Without a Trace s07e17 Episode Script
Voir Dire
Have a nice day.
Sure.
You gonna been like this all the time? No.
You could let me walk to school alone like have been doing - for the last four years.
- It's never gonna happen.
Then, yes.
This is how it's going to be every day.
Okay, I'll tell you what.
We'll make a deal.
You start talking to me and once I'm convinced that you're not dealing drugs on the steps of the Met you can walk to school alone.
You want sharing? Sure.
Then why don't you tell me about your new girlfriend? Girlfriend? Come on.
It's so obvious.
You talk on the phone all the time and your suits are pressed so you don't look like a used car salesman anymore.
Thank you.
You smile.
I smile.
This is a two-way street this sharing thing.
I won't bite, I promise.
Patcon kills! Patcon kills! All right, here we go.
Right here, right here.
This is perfect.
Okay, in three, two Jury selection continues today in the class-action suit against the Patcon Manufacturing Corporation.
Wilmington residents claim that Patcon's negligence allowed TCE and vinyl chloride to pollute well water.
- What do you think? - The red flag in this group is #9.
Nine is in.
He's an investment banker likely to be sympathetic to Patcon's interests.
Well, he's a VP at Chase Morgan, but he was raised by a single mom in the projects.
Exactly.
Pulled himself up by his bootstraps so, he'll resent greedy litigious plaintiffs.
Well, it looks that way on the surface but he serves on a charity for underprivileged kids.
Most of the victims of the toxic water wells are lower-income children.
Alleged toxic water wells.
#9 will relate to those kids and he'll have the authority and the charisma to turn the jury.
Done.
I'll get rid of him.
And focus your questions on his politics.
He's a fiscal conservative so, he'll come off as being pro-corporate.
Good catch.
Your Honor, I'd like to start by questioning juror #9.
I can see why Mary had me shadow you during training, but I doubt I'll ever be able to read people like that.
A few years on the job, and you won't be able to stop.
It becomes second nature.
You say it like it's a bad thing.
Well, none of us are who we seem on paper.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee? I would love to pick your brain a little more.
Not today.
I need some air.
Maybe tomorrow? Yeah, sure, no problem.
This is ridiculous.
I hate when they bring the sick kids and parade them around.
Gina, these are real families, most of them with children who won't get better regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
They're just playing the game, same as us.
It's not really a game.
Sure it is, when you Hello? I can I can't hear you.
All right.
Okay, I got four bars.
Talk.
Yeah, I'm on it.
Tell her that's not a problem.
Just get the questionnaires, get them faxed to me from Austin and I will review them tonight.
Yeah, 9:00 A.
M.
in the morning.
Yeah, 10:00 A.
M.
at the latest.
Thank you.
Our missing person's name is Zack Porter.
He's 28, he's currently working for the defense - on this whole Patcon thing.
- As a lawyer? No, he's a trial consultant.
He works for a company called Tri-Quest.
That's a noble profession right there.
Everybody has a right to the best defense.
Yeah, and the best jury that money can buy.
Either way we got to find the guy, so Well, a jury fixer's probably not gonna be very popular around here.
Not at all.
One of his co-workers saw a woman give him this bullet.
- ERT found it in the trash.
- All right.
Now, how many plaintiffs are suing Patcon? You ready? 538.
I guess we got our work cut out for us.
Without A Trace Season 7 Episode 17 "Voir dire" The Underground Black Sheeps Team.
I've never seen this woman before.
I know something's happened to him.
Zack would never walk away from a trial without checking in with me.
Maybe he took one look at the bullet and decided it was one thing to work for a guilty client and another thing to die for one.
Trial consultants aren't the enemy.
We're simply part of the modern justice system.
Just like yourself.
Let's talk about the Patcon suit.
Was Zack ever harassed before? - Not like this.
- Then, like what? A couple of days ago, a man approached Zack at the courthouse.
Now is not the time My sister was the only family I had left! - I know! I'm sorry for what happened.
- You're not sorry enough! Get off of me! What's going on here? You deserve everything you got coming to you.
You all right? Yeah, I just need a minute.
- What are you doing? - We have to file a restraining order.
A plaintiff can't walk in here and threaten you.
He was just venting.
I'll be fine.
Please leave it alone.
Are you sure? Don't worry about it.
I didn't pursue it.
Which was obviously a mistake.
Was this man a plaintiff against Patcon? I assumed he was.
Zack was in the courthouse that week for jury selection.
Yeah, how many other cases was he working? Maybe a dozen.
Okay, we're gonna need all the information on those.
You know I can't get you any of that without a subpoena.
That could take days and I'm not sure that Zack has that amount of time.
Well, I'm sorry I can't be of more help.
Channel 9 gave us their B-roll.
This is the best shot we have of her.
Tech is going to make a still photo so we can run it against the Patcon plaintiffs.
She could be a part of any of his other cases.
That's why Sam is trying to get Zack's files.
Did we locate next of kin? Both parents died while he was in college and there's no other family.
We are bringing in the roommate though.
He's got a master's in psychology, worked at a family clinic until two years ago.
That's a big change to become a trial consultant.
Tri-Quest offered him three times the money.
It's hard to walk away from that.
Let's see.
I got a text here from Danny.
Zack's name popped on a police report.
Let's see His girlfriend died in a drunk driving accident two weeks ago.
Was he the driver? But he was drinking with her right beforehand.
What's up? You said it was important.
You first.
Okay Tri-Quest filed a motion to extend their time to comply with the subpoena.
Fine, we'll get a warrant, and we'll take all the files, not just Mr.
Porter's.
If the search warrant gets denied, that's gonna look bad for you.
That would be horrible.
A black mark on my already perfect record.
Okay, then, search warrant it is.
Now you.
I just wanted to talk about my daughter.
- Is she okay? - It's all good.
You know, we had our first bonding moment this morning.
She asked about you.
- Why? - Well, not directly you.
But she wanted to know about my "girlfriend.
" What did you tell her? Nothing.
I choked.
Wait a second, so she doesn't She doesn't know that it's me? - Are you going to tell her? - I have to Otherwise she's gonna think I'm that guy that she can't trust.
But I was thinking maybe the three of us could do something together.
I know it's a big ask.
Is it okay if I take a little time to just process the idea? Process away.
- I'm not going anywhere.
- Okay, great.
Zack's like my brother, you know? He's been my roommate all through graduate school.
He spends Christmas with my family.
Did you know his girlfriend? Yeah, Liza.
She was a really cool girl.
Now, did Zack mention anything about taking some time off? - You know, to deal with his grief? - He's not like that.
There's no way he'd just leave his job.
It's his life.
Do you recognize this guy? He confronted Zack at the courthouse.
Yeah, yeah.
That's that's Adam Miller.
That's Liza's brother.
And do you think Adam blames Zack for Liza's death? Yeah, he's pretty vocal about it.
And do you? I mean, do you think Zack's at fault? No way, not at all.
Zack was just being Zack.
Buddy, I don't think that girl was into you.
Why not? Because I couldn't speak German? Because you said you're fluent in "the language of love.
" - She wasn't into me? - She wasn't into you, but that's okay because you are gonna talk to contestant #2.
Yeah, right there.
Leopard print dress.
No.
She just turned down a guy who clearly makes more than $11,000 a year.
Leopard print dress isn't about the bank account right now.
The wide tan line on her left hand says her ring was heavy, maybe even two carats.
Her purse is a favorite of Westport, Connecticut soccer moms, but her dress says, "No, really, I'm 22!" Leopard print dress wants to be validated by someone younger who doesn't represent her ex by being financially successful.
Me and also me.
Gentlemen, it's been real.
Don't hurt yourself.
Okay, wait for it.
And he's in.
That wasn't cool.
Oh, come on.
Chris is harmless.
I get that you profile for a living but doing it here to that woman, sort of seems like you're taking advantage.
I was giving a friend confidence to talk to a girl in a bar, that's all.
You told him how to prey on her insecurities.
That's a little bit more than a pep talk.
Is that what you did to me, too? - What are you talking about? - When you introduced yourself in the bookstore.
Did you analyze me like that? - You did, didn't you? - Not in a negative way.
I wanted to meet you.
I liked you.
You're making this way too personal.
Funny, I don't think you're making it personal enough.
That's absurd.
I gotta go.
- Come on.
- You know what? It's, it's late.
I want to get home.
We can talk about it tomorrow.
He tried to call her later, you know, to apologize, and a cop answered her cell phone.
Said that she had run the red light and then been killed.
Zack couldn't forgive himself for letting her go.
He hasn't really been the same since.
And what did Adam Miller do? He kept calling Zack, yelling at him.
He showed up drunk.
Tried to kick in the front door.
He said he'd kill Zack if he ever got the chance.
So Adam Miller's phone records confirm the roommate's story.
He calls Zack day and night.
Miller didn't show up for work today either.
His co-workers said that he's been a wreck since his sister died.
There you go.
NYPD spotted his car.
- Agent Taylor.
- APB said not to approach, - we waited for you.
- How long has he been here? - About an hour.
- Back me up, okay? Adam Miller.
Adam Miller, keep your hands where I can see them.
Adam? Adam Miller, step out of the car nice and slow and lay down on the asphalt.
Okay, thanks.
All right, the EMTs took Adam Miller to Bellevue for evaluation.
Apparently, he's catatonic.
Well, isn't that convenient? It'll give him time to come up with an explanation for that blood.
It won't do him much good if we find Zack's body.
Traffic cameras caught Adam driving in Forest Hills.
NYPD's checking the area.
You know what? Maybe Kim Marcus can help us with that.
We ID'd her from a partial print on the paper with the bullet taped to it.
- What's her connection to Zack? - I haven't found one, but I think maybe it's with Adam Miller.
He could have had her deliver that bullet.
Okay, that was one of Zack's co-workers.
Apparently, Zack wasn't doing so great at Tri-Quest after all because two days ago, his boss made a move to have him fired.
That's an internal memo from you to HR requesting Zack Porter's security clearance to be lowered from a level 5 to a level 1.
- How did you get this? - Doesn't matter.
What matters is that he was having difficulties at work and you didn't tell me.
Now, what were those difficulties? It's confidential.
You know, I'm getting really tired of you saying that.
I want to help you, but I could lose my job.
It's really simple, Ms.
Whitman.
If you care about us finding Zack, you'll tell me everything that you know.
His girlfriend died recently.
I thought that he was just grieving, but Zack was different after that - Glad I caught you.
- What's up? Patcon jury selection will be wrapping up next week, and I was wondering if I could get transfered to our pro-bono team.
You wanna work for the good guys for change.
Actually, yeah, I do.
I've been reevaluating things.
I love the job, but I need a change.
We might get you reassigned in a few months, but Paget Brownfield called this morning and specifically requested you for their next trial.
Their last case was defending Malluci.
- That guy got convicted, didn't he? - No, hung jury.
DA's office said they won't retry without new evidence.
- Really solid work, Zack.
- I sat in on that trial for a few days.
That jury was gonna put him away for sure.
Maybe you did a better job than you realized.
Malluci thought a woman stole drugs from him.
So he tortured her for two days and locked her in a box the size of a carry-on suitcase.
You've been through a lot lately.
You need to take a little time off, get some rest.
Rest? You'd be surprised what a good night's sleep can do for the soul.
I thought that I'd gotten through to him, but I was wrong.
The client that he was referring to was Charles Malluci the mobster? Charles Malluci, yes.
What made you think you didn't get through to him? Because the next day, I found out that he had called the DA's office to discuss the case.
So you tried to get him fired for having a conscience? He had an unauthorized conversation with the prosecutor about a client.
I had no choice.
Please stay here.
Where are you going? I'm going to look into the Malluci trial, which you should have told me about before.
Samantha had to go to Bellevue The babysitter was gonna be about a half an hour late, so she sent me.
Well, I canceled my appointment, so I can wait.
Didn't she get my message? I guess not.
Kid looks good.
Yeah, he's great.
Amazing.
Would you say this is more or less awkward than the last time that we met? I'd say more.
Look, I just wanna spend time with Finn, you know? Yeah, that's understandable.
You watch college basketball at all? You watch soccer? Hi Excuse me.
I'm looking for your neighbor, Kim Marcus.
- She's not home.
- Do you know where she is? Why? Why? Well, because I'm with the FBI and I'd really like to talk to her today if I could.
Her family has a cabin upstate.
She left maybe an hour ago.
Okay, you know where that cabin is? You got an address? Yeah, I got it.
Lab report came back.
The blood on Miller's shirt is O-negative, same as Zack Porter's.
What about the DNA test? It's gonna take another day till we get that.
You know, I'm sure Miller's our guy, but the timeline is off.
Look A few days before Zack disappeared, he started looking into the Malluci trial.
He thought something was wrong with the verdict.
Wrong? What? Jury tampering? Possibly.
But a guy like Malluci is not gonna let something like that go.
Zack's been working cases like this for two years.
Why focus on Malluci now? I think he felt responsible for his girlfriend's death, so he tried to fix it by stopping a guilty guy from going free.
I agree, the timing is definitely weird, but that's not gonna beat a shirt covered in Zack's blood.
Adam? Adam, where is Zack Porter? Nothing That's fine.
You know, your shirt had a lot to say.
The blood was a match for Zack Porter, so you're looking at a murder charge.
Looks like our work is done here.
We'll see you in 50 or 60 years, okay? I've never seen anyone die before.
It's bad, isn't it? But listen if you keep it inside, you'll never gonna stop thinking about it.
I just keep going over it again and again in my mind.
Okay, then let it out.
Come on.
What happened? He was in a hurry.
I followed him.
I just wanted to talk to him.
He left the courthouse.
He didn't know I was behind him.
- When was this? - This morning.
He drove to this place in Forest Hills.
Did you set me up? What are you talking about? What do you mean, set you up? - Did you put this in my mailbox? - I don't know anything about I found this in my mailbox this morning.
Did you put it there, Adam? I followed you.
I had to.
You wouldn't take my calls.
Adam, you can't be here right now, man.
- I'm in the middle of something.
- Please, listen to me.
I've heard everything you have to say.
You think it's my fault that Liza is dead.
Guess what? I agree.
- What do you want to do about it? - Nothing.
Look, I know I went off the deep end when Liza died.
I'm sorry.
My sister could think for herself.
She knew better.
But then, she drank and she drove.
And I hate her for leaving me.
I don't really know what I'm doing anymore.
If I could go back, I would.
If if I could change, I I got to my car and drove away from there as fast as I could.
I don't remember much after that.
- Did you get a look at this guy? - Yeah, I saw him.
Okay, I wanna be clear.
You wanted to apologize to Zack, so you followed him to an empty house in Forest Hills.
Then, right before your eyes, he's assassinated by another guy.
Yeah.
We'll look for ourselves.
Hello? Drop it.
Put your gun on the floor.
Let's both put our guns down.
We can talk easier.
Put your gun on the floor.
- Right - Now! Just relax.
There, it's on the floor.
Kick it away from you.
All right, listen, I'm going to reach into my coat pocket slowly, and I'm going to get my badge, okay? Okay.
Slowly.
Why are you here? I'm investigating the disappearance of Zack Porter.
- Did they get to him? - Who? Who is "they"? I I don't want any trouble.
You're pointing a gun at a federal agent.
It's late for that.
You don't understand.
Zack's involved with some seriously dangerous people.
He came to my house a few days ago.
He was trying to pull me into this.
Kim? Kim Marcus? Yeah? My name is Zack Porter.
I was a consultant for the defense on the Malluci trial.
I'm-I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'm sorry.
I know why you did it.
- Did what? - You'd put your mother in a state home because you couldn't afford the private facility.
You did two semesters of business school, but the tuition just got to be too much.
You buy lottery tickets every week, sometimes five at a time.
What-what is this? I think you were the holdout on the jury.
- How much did they offer you? - I wasn't the holdout on the jury.
Yeah, yeah, you were.
If you come forward now, there will be a retrial.
Malluci can't get away with murder.
I make sure he pays for what he did, but I need your help.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what you're talking about.
So I can't help you.
The next day I noticed that one of Malluci's guys was following me.
I recognized him.
He used to sit in the front row every day at the trial.
And he put this piece of paper on the windshield of my car.
Had a bullet taped to it.
Why'd you give it to Zack? I'm so pissed at him.
This is just all I just wanted him to know, you know.
I just wanted him to know what he'd started.
Okay.
Then what happened? Then I came up here.
- You're not giving me the whole story.
- I am giving you.
I'm telling you that happened.
You're making it worse by lying to me.
I'm not lying to you.
I didn't do anything.
Some guy put a bullet on your windshield.
You did something.
Thanks.
It looks like you were right about Zack rocking the boat on the Malluci trial.
I put together a photo lineup of guys in Malluci's organization, and Adam Miller picked out the shooter right away.
Okay, who is he? It's a guy named Sid Elber.
We've got an APB out on him.
All right, well, we found a note on Zack's body with this address on it, so, I'm thinking that Elber lured him here and shot him.
Also, I have more information on Kim Marcus.
She was juror #11 on the Malluci trial.
That means she might be in danger.
Send a photo of Sid Elber over to Martin.
So that he's on the lookout.
I just called him and he's not answering the phone.
He's on his way to Kim Marcus's cabin right now.
- Where's the cabin? - Outside Woodstock.
Keep trying and get that address ASAP.
Will do.
Bye-bye.
I don't know.
Maybe Malluci's guys were following Zack, and saw him talking to me, - so they think I'm involved.
- Are you? Hey, you're armed and hiding out here.
It's not what innocent people normally do.
What do innocent people normally do? They call the cops, for one.
Someone threatened you during the trial, didn't they? - I need to stay out of this.
- That's not an option anymore.
Who got to you? - Kim? - I know his first name.
It was Sid.
About four weeks into the trial Didn't mean to startle you there, but you dropped this.
I don't think this mine, but thank you.
Well, open it and see.
You're that juror from the Malluci trial, right? Yeah.
Yeah, I I'm not really talk supposed to talk about it, so.
This is my mom's.
Make sure she gets it back then.
How the hell did you get this? You know, I read to your mother for an hour before someone asked me for my ID.
Those state nursing homes have no security.
Anything could happen to a person there.
What do you want? That's the easiest thing in the world.
Charles Malluci is not guilty.
I didn't know what to do.
I felt like I didn't have a choice.
Look, I can protect you and your family, but you need to give me the gun.
- I'm going to go to jail, right? - No.
No, I'm not gonna arrest you.
I'm gonna take you into the FBI myself.
I'm gonna sit with you.
I'll help you work out a deal, whatever.
Can you really do that? Damn right I can.
Come on.
Give me the gun.
I'm sorry.
I've never threatened anyone with a gun before.
Just don't make a habit of it.
You expecting someone? That's him.
Get down! Get down! Run! Let's go! Let's go! Hold on.
Hold on.
This way.
Right here.
Behind this tree.
Okay, listen.
You'll be safe here.
You'll be safe.
Okay.
Okay, listen.
Do me a favor.
Hit redial.
Whoever answers, tell them Agent Fitzgerald needs help.
Okay.
- There's no service.
- Just keep trying.
What are you doing if he finds us? You going to do something to him? Hey, hey.
Listen to me.
Look at me.
I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? Okay.
I just need you to be calm, okay? All right.
Keep trying the phone.
Okay Okay.
Yeah.
All right, hold on a second.
Elena, did you get hold of the neighbor? We have tried her cell phone.
So far no luck, but I put a patrol car to her house.
Okay, thank you very much for your help.
Look.
There wasn't any property under Kim Marcus's name, but her uncle owns a few acres up in Lake Hill.
No phone, but a gas bill in his name.
Perfect.
FBI! Drop your weapon! Kim, stay there.
Is he dead? Yeah.
How is she doing? US Attorney said that they'll take the coercion into account.
It's hard to vote your conscience when there's a knife at your mother's throat.
ERT did a sweep of the premises.
They found a gun.
Yeah, that was her uncle's.
I cleared the weapon, but I left it behind when I ran out of the cabin.
You're gonna have to see a shrink, you know that? Yeah.
I'll take care of it tomorrow.
You should take a couple days off.
Get some rest.
It's okay.
I'll keep an eye on her.
All right.
Thanks, Jack.
Miss Whitman, I'm sorry to inform you that Zack Porter was found dead.
He discovered jury tampering in the Malluci trial and was about to expose it when he was killed.
That's not possible.
But because of his efforts, Charles Malluci was apprehended in Los Angeles and will be retried.
Zack was a decent kid.
He didn't deserve this.
I did this.
What do you mean? After Zack called the prosecutor, I called Malluci's defense attorney, and I told him.
There's no way you could have known.
Hey, you almost ready? Yeah.
No.
I just got to grab my, you know, - stuff.
- All right.
- How did it go with Brian? - It was fine.
No problems? We just sat around and talked.
You know, he's okay.
- Really? - Yeah.
You know, I don't see the point in aggravating the situation.
It's just going to cause more problems.
That's great.
So, - no more background checks then? - No.
No more No more background checks.
Great.
Hey, did you talk to Hannah yet? Tonight after she finishes her homework.
Okay, good, because I processed the idea, and I would like for the three of us to do something together.
- That's great.
- I mean, if that's what she wants.
- That would be great.
- Oh, that's Or I could maybe take her out alone, just the two of us, to lunch or something like that.
You're a brave woman.
Yeah, that's what they tell me.
Who is it? It's Agent Fitzgerald.
Hello.
I I I didn't get to check in with you before I left the office, so I just want to make sure you're all right.
Yes.
I'm fine.
I've You know, I've been having a little bit of a hard time.
Yeah.
Nobody asked me about pulling a gun on you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
I I guess I just figured you had enough.
Thank you.
Listen if you need anything, just give me a call.
Oh, is this your card? Yes, it is.
Good night.
Would you like to come in for some coffee? Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, just don't hold me at gunpoint.
The highest they'll go is 30,000.
I need 50.
Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? I do.
And I think you'll pay it.
That is, if you want your friend to go free.
I feel like it's not that much money for what you're asking me to do.
You have a lot of sack for a little girl.
So, we have a deal? What the hell.
50 works.
I got to admit, I underestimated you.
Yeah.
That happens a lot.
The Underground Black Sheeps Team.
Sure.
You gonna been like this all the time? No.
You could let me walk to school alone like have been doing - for the last four years.
- It's never gonna happen.
Then, yes.
This is how it's going to be every day.
Okay, I'll tell you what.
We'll make a deal.
You start talking to me and once I'm convinced that you're not dealing drugs on the steps of the Met you can walk to school alone.
You want sharing? Sure.
Then why don't you tell me about your new girlfriend? Girlfriend? Come on.
It's so obvious.
You talk on the phone all the time and your suits are pressed so you don't look like a used car salesman anymore.
Thank you.
You smile.
I smile.
This is a two-way street this sharing thing.
I won't bite, I promise.
Patcon kills! Patcon kills! All right, here we go.
Right here, right here.
This is perfect.
Okay, in three, two Jury selection continues today in the class-action suit against the Patcon Manufacturing Corporation.
Wilmington residents claim that Patcon's negligence allowed TCE and vinyl chloride to pollute well water.
- What do you think? - The red flag in this group is #9.
Nine is in.
He's an investment banker likely to be sympathetic to Patcon's interests.
Well, he's a VP at Chase Morgan, but he was raised by a single mom in the projects.
Exactly.
Pulled himself up by his bootstraps so, he'll resent greedy litigious plaintiffs.
Well, it looks that way on the surface but he serves on a charity for underprivileged kids.
Most of the victims of the toxic water wells are lower-income children.
Alleged toxic water wells.
#9 will relate to those kids and he'll have the authority and the charisma to turn the jury.
Done.
I'll get rid of him.
And focus your questions on his politics.
He's a fiscal conservative so, he'll come off as being pro-corporate.
Good catch.
Your Honor, I'd like to start by questioning juror #9.
I can see why Mary had me shadow you during training, but I doubt I'll ever be able to read people like that.
A few years on the job, and you won't be able to stop.
It becomes second nature.
You say it like it's a bad thing.
Well, none of us are who we seem on paper.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee? I would love to pick your brain a little more.
Not today.
I need some air.
Maybe tomorrow? Yeah, sure, no problem.
This is ridiculous.
I hate when they bring the sick kids and parade them around.
Gina, these are real families, most of them with children who won't get better regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
They're just playing the game, same as us.
It's not really a game.
Sure it is, when you Hello? I can I can't hear you.
All right.
Okay, I got four bars.
Talk.
Yeah, I'm on it.
Tell her that's not a problem.
Just get the questionnaires, get them faxed to me from Austin and I will review them tonight.
Yeah, 9:00 A.
M.
in the morning.
Yeah, 10:00 A.
M.
at the latest.
Thank you.
Our missing person's name is Zack Porter.
He's 28, he's currently working for the defense - on this whole Patcon thing.
- As a lawyer? No, he's a trial consultant.
He works for a company called Tri-Quest.
That's a noble profession right there.
Everybody has a right to the best defense.
Yeah, and the best jury that money can buy.
Either way we got to find the guy, so Well, a jury fixer's probably not gonna be very popular around here.
Not at all.
One of his co-workers saw a woman give him this bullet.
- ERT found it in the trash.
- All right.
Now, how many plaintiffs are suing Patcon? You ready? 538.
I guess we got our work cut out for us.
Without A Trace Season 7 Episode 17 "Voir dire" The Underground Black Sheeps Team.
I've never seen this woman before.
I know something's happened to him.
Zack would never walk away from a trial without checking in with me.
Maybe he took one look at the bullet and decided it was one thing to work for a guilty client and another thing to die for one.
Trial consultants aren't the enemy.
We're simply part of the modern justice system.
Just like yourself.
Let's talk about the Patcon suit.
Was Zack ever harassed before? - Not like this.
- Then, like what? A couple of days ago, a man approached Zack at the courthouse.
Now is not the time My sister was the only family I had left! - I know! I'm sorry for what happened.
- You're not sorry enough! Get off of me! What's going on here? You deserve everything you got coming to you.
You all right? Yeah, I just need a minute.
- What are you doing? - We have to file a restraining order.
A plaintiff can't walk in here and threaten you.
He was just venting.
I'll be fine.
Please leave it alone.
Are you sure? Don't worry about it.
I didn't pursue it.
Which was obviously a mistake.
Was this man a plaintiff against Patcon? I assumed he was.
Zack was in the courthouse that week for jury selection.
Yeah, how many other cases was he working? Maybe a dozen.
Okay, we're gonna need all the information on those.
You know I can't get you any of that without a subpoena.
That could take days and I'm not sure that Zack has that amount of time.
Well, I'm sorry I can't be of more help.
Channel 9 gave us their B-roll.
This is the best shot we have of her.
Tech is going to make a still photo so we can run it against the Patcon plaintiffs.
She could be a part of any of his other cases.
That's why Sam is trying to get Zack's files.
Did we locate next of kin? Both parents died while he was in college and there's no other family.
We are bringing in the roommate though.
He's got a master's in psychology, worked at a family clinic until two years ago.
That's a big change to become a trial consultant.
Tri-Quest offered him three times the money.
It's hard to walk away from that.
Let's see.
I got a text here from Danny.
Zack's name popped on a police report.
Let's see His girlfriend died in a drunk driving accident two weeks ago.
Was he the driver? But he was drinking with her right beforehand.
What's up? You said it was important.
You first.
Okay Tri-Quest filed a motion to extend their time to comply with the subpoena.
Fine, we'll get a warrant, and we'll take all the files, not just Mr.
Porter's.
If the search warrant gets denied, that's gonna look bad for you.
That would be horrible.
A black mark on my already perfect record.
Okay, then, search warrant it is.
Now you.
I just wanted to talk about my daughter.
- Is she okay? - It's all good.
You know, we had our first bonding moment this morning.
She asked about you.
- Why? - Well, not directly you.
But she wanted to know about my "girlfriend.
" What did you tell her? Nothing.
I choked.
Wait a second, so she doesn't She doesn't know that it's me? - Are you going to tell her? - I have to Otherwise she's gonna think I'm that guy that she can't trust.
But I was thinking maybe the three of us could do something together.
I know it's a big ask.
Is it okay if I take a little time to just process the idea? Process away.
- I'm not going anywhere.
- Okay, great.
Zack's like my brother, you know? He's been my roommate all through graduate school.
He spends Christmas with my family.
Did you know his girlfriend? Yeah, Liza.
She was a really cool girl.
Now, did Zack mention anything about taking some time off? - You know, to deal with his grief? - He's not like that.
There's no way he'd just leave his job.
It's his life.
Do you recognize this guy? He confronted Zack at the courthouse.
Yeah, yeah.
That's that's Adam Miller.
That's Liza's brother.
And do you think Adam blames Zack for Liza's death? Yeah, he's pretty vocal about it.
And do you? I mean, do you think Zack's at fault? No way, not at all.
Zack was just being Zack.
Buddy, I don't think that girl was into you.
Why not? Because I couldn't speak German? Because you said you're fluent in "the language of love.
" - She wasn't into me? - She wasn't into you, but that's okay because you are gonna talk to contestant #2.
Yeah, right there.
Leopard print dress.
No.
She just turned down a guy who clearly makes more than $11,000 a year.
Leopard print dress isn't about the bank account right now.
The wide tan line on her left hand says her ring was heavy, maybe even two carats.
Her purse is a favorite of Westport, Connecticut soccer moms, but her dress says, "No, really, I'm 22!" Leopard print dress wants to be validated by someone younger who doesn't represent her ex by being financially successful.
Me and also me.
Gentlemen, it's been real.
Don't hurt yourself.
Okay, wait for it.
And he's in.
That wasn't cool.
Oh, come on.
Chris is harmless.
I get that you profile for a living but doing it here to that woman, sort of seems like you're taking advantage.
I was giving a friend confidence to talk to a girl in a bar, that's all.
You told him how to prey on her insecurities.
That's a little bit more than a pep talk.
Is that what you did to me, too? - What are you talking about? - When you introduced yourself in the bookstore.
Did you analyze me like that? - You did, didn't you? - Not in a negative way.
I wanted to meet you.
I liked you.
You're making this way too personal.
Funny, I don't think you're making it personal enough.
That's absurd.
I gotta go.
- Come on.
- You know what? It's, it's late.
I want to get home.
We can talk about it tomorrow.
He tried to call her later, you know, to apologize, and a cop answered her cell phone.
Said that she had run the red light and then been killed.
Zack couldn't forgive himself for letting her go.
He hasn't really been the same since.
And what did Adam Miller do? He kept calling Zack, yelling at him.
He showed up drunk.
Tried to kick in the front door.
He said he'd kill Zack if he ever got the chance.
So Adam Miller's phone records confirm the roommate's story.
He calls Zack day and night.
Miller didn't show up for work today either.
His co-workers said that he's been a wreck since his sister died.
There you go.
NYPD spotted his car.
- Agent Taylor.
- APB said not to approach, - we waited for you.
- How long has he been here? - About an hour.
- Back me up, okay? Adam Miller.
Adam Miller, keep your hands where I can see them.
Adam? Adam Miller, step out of the car nice and slow and lay down on the asphalt.
Okay, thanks.
All right, the EMTs took Adam Miller to Bellevue for evaluation.
Apparently, he's catatonic.
Well, isn't that convenient? It'll give him time to come up with an explanation for that blood.
It won't do him much good if we find Zack's body.
Traffic cameras caught Adam driving in Forest Hills.
NYPD's checking the area.
You know what? Maybe Kim Marcus can help us with that.
We ID'd her from a partial print on the paper with the bullet taped to it.
- What's her connection to Zack? - I haven't found one, but I think maybe it's with Adam Miller.
He could have had her deliver that bullet.
Okay, that was one of Zack's co-workers.
Apparently, Zack wasn't doing so great at Tri-Quest after all because two days ago, his boss made a move to have him fired.
That's an internal memo from you to HR requesting Zack Porter's security clearance to be lowered from a level 5 to a level 1.
- How did you get this? - Doesn't matter.
What matters is that he was having difficulties at work and you didn't tell me.
Now, what were those difficulties? It's confidential.
You know, I'm getting really tired of you saying that.
I want to help you, but I could lose my job.
It's really simple, Ms.
Whitman.
If you care about us finding Zack, you'll tell me everything that you know.
His girlfriend died recently.
I thought that he was just grieving, but Zack was different after that - Glad I caught you.
- What's up? Patcon jury selection will be wrapping up next week, and I was wondering if I could get transfered to our pro-bono team.
You wanna work for the good guys for change.
Actually, yeah, I do.
I've been reevaluating things.
I love the job, but I need a change.
We might get you reassigned in a few months, but Paget Brownfield called this morning and specifically requested you for their next trial.
Their last case was defending Malluci.
- That guy got convicted, didn't he? - No, hung jury.
DA's office said they won't retry without new evidence.
- Really solid work, Zack.
- I sat in on that trial for a few days.
That jury was gonna put him away for sure.
Maybe you did a better job than you realized.
Malluci thought a woman stole drugs from him.
So he tortured her for two days and locked her in a box the size of a carry-on suitcase.
You've been through a lot lately.
You need to take a little time off, get some rest.
Rest? You'd be surprised what a good night's sleep can do for the soul.
I thought that I'd gotten through to him, but I was wrong.
The client that he was referring to was Charles Malluci the mobster? Charles Malluci, yes.
What made you think you didn't get through to him? Because the next day, I found out that he had called the DA's office to discuss the case.
So you tried to get him fired for having a conscience? He had an unauthorized conversation with the prosecutor about a client.
I had no choice.
Please stay here.
Where are you going? I'm going to look into the Malluci trial, which you should have told me about before.
Samantha had to go to Bellevue The babysitter was gonna be about a half an hour late, so she sent me.
Well, I canceled my appointment, so I can wait.
Didn't she get my message? I guess not.
Kid looks good.
Yeah, he's great.
Amazing.
Would you say this is more or less awkward than the last time that we met? I'd say more.
Look, I just wanna spend time with Finn, you know? Yeah, that's understandable.
You watch college basketball at all? You watch soccer? Hi Excuse me.
I'm looking for your neighbor, Kim Marcus.
- She's not home.
- Do you know where she is? Why? Why? Well, because I'm with the FBI and I'd really like to talk to her today if I could.
Her family has a cabin upstate.
She left maybe an hour ago.
Okay, you know where that cabin is? You got an address? Yeah, I got it.
Lab report came back.
The blood on Miller's shirt is O-negative, same as Zack Porter's.
What about the DNA test? It's gonna take another day till we get that.
You know, I'm sure Miller's our guy, but the timeline is off.
Look A few days before Zack disappeared, he started looking into the Malluci trial.
He thought something was wrong with the verdict.
Wrong? What? Jury tampering? Possibly.
But a guy like Malluci is not gonna let something like that go.
Zack's been working cases like this for two years.
Why focus on Malluci now? I think he felt responsible for his girlfriend's death, so he tried to fix it by stopping a guilty guy from going free.
I agree, the timing is definitely weird, but that's not gonna beat a shirt covered in Zack's blood.
Adam? Adam, where is Zack Porter? Nothing That's fine.
You know, your shirt had a lot to say.
The blood was a match for Zack Porter, so you're looking at a murder charge.
Looks like our work is done here.
We'll see you in 50 or 60 years, okay? I've never seen anyone die before.
It's bad, isn't it? But listen if you keep it inside, you'll never gonna stop thinking about it.
I just keep going over it again and again in my mind.
Okay, then let it out.
Come on.
What happened? He was in a hurry.
I followed him.
I just wanted to talk to him.
He left the courthouse.
He didn't know I was behind him.
- When was this? - This morning.
He drove to this place in Forest Hills.
Did you set me up? What are you talking about? What do you mean, set you up? - Did you put this in my mailbox? - I don't know anything about I found this in my mailbox this morning.
Did you put it there, Adam? I followed you.
I had to.
You wouldn't take my calls.
Adam, you can't be here right now, man.
- I'm in the middle of something.
- Please, listen to me.
I've heard everything you have to say.
You think it's my fault that Liza is dead.
Guess what? I agree.
- What do you want to do about it? - Nothing.
Look, I know I went off the deep end when Liza died.
I'm sorry.
My sister could think for herself.
She knew better.
But then, she drank and she drove.
And I hate her for leaving me.
I don't really know what I'm doing anymore.
If I could go back, I would.
If if I could change, I I got to my car and drove away from there as fast as I could.
I don't remember much after that.
- Did you get a look at this guy? - Yeah, I saw him.
Okay, I wanna be clear.
You wanted to apologize to Zack, so you followed him to an empty house in Forest Hills.
Then, right before your eyes, he's assassinated by another guy.
Yeah.
We'll look for ourselves.
Hello? Drop it.
Put your gun on the floor.
Let's both put our guns down.
We can talk easier.
Put your gun on the floor.
- Right - Now! Just relax.
There, it's on the floor.
Kick it away from you.
All right, listen, I'm going to reach into my coat pocket slowly, and I'm going to get my badge, okay? Okay.
Slowly.
Why are you here? I'm investigating the disappearance of Zack Porter.
- Did they get to him? - Who? Who is "they"? I I don't want any trouble.
You're pointing a gun at a federal agent.
It's late for that.
You don't understand.
Zack's involved with some seriously dangerous people.
He came to my house a few days ago.
He was trying to pull me into this.
Kim? Kim Marcus? Yeah? My name is Zack Porter.
I was a consultant for the defense on the Malluci trial.
I'm-I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'm sorry.
I know why you did it.
- Did what? - You'd put your mother in a state home because you couldn't afford the private facility.
You did two semesters of business school, but the tuition just got to be too much.
You buy lottery tickets every week, sometimes five at a time.
What-what is this? I think you were the holdout on the jury.
- How much did they offer you? - I wasn't the holdout on the jury.
Yeah, yeah, you were.
If you come forward now, there will be a retrial.
Malluci can't get away with murder.
I make sure he pays for what he did, but I need your help.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what you're talking about.
So I can't help you.
The next day I noticed that one of Malluci's guys was following me.
I recognized him.
He used to sit in the front row every day at the trial.
And he put this piece of paper on the windshield of my car.
Had a bullet taped to it.
Why'd you give it to Zack? I'm so pissed at him.
This is just all I just wanted him to know, you know.
I just wanted him to know what he'd started.
Okay.
Then what happened? Then I came up here.
- You're not giving me the whole story.
- I am giving you.
I'm telling you that happened.
You're making it worse by lying to me.
I'm not lying to you.
I didn't do anything.
Some guy put a bullet on your windshield.
You did something.
Thanks.
It looks like you were right about Zack rocking the boat on the Malluci trial.
I put together a photo lineup of guys in Malluci's organization, and Adam Miller picked out the shooter right away.
Okay, who is he? It's a guy named Sid Elber.
We've got an APB out on him.
All right, well, we found a note on Zack's body with this address on it, so, I'm thinking that Elber lured him here and shot him.
Also, I have more information on Kim Marcus.
She was juror #11 on the Malluci trial.
That means she might be in danger.
Send a photo of Sid Elber over to Martin.
So that he's on the lookout.
I just called him and he's not answering the phone.
He's on his way to Kim Marcus's cabin right now.
- Where's the cabin? - Outside Woodstock.
Keep trying and get that address ASAP.
Will do.
Bye-bye.
I don't know.
Maybe Malluci's guys were following Zack, and saw him talking to me, - so they think I'm involved.
- Are you? Hey, you're armed and hiding out here.
It's not what innocent people normally do.
What do innocent people normally do? They call the cops, for one.
Someone threatened you during the trial, didn't they? - I need to stay out of this.
- That's not an option anymore.
Who got to you? - Kim? - I know his first name.
It was Sid.
About four weeks into the trial Didn't mean to startle you there, but you dropped this.
I don't think this mine, but thank you.
Well, open it and see.
You're that juror from the Malluci trial, right? Yeah.
Yeah, I I'm not really talk supposed to talk about it, so.
This is my mom's.
Make sure she gets it back then.
How the hell did you get this? You know, I read to your mother for an hour before someone asked me for my ID.
Those state nursing homes have no security.
Anything could happen to a person there.
What do you want? That's the easiest thing in the world.
Charles Malluci is not guilty.
I didn't know what to do.
I felt like I didn't have a choice.
Look, I can protect you and your family, but you need to give me the gun.
- I'm going to go to jail, right? - No.
No, I'm not gonna arrest you.
I'm gonna take you into the FBI myself.
I'm gonna sit with you.
I'll help you work out a deal, whatever.
Can you really do that? Damn right I can.
Come on.
Give me the gun.
I'm sorry.
I've never threatened anyone with a gun before.
Just don't make a habit of it.
You expecting someone? That's him.
Get down! Get down! Run! Let's go! Let's go! Hold on.
Hold on.
This way.
Right here.
Behind this tree.
Okay, listen.
You'll be safe here.
You'll be safe.
Okay.
Okay, listen.
Do me a favor.
Hit redial.
Whoever answers, tell them Agent Fitzgerald needs help.
Okay.
- There's no service.
- Just keep trying.
What are you doing if he finds us? You going to do something to him? Hey, hey.
Listen to me.
Look at me.
I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? Okay.
I just need you to be calm, okay? All right.
Keep trying the phone.
Okay Okay.
Yeah.
All right, hold on a second.
Elena, did you get hold of the neighbor? We have tried her cell phone.
So far no luck, but I put a patrol car to her house.
Okay, thank you very much for your help.
Look.
There wasn't any property under Kim Marcus's name, but her uncle owns a few acres up in Lake Hill.
No phone, but a gas bill in his name.
Perfect.
FBI! Drop your weapon! Kim, stay there.
Is he dead? Yeah.
How is she doing? US Attorney said that they'll take the coercion into account.
It's hard to vote your conscience when there's a knife at your mother's throat.
ERT did a sweep of the premises.
They found a gun.
Yeah, that was her uncle's.
I cleared the weapon, but I left it behind when I ran out of the cabin.
You're gonna have to see a shrink, you know that? Yeah.
I'll take care of it tomorrow.
You should take a couple days off.
Get some rest.
It's okay.
I'll keep an eye on her.
All right.
Thanks, Jack.
Miss Whitman, I'm sorry to inform you that Zack Porter was found dead.
He discovered jury tampering in the Malluci trial and was about to expose it when he was killed.
That's not possible.
But because of his efforts, Charles Malluci was apprehended in Los Angeles and will be retried.
Zack was a decent kid.
He didn't deserve this.
I did this.
What do you mean? After Zack called the prosecutor, I called Malluci's defense attorney, and I told him.
There's no way you could have known.
Hey, you almost ready? Yeah.
No.
I just got to grab my, you know, - stuff.
- All right.
- How did it go with Brian? - It was fine.
No problems? We just sat around and talked.
You know, he's okay.
- Really? - Yeah.
You know, I don't see the point in aggravating the situation.
It's just going to cause more problems.
That's great.
So, - no more background checks then? - No.
No more No more background checks.
Great.
Hey, did you talk to Hannah yet? Tonight after she finishes her homework.
Okay, good, because I processed the idea, and I would like for the three of us to do something together.
- That's great.
- I mean, if that's what she wants.
- That would be great.
- Oh, that's Or I could maybe take her out alone, just the two of us, to lunch or something like that.
You're a brave woman.
Yeah, that's what they tell me.
Who is it? It's Agent Fitzgerald.
Hello.
I I I didn't get to check in with you before I left the office, so I just want to make sure you're all right.
Yes.
I'm fine.
I've You know, I've been having a little bit of a hard time.
Yeah.
Nobody asked me about pulling a gun on you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
I I guess I just figured you had enough.
Thank you.
Listen if you need anything, just give me a call.
Oh, is this your card? Yes, it is.
Good night.
Would you like to come in for some coffee? Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, just don't hold me at gunpoint.
The highest they'll go is 30,000.
I need 50.
Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? I do.
And I think you'll pay it.
That is, if you want your friend to go free.
I feel like it's not that much money for what you're asking me to do.
You have a lot of sack for a little girl.
So, we have a deal? What the hell.
50 works.
I got to admit, I underestimated you.
Yeah.
That happens a lot.
The Underground Black Sheeps Team.