Law & Order (1990) s06e20 Episode Script
Girlfriends
In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups, the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
So man is The three.
Why rush to get the degree just to be an adjunct at some state college? Here, "Contemporary Parnassians.
" Anti-romantics.
Well, form over feeling should be right up your alley.
What are you looking for? Heredia's word choices.
In his Cleopatra sonnet, why doesn't he call Anthony "Anthony"? Anthony disrupts the alexandrine verse.
No, he calls him "the Roman.
" Same number of syllables.
Well, maybe one of the academy critics has something.
Ask Baudelaire.
You know, a lot of these books are out of order.
Mike.
What? You find something? Mike! Her name is Bridget Kaylin, a senior.
I was first to respond.
I put out the signal through my dispatcher, campus police.
Who can get into this part of the library? Anybody with a student ID, plus alumni.
Members of the community can buy a library pass.
If there's anything else our department can do You can start by standing here.
She's still warm.
Dead maybe an hour.
Her panties are down.
There've been two rapes on campus in the last six weeks.
Maybe your department could do something about that.
The mark on her neck, strangled? Maybe.
The head wound looks like she might have fallen onto this.
Did anybody hear anything? No.
It was pretty deserted up here.
"Phenomenology as Metaphor.
" No wonder it's deserted.
You're thinking this is our rapist? This wasn't a robbery.
There's still cash in her wallet.
How does your rapist operate? Comes up behind the girls, strangles them till they're weak, gets them down.
This girl had marks on her neck.
So it fits.
Now all we got to do is catch him.
He work the library before? Dorms.
Areas accessed by student pass keys.
Had my people watching the dorms.
But not the library.
eight-hour shifts.
I'm stretched pretty thin here.
But there's a student anti-rape group.
They do some patrolling, conduct awareness seminars.
What about the patrolling? They stop lone men, demand an explanation of their presence.
Campus police? They don't want to know what's going on.
What is going on? You mean aside from one woman murdered and 17 assaulted? Well, we heard there were two rapes.
A woman strangled, knocked down, jumped on.
That's the only thing they call rape.
What were the other 15? They call it consensual sex, flirting, a misunderstanding.
You'd be amazed how many "misunderstandings" there are with drunk fraternity boys.
Women tell us things they don't tell the police.
Then how are the police supposed to know about it? They wouldn't do anything if they did.
Hey, we're the police.
We're here.
We're listening.
Fine.
Talk to these men.
They're all sexual predators.
We gave the list to campus police, but they didn't do anything.
Jack Miniver.
One of our teams spotted him outside the library last night.
He refused to say what he was doing there.
I was just walking across the quad to a bar on Broadway.
I didn't feel like I had to explain myself to feminazis.
You didn't go into the library? Not if I can help it.
So what time did you leave the bar? to talk about this? Why does it say rapist here, right next to your name? Because they're twisted.
Did anybody see you leave the bar? Look, you want to know what this is about? About six months ago I met a girl at a party.
A freshman.
There was a keg, she had a few drinks.
We ended up in the sack.
In the morning, her upper-class advisor convinced her that she had been date-raped.
And had she? Sure.
Because I was supposed to know that when she said yes, it didn't count because her blood-alcohol level was above.
085.
You see, I forgot to give her the blood test.
Because you were too busy dragging a drunk 17-year-old girl back to your room? I was drunk, too.
That does not make me a rapist or a murderer.
You read about the college where they have a rule that a guy has to get permission for every stage of a make-out session? "Can I touch you here? Thank you.
Now, can I put my hand there?" Isn't that the way you do it, Lennie? Beg? Mr.
Young Married.
You don't even have any idea what you're missing.
Yeah, late-night reruns of I Dream of Jeannie.
Isn't that sexual harassment? File a charge.
How did that suspect list turn out? It's a mixed bag.
Everything from a sophomore who got suspended for assault to a professor who told a joke that some women found offensive.
I'm waiting.
Oh, no.
You, Rey, you tell it so well.
Why is rape impossible? Because a woman can run a lot faster with her dress up than a man can with his pants down.
That is offensive.
The worst part is it's not funny.
But it doesn't make the guy a murder suspect.
What about the Miniver boy? He was brought up on date rape before a student court.
They cleared him.
How about you? I wouldn't date him.
Go see the M.
E.
And tell me when you get to first base.
I don't know if this is good news or bad news.
Your victim wasn't raped, and there's no indication anybody tried.
So her pants were down because the killer wanted it to look like it was the campus rapist? Or it was the campus rapist and he likes his victims breathing.
He strangles her, she falls and hits her head, and he changes his mind.
His first two victims.
Mottled marks on the neck.
Big hands.
Two of them.
Bridget Kaylin.
The only mark is a single narrow band.
So he brought a tool.
His hands got tired? Plus there's no occlusion of the vessels in her head or neck.
Death was instantaneous from the blow to the head.
Epidural hematoma.
She was dead before she was strangled.
We rented this apartment for her last year.
She said she couldn't study in the dorm, too noisy.
Did she have friends in the dormitory? Bridget had a lot of friends.
She was always popular.
What are you doing, Mary? Can't you sit down? Burt, we'll go home in a minute.
The mortuary wants to know what we want to bury her in.
It can wait.
We were wondering, did Bridget have any boyfriends? No.
No.
I don't think she was seeing anyone.
I have daughters myself, Mr.
Kaylin.
Are you sure you'd know? She was 21 years old, Burt, living by herself in an apartment in New York City.
She'd tell us about a boyfriend.
There was that business student last year.
Fernilli.
This is expensive.
Maybe she bought it on sale.
Bridget works at the campus store, five afternoons a week.
Diamond studs? Did you give these to her, Burt? I knew she wanted them.
I thought maybe for graduation.
My parents want to pull me out of school.
I graduate in six weeks.
I still can't believe it.
In the library? Can you catch this guy? We're trying.
Were you all pretty close? We met here every day.
She usually walks in, like, now.
That was her chair.
What did you do here? Boy watching? College boys? We just came for the coffee.
What about Bridget? She have a boyfriend? Not since Brent.
The business student? He moved to L.
A.
Last summer.
How about somebody off campus? Older? With money? A "sugar daddy"? Is that what you call it? I guess the name survives every generation.
Bridget was more interested in a guy with a good sense of humor.
Yeah, she used to go to museums.
She was an art history major.
So where would she have gotten an expensive pair of diamond earrings? Bridget? Oh, I don't think so.
She was on scholarship.
Did anybody see her yesterday? We grabbed a burger before she went to the library.
About 5:00.
After work? After step aerobics.
Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
3:00 to 4:00.
So, I guess she didn't work at the campus store five afternoons a week.
She lied to Mom and Dad? Call Ripley.
Well, she got those earrings from somewhere.
What do they call a sugar daddy nowadays? So, Lennie, what do you want to be buried in? My 25th-century space suit, on one of the moons of Jupiter.
Hey, she's 21 years old.
What does she need sleeping pills for? Yeah, well, things aren't all sweet and relaxed like when you were a kid.
Champagne cork.
I guess she was celebrating something.
She made the dean's list when she was a freshman.
Birthday card.
"To the woman who made me whole.
Yours eternally, Brent.
" Yeah, until he moved to La-La Land.
Credit card bill from last month.
Barrington Hotel Grill, $14.
Health club, $300.
Barrington Hotel Grill again, $12.
Matches.
Barrington Hotel Grill.
If she's meeting her rich boyfriend there, how come she's buying? Not exactly a college hangout.
Good, none of those college boys around.
What can I do for you gentlemen tonight? Well, maybe you could help us out with a little information.
You ever seen this girl in here with her boyfriend? Her boyfriend? You're kidding, right? Actually, we're not.
Okay, I'll play.
I've seen her here lots of times with lots of different boyfriends.
She's a working girl.
This girl was hooking? I saw her report card.
Yeah, and here's the supplement.
We ran her prints through the system, it comes back to a Jane Monroe.
Arrested for prostitution? A month ago.
She used a fake ID.
There were no priors so the computer didn't complain.
So she paid her fine and went back to school.
What the hell was this girl thinking? Well, the campus store only pays $6 an hour.
Every one of her johns just became a suspect.
Track them down.
Who arrested her? Scapelli, from Vice.
I know him from when he walked the beat.
Well, I usually check into the Murchison.
Not the Barrington? Not on our budget.
I play a poor traveling salesman.
I check in.
I find an ad for an escort service, outcall massage, and I call them up.
Okay.
So, they ask what you want.
What do you order? One time white, one time black, nondiscrimination rules.
Then they show up.
I talk.
Talk about the weather.
Talk about the flight I had in from Omaha.
If they're suspicious, I show them the coat.
Franklin Tailors, Omaha's finest.
Then we make the deal.
Sexual conduct in exchange for a fee.
All right, this is the girl we were talking about.
You recognize her? Oh, yeah.
She tried to cry her way out of the arrest.
Not too many even bother, you know.
This is the ad I called to get to her.
"Beautiful girls available for all occasions.
" The number's a floating pager, basically, impossible to track.
Here, Rey, tell them you have an occasion.
That's great, sweetness.
I can't wait to see you.
Okay.
Okay, put your mommy back on the phone, all right? Yeah? Room service.
Six weeks to graduation, right? Are you going to tell my parents? You're prostituting yourself and that's what you're worried about? We were always careful.
Nothing ever happened.
Your friend got killed.
By some psycho rapist.
She wasn't raped, Donna.
Now, our best theory is that she got killed by somebody she met on the job.
Now, we could have saved a lot of time if you had told us what she was doing.
It didn't seem like the thing to mention.
How many of you are in this? Me, Lisa, you met her, and Bridget started it.
When? Last fall.
Why? She wanted the money.
So? Who doesn't? Guys would take her out and spend $300 for dinner and a show when all they wanted was to go to bed with her.
She figured why not save the time and skip the boring play? Why not? There's crazy people.
There's AIDS.
We would always use condoms.
Bridget was murdered.
We want to talk to her customers.
Who were they? I just know mine.
Who took the phone calls when somebody answered the ad? Who sent you out? Shelly.
She just got involved with us a couple of months ago.
She kind of took over the scheduling.
Ms.
Taggert, we need to talk to you about Bridget Kaylin.
I don't know what else I could tell you.
Anyway, I know this is going to sound terrible, but I've got to meet a real estate broker.
I'm in between apartments.
Where are you living? With my father.
What do you want to know, anyway? The names of Bridget Kaylin's johns.
Her what? We know, Ms.
Taggert.
Detective Curtis here is the Mr.
Jenkins you sent Donna Richland to last night at the Hapgood House.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Donna told us.
That I sent her to a hotel? Look, all we need are the names of the people you sent Bridget Kaylin to.
I still don't know what you're talking about.
We're not out to get your little prostitution ring.
All we want to do is Look, I don't know what Donna told you, but this is ridiculous.
I have an appointment.
I'm late.
You want a warrant to search her father's apartment? That's where she's been living.
I mean, if she has a little black appointment book, that's where it'll be.
The only problem is, guys, I can't tell a judge you expect to find evidence of a murder there.
Why not? Well, because you don't.
I mean, the appointment book wouldn't be evidence of murder, just a list of potential investigatory leads.
Which could lead to evidence of the murder.
Well, then you could get a search warrant.
So what do we do? Stop men on the street and ask them if they killed Bridget Kaylin? Or that book may not be evidence of murder, but it's definitely evidence of prostitution, which, I believe, still is a crime.
Very nice.
My daughter isn't home.
We have a warrant to search her possessions.
Shelly's? What for? Look, I covered those checks that she wrote.
Sir, if you could just show us her room.
I want to see that warrant.
"Evidence of prostitution"? Are you crazy? I'm sorry, Mr.
Taggert.
We're not here to discuss it.
Are these your daughter's things, or your wife's? I'm a widower.
I'm calling my lawyer right now.
Is this your daughter's room? Right now.
Some way for him to get the news.
Nice clothes.
This is the same designer Madonna wears.
What are you, moonlighting at Vogue? Hey, I live with four women.
Hey, hey, hey! My grandmother had one of these.
I bet she doesn't have one of these.
"Jonathan Freeman.
Half and half.
$400.
Bridget.
" Oh, man, this is perfect.
Your name is in the book four times, Mr.
Freeman.
Every time with Bridget Kaylin.
My wife is going to walk through that door in about six minutes.
Bridget Kaylin's dead.
I think that makes her a little worse off.
Look, I'm sorry, okay, but I didn't kill her, if that's what you're thinking.
I hadn't even seen her in a while.
What did that book say? Lt'd been a while.
What happened, you had a fight? No.
I called her again.
She said she wasn't accepting any more dates.
That was that.
Unless you wanted another date real bad.
Look, when did this happen? Thursday night? I was with my wife at my in-laws.
Fellas, if you want to kill me, too, ask them.
You can count on it.
I read about it.
I was going to call you guys, but I didn't know anything.
Sounds like you were one of her regulars.
Yeah.
Why not? She was a wonderful girl.
I wanted to write a letter to her parents but, you know.
Did you meet her through the ad? Yes.
I don't have a wife.
I don't like to make love to my pizza pies.
Well, did you ever think about dating? Yeah.
I mean, there are many beautiful 20-year-old girls who want to go out with me.
Well, how about a nice 50-year-old widow? Let me see.
20-year-old beauty, 50-year-old widow.
For $200, I think I'll take the beauty.
Two hundred dollars? That's a real nice relationship.
You don't understand.
Bridget and I, we had some fun.
Not just in the bedroom.
She took me once to the modern museum and explained to me about those pictures that are all the same color.
When was the last time you saw her, Mr.
Pappas? About a month ago, she said she was quitting.
She say why? Yeah, I think she met somebody, a boy.
I don't know, just a feeling I had.
So I took her out, you know, to say goodbye.
Went to one of those Russian clubs in Brighton Beach.
I had this picture taken.
Souvenir.
The cameo.
Beautiful, isn't it? I think her boyfriend gave it to her.
I told you the first time, she didn't have a boyfriend.
What about a green cameo? Yeah.
It was new.
Was she wearing it when you had burgers before she went to the library? Yes.
Well, it wasn't on her when we found her.
Matter of fact, it was in Shelly Taggert's desk drawer.
Shelly's? Yeah.
How did she and Bridget get along? Okay.
I mean You found it at Shelly's? That's right.
Then Shelly must have seen her that night, before it happened.
And everything was okay between them? Come on.
I mean, they did kind of have an argument that afternoon.
About what? I don't know.
I went into the coffee house, and they were there, kind of snapping at each other.
Bridget left.
Shelly said it was none of my business.
She had the cameo.
We picked it up and ran it over to the M.
E.
The band matches the marks on Bridget Kaylin's neck.
Like it was ripped off.
Plus we pulled prints from Shelly Taggert's notebook.
They match prints on Bridget Kaylin's study desk in the library.
To which Shelly Taggert had easy access.
And she knew about the campus rapist to try and throw us off the scent.
Motive? Bridget wanted to quit hooking.
Maybe the arrest scared her.
Maybe Shelly wanted her to keep on, who knows? We know they were fighting about something.
Mr.
Taggert, we have a warrant for the arrest of your daughter.
Would you please step aside? She's not here.
Where is she? She went away.
Went away where? Europe.
I always told her I'd send her when she finished college.
I can't arrest your daughter at the moment, sir.
I'll settle for you.
Since when is the father legally accountable for the sins of the child? I notice you didn't bother to say "alleged sins.
" My daughter didn't murder anybody.
Oh, she just ran up bad debts and ran a prostitution ring? This whole thing is ridiculous.
Then why don't you tell us where she is, so we can all sit down together and have a good laugh about it? I don't know where she is.
She hasn't called.
I am very worried about her.
I suggest that you worry about yourself.
Aiding the flight of a criminal constitutes hindering prosecution, and that's a felony.
If you can prove he knows she committed a crime.
He doesn't, and you can't.
Is Mr.
Taggert under arrest? Come on, Barry.
Family values.
Think he knows where she is? What do you think she's doing for money? Supposed to be some kind of lvy League madam.
There's money in that, isn't there? She has $300 in her checking account.
She has a safe deposit box, too, but she disappeared over the weekend.
She didn't have a chance to get to it.
Her father told the police he sent her to Europe, either to discourage us or because it's true.
Take a look at his bank accounts, charge cards, business accounts.
What does he do? Shoe importer.
Sole proprietor.
Runs his personal expenses through the company.
Crack open the piggy bank, see what tumbles out.
I've known Shelly since she was born.
We need all of Mr.
Taggert's records for the last month.
She started coming in here after school when her mother died.
Mr.
Taggert has done a wonderful job of raising her alone.
I mean, maybe she's a little spoiled, but Which files, Ms.
Fleming? The last month.
Well, here's a letter of credit for a container of suede pumps from the Philippines.
Is this the kind of thing you want? Anything initiated by Mr.
Taggert.
Anything relating to Shelly.
Well, Shelly would be in the payroll files.
Oh, she's an employee? Since she was 12 years old.
Doing what? Modeling shoes.
She was a perfect size 5.
Excuse me.
Those are orders.
Unless you're prepared to ship open-toed slingbacks to Bentsen's in Boston.
Okay, we can sit down and sort through everything together.
I really am very busy.
Or the officers can take everything and we'll sort it out later.
In here.
This guy never saw a meal he couldn't deduct.
He sends shoe buyers to the Ice Capades? Trade show week.
Let's see.
$2,000 wire transfer to Zurich, day before yesterday.
Does he get his shoes from Switzerland? Asia.
Credit card receipt for a coach ticket to Geneva the day Shelly disappeared.
It's marked "fashion scouting.
" This guy even deducts his daughter's expenses as a fugitive.
This Ice Capades group, it includes a Jonathan Freeman.
One of Bridget's clients.
Where's Shelly's appointment book? February 21st, Walter Schwartz.
Donna.
$400.
February 21st.
Business entertainment.
Walter Schwartz.
$400.
He was entertaining his buyers with his daughter's girlfriends.
We can charge him with that and hindering prosecution.
Forget about those.
The shoe company was mixed up with the prostitution ring.
That's enterprise corruption.
A grand jury can order all of Taggert's assets seized.
Bye-bye, Swiss wire transfers.
Hello, Shelly Taggert.
We still worked off the ad part of the time.
But Shelly brought in some new customers on her own.
She'd handle the arrangements, when and where.
I'd show up and do the job.
Shelly would pay me afterward.
Is it your testimony that you would meet men where and when Shelly Taggert instructed you to? That you'd have sex with those men, and then Shelly would pay you for your services? Yes.
I show you this list of shoe buyers who dealt with Barry Taggert's company.
Are those the men Shelly Taggert set you up with? Yeah.
I was pretty amazed when I realized this was her father's company.
Why was that? I don't think my parents would have approved.
Shelly said her dad was cool.
Cool? She lived with a guy freshman year.
Her dad paid their rent.
Stuff like that.
He took us all out to dinner one night.
Me, Lisa, Bridget.
Was he cool? He told us he wanted us to wear his company's shoes on our dates, so that the buyers could see how good they looked.
I'm a forensic accountant.
I perform audits for the purpose of uncovering business fraud.
And at the request of the District Attorney of New York County, did you analyze the books and records of the Taggert Shoe Company? I did.
What did you find? Among other things, a lot of questionable tax deductions.
Including payments to Shelly Taggert? Yes, she was on the payroll.
As a provider of prostitutes? No.
As a consultant.
Her specific duties weren't listed.
Did you find any pattern in the payments to her? Yes.
They were very high after trade show weekends.
They correlated with certain business entertainment expenses.
That would be the entertainment of certain male shoe buyers? Yes, at $400 per occasion.
Was the nature of these entertainments described anywhere in Mr.
Taggert's records? The IRS requires it.
Mr.
Taggert called them "guided nature hikes.
" Enterprise corruption, very creative.
You do realize that the statute was intended to be used against organized crime.
This was organized prostitution.
For the purpose of selling shoes.
Not exactly Al Capone.
Do you have any idea where the girl is? We've put her on Interpol.
The Swiss police are looking for her.
Meanwhile, we dry up her funds.
A pincer movement.
Where'd you do your graduate work? Law school or West Point? Whatever works, Adam.
Well, you're certainly not going to prosecute the father for enterprise corruption.
They're going to scream bad faith.
They can scream all they want to.
Only I get to talk to the grand jury.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've now heard all the witnesses we have to present in this matter.
I'm asking you to return an indictment of enterprise corruption against Barry Taggert.
Yeah? I'm still a little confused, Mr.
McCoy.
The corrupt enterprise is the prostitution ring, not the shoe company? That's right.
But I'm also asking you, in accordance with Article to file a special information seeking the forfeiture of the assets of the Taggert Shoe Company.
But you just said the shoe company isn't the corrupt enterprise.
They're linked, and the law says that the State can take any property affording a source of influence over the corrupt enterprise.
I know you'll do the right thing.
Now, this is the crepe.
It comes in black, brown, ecru, sage and Mr.
Taggert, put down the shoe.
Now, is this really necessary? You're under arrest for enterprise corruption.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
Yes, I have one.
He was expecting this.
I'll be back in two hours.
Ask Naomi to show you the simulated lizard.
When you get back, Mr.
Taggert, you'll be reporting to him.
Hi.
Jerold Spector.
The court has appointed him provisional receiver of your assets, pending their forfeiture upon your conviction.
Forfeiture? I have 16 employees.
The officers here will safeguard the integrity of your assets.
No payment will be made on any account without the approval of Mr.
Spector.
How am I supposed to stay in business? You know what? I don't think you're supposed to.
They're here.
Well, I hope you're happy, McCoy.
Should I be? It's only been a week and already I'm laying people off.
That bean counter that you sent in won't authorize ordinary business expenses.
All you have to do is prove they won't go to your fugitive daughter.
She's not hiding in the Lucky Shoe Factory in Shanghai.
How do we know that? Look, Shelly did not kill that girl.
Then she has nothing to fear by returning to stand trial.
We're on her trail anyway, Mr.
Taggert.
The Swiss police just found her last hotel.
And with Mr.
Spector on your back, she must be getting damn close to being evicted from her new one.
She'll be arrested any day.
Then she'll be extradited.
What if she comes back on her own? She gets a fair trial.
I drop this charge against you.
Mr.
Spector goes home.
Did you tell all that to the grand jury, Mr.
McCoy? You can use my phone.
Call her.
"Case number 69842.
People v.
Shelly Taggert.
"Charge is Murder in the Second Degree.
" Plea? Not guilty.
Ms.
Kincaid? The defendant operated a prostitution business, Your Honor.
She's charged with killing one of her prostitutes.
So that's her? Welcome home, Ms.
Taggert.
Given that she fled the country to avoid arrest, the People request she be held without bail.
My client returned voluntarily to clear her name.
Voluntarily, because she was broke and about to be arrested.
We make our own beds around here.
She fled once, bail is denied.
"Co-ed hooker hooked.
" What were these girls thinking? They should have been applying to graduate schools.
They say they wanted the money.
Maybe they thought it was some kind of thrill.
Plus, they got to thumb their noses at conventional morality.
And replaced it with what? There is a school of thought that if a women owns her own body for recreation and procreation, she also has the right to sell it.
And where is that school located? Anyway, Shelly Taggert wasn't selling her own body.
She sold other women's.
Fortunately for you, the jury's going to hate her.
We can also prove that she argued with the victim on the day she was killed, a cameo from the victim's neck ended up in her desk drawer.
Wounds from the victim's neck match the cameo's band like it was ripped off.
She killed her for the cameo? I don't know, and I don't need to know.
This is a madam killing a prostitute.
It happens with pimps and streetwalkers on 11th Avenue all the time.
You're saying these girls are no different? Oh, I'm sure they liked to think they were.
Shelly Taggert still says she didn't do it.
To us.
But what do you think she said to her father when he helped her skip out? That she had to take off for Switzerland in the dead of night because the ski runs were melting? I never said that I just came home and found my daughter gone.
I've been honest that I helped her.
Then you must have discussed why she was going.
We did.
But it had nothing to do with Bridget's murder.
But you knew about the murder.
She knew about the murder.
We discussed the police investigation of prostitution.
She was afraid she'd be arrested.
Even though the police had told her that they weren't interested in those charges? I don't know what the police told her.
She did.
It doesn't matter what the police said.
Shelly was scared.
She was embarrassed.
Mr.
Taggert, it takes an awful lot to embarrass your daughter, doesn't it? Objection.
Sustained.
Mr.
Taggert, didn't your daughter tell you that she wanted to flee because she'd killed Bridget Kaylin? No.
Are you sure you're not lying to protect her? I wouldn't do that.
No.
You'd send her to Europe, you'd spend thousands of dollars, you'd risk your business but you wouldn't lie? I work for a company that operates 17 stores.
Lot of shoe vendors want our business.
I guess Mr.
Taggert felt the need to treat me well.
And that included providing you with prostitutes? He had some girls in a hospitality suite at a footwear show.
Including Bridget Kaylin? Yes.
Did you see her after that first occasion? Yes.
I liked her.
Mr.
Taggert gave me the number to call to arrange more dates.
The girl who answered the phone set them up.
Who was that girl, Mr.
Freeman? Well, I realized it was Shelly, Mr.
Taggert's daughter.
So this was a full-service family business? He provided the shoes, his daughter provided her friends.
Objection.
Sustained.
Mr.
Freeman, are you sure that the woman who set up your dates with Bridget Kaylin was Shelly Taggert? Yes.
I knew her from when I had gotten her a summer sales job once at her father's request.
She quit after two weeks.
She preferred selling Bridget Kaylin? Objection.
Sustained.
That's enough, Mr.
McCoy.
When did you see her last? A few weeks before she was killed.
I had been trying to see her.
I called her directly.
But she said she wouldn't be making any more dates.
Did you ever discuss that fact with the defendant? Yes.
I called Shelly to make some other arrangement.
I told her Bridget was quitting.
Shelly got very angry, but she said I shouldn't worry.
She'd take care of it.
I only meant that I'd get him somebody else.
Another prostitute? Yes.
I just started this whole thing to help my father.
I knew what was going on at those trade shows with his clients and those escorts, and I knew they were trouble, they stole.
So you volunteered to help out? I knew what Bridget and her friends were doing.
I told my father.
We've heard testimony that you and she argued the day she was killed.
Yeah, about her borrowing my outfits and not returning them.
We fought like little girls about clothes.
It was stupid.
It was nothing.
Did you see Bridget the night she was killed? No.
Then how did your fingerprints come to be on her study desk? We used to study in the stacks together all the time.
I used to sit at that desk sometimes.
Did you ever see your father in the library? Yes.
He would sometimes come and meet me and Bridget, and then take us for a drink.
He met her through me.
Did he have any trouble getting into the stacks? He's an alumnus.
He has a card.
I see.
What about Bridget's cameo? How did that come to be in the apartment you shared with your father? My father brought it there.
He told me Approach, Your Honor.
There's only one place the witness can be going with this.
So? Let's hear her testimony.
If Mr.
McCoy has an objection, he can make it then.
After she accuses her father of this murder? Once that bell is rung, I can't unring it.
I want an offer of proof before she says another word.
I'll see the lawyers and Ms.
Taggert in my chambers.
Now.
It's a desperate act by the defendant to manufacture reasonable doubt.
There is no evidence to support the allegation.
That's what we're here to determine, Mr.
McCoy.
Is it in fact your intention, Ms.
Taggert, to accuse your father of this murder? He told me he killed Bridget.
Did he tell you why? Not really.
I know he was having an affair with her.
If you don't mind, I'll ask you to wait outside.
It's not credible.
Isn't that for the jury to decide? Assuming this affair even happened, it's not evidence that he committed murder.
He confessed to her, Jack.
That's evidence, and it's supported by your evidence, the cameo was found in his apartment.
An affair gone south would establish motive.
It's a nice story.
Why don't we just blame it on some random black man, or a Colombian drug dealer? Because they didn't do it.
Says Ms.
Taggert.
Her father's alleged confession is hearsay.
It's an admission.
To a defendant.
So it's only admissible if the person who supposedly made it is dead, out of the jurisdiction, or refuses to testify on the ground of self-incrimination.
Mr.
Taggert's alive, and I just saw him five minutes ago in the courtroom.
Are you expecting, Ms.
Shore, that Mr.
Taggert will take the Fifth if called to testify? I'll have to talk to him.
He's a prosecution witness.
Now he's a potential defense witness.
I have a right to interview him without big brother looking over my shoulder.
Given this defendant's flair for surprises, I think the People should hear what Mr.
Taggert has to say at the same time the defense does.
I hope you feel rewarded for all your sacrifices, Mr.
Taggert.
Your daughter says you're a murderer.
I've advised my client to remain silent.
Just what your daughter wants you to do.
I know you've always indulged her, sir, but isn't this a little much, even for you? Mr.
McCoy, you are here to listen, not to badger.
Well, I'm not hearing anything.
I have nothing to say.
If you take the Fifth, your daughter will have plenty to say.
Mr.
Taggert, is it your intent to take the Fifth Amendment if asked if you killed Bridget Kaylin? Yes.
Fine.
We're done here.
I'm not.
What about your alleged affair with Bridget Kaylin, sir? That's not covered by the Fifth.
That lasted for six months.
I took her to Saint Barts.
I bought that cameo.
There are witnesses.
Satisfied, Mr.
McCoy? No.
What floor of the library was Bridget Kaylin on when she was killed, Mr.
Taggert? Just tell me that, and I'll believe you.
I plead the Fifth.
I was home that night, studying, when my father came in.
He was very upset.
How could you tell? He didn't say hi.
He just poured a drink and then he started to cry.
What did he say? He had just had a fight with Bridget, she wanted to break up with him.
She said he was too old.
He grabbed and pushed her.
And it was an accident, but she was dead.
Did he have this cameo, People's Exhibit 11, with him? Yes.
He said he grabbed Bridget by it and it broke off in his hand.
He didn't even realize he had it until he got home.
If it was an accident, why didn't he turn himself over to the police? He said he was afraid they'd investigate and find out about the prostitution.
He didn't want me to get in trouble.
He was only thinking about me.
Thank you.
If your father killed Bridget Kaylin, why were you the one who fled the country? I told you, he didn't want me to get in trouble.
Over the nonexistent prostitution charges? I didn't think that they were nonexistent.
I never thought I'd be arrested for murder.
It wasn't murder anyway.
He didn't mean to kill her.
And he didn't mean to take the cameo with him? No.
Even though he gave it to her? You're sure he didn't want to get it back? Objection.
Calls for speculation.
I'll rephrase.
You're sure you didn't want it back? Why would I? I don't know.
Why did it wind up in your desk drawer? I was hiding it.
I thought it might be used for evidence.
I wanted to protect my father.
You and he are close, aren't you? Yes.
Being so close, how did you feel about your father giving expensive jewelry to Bridget Kaylin? It was none of my business.
But she was your business.
How did you feel about your father getting involved with one of your whores? Why are you doing this? I didn't kill her.
And he didn't mean to.
She fell and she hit her head.
You're sure about that, aren't you? Yes.
Because you were there! Because you pushed her! No.
He told me.
He told me.
I'm sorry, Daddy.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
The defendant will rise.
On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant, Shelly Taggert, not guilty.
The defendant is dismissed.
Court is adjourned.
Thanks, Daddy.
I'm afraid your celebration ends now, Mr.
Taggert.
You're arresting me for murder? I would if I thought you were guilty.
Barry Taggert, you're under arrest for enterprise corruption.
You have the right to remain silent You dropped all that when I brought her back.
That was before you took part in this charade.
Daddy, I'll go get your lawyer.
That's nice of you, Ms.
Taggert.
Your father's business is gone, he's going to prison.
It's all right, honey.
Sure.
If she's half as good to you as you've been to her, maybe she'll visit.
Daddy, you know I will.
These are their stories.
So man is The three.
Why rush to get the degree just to be an adjunct at some state college? Here, "Contemporary Parnassians.
" Anti-romantics.
Well, form over feeling should be right up your alley.
What are you looking for? Heredia's word choices.
In his Cleopatra sonnet, why doesn't he call Anthony "Anthony"? Anthony disrupts the alexandrine verse.
No, he calls him "the Roman.
" Same number of syllables.
Well, maybe one of the academy critics has something.
Ask Baudelaire.
You know, a lot of these books are out of order.
Mike.
What? You find something? Mike! Her name is Bridget Kaylin, a senior.
I was first to respond.
I put out the signal through my dispatcher, campus police.
Who can get into this part of the library? Anybody with a student ID, plus alumni.
Members of the community can buy a library pass.
If there's anything else our department can do You can start by standing here.
She's still warm.
Dead maybe an hour.
Her panties are down.
There've been two rapes on campus in the last six weeks.
Maybe your department could do something about that.
The mark on her neck, strangled? Maybe.
The head wound looks like she might have fallen onto this.
Did anybody hear anything? No.
It was pretty deserted up here.
"Phenomenology as Metaphor.
" No wonder it's deserted.
You're thinking this is our rapist? This wasn't a robbery.
There's still cash in her wallet.
How does your rapist operate? Comes up behind the girls, strangles them till they're weak, gets them down.
This girl had marks on her neck.
So it fits.
Now all we got to do is catch him.
He work the library before? Dorms.
Areas accessed by student pass keys.
Had my people watching the dorms.
But not the library.
eight-hour shifts.
I'm stretched pretty thin here.
But there's a student anti-rape group.
They do some patrolling, conduct awareness seminars.
What about the patrolling? They stop lone men, demand an explanation of their presence.
Campus police? They don't want to know what's going on.
What is going on? You mean aside from one woman murdered and 17 assaulted? Well, we heard there were two rapes.
A woman strangled, knocked down, jumped on.
That's the only thing they call rape.
What were the other 15? They call it consensual sex, flirting, a misunderstanding.
You'd be amazed how many "misunderstandings" there are with drunk fraternity boys.
Women tell us things they don't tell the police.
Then how are the police supposed to know about it? They wouldn't do anything if they did.
Hey, we're the police.
We're here.
We're listening.
Fine.
Talk to these men.
They're all sexual predators.
We gave the list to campus police, but they didn't do anything.
Jack Miniver.
One of our teams spotted him outside the library last night.
He refused to say what he was doing there.
I was just walking across the quad to a bar on Broadway.
I didn't feel like I had to explain myself to feminazis.
You didn't go into the library? Not if I can help it.
So what time did you leave the bar? to talk about this? Why does it say rapist here, right next to your name? Because they're twisted.
Did anybody see you leave the bar? Look, you want to know what this is about? About six months ago I met a girl at a party.
A freshman.
There was a keg, she had a few drinks.
We ended up in the sack.
In the morning, her upper-class advisor convinced her that she had been date-raped.
And had she? Sure.
Because I was supposed to know that when she said yes, it didn't count because her blood-alcohol level was above.
085.
You see, I forgot to give her the blood test.
Because you were too busy dragging a drunk 17-year-old girl back to your room? I was drunk, too.
That does not make me a rapist or a murderer.
You read about the college where they have a rule that a guy has to get permission for every stage of a make-out session? "Can I touch you here? Thank you.
Now, can I put my hand there?" Isn't that the way you do it, Lennie? Beg? Mr.
Young Married.
You don't even have any idea what you're missing.
Yeah, late-night reruns of I Dream of Jeannie.
Isn't that sexual harassment? File a charge.
How did that suspect list turn out? It's a mixed bag.
Everything from a sophomore who got suspended for assault to a professor who told a joke that some women found offensive.
I'm waiting.
Oh, no.
You, Rey, you tell it so well.
Why is rape impossible? Because a woman can run a lot faster with her dress up than a man can with his pants down.
That is offensive.
The worst part is it's not funny.
But it doesn't make the guy a murder suspect.
What about the Miniver boy? He was brought up on date rape before a student court.
They cleared him.
How about you? I wouldn't date him.
Go see the M.
E.
And tell me when you get to first base.
I don't know if this is good news or bad news.
Your victim wasn't raped, and there's no indication anybody tried.
So her pants were down because the killer wanted it to look like it was the campus rapist? Or it was the campus rapist and he likes his victims breathing.
He strangles her, she falls and hits her head, and he changes his mind.
His first two victims.
Mottled marks on the neck.
Big hands.
Two of them.
Bridget Kaylin.
The only mark is a single narrow band.
So he brought a tool.
His hands got tired? Plus there's no occlusion of the vessels in her head or neck.
Death was instantaneous from the blow to the head.
Epidural hematoma.
She was dead before she was strangled.
We rented this apartment for her last year.
She said she couldn't study in the dorm, too noisy.
Did she have friends in the dormitory? Bridget had a lot of friends.
She was always popular.
What are you doing, Mary? Can't you sit down? Burt, we'll go home in a minute.
The mortuary wants to know what we want to bury her in.
It can wait.
We were wondering, did Bridget have any boyfriends? No.
No.
I don't think she was seeing anyone.
I have daughters myself, Mr.
Kaylin.
Are you sure you'd know? She was 21 years old, Burt, living by herself in an apartment in New York City.
She'd tell us about a boyfriend.
There was that business student last year.
Fernilli.
This is expensive.
Maybe she bought it on sale.
Bridget works at the campus store, five afternoons a week.
Diamond studs? Did you give these to her, Burt? I knew she wanted them.
I thought maybe for graduation.
My parents want to pull me out of school.
I graduate in six weeks.
I still can't believe it.
In the library? Can you catch this guy? We're trying.
Were you all pretty close? We met here every day.
She usually walks in, like, now.
That was her chair.
What did you do here? Boy watching? College boys? We just came for the coffee.
What about Bridget? She have a boyfriend? Not since Brent.
The business student? He moved to L.
A.
Last summer.
How about somebody off campus? Older? With money? A "sugar daddy"? Is that what you call it? I guess the name survives every generation.
Bridget was more interested in a guy with a good sense of humor.
Yeah, she used to go to museums.
She was an art history major.
So where would she have gotten an expensive pair of diamond earrings? Bridget? Oh, I don't think so.
She was on scholarship.
Did anybody see her yesterday? We grabbed a burger before she went to the library.
About 5:00.
After work? After step aerobics.
Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
3:00 to 4:00.
So, I guess she didn't work at the campus store five afternoons a week.
She lied to Mom and Dad? Call Ripley.
Well, she got those earrings from somewhere.
What do they call a sugar daddy nowadays? So, Lennie, what do you want to be buried in? My 25th-century space suit, on one of the moons of Jupiter.
Hey, she's 21 years old.
What does she need sleeping pills for? Yeah, well, things aren't all sweet and relaxed like when you were a kid.
Champagne cork.
I guess she was celebrating something.
She made the dean's list when she was a freshman.
Birthday card.
"To the woman who made me whole.
Yours eternally, Brent.
" Yeah, until he moved to La-La Land.
Credit card bill from last month.
Barrington Hotel Grill, $14.
Health club, $300.
Barrington Hotel Grill again, $12.
Matches.
Barrington Hotel Grill.
If she's meeting her rich boyfriend there, how come she's buying? Not exactly a college hangout.
Good, none of those college boys around.
What can I do for you gentlemen tonight? Well, maybe you could help us out with a little information.
You ever seen this girl in here with her boyfriend? Her boyfriend? You're kidding, right? Actually, we're not.
Okay, I'll play.
I've seen her here lots of times with lots of different boyfriends.
She's a working girl.
This girl was hooking? I saw her report card.
Yeah, and here's the supplement.
We ran her prints through the system, it comes back to a Jane Monroe.
Arrested for prostitution? A month ago.
She used a fake ID.
There were no priors so the computer didn't complain.
So she paid her fine and went back to school.
What the hell was this girl thinking? Well, the campus store only pays $6 an hour.
Every one of her johns just became a suspect.
Track them down.
Who arrested her? Scapelli, from Vice.
I know him from when he walked the beat.
Well, I usually check into the Murchison.
Not the Barrington? Not on our budget.
I play a poor traveling salesman.
I check in.
I find an ad for an escort service, outcall massage, and I call them up.
Okay.
So, they ask what you want.
What do you order? One time white, one time black, nondiscrimination rules.
Then they show up.
I talk.
Talk about the weather.
Talk about the flight I had in from Omaha.
If they're suspicious, I show them the coat.
Franklin Tailors, Omaha's finest.
Then we make the deal.
Sexual conduct in exchange for a fee.
All right, this is the girl we were talking about.
You recognize her? Oh, yeah.
She tried to cry her way out of the arrest.
Not too many even bother, you know.
This is the ad I called to get to her.
"Beautiful girls available for all occasions.
" The number's a floating pager, basically, impossible to track.
Here, Rey, tell them you have an occasion.
That's great, sweetness.
I can't wait to see you.
Okay.
Okay, put your mommy back on the phone, all right? Yeah? Room service.
Six weeks to graduation, right? Are you going to tell my parents? You're prostituting yourself and that's what you're worried about? We were always careful.
Nothing ever happened.
Your friend got killed.
By some psycho rapist.
She wasn't raped, Donna.
Now, our best theory is that she got killed by somebody she met on the job.
Now, we could have saved a lot of time if you had told us what she was doing.
It didn't seem like the thing to mention.
How many of you are in this? Me, Lisa, you met her, and Bridget started it.
When? Last fall.
Why? She wanted the money.
So? Who doesn't? Guys would take her out and spend $300 for dinner and a show when all they wanted was to go to bed with her.
She figured why not save the time and skip the boring play? Why not? There's crazy people.
There's AIDS.
We would always use condoms.
Bridget was murdered.
We want to talk to her customers.
Who were they? I just know mine.
Who took the phone calls when somebody answered the ad? Who sent you out? Shelly.
She just got involved with us a couple of months ago.
She kind of took over the scheduling.
Ms.
Taggert, we need to talk to you about Bridget Kaylin.
I don't know what else I could tell you.
Anyway, I know this is going to sound terrible, but I've got to meet a real estate broker.
I'm in between apartments.
Where are you living? With my father.
What do you want to know, anyway? The names of Bridget Kaylin's johns.
Her what? We know, Ms.
Taggert.
Detective Curtis here is the Mr.
Jenkins you sent Donna Richland to last night at the Hapgood House.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Donna told us.
That I sent her to a hotel? Look, all we need are the names of the people you sent Bridget Kaylin to.
I still don't know what you're talking about.
We're not out to get your little prostitution ring.
All we want to do is Look, I don't know what Donna told you, but this is ridiculous.
I have an appointment.
I'm late.
You want a warrant to search her father's apartment? That's where she's been living.
I mean, if she has a little black appointment book, that's where it'll be.
The only problem is, guys, I can't tell a judge you expect to find evidence of a murder there.
Why not? Well, because you don't.
I mean, the appointment book wouldn't be evidence of murder, just a list of potential investigatory leads.
Which could lead to evidence of the murder.
Well, then you could get a search warrant.
So what do we do? Stop men on the street and ask them if they killed Bridget Kaylin? Or that book may not be evidence of murder, but it's definitely evidence of prostitution, which, I believe, still is a crime.
Very nice.
My daughter isn't home.
We have a warrant to search her possessions.
Shelly's? What for? Look, I covered those checks that she wrote.
Sir, if you could just show us her room.
I want to see that warrant.
"Evidence of prostitution"? Are you crazy? I'm sorry, Mr.
Taggert.
We're not here to discuss it.
Are these your daughter's things, or your wife's? I'm a widower.
I'm calling my lawyer right now.
Is this your daughter's room? Right now.
Some way for him to get the news.
Nice clothes.
This is the same designer Madonna wears.
What are you, moonlighting at Vogue? Hey, I live with four women.
Hey, hey, hey! My grandmother had one of these.
I bet she doesn't have one of these.
"Jonathan Freeman.
Half and half.
$400.
Bridget.
" Oh, man, this is perfect.
Your name is in the book four times, Mr.
Freeman.
Every time with Bridget Kaylin.
My wife is going to walk through that door in about six minutes.
Bridget Kaylin's dead.
I think that makes her a little worse off.
Look, I'm sorry, okay, but I didn't kill her, if that's what you're thinking.
I hadn't even seen her in a while.
What did that book say? Lt'd been a while.
What happened, you had a fight? No.
I called her again.
She said she wasn't accepting any more dates.
That was that.
Unless you wanted another date real bad.
Look, when did this happen? Thursday night? I was with my wife at my in-laws.
Fellas, if you want to kill me, too, ask them.
You can count on it.
I read about it.
I was going to call you guys, but I didn't know anything.
Sounds like you were one of her regulars.
Yeah.
Why not? She was a wonderful girl.
I wanted to write a letter to her parents but, you know.
Did you meet her through the ad? Yes.
I don't have a wife.
I don't like to make love to my pizza pies.
Well, did you ever think about dating? Yeah.
I mean, there are many beautiful 20-year-old girls who want to go out with me.
Well, how about a nice 50-year-old widow? Let me see.
20-year-old beauty, 50-year-old widow.
For $200, I think I'll take the beauty.
Two hundred dollars? That's a real nice relationship.
You don't understand.
Bridget and I, we had some fun.
Not just in the bedroom.
She took me once to the modern museum and explained to me about those pictures that are all the same color.
When was the last time you saw her, Mr.
Pappas? About a month ago, she said she was quitting.
She say why? Yeah, I think she met somebody, a boy.
I don't know, just a feeling I had.
So I took her out, you know, to say goodbye.
Went to one of those Russian clubs in Brighton Beach.
I had this picture taken.
Souvenir.
The cameo.
Beautiful, isn't it? I think her boyfriend gave it to her.
I told you the first time, she didn't have a boyfriend.
What about a green cameo? Yeah.
It was new.
Was she wearing it when you had burgers before she went to the library? Yes.
Well, it wasn't on her when we found her.
Matter of fact, it was in Shelly Taggert's desk drawer.
Shelly's? Yeah.
How did she and Bridget get along? Okay.
I mean You found it at Shelly's? That's right.
Then Shelly must have seen her that night, before it happened.
And everything was okay between them? Come on.
I mean, they did kind of have an argument that afternoon.
About what? I don't know.
I went into the coffee house, and they were there, kind of snapping at each other.
Bridget left.
Shelly said it was none of my business.
She had the cameo.
We picked it up and ran it over to the M.
E.
The band matches the marks on Bridget Kaylin's neck.
Like it was ripped off.
Plus we pulled prints from Shelly Taggert's notebook.
They match prints on Bridget Kaylin's study desk in the library.
To which Shelly Taggert had easy access.
And she knew about the campus rapist to try and throw us off the scent.
Motive? Bridget wanted to quit hooking.
Maybe the arrest scared her.
Maybe Shelly wanted her to keep on, who knows? We know they were fighting about something.
Mr.
Taggert, we have a warrant for the arrest of your daughter.
Would you please step aside? She's not here.
Where is she? She went away.
Went away where? Europe.
I always told her I'd send her when she finished college.
I can't arrest your daughter at the moment, sir.
I'll settle for you.
Since when is the father legally accountable for the sins of the child? I notice you didn't bother to say "alleged sins.
" My daughter didn't murder anybody.
Oh, she just ran up bad debts and ran a prostitution ring? This whole thing is ridiculous.
Then why don't you tell us where she is, so we can all sit down together and have a good laugh about it? I don't know where she is.
She hasn't called.
I am very worried about her.
I suggest that you worry about yourself.
Aiding the flight of a criminal constitutes hindering prosecution, and that's a felony.
If you can prove he knows she committed a crime.
He doesn't, and you can't.
Is Mr.
Taggert under arrest? Come on, Barry.
Family values.
Think he knows where she is? What do you think she's doing for money? Supposed to be some kind of lvy League madam.
There's money in that, isn't there? She has $300 in her checking account.
She has a safe deposit box, too, but she disappeared over the weekend.
She didn't have a chance to get to it.
Her father told the police he sent her to Europe, either to discourage us or because it's true.
Take a look at his bank accounts, charge cards, business accounts.
What does he do? Shoe importer.
Sole proprietor.
Runs his personal expenses through the company.
Crack open the piggy bank, see what tumbles out.
I've known Shelly since she was born.
We need all of Mr.
Taggert's records for the last month.
She started coming in here after school when her mother died.
Mr.
Taggert has done a wonderful job of raising her alone.
I mean, maybe she's a little spoiled, but Which files, Ms.
Fleming? The last month.
Well, here's a letter of credit for a container of suede pumps from the Philippines.
Is this the kind of thing you want? Anything initiated by Mr.
Taggert.
Anything relating to Shelly.
Well, Shelly would be in the payroll files.
Oh, she's an employee? Since she was 12 years old.
Doing what? Modeling shoes.
She was a perfect size 5.
Excuse me.
Those are orders.
Unless you're prepared to ship open-toed slingbacks to Bentsen's in Boston.
Okay, we can sit down and sort through everything together.
I really am very busy.
Or the officers can take everything and we'll sort it out later.
In here.
This guy never saw a meal he couldn't deduct.
He sends shoe buyers to the Ice Capades? Trade show week.
Let's see.
$2,000 wire transfer to Zurich, day before yesterday.
Does he get his shoes from Switzerland? Asia.
Credit card receipt for a coach ticket to Geneva the day Shelly disappeared.
It's marked "fashion scouting.
" This guy even deducts his daughter's expenses as a fugitive.
This Ice Capades group, it includes a Jonathan Freeman.
One of Bridget's clients.
Where's Shelly's appointment book? February 21st, Walter Schwartz.
Donna.
$400.
February 21st.
Business entertainment.
Walter Schwartz.
$400.
He was entertaining his buyers with his daughter's girlfriends.
We can charge him with that and hindering prosecution.
Forget about those.
The shoe company was mixed up with the prostitution ring.
That's enterprise corruption.
A grand jury can order all of Taggert's assets seized.
Bye-bye, Swiss wire transfers.
Hello, Shelly Taggert.
We still worked off the ad part of the time.
But Shelly brought in some new customers on her own.
She'd handle the arrangements, when and where.
I'd show up and do the job.
Shelly would pay me afterward.
Is it your testimony that you would meet men where and when Shelly Taggert instructed you to? That you'd have sex with those men, and then Shelly would pay you for your services? Yes.
I show you this list of shoe buyers who dealt with Barry Taggert's company.
Are those the men Shelly Taggert set you up with? Yeah.
I was pretty amazed when I realized this was her father's company.
Why was that? I don't think my parents would have approved.
Shelly said her dad was cool.
Cool? She lived with a guy freshman year.
Her dad paid their rent.
Stuff like that.
He took us all out to dinner one night.
Me, Lisa, Bridget.
Was he cool? He told us he wanted us to wear his company's shoes on our dates, so that the buyers could see how good they looked.
I'm a forensic accountant.
I perform audits for the purpose of uncovering business fraud.
And at the request of the District Attorney of New York County, did you analyze the books and records of the Taggert Shoe Company? I did.
What did you find? Among other things, a lot of questionable tax deductions.
Including payments to Shelly Taggert? Yes, she was on the payroll.
As a provider of prostitutes? No.
As a consultant.
Her specific duties weren't listed.
Did you find any pattern in the payments to her? Yes.
They were very high after trade show weekends.
They correlated with certain business entertainment expenses.
That would be the entertainment of certain male shoe buyers? Yes, at $400 per occasion.
Was the nature of these entertainments described anywhere in Mr.
Taggert's records? The IRS requires it.
Mr.
Taggert called them "guided nature hikes.
" Enterprise corruption, very creative.
You do realize that the statute was intended to be used against organized crime.
This was organized prostitution.
For the purpose of selling shoes.
Not exactly Al Capone.
Do you have any idea where the girl is? We've put her on Interpol.
The Swiss police are looking for her.
Meanwhile, we dry up her funds.
A pincer movement.
Where'd you do your graduate work? Law school or West Point? Whatever works, Adam.
Well, you're certainly not going to prosecute the father for enterprise corruption.
They're going to scream bad faith.
They can scream all they want to.
Only I get to talk to the grand jury.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've now heard all the witnesses we have to present in this matter.
I'm asking you to return an indictment of enterprise corruption against Barry Taggert.
Yeah? I'm still a little confused, Mr.
McCoy.
The corrupt enterprise is the prostitution ring, not the shoe company? That's right.
But I'm also asking you, in accordance with Article to file a special information seeking the forfeiture of the assets of the Taggert Shoe Company.
But you just said the shoe company isn't the corrupt enterprise.
They're linked, and the law says that the State can take any property affording a source of influence over the corrupt enterprise.
I know you'll do the right thing.
Now, this is the crepe.
It comes in black, brown, ecru, sage and Mr.
Taggert, put down the shoe.
Now, is this really necessary? You're under arrest for enterprise corruption.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
Yes, I have one.
He was expecting this.
I'll be back in two hours.
Ask Naomi to show you the simulated lizard.
When you get back, Mr.
Taggert, you'll be reporting to him.
Hi.
Jerold Spector.
The court has appointed him provisional receiver of your assets, pending their forfeiture upon your conviction.
Forfeiture? I have 16 employees.
The officers here will safeguard the integrity of your assets.
No payment will be made on any account without the approval of Mr.
Spector.
How am I supposed to stay in business? You know what? I don't think you're supposed to.
They're here.
Well, I hope you're happy, McCoy.
Should I be? It's only been a week and already I'm laying people off.
That bean counter that you sent in won't authorize ordinary business expenses.
All you have to do is prove they won't go to your fugitive daughter.
She's not hiding in the Lucky Shoe Factory in Shanghai.
How do we know that? Look, Shelly did not kill that girl.
Then she has nothing to fear by returning to stand trial.
We're on her trail anyway, Mr.
Taggert.
The Swiss police just found her last hotel.
And with Mr.
Spector on your back, she must be getting damn close to being evicted from her new one.
She'll be arrested any day.
Then she'll be extradited.
What if she comes back on her own? She gets a fair trial.
I drop this charge against you.
Mr.
Spector goes home.
Did you tell all that to the grand jury, Mr.
McCoy? You can use my phone.
Call her.
"Case number 69842.
People v.
Shelly Taggert.
"Charge is Murder in the Second Degree.
" Plea? Not guilty.
Ms.
Kincaid? The defendant operated a prostitution business, Your Honor.
She's charged with killing one of her prostitutes.
So that's her? Welcome home, Ms.
Taggert.
Given that she fled the country to avoid arrest, the People request she be held without bail.
My client returned voluntarily to clear her name.
Voluntarily, because she was broke and about to be arrested.
We make our own beds around here.
She fled once, bail is denied.
"Co-ed hooker hooked.
" What were these girls thinking? They should have been applying to graduate schools.
They say they wanted the money.
Maybe they thought it was some kind of thrill.
Plus, they got to thumb their noses at conventional morality.
And replaced it with what? There is a school of thought that if a women owns her own body for recreation and procreation, she also has the right to sell it.
And where is that school located? Anyway, Shelly Taggert wasn't selling her own body.
She sold other women's.
Fortunately for you, the jury's going to hate her.
We can also prove that she argued with the victim on the day she was killed, a cameo from the victim's neck ended up in her desk drawer.
Wounds from the victim's neck match the cameo's band like it was ripped off.
She killed her for the cameo? I don't know, and I don't need to know.
This is a madam killing a prostitute.
It happens with pimps and streetwalkers on 11th Avenue all the time.
You're saying these girls are no different? Oh, I'm sure they liked to think they were.
Shelly Taggert still says she didn't do it.
To us.
But what do you think she said to her father when he helped her skip out? That she had to take off for Switzerland in the dead of night because the ski runs were melting? I never said that I just came home and found my daughter gone.
I've been honest that I helped her.
Then you must have discussed why she was going.
We did.
But it had nothing to do with Bridget's murder.
But you knew about the murder.
She knew about the murder.
We discussed the police investigation of prostitution.
She was afraid she'd be arrested.
Even though the police had told her that they weren't interested in those charges? I don't know what the police told her.
She did.
It doesn't matter what the police said.
Shelly was scared.
She was embarrassed.
Mr.
Taggert, it takes an awful lot to embarrass your daughter, doesn't it? Objection.
Sustained.
Mr.
Taggert, didn't your daughter tell you that she wanted to flee because she'd killed Bridget Kaylin? No.
Are you sure you're not lying to protect her? I wouldn't do that.
No.
You'd send her to Europe, you'd spend thousands of dollars, you'd risk your business but you wouldn't lie? I work for a company that operates 17 stores.
Lot of shoe vendors want our business.
I guess Mr.
Taggert felt the need to treat me well.
And that included providing you with prostitutes? He had some girls in a hospitality suite at a footwear show.
Including Bridget Kaylin? Yes.
Did you see her after that first occasion? Yes.
I liked her.
Mr.
Taggert gave me the number to call to arrange more dates.
The girl who answered the phone set them up.
Who was that girl, Mr.
Freeman? Well, I realized it was Shelly, Mr.
Taggert's daughter.
So this was a full-service family business? He provided the shoes, his daughter provided her friends.
Objection.
Sustained.
Mr.
Freeman, are you sure that the woman who set up your dates with Bridget Kaylin was Shelly Taggert? Yes.
I knew her from when I had gotten her a summer sales job once at her father's request.
She quit after two weeks.
She preferred selling Bridget Kaylin? Objection.
Sustained.
That's enough, Mr.
McCoy.
When did you see her last? A few weeks before she was killed.
I had been trying to see her.
I called her directly.
But she said she wouldn't be making any more dates.
Did you ever discuss that fact with the defendant? Yes.
I called Shelly to make some other arrangement.
I told her Bridget was quitting.
Shelly got very angry, but she said I shouldn't worry.
She'd take care of it.
I only meant that I'd get him somebody else.
Another prostitute? Yes.
I just started this whole thing to help my father.
I knew what was going on at those trade shows with his clients and those escorts, and I knew they were trouble, they stole.
So you volunteered to help out? I knew what Bridget and her friends were doing.
I told my father.
We've heard testimony that you and she argued the day she was killed.
Yeah, about her borrowing my outfits and not returning them.
We fought like little girls about clothes.
It was stupid.
It was nothing.
Did you see Bridget the night she was killed? No.
Then how did your fingerprints come to be on her study desk? We used to study in the stacks together all the time.
I used to sit at that desk sometimes.
Did you ever see your father in the library? Yes.
He would sometimes come and meet me and Bridget, and then take us for a drink.
He met her through me.
Did he have any trouble getting into the stacks? He's an alumnus.
He has a card.
I see.
What about Bridget's cameo? How did that come to be in the apartment you shared with your father? My father brought it there.
He told me Approach, Your Honor.
There's only one place the witness can be going with this.
So? Let's hear her testimony.
If Mr.
McCoy has an objection, he can make it then.
After she accuses her father of this murder? Once that bell is rung, I can't unring it.
I want an offer of proof before she says another word.
I'll see the lawyers and Ms.
Taggert in my chambers.
Now.
It's a desperate act by the defendant to manufacture reasonable doubt.
There is no evidence to support the allegation.
That's what we're here to determine, Mr.
McCoy.
Is it in fact your intention, Ms.
Taggert, to accuse your father of this murder? He told me he killed Bridget.
Did he tell you why? Not really.
I know he was having an affair with her.
If you don't mind, I'll ask you to wait outside.
It's not credible.
Isn't that for the jury to decide? Assuming this affair even happened, it's not evidence that he committed murder.
He confessed to her, Jack.
That's evidence, and it's supported by your evidence, the cameo was found in his apartment.
An affair gone south would establish motive.
It's a nice story.
Why don't we just blame it on some random black man, or a Colombian drug dealer? Because they didn't do it.
Says Ms.
Taggert.
Her father's alleged confession is hearsay.
It's an admission.
To a defendant.
So it's only admissible if the person who supposedly made it is dead, out of the jurisdiction, or refuses to testify on the ground of self-incrimination.
Mr.
Taggert's alive, and I just saw him five minutes ago in the courtroom.
Are you expecting, Ms.
Shore, that Mr.
Taggert will take the Fifth if called to testify? I'll have to talk to him.
He's a prosecution witness.
Now he's a potential defense witness.
I have a right to interview him without big brother looking over my shoulder.
Given this defendant's flair for surprises, I think the People should hear what Mr.
Taggert has to say at the same time the defense does.
I hope you feel rewarded for all your sacrifices, Mr.
Taggert.
Your daughter says you're a murderer.
I've advised my client to remain silent.
Just what your daughter wants you to do.
I know you've always indulged her, sir, but isn't this a little much, even for you? Mr.
McCoy, you are here to listen, not to badger.
Well, I'm not hearing anything.
I have nothing to say.
If you take the Fifth, your daughter will have plenty to say.
Mr.
Taggert, is it your intent to take the Fifth Amendment if asked if you killed Bridget Kaylin? Yes.
Fine.
We're done here.
I'm not.
What about your alleged affair with Bridget Kaylin, sir? That's not covered by the Fifth.
That lasted for six months.
I took her to Saint Barts.
I bought that cameo.
There are witnesses.
Satisfied, Mr.
McCoy? No.
What floor of the library was Bridget Kaylin on when she was killed, Mr.
Taggert? Just tell me that, and I'll believe you.
I plead the Fifth.
I was home that night, studying, when my father came in.
He was very upset.
How could you tell? He didn't say hi.
He just poured a drink and then he started to cry.
What did he say? He had just had a fight with Bridget, she wanted to break up with him.
She said he was too old.
He grabbed and pushed her.
And it was an accident, but she was dead.
Did he have this cameo, People's Exhibit 11, with him? Yes.
He said he grabbed Bridget by it and it broke off in his hand.
He didn't even realize he had it until he got home.
If it was an accident, why didn't he turn himself over to the police? He said he was afraid they'd investigate and find out about the prostitution.
He didn't want me to get in trouble.
He was only thinking about me.
Thank you.
If your father killed Bridget Kaylin, why were you the one who fled the country? I told you, he didn't want me to get in trouble.
Over the nonexistent prostitution charges? I didn't think that they were nonexistent.
I never thought I'd be arrested for murder.
It wasn't murder anyway.
He didn't mean to kill her.
And he didn't mean to take the cameo with him? No.
Even though he gave it to her? You're sure he didn't want to get it back? Objection.
Calls for speculation.
I'll rephrase.
You're sure you didn't want it back? Why would I? I don't know.
Why did it wind up in your desk drawer? I was hiding it.
I thought it might be used for evidence.
I wanted to protect my father.
You and he are close, aren't you? Yes.
Being so close, how did you feel about your father giving expensive jewelry to Bridget Kaylin? It was none of my business.
But she was your business.
How did you feel about your father getting involved with one of your whores? Why are you doing this? I didn't kill her.
And he didn't mean to.
She fell and she hit her head.
You're sure about that, aren't you? Yes.
Because you were there! Because you pushed her! No.
He told me.
He told me.
I'm sorry, Daddy.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
The defendant will rise.
On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find? We find the defendant, Shelly Taggert, not guilty.
The defendant is dismissed.
Court is adjourned.
Thanks, Daddy.
I'm afraid your celebration ends now, Mr.
Taggert.
You're arresting me for murder? I would if I thought you were guilty.
Barry Taggert, you're under arrest for enterprise corruption.
You have the right to remain silent You dropped all that when I brought her back.
That was before you took part in this charade.
Daddy, I'll go get your lawyer.
That's nice of you, Ms.
Taggert.
Your father's business is gone, he's going to prison.
It's all right, honey.
Sure.
If she's half as good to you as you've been to her, maybe she'll visit.
Daddy, you know I will.