a place with her.
Yeah, before she got the house.
She had some help with that, from this man, Daniel Sussman? Yeah, sure, Danny.
He met Sandi here? Danny'd come in, throw around a lot of money.
He really liked Sandi.
He told her he wanted to give her the world.
And she probably thought he could afford it.
Sandi liked him because he was a gentleman.
Bought her a house, set her up in a business.
That was all his idea.
Maybe her idea was to be the next Mrs.
Sussman.
Sandi respected his marriage.
That's why she broke up with him.
She didn't want him to put his family through a divorce on account of her.
You keep putting your hand on your datebook.
Hey! Hey, give me that.
That's what people do when they're, you know, they're nervous.
They touch things to boost their confidence, especially when they're trying to remember something.
"Respectful to his marriage.
" "She dumped him.
" It's crib notes.
And Sandi called you to tell you what to say in case we dropped by.
Let's try the truth.
She wanted him to leave his wife.
No.
She broke up with him.
After his wife found out what he was doing.
- His wife knew? - She called our place.
She thought I was the one having the affair with Danny.
She called me all kinds of names, I don't even know.
You remember any of them? There was one she kept repeating.
Kurva, or something like that.
I couldn't understand her half the time.
She had this accent.
Everybody in America knows Yiddish words.
Why should Kelly be any different? Kurva? That's a prostitute, isn't it? Where did Kelly learn a word like that? She was in the family for so long.
Maybe she had occasion to hear it.
The young woman who got the call said that Kelly had an accent.
Kelly didn't have an accent, did she? Okay, I called her.
You found out about the affair.
I told Danny to stop, and he stopped.
Did your daughter-in-law know? He told her.
You made sure he did.
She had a right to know.
You don't start fresh by keeping secrets.
Is that what they were doing? They were starting fresh? They have children, a home, people who know and respect them.
This other thing meant nothing to Danny.
It meant 350 grand for the house in Westchester, $200,000 for the strip club.
Kelly knew nothing about that.
How could she not? Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappearing from their account.
Unless Unless Danny was taking it from the family business.
My son lost his head.
This really is a family business, isn't it? Relatives have invested their savings.
Some of them even work here.
If they ever found out what Danny did They wouldn't find out.
The money was paid back.
It's still a crime.
And if Kelly knew what he'd done for this woman, she might not be so forgiving.
One word from her, and your son would've gone to jail.
No, no, no.
Danny would never hurt Kelly.
It's that woman.
She had her claws into him.
She called me here after I spoke to her friend, and she said nobody was going to come between her and Danny.
She said that she had friends in that world.
People who would hurt anyone who got in her way.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
You want some of this? What are you doing? We gotta get lost for a while.
How about Miami? Big party town, dance all night.
We could rent a boat and cruise the cooze.
Hey, we driving or Maybe if you tell me what you're looking for, I can save you the trouble.
That really didn't work out for us.
You should go next door with your kids.
This warrant says I can stay and watch, - so that's what I'm gonna do.
- Excuse me.
We found this on the floor of her garage.
Is this yours? Be careful.
No.
It's not mine.
We found it in your garage.
I don't know how it got in there.
That's okay, we do.
Sandi Tortomassi, you're under arrest for murder.
I didn't do it.
I didn't have any reason to do it.
Getting rid of the wife gave you a clear shot at Danny.
I don't wanna marry him.
Didn't your mother ever tell you? "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for" So you're saying that you can talk Danny into anything.
Well, you saw the house he bought me.
And the strip club.
My idea.
That's just money.
Guys toss money at women every day.
Well, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.
Oh? Like what? Last April, his son's birthday party.
His bar mitzvah.
What, Danny invited you? I brought two girls from the club.
Danny told his family we were with the trucker's union.
Well, you really have this little guy under your thumb, don't you? I can see why.
Must've been some workout you gave him in that big bedroom of yours.
Sure.
When the kids weren't around.
And where'd you go when you had that place with your friend? You and Danny go to a hotel? Not so often, he'd get tired of it.
Good.
Then you shouldn't have a problem remembering the hotels and dates.
I can't believe she did it.
She knew no matter what would have happened I would never marry her, or someone like her.
She knew that.
So, we're looking for two men.
Maybe former bouncers.
If you can think of any names, it would help.
I can't think of anybody.
I can't think.
I can't think! You proved that.
Getting mixed up with some bottle blonde boom-boom girl.
You don't have to tell me.
I know that.
I shamed my family.
I don't know, what was I thinking? Well, it was worth it.
Bet this girl gave you quite a ride.
No wonder you were still making the drive up to Westchester every other morning.
Did you go bareback or use a condom? Condom.
/ You buy them on the way up there or did you keep a box next to the bed? She had them.
Really? That's funny.
Because we searched her room.
We didn't find anything.
Bathroom either.
No condom, no diaphragm, no pills.
There goes that blink rate again.
Do you remember the hotels you stayed in with Sandi before you bought her the house? We've got the itemized bills from your stays.
One afternoon, you ordered two movies, rated PG.
Room service, two hamburgers, two salads, two desserts, two massages and you used the gym.
That's all in the space of four hours.
When did you find the time for sex? Or was that between the hamburger and the massage? Another missed opportunity.
One of many, right, Danny? Well, how did she wiggle out of it? Did she have cramps? She said the mood wasn't right? She was worried about her kids? She just wanted to cuddle? She really kept you going, didn't she? For two years, Danny.
Two years, and not once.
Right, Danny? Not a once.
It was okay.
I didn't mind, really.
Oh, come on.
What, are you made of marble? You were dying for it.
And she kept upping the ante.
A condo for Mom, a house for the kids, a strip club for her.
A dead wife for you.
No.
- She talked you into it.
- No.
I would never hurt Kelly.
I respected her.
That's the truth.
She did so much for me, so much to make a family.
Okay, Danny, that's enough.
It is now clear you consider him a suspect.
He's invoking his right to silence.
Him.
Her.
Him and her.
Take your pick.
It won't be either unless we find the men who did the actual killing.
Well, I don't think that he has it in him.
I mean, the girl played "keep away" for two years.
Ordinary man would be frustrated, angry.
He's not an ordinary man, he's a murderer.
He's a child.
I'm with him.
Four hours before Kelly was killed, there were two calls from Sussman's office to a no name prepaid cell phone.
Can we trace that cell phone to an owner? No.
But the number turned up in a hooker's phone book when she was busted three months ago.
Yolanda Starr Corbin.
She's a Greenpoint regular.
Greenpoint Long Island, New York Thursday, June 27 All God's children need loving.
Which one of God's children gave you this number a couple of months ago? We'll just have to call it.
Tell whoever answers you gave it to us.
Please, don't do me like that.
We already have an idea who he is.
He's got a burn on his arm, right? It's Big Louis.
That's what I know him by.
He's armed and crazy.
But you have his number.
He made me take it.
Said if I get in trouble, call him.
Guess what? You're in trouble.
Louis Bernoff.
Priors for drug possession, lewdness.
What's wrong with your arm? Car battery leaked.
Do you know her? Nope.
Him? Nope.
How about her? Nope.
You should.
Those are your handprints around her neck.
You killed her.
We're gonna match your DNA to the rag you left at the strip club when you tried to burn it down.
Big trouble for Big Louis.
But you can help yourself by telling us which one of these two here hired you.
I checked Big Louis backwards and forwards.
The phone calls are still the only thing that connect him with Sussman and the girl.
- Crystal meth.
- No, thanks.
It belongs to Big Louis' roommate, Nicky Ross.
Big time tweaker according to the neighbors.
The second killer.
Oh, and the neighbor saw Big Louis lugging a large suitcase down the stairs two days ago.
Maybe Nicky left the cap off the toothpaste.
Large pepperoni.
The night before Kelly Sussman was killed.
"Nashot Chayl"? "Nashot Chayl.
" Nashot, that's Hebrew.
- Women, woman.
- Figures you'd know that.
But Chayl, I don't know.
Valor.
Nashot Chayl is women of valor.
Three years of Hebrew school.
Women of valor.
Sounds like a self-help group for Jewish women.
Nashot Chayl Center Brooklyn, New York Friday, June 28 Kelly came to us two months ago.
She wanted a divorce.
But she wanted to make sure she did everything right by our Jewish laws.
She didn't want any problems getting custody of her kids.
Why would there be problems? If she wanted custody, she'd have to convince the religious authorities that she'd continue raising the children in the Jewish faith.
Don't family court judges decide custody? Well, judges who are elected by a community listen to their religious leaders.
Wouldn't be smart of them to alienate voters.
No, it wouldn't be smart.
So we help to prepare a get, a Jewish divorce decree.
Then she had to present it to her husband for him to sign.
Sounds pretty straightforward.
Except Kelly had to find two witnesses to go with her.
People active in her synagogue.
She couldn't find anyone.
No one wanted to be her witness.
Even her rabbi wouldn't help.
The Sussman family They carry a lot of weight in the community.
Danny Sussman didn't want a divorce.
He wanted a reconciliation.
But Kelly had no choice.
If she didn't have a get, she'd risk losing her kids in a custody fight.
When Kelly cancelled the mediation, did she reschedule? No.
So the reconciliation was off? She told me she had a better way of getting what she wanted.
Custody of her kids.
I told her, no matter what, Danny'd make a problem.
You know what, Danny's never been the problem.
I mean, he doesn't have the clout or the backbone to bend the community to his will.
But his mother does.
She cleaned up his mess when he stole money, and now she's fighting to save his marriage.
I can't find the invoice for the Gellis account.
Do you have it? - Danny? - I can't help it, Mom.
She destroyed Kelly.
Now she's gonna destroy me.
Stop it, stop it.
I deserve it.
I brought her into our life.
- Don't talk like that.
- I deserve what happens to me.
You deserve what you let happen.
We have friends, influence, respect.
They don't respect me.
They respect the name your father gave you.
The name you gave your son.
If you can't stand up for yourself, at least stand up for the name.
I wish Dad was still here.
It's better he's not.
Kelly was working in one of the big hotels in New York City when she met Danny.
She told me he was very sweet.
A real gentleman.
She didn't tell me he was a Jewish gentleman.
And that bothered you? Well, I was wishing that Kelly would meet a nice Catholic boy.
Just like I'm sure Mrs.
Sussman wished her son had met a nice Jewish girl.
Is that the impression that she gave you? Oh, she didn't warm up to Kelly till after the wedding.
We never even got a hug from that woman.
Your daughter was a devout Catholic? Well, she grew up in the church.
She sang in the choir.
She loved the Virgin Mary.
Well, then, converting to Judaism must have been a big decision for her.
Was that something that Danny pressured her to do? Not Danny.
He just wanted to be with Kelly.
They even talked about eloping.
Mrs.
Sussman.
She made a big stink.
And Kelly was stubborn.
But then Kelly gave in.
All of a sudden.
Did she explain why? No.
Two weeks later they were married.
No, sir, I'm not sure what evidence they're developing.
I know, but Yes, sir.
The Brooklyn DA's moving on the girl.
They're tangling with some community pressure over there.
A community known as Ursula Sussman.
You still haven't sold me on that yet.
And what's all this? Thirteen-year-old checks from her account.
Am I gonna kick myself for asking? This one's for $75,000 made out to cash.
Just before her son's wedding Could've been for the dress, for the reception hall.
The second check is the same amount.
$75,000 to cash three months later, in April.
And it's just a week after her Her grandson was born.
I need to see my friend, Max.
He's a rabbi.
We need to get Danny and his mother in here.
He knows we have this meeting? He's usually back from lunch by now.
I'm sorry.
There was a long line at the bodega.
Did Detective Eames explain that we needed some things clarified? Yes.
About my marriage.
Yeah, right.
You and your wife were trying to make a fresh start.
Yes.
We were trying.
Your idea or hers? Well, both.
We both wanted to go for counseling.
Sussman pickles.
I've always been a big fan.
You made appointments at the Nashot Chayl Center? Yes.
Kelly arranged it.
The people there told us when she first contacted them, Kelly was dead set on a divorce.
Oh, that's between a husband and a wife.
These people shouldn't be blabbering about confidential information.
Well, I guess it really doesn't matter now, does it? I guess not.
You felt Well, you still feel guilty.
I mean, you would have given her anything she wanted in the divorce.
Even custody of the kids? She was a good mother and fighting over custody would have hurt them.
What if Kelly went back to the Catholic church? Under Jewish law, the kids wouldn't have been considered Jewish anymore, would they? She wouldn't have done that.
What, someone who'd been hurt? Who was angry, divorced, alone? Who knows what she'd do? Well, thank heaven there was someone in the family still thinking straight.
Right, Mrs.
Sussman? I mean, if it wasn't for you, Kelly might've run off with your grandchildren and turned them into who knows what.
Kelly just needed some time to get over her anger.
Well, she got over it, all right.
Do you wanna know what she told them at the center? She told them that she had a way of getting what she wanted.
Not from you, but from your mother.
What do you suppose she meant by that? We don't know.
We're not mind readers.
Neither are we.
But we're pretty good at connecting the dots.
First dot, Big Louis Bernoff.
You might know him as a murder suspect.
But six years ago, he was also the owner of a van he bought used from his father, the mechanic.
That sound familiar? Because your dad helped Louis' father immigrate from the Soviet Union, I mean, just like he helped hundreds of other refugees.
You dad even gave him the contract to service your company's delivery vans.
So, that means nothing.
Your father helped hundreds of people, thousands.
This is - It's just a - Just a Fluke? It could be a fluke if Sandi Tortomassi hired him to kill Kelly.
But she didn't.
Your wife wasn't a threat to her.
Your wife was a threat to your mother.
Oh, that's just ridiculous.
Kelly had something on her.
Something so shameful that Kelly thought your mother might give up her grandkids to keep it quiet.
That's not true.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Second dot.
Your pregnant Catholic fiancee.
Three words that made your mother very unhappy.
That's okay.
Kelly's mother wasn't too thrilled about it either.
Especially when she converted out of the blue.
Or should I say out of the green? That summer after you were married, Kelly bought her mother a house for a $150,000? Yes, that was a settlement that she'd gotten for an old car accident.
Third dot.
Two $75,000 checks drawn from your mother's account 13 years ago.
Kelly bought the house with those checks.
The first one is dated one week before Kelly converted.
The second one is dated two days after your son's Bris, after his circumcision that welcomed him into the faith.
If anyone found out, all the good will, all the influence your father garnered from his good work and his religious devotion would have disappeared like smoke in the wind.
Your family name would have been disgraced, and the family business.
Kelly was gonna tell everyone.
Unless your mother let her have custody of your kids.
Mom, tell me you She did.
She hired Big Louis to kill your wife and plant her necklace in your girlfriend's garage.
I'll bet that your mother doesn't think that she even did anything wrong.
I'll bet that she thinks that she was just cleaning up another one of your messes.
Aren't you gonna get angry at her? She killed your wife! Come on, Danny.
When are you gonna grow up? When are you gonna take your balls back from her? How could you, Mom? How in the hell could you? If you'd only listened.
I told you she was no good for you.
So I did what I had to do.
For the family.
Always for the family.
What family? You killed the family! You're under arrest, Mrs.
Sussman, for murder.
Please turn around.
Danny, do something.
Danny, do something! She broke the laws of her faith, so what does she do about it? You commit one sin, the next ones come a little easier.