Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s03e04 Episode Script
But Not Forgotten
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.
I hope that you don't mind, but I just Here you are, ladies.
Ohh! Sorry.
Let me just wipe that off.
Isobel, don't think about it for a second.
I'm happy to do it.
Thanks, Frieda.
I didn't know where the money was going.
It's incredible.
My own employees.
We have procedures that'll put a stop to that overnight.
Excuse me.
Frieda, I'm sure it's nothing.
- Thank you.
- I'll make some calls.
I'm sorry, Earl.
I didn't realize you had somebody with you.
Mr.
Bolivar is here anytime you're ready.
I'm ready now, Michael.
We're done.
My partner'll be right with us.
A little to your right.
Head up.
Happy face.
Bye, Rozlyn.
See you tomorrow.
You should get your card in a week or so.
Everything okay? Um, I, uh, left my Walkman in my locker.
It's on your waistband.
So as soon as she's unpacked, we'll take her out to dinner.
And, Frieda, don't forget: Traffic is bad to the airport this time of day.
Bye, sweets.
Uh, Nelson, there is a car coming to pick me up.
Could you tell the driver to wait? I'll be back in 20 minutes.
Come.
Come, come.
Starlight to win.
Okay.
In the Oh.
Damn it.
Hold on.
Mother, what are you doing here? Why aren't you upstairs? I have been waiting here for over an hour.
You said Frieda was supposed to pick me up at the airport.
- She was.
/ - She never came back from walking the dog, Mr.
Merced.
The car waited.
I called upstairs, but she wasn't there.
What's going on, Tru? Where's Frieda? It's going to her voice mail.
Mother, you go upstairs in case she calls.
I'm going to look for her.
Nelson, call the police right away.
Law & Order CI The husband had these all over the neighborhood by last night.
Do we know where he was yesterday afternoon? At his office.
He owns an accounting firm.
Ms.
Merced volunteers as a bookkeeper for a girls' charity.
She was walkin' over there yesterday.
She never made it.
- How is Mr.
Merced? - A wreck.
Everybody we talked to said they were happily married.
Everybody doesn't include Ms.
Merced.
Uh, Mr.
Merced, these detectives are from the Major Case Squad: Detective Goren and Detective Eames.
Thanks for coming.
Tell me what to do.
I've already called all our relatives, our friends, the hospitals.
Have you checked her things to see if anything's missing? - Clothes, jewelry? - Nothing's missing.
Just what she takes in her purse.
Mr.
Merced, is it possible that she doesn't want to be found? We have no secrets.
If she was unhappy, she would've said something.
She said she'd be back in 20 minutes.
She wanted to make sure the car waited for her.
Her office is a 20-minute walk there and back.
Was she dropping something off, picking something up? Was she carrying anything? Just a big purse.
She had a big white and green envelope in there, maybe this big.
Thanks.
The canvass turned up somebody who saw her.
It was, like, half an hour before the first race at Belmont.
She walked up to the cab with her dog and got in.
And you just noticed her when she hailed the cab? Uh, no.
After.
I looked up.
She was walkin' to the cab.
The door was open.
Was there someone in the back? I couldn't see.
Before she got in, was the roof light on or off? Uh, it was off.
Did you happen to notice if she was smiling or nervous? Nervous.
She was throwin' looks over her shoulder.
Maybe because she was being followed? The cab already had a fare.
Maybe someone she knew rolled up and gave her a ride.
- Did you check her phone records? - Yeah.
No unusual calls in or out.
Well, where else was she yesterday? Frieda comes in.
It's 40 minutes on the treadmill, then out the door.
And same thing yesterday? Well, yesterday she must've pushed too hard, because she was a little airheaded.
She probably dehydrated herself.
Why? How was she acting? She was almost out the door when she thought she left her Walkman in her locker, but she had it on.
I tried to tell her, but she ran down to the locker room.
This is the door she used before she ran back inside? Yeah.
Did you see anyone outside? I didn't really look.
You use that for membership cards? Yeah.
Did you take any pictures yesterday morning? APARTMENT OF FRIEDA & TRUMAN MERCED FRIDAY, JULY 25 These pictures were taken the morning your wife was at the gym.
We blew up this portion here.
This man was outside the gym the whole time she was there.
Do you know him, Mr.
Merced? I've seen him.
It was It was two years ago, at the funeral of Frieda's brother.
I don't know his name.
And he was a friend of her brother? I don't know.
Uh, I didn't really know Frieda's brother that well.
He was a a carpenter, and after we were married, Frieda lost touch with him.
And then he was killed on 9/11.
He was in the towers? No.
No.
Someone killed him for his truck in Queens.
It just happened on the same day.
Dan Feist, Frieda's brother, was midtown when the planes went into the towers.
He called his wife, told her he was okay.
That's the last time she talked to him.
They found his body that night in Queens.
His skull was cracked open with a blunt object.
It was probably a pipe.
His pickup was found stripped three weeks later in Jackson Heights.
I'd say they put about two hours' work into this and called it quits.
Well, maybe because they had 2,000 other homicides to solve that day.
I'd like us to do better by Mr.
Feist's sister.
We're hoping to hear from the cabbie who picked her up.
We close to puttin' a name to this mug? No.
Mr.
Merced's pretty much in the dark when it comes to his wife's side of the family.
Yes.
Got it.
Thank you.
Guess what.
Lassie came home.
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL CONTROL QUEENS, NEW YORK FRIDAY, JULY 25 Kids found him under an overpass in Queens.
Couple of cats had him cornered.
This all came off the dog? Mm.
Those crumbs.
He must've stepped in something.
It's all over his hind legs.
I don't even wanna know what that smells like.
It smells like coffee.
He stepped in coffee dust.
And the lab found stains on the knees of the pants Frieda's brother was wearing when he was killed.
Stains composed of fatty acids, diterpene esters, kahweol, cafestol.
Coffee oil.
Coffee oil on Frieda's brother.
Coffee dust on her dog.
Frieda keeps her own hours.
We didn't even know she was on her way here when she disappeared.
She ever talk to you about her family in Brooklyn or her brother? Not really.
Um, she once mentioned he had been killed in a carjacking.
Who's Yolanda? Yolanda Guerrez? She runs our corporate giving program.
Could we talk to her? Yolanda, we need your help here.
Frieda saved an e-mail from Yolanda something about nonexistent companies.
Ms.
Guerrez, what's this e-mail about? Uh, Frieda came back from lunch on Monday and asked me to look up those companies right away.
She said they were potential donors, but I couldn't find them listed anywhere.
Did she happen to tell you who she went to lunch with or where? No, but she brought back some cheese she wanted everybody to try.
- Oh, and I thought that dog was ripe.
- Yeah.
Frieda didn't find any takers.
- Yeah, it's very, uhuh, assertive.
- Yeah.
Sheep's milk.
It's, uh, "rochetta.
" - You can tell that just from the smell? - Label.
It's Italian, from the Le Langhe region.
There can only be three or four places in the city that carry it.
Oh, sure.
She was here.
Table seven.
Her and another woman.
What did the other woman look like? She was, uh, younger, maybe 30.
Black hair.
Face like a Madonna.
But you could tell by the way she held her fork with her fist, she was less polished than the other one.
You an actress? I It's just I can tell by the way you notice the little things.
It's how an actor builds character.
I overheard the younger one asking this lady for some kind of a favor.
Do you remember a name or what it was about? No.
No.
But they were looking over tax forms.
I remember 'cause I spilled sauce on one of them.
Form 706 from 2001.
Well, I gotta get back to my acting studies.
Sure.
Uh, good luck.
is the federal estate tax form, something a widow would fill out.
HOME OF ISOBEL CARNICKI BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 I asked her to help me with this problem having to do with Dan's taxes.
That's my late husband Dan.
What was the problem? They said he owed extra taxes because they couldn't collect from the companies he worked for.
Because the companies didn't exist? It didn't make sense.
That's why I asked Frieda to help me.
She's a bookkeeper.
Why didn't you ask your late husband's accountant? Dan did his own taxes.
And I didn't want to go to Earl's accountant.
Earl? It's my new husband.
We got married last year.
E.
C.
That's These are his? He started collecting those after he got injured on his job.
He was a cop.
Now he's a partner in a security company.
You didn't want him to know about Dan's tax problems? I didn't wanna worry him.
He's been so good to me.
After Dan died, if it weren't for Earl, I don't know how I would've gone on.
Anyway, I don't know what this has to do with Frieda.
Uh, the day she disappeared, she was being followed by this man.
Oh, that's, uh, Bennie.
I think he's an electrician.
He worked with Dan sometimes, but he was following Frieda? The picture was taken outside her gym the morning that she disappeared.
The tax papers Do you think we could have a look at them? I gave them to Frieda.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 We sent Mr.
Feist's estate a bill last May for unpaid Social Security taxes.
We never heard back from him.
That's what triggered the audit.
So you discovered Mr.
Feist reported income from companies that didn't exist? Yes.
Uh, Mr.
Feist declared a reimbursement for an overpayment on his property tax, but I don't see that he owned a property.
The property lot number for the reimbursement is is in here.
Do you mind looking it up on the county Web site? Yeah.
It's moot anyway.
I already got a call from the estate to discuss a settlement.
The property's in Queens.
Its owner is actually listed as a Harmony, Inc.
, one of the nonexistent companies.
He used it to pay taxes on property he doesn't want anyone else to know that he owned.
Do you smell it? I'm gettinga caffeine buzz just breathing it in.
Looks like this place was an old coffee warehouse at one time.
Look at this.
This look like standard equipment for a carpenter? This is dog hairs.
Something was dug out of here with a knife.
Could be slugs.
This is a killing room.
This is the source of income that Dan Feist was hiding.
He was a hit man.
And somebody took up where he left off.
The only prints we could match belonged to Dan Feist.
Two partials on the faucet and one thumbprint on the meat hook.
That pegs him as the one using this facility.
C.
S.
U.
Identified half a dozen blood samples of different vintage.
And Feist's sister, Frieda? Besides the dog hair, no sign of her.
So this lady was looking into her brother's taxes, she was on her way to figuring out he was a hit man A can of worms his former employers wouldn't want opened.
One of the blood samples in the warehouse belonged to Feist.
So Feist was killed in his own workshop and then dumped elsewhere? If it was a rival gang, they would've left a calling card.
They wouldn't have made it look like a mugging.
So maybe his own people did it.
For some transgression or mistake, something they needed to cover up.
I reserved you a suite at the Waldorf, and I got Jerry cookin' a special meal I don't want a suite.
After five years, I wanna sleep in my own bed.
Sure, Pops.
I just thought you'd want some kind of Stop anticipating what I want.
I'm holding my breath, hoping nothing screws up my parole, okay? Nothing's gonna screw it up.
Good.
That's what I want.
Okay? He'll be okay when he's home.
Nothing can screw this up.
HOME OF EARL & ISOBEL CARNICKI BROOKLYN, NEW YORK MONDAY, AUGUST 4 My late husband wasn't How can they make up these stories? It's just supposition.
We feel pretty strongly about it,Mr.
Carnicki.
Sure.
Or you wouldn't be hereupsetting my wife.
We think Dan did something to provoke the people he worked for to kill him.
Anything you can remember about his activities before he died could help us.
The last two weeks before Dan got killed, we were away in Lake Champlain, just the two of us.
And before that, in August? He had a construction job to finish in Nassau.
He was coming home late.
I remember I had a bad flu.
He brought things home for you when you were sick? Soup and magazines and Yeah.
He was thoughtful that way.
He'd bring me crossword puzzles, some medications.
Do you remember where he got them? I remember the name on the bag.
Something with flowers.
Wh Floral Park is in Nassau County.
Yeah.
It was Floral Park Chemists.
That was it.
Here we go.
The Floral Park crime sheet for August 2001.
We got a murder four blocks from the pharmacy and three break-ins on the same street, all on the night of August 20.
Ha.
Our murder victim.
Anson MacDonald, 73, widower, strangled in his den The back door was jimmied, house ransacked.
All that activity and Forensics didn't find a single fingerprint or a fiber that didn't belong there? This was a clean killing.
What about the break-ins? Well, this one was an attempted break-in.
The window screen was cut open.
Something must've scared the perp.
This was an attempt also.
They got the back door open, and they took off.
Same story here.
These break-ins were just decoys to mask the fact that Mr.
MacDonald was the target of a hit.
Well, he was a retired civil attorney.
Maybe there's more about him in here.
"Mr.
MacDonald pulled no punches during his press conference.
" ""The D.
A.
Should be ashamed of the laughable sentences handed out to murderous, parasitic scum like Jimmy Limone and other mobsters.
"" Sounds like Old MacDonald rubbed some people the wrong way.
LAW OFFICE OF MACDONALD & MACDONALD BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TUESDAY, AUGUST 5 After your comments about Mr.
Limone, did you get any threats? Just a couple of angry phone calls.
Anyway, I didn't even make it past the primary.
And then your father was killed Anson Senior? Yes.
My wife and I were away on a cruise when we heard.
Why do you ask about my father though? Is there new information? This man's name is Dan Feist.
He's a hired killer.
He was in your father's neighborhood at the time of his murder.
But Dad was killed by a burglar.
There were too many inconsistencies.
We think this man was sent because of your comments about Mr.
Limone.
But why would they hurt my father? Wouldn't they come after me? Well, you both have the same name.
You're both lawyers.
You both work out of the same office.
You were out of town.
It was mistaken identity, Mr.
MacDonald.
Oh, my God.
Because of what I said? They whacked the wrong lawyer.
That beats all.
And they killed two people to cover it up.
Jimmy Limone's parole is coming up.
We need to get with Carver on this.
With what you have now? Well, we can connect Limone to this thing.
The man that was outside of Frieda's gym He's a match for Bennie Messina.
He's an associate of Limone's son, Richie.
Great.
Get a warrant for himfirst thing in the morning, but stay away from Carver.
We still have too many loose threads.
Well, he's not wrong.
For example, how did Limone know Frieda was looking into Dan's taxes? Isobel didn't tell anyone about the tax problem except Frieda.
Well, the I.
R.
S.
Investigator said she got a call about a settlement.
Who called her? I was so stupid.
How can you love somebody and not know that everything they tell you is a lie? Because when you love a person, you have to believe that they love you back, okay? Mm.
I'm going to bed.
I'm gonna be up in a minute.
Oh, I left my reading glasses in the car.
I called the I.
R.
S.
Because Earl asked me to.
The tax situation was upsetting his wife.
He didn't wanna drag it on.
He wanted to settle.
Because a settlement would stop the audit.
The agent has a quota to meet.
She wants to clear the case.
So you make a deal.
It's a game,and you're good at it.
Do I look like I'm starving? When did Earl first mention the tax problem? That would be Wednesday, two weeks ago.
The day before Frieda disappeared.
Do you remember exactly what he said to you? He was freaked out, and he wanted me to make it go away.
I'll bet he did.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
We might be in touch with you.
Okay.
Isobel tells Frieda about the tax problem, Earl finds out, he panics.
Only one reason why.
If someone found out that Dan was a hit man, they also might've found out that Earl had something to do with killing him.
So he panics, and Frieda disappears.
Earl must've been workin' with Bennie.
That's why Frieda got in the cab.
Earl was in it.
Are we expecting a call from the Harbor Patrol? They pulled him out of the drink near the Narrows around 9:00 a.
m.
They rolled his prints, and voila Bennie Messina.
You have a cause of death? Mm.
He just came in an hour ago.
Off the top, he doesn't look like he's been in the water more than 12 hours.
What's all this? Oh, once the current gets ahold of'em, your floater gets banged up pretty good on the rocks.
These rocks have very interesting patterns.
You keep doin' that, I'm gonna drop this kid right here.
Do you see this imprint on the skin? It looks like the crisscrossed lines of latitude and longitudeof a brass globe one that you might use as the handle of a walking stick.
Earl and Bennie had a falling out.
This is all the canes Earl has.
He doesn't keep them anywhere else.
I remember seeing it.
It was a brass globe.
I don't pay much attention to his canes.
Maybe you're mistaken.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
Look, we're just gonna have to take all the canes to the lab.
Were you and Earl home last night? Yes.
We watched TV and we had some ice cream.
Oh, okay.
And now you're gonna tell me which the exact shows that you watched were and what flavor ice cream.
Come on.
I know that Earl was a detective.
He knows the kind of details we look for.
I don't know why you say that.
Earl's a good person.
Well, you thought Dan was agood person too.
I don't wanna talk about him.
He can rot in hell.
Fine.
I'm happy to talk about Earl.
Tsang Fu.
That's "husband" in Chinese.
Beginning Chinese? It's always the same place.
The White Swan Hotel.
They always put the parents up there if you're gonna adopt a child in China.
Yes.
But it's taking forever because of that virus.
Do you mind if I ask you one question how the two of you met? I was at the police precinct.
It was a couple of months after Dan had, uh And I was just there trying to get some information.
And Earl was there, and he saw me waiting.
And I was very upset.
And And he talked to you, listened to you, made you feel like you weren't so alone.
We liked the same things.
For our first date, he surprised me, and he took me to a Spanish restaurant, which is my favorite food.
You should see the flowers he bought me.
Same kind Dan used to buy - Are you okay? - Yeah.
I turned around as soon as I got your message.
Michael called.
They're lookin' at the office too.
They won't tell me what they want.
They don't have to.
Come on.
Let's let 'em do their work.
C&C SECURITY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6 Your warrant says I have tolet you search his office.
It doesn't say I have toanswer your questions.
That's right.
That would take a subpoenafrom the grand jury.
You have nice offices here.
- Your background's in law enforcement? - No.
Well, then, your partnership You put up the money, and Earl kicked in his police expertise? - Ah, geez.
- Here.
Let me.
Oh, I Whoa.
Oh, it's just, uh Did somebody turn up the heat? You should sit here.
I'll get you a glass of water.
No.
I'll be okay.
I just need to finish.
You should wait for the other detective.
No.
No.
This is embarrassing enough.
I have to pull my own weight.
I understand.
Just catch your breath.
You're a decent guy, Mr.
Carling.
You got into business with a bad guy.
One way or another, Earl's going to jail.
And you could lose all the money you put into this business.
That missing woman A couple of days earlier, she was here with Earl.
There were looking over some tax forms.
Well, that's very good, Mr.
Carling.
Thank you.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Do you have any decoy vehicles you use for surveillance delivery vans or old taxicabs? Yes.
A couple of yellow cabs.
And they don't keep records, so Earl could've taken out a cab, but the lab couldn't find any trace of Frieda or her dog in either cab.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
You have an offended mobster and his son, a case of mistaken identity, an incompetent hit man, a hit man's widow, a hit man's missing sister, a corrupt cop, and now, another dead killer.
It's It's operatic.
Isobel said that it was uncanny when they first started dating how much they liked the same things.
Well, no wonder.
When he was following Dan Feist, waiting for his chance to kill him, Earl saw what kind of restaurants that that Dan took her to and what kind of flowers that he bought her.
If anyone deserves to have the curtain dropped on him, it's Earl.
We might have a case against him for the murder of Mr.
Messina.
If you're right, and Earl's wife knows what happened, she might help us.
Uh, what, and testify against the only man that's brought light into her life? Let's try something different.
LINCOLN CORRECTIONAL FACILITY THURSDAY, AUGUST 7 ""The D.
A.
Should be ashamed of the laughable sentences handed out to the murderous, parasitic scum likeJimmy Limone and other mobsters.
"" So? I care what a two-bit politician I never heard of says about me? Somebody cared enough to put a hit on Anson MacDonald.
And they got Dan Feist to do it.
But there was a glitch.
This is the man Mr.
Feist actually killed: Anson MacDonald, Sr.
They killed him by mistake.
You don't say? Was this your bright idea, Richie? I don't know anything about it.
I didn't know anything either.
See, after Feist made his mistake, somebody had him killed by these two: Bennie Messina and a cop.
Bennie.
Well, he's already been taken care of.
This one?He's why we're here talkin' to you.
I'm not takin' the weight for some jackass.
I'm walkin' outta here on parole next week no matter what, so somebody better help you.
Bennie ran his own burglary crew.
He had his hooks in a copin the 71 st Precinct uh, Earl something.
He gave Bennie security system plans, patrol schedules, that kind of stuff.
And Bennie's recent dealings with Earl? Uh, last I know those two got together was back in May for a coin store heist.
- Last May? - Yeah.
That's all I know.
I swear, Pops.
That's all.
I have a sense that's all we're gonna get out of Mr.
Limone, Jr.
We're back to Isobel Carnicki as our only witness against Earl.
And as you pointed out, she won't talk.
Maybe we're arresting the wrong Carnicki.
Isobel was home.
She knows what happened.
Last May that was when Isobel got a letterfrom the I.
R.
S.
, a letter that she never answered.
Uh Yes.
Can I have the number of the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan, please? Shao Hai Tze That's Chinese for "a baby.
" The message I got was that she'd been arrested as a material witness.
It's for her protection.
The D.
A.
Thinks she has information on the murder of Bennie Messina.
He was a soldier in the Limone gang.
We suspect they've already murdered her late husband and her sister-in-law.
God.
She must be scared out ofher mind.
As soon as they're done booking her, they'll bring her up here to see you as a courtesy.
Isobel doesn't deserve this.
She's a terrific girl.
Oh, thank God.
They arrested me.
It's okay.
The captain told me everything.
Why don't you two have a seat? It's about Bennie Messina's murder, Ms.
Carnicki.
I know you weren't telling the truth about the walking stick, because I saw it the first timewe visited you.
Well, I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
I never owned a canelike the one you described.
- How 'bout it, Ms.
Carnicki? - Earl's right.
Unfortunately, I have to go with what the detectives tell me.
I'm gonna recommend that you be held without bail.
Oh, for God's sakes.
My wife? Look, I'm a retired detective.
You don't want her goin' to jail, Mr.
Carnicki, you know what to do.
You bastards.
Don't worry, sweetheart.
I won't let 'em do anything to ya.
So that guy, Bennie, he stopped by our house.
He had a gun.
He was gonna kill us like they killed Isobel's sister-in-law.
He was wavin' it around at us Um, why don't you let Isobel tell the rest.
Bennie had pointed his gun at us.
I was so scared, I started to cry, and Bennie told me to shut up.
- And I got the jump on him.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Go on.
Earl hit him with the cane, and then Bennie was dead.
Earl told me that I couldn't tell anyone and then showed me how to clean up the blood while he drove off with Bennie.
I was terrified.
I mean, if Jimmy Limone found out what happened, he would've sent 10 guys after us.
It was self-defense.
Self-defense works for me.
Self-defense, Isobel? Bennie was gonna kill ya? Earl slammed that brass ball into his head.
Well, it's a good thing that Bennie didn't get a shot off.
- Earl knocked the gun out of Bennie's hand.
- He did? After Bennie fell.
The gun was still in his hand, so Earl hit it and knocked it away.
Good job, Earl.
Yeah.
Sure.
We just need formal statements.
Yeah.
Was it the right handor the left hand? His right.
Because there would've been a bruise, but there wasn't a bruise because Earl didn't hit Bennie in the hand.
Did he? I don't know.
You don't know what Earl did because you didn't see exactly what happened, did ya? Because Earl told you what to say,didn't he? What is this? A joke? Richie Limone told usBennie had a dirty cop in the 71, a cop who told him all about alarm codes.
So you're gonna believe some lowlife mutt? Bennie tried to kill us.
When he found you at the precinct, you were waiting for news about Dan.
Earl ever tell you exactly what he was doing there? He said he had business there.
He retired six weeks before.
It wasn't even his precinct.
It's the oldest trick on the force.
Cops.
Some of'em hit on female crime victims.
It wasn't like that.
When the two of you met, it was like kismet, huh? The way Earl knew ya like the back of his hand.
Well, he should've.
He'd been watching you for a long time.
This guy's out of his mind.
Oh, come on, Earl.
Bennie told you that Dan screwed up and you had to take care of him.
Isobel, he's just playing games.
This is all bull.
And that's when you met his beautiful wife, who loved him, took care of him.
He had it pretty good for a hit man.
What did you have? Nothin'? You're just a lonely, divorced, dirty cop.
You envied Dan.
You wanted to take what he had, step into his shoes, into his bed.
Oh, shut up! This is sick! This is sick crap! Don't you listen to it, Isobel.
That's why he flipped out when Frieda came to see him at his office.
She suspected Dan of being a criminal.
Earl, you didn't tell me that you talked to her.
Well, she asked me not to.
She was worried you were in trouble with the I.
R.
S.
You believe him, Isobel? Hmm? Or do you believe that knot in your stomach? Isobel? Baby, I love you.
I need you.
He couldn't.
He couldn't have hurt my Dan.
I didn't.
I swear.
Isobel, tell us what happened that night when Bennie came over.
Don't you say anything.
I I heard them in the driveway laughing - Don't! - And then I heard a noise, and then I went outside, and he was dead.
And Earl said he had pulled a gun on him, but there wasn't any gun.
There was never any gun.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Why Earl, you are under arrest for murder.
Isobel, I didn't hurt Dan! I didn't do it.
! I love you.
I need you.
Sweet? Isn't it? Revenge? Uh, we were about to sign off on your self-defense story, Earl, until your wife told us that well, that you knocked the gun out of Bennie's hand.
That was an unnecessary, damning embellishment.
Why'd you do that? I think she didn't want Earl skating by on a self-defense rap.
When did you find out, Isobel? Last May? When Earl and Bennie were working on that coin shop heist? You saw them get together, overheard them talkin; Things fell into place who killed Dan your Dan.
I wanna go home.
You couldn't go to the police, to Earl's buddy boys.
Who'd believe you? Even if they did, you'd still have Earl's other buddies to deal with.
And if Earl was gonna pay for his crime, well, someone else would have to do the dirty work.
Isobel, what are they talkin' about? The letter the I.
R.
S.
Sent her in May? All you had to do was write a check.
There would've been no audit.
No one would've found out what Dan did for a living, why he was killed, who killed him.
Isobel? Then the audit came.
And you needed someone to help push things along.
So you went to Frieda.
But you never thought that she was gonna actually talk to Earl about it.
Or that he'd kill her.
It's not true.
I would never do anything against you, Earl.
What? Even now you're still afraid of him? You're not afraid of me.
She loves me.
- We were gonna raise a kid together.
- Yeah.
Right.
The adoption that was delayed by the SARS virus.
The adoption agency said that the alert was lifted in in May? They told Isobel.
She told them thatbecause of a family emergency, the adoption would have to be postponed indefinitely.
You see? The family emergency, Earl? That's you going to prison.
You got him.
You got him but good.
I wouldn't raise a dog with you.
But Dan was a killer Dan was a cold-blooded killer.
He was getting out of it, and he never lied to me.
But you you're nothin' but lies.
So what happens to me now? Your behavior may not be ethical but as far as I can tell, you haven't broken any laws.
I do expect you to testify at your husband's trial.
Oh.
I only ever had one husband.
Come on, guys.
So much for passing out brains with those gold shields.
If anyone objectsto letting Ms.
Carnicki off the hook Maybe we should keep an eye on who she marries next.
What a lucky guy that'll be.
These are their stories.
I hope that you don't mind, but I just Here you are, ladies.
Ohh! Sorry.
Let me just wipe that off.
Isobel, don't think about it for a second.
I'm happy to do it.
Thanks, Frieda.
I didn't know where the money was going.
It's incredible.
My own employees.
We have procedures that'll put a stop to that overnight.
Excuse me.
Frieda, I'm sure it's nothing.
- Thank you.
- I'll make some calls.
I'm sorry, Earl.
I didn't realize you had somebody with you.
Mr.
Bolivar is here anytime you're ready.
I'm ready now, Michael.
We're done.
My partner'll be right with us.
A little to your right.
Head up.
Happy face.
Bye, Rozlyn.
See you tomorrow.
You should get your card in a week or so.
Everything okay? Um, I, uh, left my Walkman in my locker.
It's on your waistband.
So as soon as she's unpacked, we'll take her out to dinner.
And, Frieda, don't forget: Traffic is bad to the airport this time of day.
Bye, sweets.
Uh, Nelson, there is a car coming to pick me up.
Could you tell the driver to wait? I'll be back in 20 minutes.
Come.
Come, come.
Starlight to win.
Okay.
In the Oh.
Damn it.
Hold on.
Mother, what are you doing here? Why aren't you upstairs? I have been waiting here for over an hour.
You said Frieda was supposed to pick me up at the airport.
- She was.
/ - She never came back from walking the dog, Mr.
Merced.
The car waited.
I called upstairs, but she wasn't there.
What's going on, Tru? Where's Frieda? It's going to her voice mail.
Mother, you go upstairs in case she calls.
I'm going to look for her.
Nelson, call the police right away.
Law & Order CI The husband had these all over the neighborhood by last night.
Do we know where he was yesterday afternoon? At his office.
He owns an accounting firm.
Ms.
Merced volunteers as a bookkeeper for a girls' charity.
She was walkin' over there yesterday.
She never made it.
- How is Mr.
Merced? - A wreck.
Everybody we talked to said they were happily married.
Everybody doesn't include Ms.
Merced.
Uh, Mr.
Merced, these detectives are from the Major Case Squad: Detective Goren and Detective Eames.
Thanks for coming.
Tell me what to do.
I've already called all our relatives, our friends, the hospitals.
Have you checked her things to see if anything's missing? - Clothes, jewelry? - Nothing's missing.
Just what she takes in her purse.
Mr.
Merced, is it possible that she doesn't want to be found? We have no secrets.
If she was unhappy, she would've said something.
She said she'd be back in 20 minutes.
She wanted to make sure the car waited for her.
Her office is a 20-minute walk there and back.
Was she dropping something off, picking something up? Was she carrying anything? Just a big purse.
She had a big white and green envelope in there, maybe this big.
Thanks.
The canvass turned up somebody who saw her.
It was, like, half an hour before the first race at Belmont.
She walked up to the cab with her dog and got in.
And you just noticed her when she hailed the cab? Uh, no.
After.
I looked up.
She was walkin' to the cab.
The door was open.
Was there someone in the back? I couldn't see.
Before she got in, was the roof light on or off? Uh, it was off.
Did you happen to notice if she was smiling or nervous? Nervous.
She was throwin' looks over her shoulder.
Maybe because she was being followed? The cab already had a fare.
Maybe someone she knew rolled up and gave her a ride.
- Did you check her phone records? - Yeah.
No unusual calls in or out.
Well, where else was she yesterday? Frieda comes in.
It's 40 minutes on the treadmill, then out the door.
And same thing yesterday? Well, yesterday she must've pushed too hard, because she was a little airheaded.
She probably dehydrated herself.
Why? How was she acting? She was almost out the door when she thought she left her Walkman in her locker, but she had it on.
I tried to tell her, but she ran down to the locker room.
This is the door she used before she ran back inside? Yeah.
Did you see anyone outside? I didn't really look.
You use that for membership cards? Yeah.
Did you take any pictures yesterday morning? APARTMENT OF FRIEDA & TRUMAN MERCED FRIDAY, JULY 25 These pictures were taken the morning your wife was at the gym.
We blew up this portion here.
This man was outside the gym the whole time she was there.
Do you know him, Mr.
Merced? I've seen him.
It was It was two years ago, at the funeral of Frieda's brother.
I don't know his name.
And he was a friend of her brother? I don't know.
Uh, I didn't really know Frieda's brother that well.
He was a a carpenter, and after we were married, Frieda lost touch with him.
And then he was killed on 9/11.
He was in the towers? No.
No.
Someone killed him for his truck in Queens.
It just happened on the same day.
Dan Feist, Frieda's brother, was midtown when the planes went into the towers.
He called his wife, told her he was okay.
That's the last time she talked to him.
They found his body that night in Queens.
His skull was cracked open with a blunt object.
It was probably a pipe.
His pickup was found stripped three weeks later in Jackson Heights.
I'd say they put about two hours' work into this and called it quits.
Well, maybe because they had 2,000 other homicides to solve that day.
I'd like us to do better by Mr.
Feist's sister.
We're hoping to hear from the cabbie who picked her up.
We close to puttin' a name to this mug? No.
Mr.
Merced's pretty much in the dark when it comes to his wife's side of the family.
Yes.
Got it.
Thank you.
Guess what.
Lassie came home.
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL CONTROL QUEENS, NEW YORK FRIDAY, JULY 25 Kids found him under an overpass in Queens.
Couple of cats had him cornered.
This all came off the dog? Mm.
Those crumbs.
He must've stepped in something.
It's all over his hind legs.
I don't even wanna know what that smells like.
It smells like coffee.
He stepped in coffee dust.
And the lab found stains on the knees of the pants Frieda's brother was wearing when he was killed.
Stains composed of fatty acids, diterpene esters, kahweol, cafestol.
Coffee oil.
Coffee oil on Frieda's brother.
Coffee dust on her dog.
Frieda keeps her own hours.
We didn't even know she was on her way here when she disappeared.
She ever talk to you about her family in Brooklyn or her brother? Not really.
Um, she once mentioned he had been killed in a carjacking.
Who's Yolanda? Yolanda Guerrez? She runs our corporate giving program.
Could we talk to her? Yolanda, we need your help here.
Frieda saved an e-mail from Yolanda something about nonexistent companies.
Ms.
Guerrez, what's this e-mail about? Uh, Frieda came back from lunch on Monday and asked me to look up those companies right away.
She said they were potential donors, but I couldn't find them listed anywhere.
Did she happen to tell you who she went to lunch with or where? No, but she brought back some cheese she wanted everybody to try.
- Oh, and I thought that dog was ripe.
- Yeah.
Frieda didn't find any takers.
- Yeah, it's very, uhuh, assertive.
- Yeah.
Sheep's milk.
It's, uh, "rochetta.
" - You can tell that just from the smell? - Label.
It's Italian, from the Le Langhe region.
There can only be three or four places in the city that carry it.
Oh, sure.
She was here.
Table seven.
Her and another woman.
What did the other woman look like? She was, uh, younger, maybe 30.
Black hair.
Face like a Madonna.
But you could tell by the way she held her fork with her fist, she was less polished than the other one.
You an actress? I It's just I can tell by the way you notice the little things.
It's how an actor builds character.
I overheard the younger one asking this lady for some kind of a favor.
Do you remember a name or what it was about? No.
No.
But they were looking over tax forms.
I remember 'cause I spilled sauce on one of them.
Form 706 from 2001.
Well, I gotta get back to my acting studies.
Sure.
Uh, good luck.
is the federal estate tax form, something a widow would fill out.
HOME OF ISOBEL CARNICKI BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 I asked her to help me with this problem having to do with Dan's taxes.
That's my late husband Dan.
What was the problem? They said he owed extra taxes because they couldn't collect from the companies he worked for.
Because the companies didn't exist? It didn't make sense.
That's why I asked Frieda to help me.
She's a bookkeeper.
Why didn't you ask your late husband's accountant? Dan did his own taxes.
And I didn't want to go to Earl's accountant.
Earl? It's my new husband.
We got married last year.
E.
C.
That's These are his? He started collecting those after he got injured on his job.
He was a cop.
Now he's a partner in a security company.
You didn't want him to know about Dan's tax problems? I didn't wanna worry him.
He's been so good to me.
After Dan died, if it weren't for Earl, I don't know how I would've gone on.
Anyway, I don't know what this has to do with Frieda.
Uh, the day she disappeared, she was being followed by this man.
Oh, that's, uh, Bennie.
I think he's an electrician.
He worked with Dan sometimes, but he was following Frieda? The picture was taken outside her gym the morning that she disappeared.
The tax papers Do you think we could have a look at them? I gave them to Frieda.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 We sent Mr.
Feist's estate a bill last May for unpaid Social Security taxes.
We never heard back from him.
That's what triggered the audit.
So you discovered Mr.
Feist reported income from companies that didn't exist? Yes.
Uh, Mr.
Feist declared a reimbursement for an overpayment on his property tax, but I don't see that he owned a property.
The property lot number for the reimbursement is is in here.
Do you mind looking it up on the county Web site? Yeah.
It's moot anyway.
I already got a call from the estate to discuss a settlement.
The property's in Queens.
Its owner is actually listed as a Harmony, Inc.
, one of the nonexistent companies.
He used it to pay taxes on property he doesn't want anyone else to know that he owned.
Do you smell it? I'm gettinga caffeine buzz just breathing it in.
Looks like this place was an old coffee warehouse at one time.
Look at this.
This look like standard equipment for a carpenter? This is dog hairs.
Something was dug out of here with a knife.
Could be slugs.
This is a killing room.
This is the source of income that Dan Feist was hiding.
He was a hit man.
And somebody took up where he left off.
The only prints we could match belonged to Dan Feist.
Two partials on the faucet and one thumbprint on the meat hook.
That pegs him as the one using this facility.
C.
S.
U.
Identified half a dozen blood samples of different vintage.
And Feist's sister, Frieda? Besides the dog hair, no sign of her.
So this lady was looking into her brother's taxes, she was on her way to figuring out he was a hit man A can of worms his former employers wouldn't want opened.
One of the blood samples in the warehouse belonged to Feist.
So Feist was killed in his own workshop and then dumped elsewhere? If it was a rival gang, they would've left a calling card.
They wouldn't have made it look like a mugging.
So maybe his own people did it.
For some transgression or mistake, something they needed to cover up.
I reserved you a suite at the Waldorf, and I got Jerry cookin' a special meal I don't want a suite.
After five years, I wanna sleep in my own bed.
Sure, Pops.
I just thought you'd want some kind of Stop anticipating what I want.
I'm holding my breath, hoping nothing screws up my parole, okay? Nothing's gonna screw it up.
Good.
That's what I want.
Okay? He'll be okay when he's home.
Nothing can screw this up.
HOME OF EARL & ISOBEL CARNICKI BROOKLYN, NEW YORK MONDAY, AUGUST 4 My late husband wasn't How can they make up these stories? It's just supposition.
We feel pretty strongly about it,Mr.
Carnicki.
Sure.
Or you wouldn't be hereupsetting my wife.
We think Dan did something to provoke the people he worked for to kill him.
Anything you can remember about his activities before he died could help us.
The last two weeks before Dan got killed, we were away in Lake Champlain, just the two of us.
And before that, in August? He had a construction job to finish in Nassau.
He was coming home late.
I remember I had a bad flu.
He brought things home for you when you were sick? Soup and magazines and Yeah.
He was thoughtful that way.
He'd bring me crossword puzzles, some medications.
Do you remember where he got them? I remember the name on the bag.
Something with flowers.
Wh Floral Park is in Nassau County.
Yeah.
It was Floral Park Chemists.
That was it.
Here we go.
The Floral Park crime sheet for August 2001.
We got a murder four blocks from the pharmacy and three break-ins on the same street, all on the night of August 20.
Ha.
Our murder victim.
Anson MacDonald, 73, widower, strangled in his den The back door was jimmied, house ransacked.
All that activity and Forensics didn't find a single fingerprint or a fiber that didn't belong there? This was a clean killing.
What about the break-ins? Well, this one was an attempted break-in.
The window screen was cut open.
Something must've scared the perp.
This was an attempt also.
They got the back door open, and they took off.
Same story here.
These break-ins were just decoys to mask the fact that Mr.
MacDonald was the target of a hit.
Well, he was a retired civil attorney.
Maybe there's more about him in here.
"Mr.
MacDonald pulled no punches during his press conference.
" ""The D.
A.
Should be ashamed of the laughable sentences handed out to murderous, parasitic scum like Jimmy Limone and other mobsters.
"" Sounds like Old MacDonald rubbed some people the wrong way.
LAW OFFICE OF MACDONALD & MACDONALD BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TUESDAY, AUGUST 5 After your comments about Mr.
Limone, did you get any threats? Just a couple of angry phone calls.
Anyway, I didn't even make it past the primary.
And then your father was killed Anson Senior? Yes.
My wife and I were away on a cruise when we heard.
Why do you ask about my father though? Is there new information? This man's name is Dan Feist.
He's a hired killer.
He was in your father's neighborhood at the time of his murder.
But Dad was killed by a burglar.
There were too many inconsistencies.
We think this man was sent because of your comments about Mr.
Limone.
But why would they hurt my father? Wouldn't they come after me? Well, you both have the same name.
You're both lawyers.
You both work out of the same office.
You were out of town.
It was mistaken identity, Mr.
MacDonald.
Oh, my God.
Because of what I said? They whacked the wrong lawyer.
That beats all.
And they killed two people to cover it up.
Jimmy Limone's parole is coming up.
We need to get with Carver on this.
With what you have now? Well, we can connect Limone to this thing.
The man that was outside of Frieda's gym He's a match for Bennie Messina.
He's an associate of Limone's son, Richie.
Great.
Get a warrant for himfirst thing in the morning, but stay away from Carver.
We still have too many loose threads.
Well, he's not wrong.
For example, how did Limone know Frieda was looking into Dan's taxes? Isobel didn't tell anyone about the tax problem except Frieda.
Well, the I.
R.
S.
Investigator said she got a call about a settlement.
Who called her? I was so stupid.
How can you love somebody and not know that everything they tell you is a lie? Because when you love a person, you have to believe that they love you back, okay? Mm.
I'm going to bed.
I'm gonna be up in a minute.
Oh, I left my reading glasses in the car.
I called the I.
R.
S.
Because Earl asked me to.
The tax situation was upsetting his wife.
He didn't wanna drag it on.
He wanted to settle.
Because a settlement would stop the audit.
The agent has a quota to meet.
She wants to clear the case.
So you make a deal.
It's a game,and you're good at it.
Do I look like I'm starving? When did Earl first mention the tax problem? That would be Wednesday, two weeks ago.
The day before Frieda disappeared.
Do you remember exactly what he said to you? He was freaked out, and he wanted me to make it go away.
I'll bet he did.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
We might be in touch with you.
Okay.
Isobel tells Frieda about the tax problem, Earl finds out, he panics.
Only one reason why.
If someone found out that Dan was a hit man, they also might've found out that Earl had something to do with killing him.
So he panics, and Frieda disappears.
Earl must've been workin' with Bennie.
That's why Frieda got in the cab.
Earl was in it.
Are we expecting a call from the Harbor Patrol? They pulled him out of the drink near the Narrows around 9:00 a.
m.
They rolled his prints, and voila Bennie Messina.
You have a cause of death? Mm.
He just came in an hour ago.
Off the top, he doesn't look like he's been in the water more than 12 hours.
What's all this? Oh, once the current gets ahold of'em, your floater gets banged up pretty good on the rocks.
These rocks have very interesting patterns.
You keep doin' that, I'm gonna drop this kid right here.
Do you see this imprint on the skin? It looks like the crisscrossed lines of latitude and longitudeof a brass globe one that you might use as the handle of a walking stick.
Earl and Bennie had a falling out.
This is all the canes Earl has.
He doesn't keep them anywhere else.
I remember seeing it.
It was a brass globe.
I don't pay much attention to his canes.
Maybe you're mistaken.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
Look, we're just gonna have to take all the canes to the lab.
Were you and Earl home last night? Yes.
We watched TV and we had some ice cream.
Oh, okay.
And now you're gonna tell me which the exact shows that you watched were and what flavor ice cream.
Come on.
I know that Earl was a detective.
He knows the kind of details we look for.
I don't know why you say that.
Earl's a good person.
Well, you thought Dan was agood person too.
I don't wanna talk about him.
He can rot in hell.
Fine.
I'm happy to talk about Earl.
Tsang Fu.
That's "husband" in Chinese.
Beginning Chinese? It's always the same place.
The White Swan Hotel.
They always put the parents up there if you're gonna adopt a child in China.
Yes.
But it's taking forever because of that virus.
Do you mind if I ask you one question how the two of you met? I was at the police precinct.
It was a couple of months after Dan had, uh And I was just there trying to get some information.
And Earl was there, and he saw me waiting.
And I was very upset.
And And he talked to you, listened to you, made you feel like you weren't so alone.
We liked the same things.
For our first date, he surprised me, and he took me to a Spanish restaurant, which is my favorite food.
You should see the flowers he bought me.
Same kind Dan used to buy - Are you okay? - Yeah.
I turned around as soon as I got your message.
Michael called.
They're lookin' at the office too.
They won't tell me what they want.
They don't have to.
Come on.
Let's let 'em do their work.
C&C SECURITY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6 Your warrant says I have tolet you search his office.
It doesn't say I have toanswer your questions.
That's right.
That would take a subpoenafrom the grand jury.
You have nice offices here.
- Your background's in law enforcement? - No.
Well, then, your partnership You put up the money, and Earl kicked in his police expertise? - Ah, geez.
- Here.
Let me.
Oh, I Whoa.
Oh, it's just, uh Did somebody turn up the heat? You should sit here.
I'll get you a glass of water.
No.
I'll be okay.
I just need to finish.
You should wait for the other detective.
No.
No.
This is embarrassing enough.
I have to pull my own weight.
I understand.
Just catch your breath.
You're a decent guy, Mr.
Carling.
You got into business with a bad guy.
One way or another, Earl's going to jail.
And you could lose all the money you put into this business.
That missing woman A couple of days earlier, she was here with Earl.
There were looking over some tax forms.
Well, that's very good, Mr.
Carling.
Thank you.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Do you have any decoy vehicles you use for surveillance delivery vans or old taxicabs? Yes.
A couple of yellow cabs.
And they don't keep records, so Earl could've taken out a cab, but the lab couldn't find any trace of Frieda or her dog in either cab.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
You have an offended mobster and his son, a case of mistaken identity, an incompetent hit man, a hit man's widow, a hit man's missing sister, a corrupt cop, and now, another dead killer.
It's It's operatic.
Isobel said that it was uncanny when they first started dating how much they liked the same things.
Well, no wonder.
When he was following Dan Feist, waiting for his chance to kill him, Earl saw what kind of restaurants that that Dan took her to and what kind of flowers that he bought her.
If anyone deserves to have the curtain dropped on him, it's Earl.
We might have a case against him for the murder of Mr.
Messina.
If you're right, and Earl's wife knows what happened, she might help us.
Uh, what, and testify against the only man that's brought light into her life? Let's try something different.
LINCOLN CORRECTIONAL FACILITY THURSDAY, AUGUST 7 ""The D.
A.
Should be ashamed of the laughable sentences handed out to the murderous, parasitic scum likeJimmy Limone and other mobsters.
"" So? I care what a two-bit politician I never heard of says about me? Somebody cared enough to put a hit on Anson MacDonald.
And they got Dan Feist to do it.
But there was a glitch.
This is the man Mr.
Feist actually killed: Anson MacDonald, Sr.
They killed him by mistake.
You don't say? Was this your bright idea, Richie? I don't know anything about it.
I didn't know anything either.
See, after Feist made his mistake, somebody had him killed by these two: Bennie Messina and a cop.
Bennie.
Well, he's already been taken care of.
This one?He's why we're here talkin' to you.
I'm not takin' the weight for some jackass.
I'm walkin' outta here on parole next week no matter what, so somebody better help you.
Bennie ran his own burglary crew.
He had his hooks in a copin the 71 st Precinct uh, Earl something.
He gave Bennie security system plans, patrol schedules, that kind of stuff.
And Bennie's recent dealings with Earl? Uh, last I know those two got together was back in May for a coin store heist.
- Last May? - Yeah.
That's all I know.
I swear, Pops.
That's all.
I have a sense that's all we're gonna get out of Mr.
Limone, Jr.
We're back to Isobel Carnicki as our only witness against Earl.
And as you pointed out, she won't talk.
Maybe we're arresting the wrong Carnicki.
Isobel was home.
She knows what happened.
Last May that was when Isobel got a letterfrom the I.
R.
S.
, a letter that she never answered.
Uh Yes.
Can I have the number of the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan, please? Shao Hai Tze That's Chinese for "a baby.
" The message I got was that she'd been arrested as a material witness.
It's for her protection.
The D.
A.
Thinks she has information on the murder of Bennie Messina.
He was a soldier in the Limone gang.
We suspect they've already murdered her late husband and her sister-in-law.
God.
She must be scared out ofher mind.
As soon as they're done booking her, they'll bring her up here to see you as a courtesy.
Isobel doesn't deserve this.
She's a terrific girl.
Oh, thank God.
They arrested me.
It's okay.
The captain told me everything.
Why don't you two have a seat? It's about Bennie Messina's murder, Ms.
Carnicki.
I know you weren't telling the truth about the walking stick, because I saw it the first timewe visited you.
Well, I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
I never owned a canelike the one you described.
- How 'bout it, Ms.
Carnicki? - Earl's right.
Unfortunately, I have to go with what the detectives tell me.
I'm gonna recommend that you be held without bail.
Oh, for God's sakes.
My wife? Look, I'm a retired detective.
You don't want her goin' to jail, Mr.
Carnicki, you know what to do.
You bastards.
Don't worry, sweetheart.
I won't let 'em do anything to ya.
So that guy, Bennie, he stopped by our house.
He had a gun.
He was gonna kill us like they killed Isobel's sister-in-law.
He was wavin' it around at us Um, why don't you let Isobel tell the rest.
Bennie had pointed his gun at us.
I was so scared, I started to cry, and Bennie told me to shut up.
- And I got the jump on him.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Go on.
Earl hit him with the cane, and then Bennie was dead.
Earl told me that I couldn't tell anyone and then showed me how to clean up the blood while he drove off with Bennie.
I was terrified.
I mean, if Jimmy Limone found out what happened, he would've sent 10 guys after us.
It was self-defense.
Self-defense works for me.
Self-defense, Isobel? Bennie was gonna kill ya? Earl slammed that brass ball into his head.
Well, it's a good thing that Bennie didn't get a shot off.
- Earl knocked the gun out of Bennie's hand.
- He did? After Bennie fell.
The gun was still in his hand, so Earl hit it and knocked it away.
Good job, Earl.
Yeah.
Sure.
We just need formal statements.
Yeah.
Was it the right handor the left hand? His right.
Because there would've been a bruise, but there wasn't a bruise because Earl didn't hit Bennie in the hand.
Did he? I don't know.
You don't know what Earl did because you didn't see exactly what happened, did ya? Because Earl told you what to say,didn't he? What is this? A joke? Richie Limone told usBennie had a dirty cop in the 71, a cop who told him all about alarm codes.
So you're gonna believe some lowlife mutt? Bennie tried to kill us.
When he found you at the precinct, you were waiting for news about Dan.
Earl ever tell you exactly what he was doing there? He said he had business there.
He retired six weeks before.
It wasn't even his precinct.
It's the oldest trick on the force.
Cops.
Some of'em hit on female crime victims.
It wasn't like that.
When the two of you met, it was like kismet, huh? The way Earl knew ya like the back of his hand.
Well, he should've.
He'd been watching you for a long time.
This guy's out of his mind.
Oh, come on, Earl.
Bennie told you that Dan screwed up and you had to take care of him.
Isobel, he's just playing games.
This is all bull.
And that's when you met his beautiful wife, who loved him, took care of him.
He had it pretty good for a hit man.
What did you have? Nothin'? You're just a lonely, divorced, dirty cop.
You envied Dan.
You wanted to take what he had, step into his shoes, into his bed.
Oh, shut up! This is sick! This is sick crap! Don't you listen to it, Isobel.
That's why he flipped out when Frieda came to see him at his office.
She suspected Dan of being a criminal.
Earl, you didn't tell me that you talked to her.
Well, she asked me not to.
She was worried you were in trouble with the I.
R.
S.
You believe him, Isobel? Hmm? Or do you believe that knot in your stomach? Isobel? Baby, I love you.
I need you.
He couldn't.
He couldn't have hurt my Dan.
I didn't.
I swear.
Isobel, tell us what happened that night when Bennie came over.
Don't you say anything.
I I heard them in the driveway laughing - Don't! - And then I heard a noise, and then I went outside, and he was dead.
And Earl said he had pulled a gun on him, but there wasn't any gun.
There was never any gun.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
- Why Earl, you are under arrest for murder.
Isobel, I didn't hurt Dan! I didn't do it.
! I love you.
I need you.
Sweet? Isn't it? Revenge? Uh, we were about to sign off on your self-defense story, Earl, until your wife told us that well, that you knocked the gun out of Bennie's hand.
That was an unnecessary, damning embellishment.
Why'd you do that? I think she didn't want Earl skating by on a self-defense rap.
When did you find out, Isobel? Last May? When Earl and Bennie were working on that coin shop heist? You saw them get together, overheard them talkin; Things fell into place who killed Dan your Dan.
I wanna go home.
You couldn't go to the police, to Earl's buddy boys.
Who'd believe you? Even if they did, you'd still have Earl's other buddies to deal with.
And if Earl was gonna pay for his crime, well, someone else would have to do the dirty work.
Isobel, what are they talkin' about? The letter the I.
R.
S.
Sent her in May? All you had to do was write a check.
There would've been no audit.
No one would've found out what Dan did for a living, why he was killed, who killed him.
Isobel? Then the audit came.
And you needed someone to help push things along.
So you went to Frieda.
But you never thought that she was gonna actually talk to Earl about it.
Or that he'd kill her.
It's not true.
I would never do anything against you, Earl.
What? Even now you're still afraid of him? You're not afraid of me.
She loves me.
- We were gonna raise a kid together.
- Yeah.
Right.
The adoption that was delayed by the SARS virus.
The adoption agency said that the alert was lifted in in May? They told Isobel.
She told them thatbecause of a family emergency, the adoption would have to be postponed indefinitely.
You see? The family emergency, Earl? That's you going to prison.
You got him.
You got him but good.
I wouldn't raise a dog with you.
But Dan was a killer Dan was a cold-blooded killer.
He was getting out of it, and he never lied to me.
But you you're nothin' but lies.
So what happens to me now? Your behavior may not be ethical but as far as I can tell, you haven't broken any laws.
I do expect you to testify at your husband's trial.
Oh.
I only ever had one husband.
Come on, guys.
So much for passing out brains with those gold shields.
If anyone objectsto letting Ms.
Carnicki off the hook Maybe we should keep an eye on who she marries next.
What a lucky guy that'll be.