Law & Order (1990) s10e04 Episode Script
Merger
NARRATOR: 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.
Fifteen people? I cooked enough for 50.
You think anyone eats it? So concerned if they're gonna fit into their tiny little clothes.
Well, I guess a rehearsal dinner, Mr.
And Mrs.
Vance want to make sure they put out a good spread.
Honey, if I had that spread when I was getting married, my man might've stayed just for the leftovers.
(LAUGHING) Oh! Sweet Jesus! It's Christy Garrison! Quick, get Mr.
Vance! Christy Garrison, 15.
ID'd by her dad, Michael Garrison.
You read about him? Guy's worth half a billion dollars.
Another lesson in what money can't buy.
He the suit or the blue shirt? Blue shirt.
Guy in the suit is Mark Vance, the neighbor.
That the lady who found the girl? Yeah, Vondie Morris.
She's the Vances' cook.
She wrings her hands one more time, they're gonna fall off.
Anything in her pockets? An inhaler, full.
BRISCOE: Ah, asthma.
Sex? Don't know.
Clothes aren't torn, her nails look fine.
No sign of a struggle.
Yeah, except somebody clocked her against the wall.
Well, no robbery.
Her jewelry's still on.
Stick here, Agnelli.
Be nice.
Miss Morris, uh, you came outside At 7:30.
I let Nell in, another maid.
I'm a live-in.
Nell, she lives out.
You see or hear anything last night? Early this morning? No.
I was tired.
Had an early night.
You knew this girl? I've seen her time to time.
Outside smoking, that's all.
Do you need me? I got breakfast to put on the table.
No.
Maybe later.
Thanks.
ED: Doing outside in the middle of the night? I don't know what she was doing outside in the middle of the night, Detective.
We all went to bed early.
We had dinner together last night.
Our house.
Both families.
Everyone.
Anybody have a bedroom faces the alley? Yes, we do.
But we didn't hear anything.
You go in, Mr.
Garrison.
You be with your family.
We'll be in shortly.
Is that gate locked all the time? Yes.
Uh, who has access to it from the outside? Lmmediate families.
Mine, Michael's.
My chauffeur, Sammy.
He's the only one with an opener.
Could you get him, please? He's not here yet.
He was due at 6:30.
He late a lot? Not like this.
He comes, takes the limo out of the garage, pulls it up.
Can we see the limo? Yes, of course.
Sammy been with you long? Since the beginning of the year.
He's Vondie's son.
Why do I get the feeling Sammy won't be calling in sick? I haven't seen my son.
He doesn't check in with me.
Did you talk to him on the phone? Uh-uh.
Any idea where he is? Mr.
Vance knows where he lives.
We sent a patrol car to his house, Mrs.
Morris.
Sammy wasn't there.
Now, where else could he be? A girlfriend? I don't know why he's not here.
I don't know why you're so keen on whoever killed that poor child being my child.
I'm just keen on finding out who did it, Mrs.
Morris.
Why is it always some raised-right black boy you got your eye on? She must have gone outside.
She knew I hated smoking.
I should have let her smoke in here.
Did she know Sammy Morris? I can't see how.
Christy goes to boarding school.
She's just been back two days.
Either of you have dealings with him? He drove us, Nick and me.
Nick is? Mercedes' fiancé, Nicholas Vance.
What's Sammy like? I don't know.
He's just the driver.
The last time either of you saw Christy was what time? We left the Vances' around 10:00 o'clock.
Mike Vance was tired.
He had, uh, chemo for prostate cancer.
So, it was right after that, maybe 10:30, when my angel went to bed.
The last time I saw her.
Mark leaves before I'm awake.
I rarely see Sammy.
He seemed a nice enough young man.
How about you two? He sometimes drives me when Dad doesn't need him.
He's a pretty friendly guy.
Friendly with the neighbors? If Christy was outside, I'm sure he would have talked to her.
You ever talk to him? No.
Dad won't let him drive me.
Ethan doesn't need a driver.
Caught him outside smoking a joint one morning.
Said something about it, and he just told me to shut up.
Any other problems? A week ago my father said he had to set Sammy straight.
Set him straight? MERCEDES: Nick.
BRISCOE: Excuse me.
I hate to intrude, but your father had to set Sammy straight about what? He was using the limo's car phone for personal calls.
Who was he calling? Sounded like a girlfriend.
You know who she is? No, sir.
Do you have the cell phone bills? Regina isn't here.
What's she done? We're after her boyfriend, Sammy.
She left with him last night.
What time? I heard them.
Five something in the morning, they're dressed, going out the door.
Any idea where they might have gone? She said they were going to her sister Evelyn's in Queens.
I hope they stay there.
I can get some sleep for a change.
You got the sister's address? Yeah.
I'll get it.
I come home after the night shift, the wife and kids are gone.
Bitch takes the suitcase, the kids' clothes.
Any idea where they'd go that time of night, Mr.
Jasper? That time of night, I expect my wife flat on her back in bed, legs spread.
Her busy-body sister, Reggie, she must have put her up to this.
Yeah, well, leaving you in the lurch and all.
My point.
So, you're gonna get my kids, right? Bring my wife back? Well, we'd love to help you out, Mr.
Jasper, but we don't know where they are.
Well, where'd she go? Lt'll only be her mother's in Jersey.
This time, I want you to arrest my no-good husband.
Well, actually we're looking for Sammy Morris.
You're Regina Cobb? Reggie.
What do you want with Sammy? Man's a hero.
Sure.
Where's the hero now? My sister calls last night.
Says Frankie the Fist beat on her before going to work.
Come get her.
I call Sammy.
He says he'll get the limo, come over, get me, go to Queens, we'll get my sister, the kids.
So, he stole Mr.
Vance's limo? Borrowed.
He brought us by here.
And then what? He just vanishes? Brady threw up again.
These men don't need to know your brother's business.
Your little brother got sick? In the car.
Uncle Sammy was mad.
He gotta get the car washed.
So, where's the nearest car wash? Sammy Morris? Yeah.
We need you to come with us.
What for? Borrowing the car? For the murder of Christy Garrison.
What, the sister? She's murdered? You're kidding me.
If I was kidding you, I'd be wearing a fez and no pants.
I didn't do anything, man.
I swear for God.
School ID.
Christy Francis Garrison.
Lipstick inside, pocket mirror, palm pilot.
Let's go.
I was bringing the limo back.
Accident in the tunnel held us up, Brady got sick.
I had to wait for the car wash to open.
I couldn't bring the limo back like that.
Yeah, right.
Compared to offing the neighbor, messing up the boss's car is a big no-no.
I had nothing to do with what happened to that girl.
Lab found semen in the back seat, Sam, next to Christy's disco bag.
You have nothing to do with that? What, you think I'm gonna hop in the back seat, have a go at my girlfriend, her sister and kids in the car? Actually, that's not what we were thinking.
Is my mom okay? BRISCOE: Your mom's fine, kid.
She's the true believer.
I didn't do anything.
That's why she believes me.
Well, she's the only one holding down the fort.
You ask Mr.
Vance.
He knows I had nothing to do with it.
How would he know? I get along with him.
He gives me my props.
And Christy Garrison? She disrespect you? I don't know her.
But the rest of her family, they got more money than manners.
Right.
So, you figure you make friends with Christy, get close to that money, and maybe some of it falls in your pocket.
Around those people, I keep my hands in my pocket.
All right, so if you're straight with this, you'll volunteer some blood.
We can test it against the semen.
Do it.
So, my mom won't get in trouble.
Go ahead.
No jackpot, gentlemen.
Lab says Sammy's blood doesn't type with the semen.
Lot of traffic in that limo.
The M.
E.
Put the time of death between 3:00 and 5:00 in the morning.
So, who came knocking at her back door last night? I found something.
It's a handwritten note in her palm pilot.
"It's the bomb.
Call me.
" And it's signed Kelly.
There's a phone number and a time, 12:30 last night.
Maybe Christy went out, brought someone back with her.
Her parents said the little angel went to bed at 10:30.
You were never a kid? Allspice didn't take his ginkgo.
I met Christy down at Club Isis, on Avenue B.
She with anybody, Kelly? Everybody.
She was wasted.
Coming on to everyone.
BRISCOE: What's this note "It's the bomb" mean? It means it's cool.
What was cool? The whole scene.
So, you met her, you hung out a little while, then what? She had trouble breathing.
I think she ran out of her asthma medication or something.
She left with some guy.
ED: You know him? You remember what he looked like? WOMAN: Kelly.
I don't know.
Look, I gotta go help a customer.
No, you gotta help us.
Now, what did the boy at this cool scene look like? He was cute.
Just a general impression.
It was dark, you know? He wearing anything you remember? No.
Okay, go ahead.
Thanks for all your help.
CSU found a full inhaler in Christy's pocket at the scene, but her inhaler was empty at the club.
There's a 24-hour drugstore on First and Avenue A.
Yeah, I remember her.
Pretty girl.
Pretty sick.
She came in with a boy, showed me her inhaler, and, uh, wanted a refill.
You give it to her? Oh, yeah.
Standard procedure.
I gave her one from behind the counter to hold her.
Got her doc's phone number, went to call for a refill, and when I got back, they're gone.
Can we see your security camera tapes? Yeah, sure.
Okay.
There.
Time stamp's in the corner.
BRISCOE: 12:56 a.
m.
There's Christy.
Who's that? BRISCOE: That's Ethan Vance.
Another angel who went to bed early.
She called me just before midnight, and she said she wanted to go to a club.
ED: How'd she sound? She was up for going out.
A witness at the club said she was wasted.
Lookit, I didn't give her anything, okay? Lookit, you lied to us, okay? Believing you isn't at the top of our list.
I don't like your tone, Detective.
I was trying to protect her reputation.
She gonna get a rep for wheezing? So, you brought her home.
Then what? I stayed with her while she had a smoke, and I went to bed.
BRISCOE: What time? Uh, I don't know It was before 2:00.
You didn't take her out for a quick spin around the back of the limo? No.
ED: We heard she was at the club flirting with anything with a heartbeat.
Yeah.
So? That make you jealous? That was kid stuff.
Well, at 15, she was a kid.
Maybe you should have thought of that before you took advantage of her condition.
KAUFER: That's enough.
He admits to being with Miss Garrison, not to having sexual relations.
Fine.
Then let him volunteer his blood.
KAUFER: Absolutely not.
ED: Sammy Morris gave blood.
He isn't Sammy Morris.
You said you'd cooperate.
We have.
But on this point, I have to listen to our attorneys.
All right.
We'll have to let the district attorney handle it.
KAUFER: Besides invading the privacy of an individual who hasn't been charged with any crime, a DNA match would prove nothing.
It would certainly place him with the victim at the approximate time she was killed.
You have any other supporting evidence for a murder charge? They have nothing except sleazy innuendo.
Which even if true, is evidence of nothing.
It might be evidence of rape.
There is no evidence of forcible sex.
Statutory rape.
Oh, go on.
Your Honor, this is simply an attempt to embarrass a prominent family.
Miss Carmichael, I have to weigh Mr.
Vance's privacy rights against the chance you'll establish a fact, which isn't even evidence of a substantial crime.
Motion denied.
But Your Honor Until you have actual evidence of murder, take no for an answer, hmm? ED: The girl was a walking drugstore.
Tox panel shows cocaine, GHB, marijuana, liquor, Xanax, albuterol, Ativan, aspirin.
We're still waiting on the other autopsy test results.
So far, that's it? So far, we got some rich folks running interference for their brat.
You got a problem with rich people? Other than the fact that they're trying to buy their way out from under a murder charge? They're just trying to protect their kid.
With or without a platinum card, they're still parents.
Parents who have their names on a wing at the public library.
So, they impressed a judge.
Find something more impressive.
I don't see how you can be right about this.
I mean, the Vances are practically family.
They're the best people.
Well, the parents, maybe.
No, even their boys.
Ethan admits to taking your daughter to a club at 1:00 in the morning.
Ever know Ethan to lose his temper? Get violent? No.
No.
No.
Did Christy have a thing going with him? No.
They were like brother and sister, ever since we moved in.
ED: When was that? Two years ago.
Ever get the impression Ethan wanted to be more than a big brother? No.
Never.
BRISCOE: I don't get it.
The kid takes your daughter out for a night on the town, and you're not the least bit suspicious of him? You don't understand.
The Vances have gone out of their way to make us feel at home.
So? You're rich, they're rich.
Why shouldn't they make you feel welcome? (EXHALES) The Vances, as you very well know, are old money.
And the ink isn't dry on your dough.
People like the Vances often don't let you forget it.
Mark and Marianna have been awfully decent to us.
It is hard to believe that their son could have anything to do with Christy's death.
VONDIE: You apologize all you want.
That won't get my boy his job back.
Look, Sammy cooperated.
We hope you will, too.
So, I tell you stories out of school, then I'll be looking for a job, too.
We just want the truth.
The truth is that little girl wasn't such a good girl.
Why do you think they sent her to boarding school? We know she had bad habits.
What about Ethan? Look, you have to talk to us, Mrs.
Morris.
Ethan did a little drinking.
All boys do that.
He ever get violent when he drank? No.
He got sick sometimes, that's all.
Ever forget what he did the night before? I don't know.
He's not an alcoholic.
But he drinks enough to get sick.
(SIGHS) By accident.
He gets drunk by accident? Yes.
Like at Nick's bachelor party.
They carried Ethan home, sick as a pup.
It was because he gave blood that morning at his school and he hadn't eaten.
That was his excuse? He gave blood? Where? At his school, Langley Prep.
I don't see anything here.
Langley Prep.
Two weeks ago.
Blood drive.
Ethan Vance.
You have records of that.
We do.
And you keep records for public use? Tracking donors, eliminating AIDS, other blood-transmitted diseases? Of course.
And the donated blood is carefully screened, tracked? Yes, but it's private information.
We're not asking you to tell us if Ethan Vance has any disease.
We just want to know where the blood is.
We don't want to drink it.
V-A-N-C-E.
Ethan Daniel.
We'd like to know if the blood was used.
No, it was not used.
And, no, I can't give it to you.
BRISCOE: You see this? Oh.
Ah.
You see this? Temporary restraining order.
We're prevented from giving up the blood.
Who issued this thing? Judge Walter Schreiber.
So, does this mean somebody comes in here bleeding from every orifice, you can't give it to them either? That means, you're B-positive, Detective, and your head explodes, I gotta take a pass.
(SIGHS) CARMICHAEL: Why slap an order on the blood if they aren't concerned about what the blood will show? Violation of doctor-patient privilege, pure and simple.
Why Miss Carmichael's insistent on getting her panties in a Mr.
Eliezer.
Ethan Vance gave the blood away in a school drive.
There was no privilege implied, nor any expectation of it.
There wasn't even a doctor.
ELIEZER: Doctor? Nurse? What difference does it make? It was a medical procedure.
Privilege implies choice about how the blood would be used.
Ethan Vance did not, nor could he, mandate to whom the blood would be given or in what manner it might be used.
Once he provided it to a federally funded agency, his blood became public domain.
I think the key words here, Your Honor, are "his blood.
" It was blood given up to be used on or for anyone.
It was not a blood test.
SCHREIBER: I agree.
The minute he gave blood, Mr.
Vance forfeited his right to privacy.
I'll lift the restraining order.
The police can have the blood.
Ethan Vance's DNA didn't match the semen in the limo.
But it matched the semen found in the girl's body.
I thought you already did a rape kit.
This wouldn't have shown up on a rape kit.
Oh, the New York Disco Diet.
She had sex within a half hour of her death.
Different semen.
So, there's another player on the scene.
One from the home team.
I ran a mitochondrial DNA on the two semen samples.
They're from two related individuals.
(SIGHS) M.
E.
Says we can count the father out.
With prostate surgery, chemo, she doubts if he could come up with the goods.
That leaves the groom, Nicholas Vance.
Bring both brothers in? Absolutely.
Charge them with murder? Their lawyers will have that bounced before we can say boo.
Start with statutory rape, and we'll work up the food chain from there.
Ethan Vance, we're gonna need your hands.
Why? You're under arrest for the rape of Christy Garrison.
You can thank me later.
I hope you went for the Ming vase.
What do you want? We can, uh, talk in my car, huh? What can you possibly have to tell me in your car that you can't tell me here? That you're under arrest.
This is ridiculous.
For what? Rape.
What? Who? Mr.
Vance, in the car, please.
No, no, no, no, no.
Just who did I allegedly rape? Your late future sister-in-law.
I'm sorry, Miss.
A million dollars each? That's ludicrous, Your Honor.
My clients are charged with statutory rape.
And forcible rape.
They're also suspects in a murder.
They had sex with a 15-year-old within half an hour of her death.
If they had substantiating evidence of murder, they would have charged my clients with murder.
I want to keep them from running before we can gather that evidence.
These are people of means And people without means never flee? Your Honor, Nicholas Vance is engaged to be married.
Ethan is a full-time student.
This family is well known.
And well connected enough to facilitate flight.
Two million dollars is simply prohibitive.
They have assets.
The Vances are heavily invested, Your Honor.
They would have to liquidate a large part of their assets.
Property, then.
Mortgaged.
Some in the process of being sold, others in escrow.
Mr.
Kaufer, is this a temporary situation, or are your clients just poor? Pedal back on the sarcasm, Miss Carmichael.
The charge at present is not murder.
A million each for two counts of rape is not indicated.
Bail is set at $100,000 per.
(GAVEL STRIKES) You can expect our motions on this crap tomorrow.
Sounds like you're the one with the knot in your shorts.
The firm of Eliezer, Kaufer and Larkin has 500 lawyers.
And all of them must have been working on these last night.
ADAM: Yes, right.
They cover the waterfront.
Everything from tossing the DNA to changing the color of my lipstick.
They have studies from a Dr.
Euclidene of Lucerne, a lab in the UK, expert witnesses lined up from all points.
They're bringing in the pros from Dover.
Yeah, and the pros will confuse a jury enough to make them think DNA is a new pop group.
The Vances are spending a lot of money for people who were pleading poverty at the bail hearing.
Well, I checked their finances.
Lots of restructured loans.
The old money seems to be getting a bit arthritic.
Maybe they borrowed a cup of money from their neighbor.
The Vances still have fire power.
They will not go gently.
Neither will we.
Read and respond.
What about your murder investigation? Search warrant's already executed on the Vances' house.
The boys' rooms, Ethan's locker at school came up empty.
Any evidence that this was forcible rape? CARMICHAEL: No.
Then where's their motive for murder? Ethan had motive.
Jealousy.
He has sex with Christy first, and comes back and finds her with Nick.
And Nick slept with his fiancée's under-age sister.
She tells anyone, it might put the kibosh on the wedding plans.
Two motives, one possible killer.
Pick one.
Nicholas Vance is not Mercedes' former fiancé.
They're still engaged.
I'm sorry? I'm confused.
We have proof he had sexual relations with your sister.
I don't believe it.
It's okay, Mercedes.
Nick wouldn't do that.
PEPPER: We're told you can make DNA say anything you want it to say.
Why in the world would we want to I don't know.
First you picked on this black man, now on the boys.
Maybe rich people are fair game.
Mrs.
Garrison We've had this terrible thing happen to us.
Now, we're just trying to salvage whatever happiness we can for our only daughter.
Why do you insist on destroying that? Look, I'm sorry your fiancé is not the man you thought he was.
Only you know what he's capable of.
When you're ready to help us, you can call me at this number.
Nick? I got nothing bad to say about him.
When you drove Nick around, what did you talk about? Look, my mom's too old to get another job.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Vance like her, and she likes them.
I'm not getting in the middle of this.
I don't want to hurt your mother, and you telling me what you know about Nick can't do that.
I'm saying guy's been good to me.
Good to you? He's the guy who pointed the finger at you in the first place the morning of the murder.
He told us you were using his dad's car phone to call your girlfriend.
He did? Come on.
How do you think the police found out about Regina? Man, I was on that phone with her because I was cooling my jets, waiting while Nick was popping one off with his girlfriend.
You mean, someone besides Mercedes? Someone way besides Mercedes.
He's my lover and he hasn't tried to kill me yet.
How often do you see him? (CHUCKLES) You know.
No, I really don't.
As often as he wants it.
Sometimes four times a week, sometimes once a month.
You know he has a fiancée.
Yeah.
Well, we all got someone.
And you still do this? You see him? Why shut off the faucet? It's Nick Vance, lady.
Ain't some homeboy named Jo-Jo who brings me a can of beer once a month.
And after he's married? Why would it stop? Look, his fiancée's Mercedes Garrison, okay? I met her once.
Some snooty store Nick took me to.
Nick says she has some issues.
Issues? With you? Some emotional junk.
You know how rich people are.
You can afford a therapist, you see one.
You met her at a store.
You let on who you were? She knows who I am.
Really? Look, lady, it ain't a big deal.
I'm, like, on his payroll, and she knows it.
When she can't find him, she calls here looking for him, like I'm an answering service.
I tried asking Mercedes about Nick's girlfriend.
Couldn't get past the front door.
But the LUDS confirm calls from the Garrison house to the girlfriend.
Mercedes afraid of Nick? That why she'd put up with him? These people are aliens, Jack.
I have no idea what any of them are thinking.
What the hell is this marriage about? Well, I'm guessing love is not at the top of the hit parade.
So, Carlita says Mercedes knows about her.
We can't ask Mercedes, 'cause she's playing MIA.
Who else would know? Your fiancé's sleeping around, you're gonna tell someone.
Maid of honor? Do you know who she is? Maybe the society pages? Merce hinted Nick played around.
She didn't seem to mind.
I'm having a hard time understanding what Mercedes sees in him.
He's Nick Vance, for one thing.
Mrs.
Garrison was turned down for membership to the Merrimont Club three times.
Since the engagement, she's in.
That's so important to Mercedes? I met her in boarding school in Connecticut.
They had just gotten back from Argentina, where her dad was working.
I think her parents spent their last dime getting her into St.
Bethany's.
I thought her parents were loaded.
Not till Mr.
Garrison cashes in his stock options, maybe.
What was her relationship with Christy like? Big age difference, so they weren't close.
Did you see either of them the Sunday, the day before Christy was killed? I was supposed to meet them at Taryn Hsu on Saturday, Merce's final fitting for her wedding gown.
But she called me on my cell, told me change of plans, to meet her at Paillard.
Why? She said Christy wasn't going to join us, that they had gotten into some kind of fight at the store.
A fight about Nick? Mercedes didn't say.
She just talked about her dress.
It was being delivered that afternoon.
Did you ask her about the fight? Yes.
She ignored the question.
Whenever she got really anxious or she forgot to take her medication, she would just freeze you out.
What kind of medication? I don't know.
She's always been on something for something.
I didn't work that Saturday.
I wasn't supposed to work Sunday either.
But the manager called me up at home.
Told me to pick up the dress at the Garrison house and bring it back for repairs.
What kind of repairs? We had to replace the sleeve.
Somebody spilled something on it and tore it.
Is it still here? Yes.
Can I see it? Sure.
Did you speak to the Garrisons when you picked up the dress? No.
The maid, Anna, handed it to me at the door.
Right or left? Left.
Hmm.
Yeah, someone spilled something, all right.
Lab confirmed it's blood.
The rips are bite marks.
Bite pattern matches Christy Garrison's.
So, Mercedes tried on the dress at home on Sunday.
Mmm-hmm.
Christy bites her for some reason.
Couple of hours later, Christy's dead.
I guess big sister bit back.
I pick up the phone, and some politico on the other end says he owes Mark Vance a favor.
I turn on the faucet, and someone he plays golf with falls out.
Now never mind the Vance boys.
It's the Garrison girl.
I don't want to stand up with egg on our faces either, Adam.
I'm preparing papers to move on Mercedes.
Can't go near her with nothing more than teeth marks on a wedding dress.
And we stop playing musical suspects.
The clerk from the store said she picked up the wedding dress from the Garrisons' maid.
The door is closed, but I hear them fighting.
Did you hear what it was about? No, I hear yelling.
I don't get the words.
Then someone screams, and Miss Christy runs out crying.
And Mercedes? She comes out, too, crying, holding her arm in her wedding dress.
Miss Pepper, she comes, takes Mercedes back into the room.
Was this the first time you saw them fight? The temporary agency sends me for help for the wedding.
Two weeks only I was there.
Then Miss Christy dies.
No more job.
Anyone else who works in the house might be closer to the girls? Elyssa Fuegos.
She's working there many years.
Hey, the Garrisons' attorney, Peter Behrens, wants to bring Mercedes in to talk.
This should be interesting.
Well, as of three days after the murder, Elyssa Fuegos has been working at the Garrison villa in Puerto Vallarta.
How nice for her.
She's been working for the Garrisons on and off for the past 20 years.
She was Mercedes' nanny.
Talk to the Feds.
Notify the Mexican authorities.
Let's bring Miss Fuegos back to New York.
It's been brought to our attention that you've been talking to people at Taryn Hsu and a maid for the Garrisons.
JACK: So what? We feel the inevitable is coming.
What's inevitable? Arresting Mercedes.
We prefer to come forward.
As you probably know by now, Mercedes isn't well.
She's been under a doctor's care for years.
Even if she did something, she's not responsible.
You're conceding to an "if" now? No, I'm conceding nothing.
Dr.
Dana Ritchie, attesting to the fact that she's been Miss Garrison's primary physician for most of her life and has prescribed different psychogenics and tranquilizers in myriad dosages.
Librium, Ativan, Xanax, Soma, Zoloft, Elavil.
Dr.
Paul Terino, psychiatrist.
Valium.
She sleepwalks.
Dr.
Leslie Sowers, shrink.
Ritalin.
She's ADHD.
Dr.
Sally Kleiman, behavioral specialist.
Prozac.
She's PPD.
Cut to the chase.
Man two.
Diminished capacity, no jail time, she goes into the GlenAugust Clinic.
CARMICHAEL: GlenAugust? You're suggesting she killed her sister, but a few months of rest and a high-fiber diet will make it all better? I just want I did something terrible, and if I can It's all right, Mercedes.
Did you know about this, Mrs.
Garrison? No.
No, I I thought there was a chance.
But no, I wasn't sure.
Okay, I think Mr.
McCoy has heard enough.
I don't think so.
Before I agree to any kind of plea, I want our shrink to talk to her.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't see how we can refuse them.
I remember a fight.
I don't remember what the fight was about.
Does that happen to you a lot? That you can't remember things? Yeah.
I take so many medications.
And some things I remember, I'm not sure they really happened.
Your marriage to Nicholas Vance, is it important to you? Yeah.
It's important to our families.
I asked if it was important to you.
Oh, um Sure.
I always wanted to be married.
Do you love Nick? Of course.
Even though he has other women in his life? I know he'll take very good care of me.
What about your sister? Like her? Hate her? I loved her.
Uh, I was sent away when she was born, and when I came back, she was already there.
I never got to know her very well.
I regret that.
What was this fight about? I don't remember what the fight was about.
Was it about Nick? No.
Maybe it was about Nick.
It must have been.
Was there another issue between you and Christy? No, nothing.
Oh She stole some makeup from me when she was 11.
Um, some jewelry, two years ago.
Sister stuff.
Yeah, sister stuff.
How did you feel about her having sex with Nick? Christy had a lot of problems.
But your lawyer said you killed her because you were enraged when you saw her with Nick.
Yeah.
Do you remember it? I detected some big ugly critter under a rock, but I wasn't able to turn it over.
Seeing your sister having sex with your fiancé is big and ugly.
She's conveniently forgotten it? Or she can't bear to remember.
Or? She never saw it.
But she did kill her sister.
The signals this girl sends out are so jumbled, I can't tell what she knows, what she imagines, what she's done, what she's convinced herself she did.
The drugs? That's just one factor.
This woman's been rewired by a lot of different hands.
So, what do we do with this plea? I said I'd have our guy look at her.
He looked at her.
No deal.
(SIGHS) What are you going for? Jail time? A trial? Or are you just going to grind that family into the dirt? I'm going to do my job.
Elyssa Fuegos is on a plane out of Mexico right now.
Our luck, three more suspects'll pop up before the wheels touch down.
You drag me thousands of miles.
You order me here.
This wouldn't have been necessary if the Garrisons hadn't spirited you out of the country.
There was no subterfuge.
The Garrisons bought the villa three months ago.
They needed Mrs.
Fuegos to organize the household.
Three days after their daughter was murdered? You've worked for the Garrisons since Mercedes was born? Except when they moved for four years to Argentina.
They couldn't afford to bring me along.
They brought me back when they came home with the new baby, Christy.
So, you were there that Sunday when Mercedes and Christy had a fight? I don't know anything about a fight.
Christy bit Mercedes? I don't know about that.
Have the Garrisons talked to you? Did they tell you we can put you in prison for perjury? These are good people.
Why are you Mrs.
Fuegos, they're going to drop you no matter what you do.
You can't protect them.
You can't protect Mercedes.
You can tell the truth.
Mercedes has been charged with murder.
She killed Christy.
What? She confessed.
She didn't do it.
I know.
How? I was with her.
She was sick from her pills.
And what time was this? She called me just after She was throwing up I stay in her room all night.
Then I woke her up when the police came.
I can understand why you'd want to protect Mercedes.
How could you say she did it? She didn't even remember I slept in the room with her.
I called the poison control from her room because I was concerned about her pills.
What about Mr.
And Mrs.
Garrison? Did you hear them get up during the night? No.
Whose idea was it to send you to Mexico? Mrs.
Garrison told me.
She said her and Mr.
Garrison wanted the house ready for after the wedding.
Mercedes still wanted to get married to Nick? Mercedes never knew what she wanted, except peace.
Thank you, Mrs.
Fuegos.
I need to instruct you not to leave the city and not to discuss what you told us with anybody.
(CLEARS THROAT) Someone convinced Mercedes to fall on her sword.
Or they convinced her she did it.
Either way, it turns my stomach.
Plead diminished capacity, a couple of months rest at GlenAugust, and Mercedes is on her way back down the aisle.
So, which one? Mr.
Or Mrs.
Garrison? Unless we want to give Adam a heart attack, we better pick one.
Let's bring in the whole family.
Elyssa Fuegos said you called her at around You remember that? I don't know.
You were sick from your medication.
Miss Fuegos stayed with you until the morning.
Simply put, Miss Garrison, you didn't kill your sister.
Elyssa practically raised Mercedes.
Of course she'd say anything.
She called the poison control hotline on your daughter's phone.
The phone records confirm a call was made at 2:57 in the morning.
We believe her, Mrs.
Garrison.
Your daughter's innocent.
You told me you saw her do it.
She killed Christy.
That's what you said.
Michael, not here.
For God sake, Paula, what could you be thinking? I wanted it to end.
It had to be her.
Why? Why not that creep, Nick? We couldn't find a reason Nick would have killed Christy.
Or his brother, or some maniac.
It's you.
Mercedes, don't You did it.
You killed my daughter.
You took her away from me, and now you've killed her.
Mercedes.
Christy was your daughter.
In Argentina, when I was 14.
Mercedes, not in front of strangers.
I needed her to know.
That afternoon, I told her.
That's why she was so angry.
We agreed, she was never supposed to know.
She had a right to know! And you had a right to be happy.
She was going to ruin that, darling.
CARMICHAEL: Ruin what? Your chances ofjoining the Mayflower Tea Club if they ever found out your daughter was knocked up at 14? Is that what Christy threatened? You saw her outside with Nick and Ethan.
JACK: You confronted her.
That's when she told you she knew? No.
Oh, my God, Paula.
I am not going to discuss this here.
Michael, we're leaving.
Mr.
Behrens, tell him.
Mr.
Garrison, we should leave.
You, too, Mercedes.
Mrs.
Garrison, I suggest you get yourself an attorney.
Briscoe, Green and a bucket of cops have been over that house, Jack.
And? They found a pantsuit of Pepper's.
Elyssa confirms Pepper was wearing it the night of the murder.
Blood splatters? If we had both parts of the pantsuit.
They found the pants but not the jacket.
Can I see you two in here? You know the Vances.
They have something to say.
What our sons did was inexcusable.
We're dealing with them harshly.
You've come to make apologies for your sons? We've come to tell you who killed Christy Garrison.
That night, we heard Nick come in.
I wanted to know what he'd gotten into this time.
I stopped him on the stairs.
We heard noises outside.
Yelling.
Our room is over the service alley.
Christy was screaming at Pepper.
MARK: Christy was attacking her.
I ran down the stairs, got outside.
Christy was sliding down the wall.
Christy was rushing her, striking her.
Pepper didn't have a choice.
Christy was dead.
Pepper was inconsolable.
I I told her to go inside.
We'd handle it.
It was an act of cowardice on our parts that we didn't come forward earlier.
You kept silent when your sons were suspected of murder.
Why? We knew they hadn't done it.
That they'd be released.
CARMICHAEL: And when Mercedes was arrested? She hadn't done it.
She's fragile.
MARIANNA: We knew that would come out.
And you good Samaritans come forward now because All right, Jack.
I'm sorry, Adam.
It's just so damned convenient.
Pepper is accused of murder.
It was self-defense.
We saw it.
We can help.
(SIGHS) You know where to find us.
We'll be of whatever help we can.
I think we can make a case for murder against Pepper Garrison.
The case is self-defense.
We can go for it, Adam.
The girl was hopped up on drugs.
Vances are impeccable witnesses.
And Pepper Garrison has a rock-solid affirmative defense.
Never get a conviction.
CARMICHAEL: Society page, the long awaited honeymoon of Nicholas and Mercedes Vance.
Greece.
Must be lovely this time of year.
Take a look.
Page is marked.
Vance Affiliated Industries announces a huge infusion of cash and stock from its new partner, the Garrison Investment Group.
This was a merger.
It was never a marriage.
The laws for the rich are different.
What laws for the rich?
These are their stories.
Fifteen people? I cooked enough for 50.
You think anyone eats it? So concerned if they're gonna fit into their tiny little clothes.
Well, I guess a rehearsal dinner, Mr.
And Mrs.
Vance want to make sure they put out a good spread.
Honey, if I had that spread when I was getting married, my man might've stayed just for the leftovers.
(LAUGHING) Oh! Sweet Jesus! It's Christy Garrison! Quick, get Mr.
Vance! Christy Garrison, 15.
ID'd by her dad, Michael Garrison.
You read about him? Guy's worth half a billion dollars.
Another lesson in what money can't buy.
He the suit or the blue shirt? Blue shirt.
Guy in the suit is Mark Vance, the neighbor.
That the lady who found the girl? Yeah, Vondie Morris.
She's the Vances' cook.
She wrings her hands one more time, they're gonna fall off.
Anything in her pockets? An inhaler, full.
BRISCOE: Ah, asthma.
Sex? Don't know.
Clothes aren't torn, her nails look fine.
No sign of a struggle.
Yeah, except somebody clocked her against the wall.
Well, no robbery.
Her jewelry's still on.
Stick here, Agnelli.
Be nice.
Miss Morris, uh, you came outside At 7:30.
I let Nell in, another maid.
I'm a live-in.
Nell, she lives out.
You see or hear anything last night? Early this morning? No.
I was tired.
Had an early night.
You knew this girl? I've seen her time to time.
Outside smoking, that's all.
Do you need me? I got breakfast to put on the table.
No.
Maybe later.
Thanks.
ED: Doing outside in the middle of the night? I don't know what she was doing outside in the middle of the night, Detective.
We all went to bed early.
We had dinner together last night.
Our house.
Both families.
Everyone.
Anybody have a bedroom faces the alley? Yes, we do.
But we didn't hear anything.
You go in, Mr.
Garrison.
You be with your family.
We'll be in shortly.
Is that gate locked all the time? Yes.
Uh, who has access to it from the outside? Lmmediate families.
Mine, Michael's.
My chauffeur, Sammy.
He's the only one with an opener.
Could you get him, please? He's not here yet.
He was due at 6:30.
He late a lot? Not like this.
He comes, takes the limo out of the garage, pulls it up.
Can we see the limo? Yes, of course.
Sammy been with you long? Since the beginning of the year.
He's Vondie's son.
Why do I get the feeling Sammy won't be calling in sick? I haven't seen my son.
He doesn't check in with me.
Did you talk to him on the phone? Uh-uh.
Any idea where he is? Mr.
Vance knows where he lives.
We sent a patrol car to his house, Mrs.
Morris.
Sammy wasn't there.
Now, where else could he be? A girlfriend? I don't know why he's not here.
I don't know why you're so keen on whoever killed that poor child being my child.
I'm just keen on finding out who did it, Mrs.
Morris.
Why is it always some raised-right black boy you got your eye on? She must have gone outside.
She knew I hated smoking.
I should have let her smoke in here.
Did she know Sammy Morris? I can't see how.
Christy goes to boarding school.
She's just been back two days.
Either of you have dealings with him? He drove us, Nick and me.
Nick is? Mercedes' fiancé, Nicholas Vance.
What's Sammy like? I don't know.
He's just the driver.
The last time either of you saw Christy was what time? We left the Vances' around 10:00 o'clock.
Mike Vance was tired.
He had, uh, chemo for prostate cancer.
So, it was right after that, maybe 10:30, when my angel went to bed.
The last time I saw her.
Mark leaves before I'm awake.
I rarely see Sammy.
He seemed a nice enough young man.
How about you two? He sometimes drives me when Dad doesn't need him.
He's a pretty friendly guy.
Friendly with the neighbors? If Christy was outside, I'm sure he would have talked to her.
You ever talk to him? No.
Dad won't let him drive me.
Ethan doesn't need a driver.
Caught him outside smoking a joint one morning.
Said something about it, and he just told me to shut up.
Any other problems? A week ago my father said he had to set Sammy straight.
Set him straight? MERCEDES: Nick.
BRISCOE: Excuse me.
I hate to intrude, but your father had to set Sammy straight about what? He was using the limo's car phone for personal calls.
Who was he calling? Sounded like a girlfriend.
You know who she is? No, sir.
Do you have the cell phone bills? Regina isn't here.
What's she done? We're after her boyfriend, Sammy.
She left with him last night.
What time? I heard them.
Five something in the morning, they're dressed, going out the door.
Any idea where they might have gone? She said they were going to her sister Evelyn's in Queens.
I hope they stay there.
I can get some sleep for a change.
You got the sister's address? Yeah.
I'll get it.
I come home after the night shift, the wife and kids are gone.
Bitch takes the suitcase, the kids' clothes.
Any idea where they'd go that time of night, Mr.
Jasper? That time of night, I expect my wife flat on her back in bed, legs spread.
Her busy-body sister, Reggie, she must have put her up to this.
Yeah, well, leaving you in the lurch and all.
My point.
So, you're gonna get my kids, right? Bring my wife back? Well, we'd love to help you out, Mr.
Jasper, but we don't know where they are.
Well, where'd she go? Lt'll only be her mother's in Jersey.
This time, I want you to arrest my no-good husband.
Well, actually we're looking for Sammy Morris.
You're Regina Cobb? Reggie.
What do you want with Sammy? Man's a hero.
Sure.
Where's the hero now? My sister calls last night.
Says Frankie the Fist beat on her before going to work.
Come get her.
I call Sammy.
He says he'll get the limo, come over, get me, go to Queens, we'll get my sister, the kids.
So, he stole Mr.
Vance's limo? Borrowed.
He brought us by here.
And then what? He just vanishes? Brady threw up again.
These men don't need to know your brother's business.
Your little brother got sick? In the car.
Uncle Sammy was mad.
He gotta get the car washed.
So, where's the nearest car wash? Sammy Morris? Yeah.
We need you to come with us.
What for? Borrowing the car? For the murder of Christy Garrison.
What, the sister? She's murdered? You're kidding me.
If I was kidding you, I'd be wearing a fez and no pants.
I didn't do anything, man.
I swear for God.
School ID.
Christy Francis Garrison.
Lipstick inside, pocket mirror, palm pilot.
Let's go.
I was bringing the limo back.
Accident in the tunnel held us up, Brady got sick.
I had to wait for the car wash to open.
I couldn't bring the limo back like that.
Yeah, right.
Compared to offing the neighbor, messing up the boss's car is a big no-no.
I had nothing to do with what happened to that girl.
Lab found semen in the back seat, Sam, next to Christy's disco bag.
You have nothing to do with that? What, you think I'm gonna hop in the back seat, have a go at my girlfriend, her sister and kids in the car? Actually, that's not what we were thinking.
Is my mom okay? BRISCOE: Your mom's fine, kid.
She's the true believer.
I didn't do anything.
That's why she believes me.
Well, she's the only one holding down the fort.
You ask Mr.
Vance.
He knows I had nothing to do with it.
How would he know? I get along with him.
He gives me my props.
And Christy Garrison? She disrespect you? I don't know her.
But the rest of her family, they got more money than manners.
Right.
So, you figure you make friends with Christy, get close to that money, and maybe some of it falls in your pocket.
Around those people, I keep my hands in my pocket.
All right, so if you're straight with this, you'll volunteer some blood.
We can test it against the semen.
Do it.
So, my mom won't get in trouble.
Go ahead.
No jackpot, gentlemen.
Lab says Sammy's blood doesn't type with the semen.
Lot of traffic in that limo.
The M.
E.
Put the time of death between 3:00 and 5:00 in the morning.
So, who came knocking at her back door last night? I found something.
It's a handwritten note in her palm pilot.
"It's the bomb.
Call me.
" And it's signed Kelly.
There's a phone number and a time, 12:30 last night.
Maybe Christy went out, brought someone back with her.
Her parents said the little angel went to bed at 10:30.
You were never a kid? Allspice didn't take his ginkgo.
I met Christy down at Club Isis, on Avenue B.
She with anybody, Kelly? Everybody.
She was wasted.
Coming on to everyone.
BRISCOE: What's this note "It's the bomb" mean? It means it's cool.
What was cool? The whole scene.
So, you met her, you hung out a little while, then what? She had trouble breathing.
I think she ran out of her asthma medication or something.
She left with some guy.
ED: You know him? You remember what he looked like? WOMAN: Kelly.
I don't know.
Look, I gotta go help a customer.
No, you gotta help us.
Now, what did the boy at this cool scene look like? He was cute.
Just a general impression.
It was dark, you know? He wearing anything you remember? No.
Okay, go ahead.
Thanks for all your help.
CSU found a full inhaler in Christy's pocket at the scene, but her inhaler was empty at the club.
There's a 24-hour drugstore on First and Avenue A.
Yeah, I remember her.
Pretty girl.
Pretty sick.
She came in with a boy, showed me her inhaler, and, uh, wanted a refill.
You give it to her? Oh, yeah.
Standard procedure.
I gave her one from behind the counter to hold her.
Got her doc's phone number, went to call for a refill, and when I got back, they're gone.
Can we see your security camera tapes? Yeah, sure.
Okay.
There.
Time stamp's in the corner.
BRISCOE: 12:56 a.
m.
There's Christy.
Who's that? BRISCOE: That's Ethan Vance.
Another angel who went to bed early.
She called me just before midnight, and she said she wanted to go to a club.
ED: How'd she sound? She was up for going out.
A witness at the club said she was wasted.
Lookit, I didn't give her anything, okay? Lookit, you lied to us, okay? Believing you isn't at the top of our list.
I don't like your tone, Detective.
I was trying to protect her reputation.
She gonna get a rep for wheezing? So, you brought her home.
Then what? I stayed with her while she had a smoke, and I went to bed.
BRISCOE: What time? Uh, I don't know It was before 2:00.
You didn't take her out for a quick spin around the back of the limo? No.
ED: We heard she was at the club flirting with anything with a heartbeat.
Yeah.
So? That make you jealous? That was kid stuff.
Well, at 15, she was a kid.
Maybe you should have thought of that before you took advantage of her condition.
KAUFER: That's enough.
He admits to being with Miss Garrison, not to having sexual relations.
Fine.
Then let him volunteer his blood.
KAUFER: Absolutely not.
ED: Sammy Morris gave blood.
He isn't Sammy Morris.
You said you'd cooperate.
We have.
But on this point, I have to listen to our attorneys.
All right.
We'll have to let the district attorney handle it.
KAUFER: Besides invading the privacy of an individual who hasn't been charged with any crime, a DNA match would prove nothing.
It would certainly place him with the victim at the approximate time she was killed.
You have any other supporting evidence for a murder charge? They have nothing except sleazy innuendo.
Which even if true, is evidence of nothing.
It might be evidence of rape.
There is no evidence of forcible sex.
Statutory rape.
Oh, go on.
Your Honor, this is simply an attempt to embarrass a prominent family.
Miss Carmichael, I have to weigh Mr.
Vance's privacy rights against the chance you'll establish a fact, which isn't even evidence of a substantial crime.
Motion denied.
But Your Honor Until you have actual evidence of murder, take no for an answer, hmm? ED: The girl was a walking drugstore.
Tox panel shows cocaine, GHB, marijuana, liquor, Xanax, albuterol, Ativan, aspirin.
We're still waiting on the other autopsy test results.
So far, that's it? So far, we got some rich folks running interference for their brat.
You got a problem with rich people? Other than the fact that they're trying to buy their way out from under a murder charge? They're just trying to protect their kid.
With or without a platinum card, they're still parents.
Parents who have their names on a wing at the public library.
So, they impressed a judge.
Find something more impressive.
I don't see how you can be right about this.
I mean, the Vances are practically family.
They're the best people.
Well, the parents, maybe.
No, even their boys.
Ethan admits to taking your daughter to a club at 1:00 in the morning.
Ever know Ethan to lose his temper? Get violent? No.
No.
No.
Did Christy have a thing going with him? No.
They were like brother and sister, ever since we moved in.
ED: When was that? Two years ago.
Ever get the impression Ethan wanted to be more than a big brother? No.
Never.
BRISCOE: I don't get it.
The kid takes your daughter out for a night on the town, and you're not the least bit suspicious of him? You don't understand.
The Vances have gone out of their way to make us feel at home.
So? You're rich, they're rich.
Why shouldn't they make you feel welcome? (EXHALES) The Vances, as you very well know, are old money.
And the ink isn't dry on your dough.
People like the Vances often don't let you forget it.
Mark and Marianna have been awfully decent to us.
It is hard to believe that their son could have anything to do with Christy's death.
VONDIE: You apologize all you want.
That won't get my boy his job back.
Look, Sammy cooperated.
We hope you will, too.
So, I tell you stories out of school, then I'll be looking for a job, too.
We just want the truth.
The truth is that little girl wasn't such a good girl.
Why do you think they sent her to boarding school? We know she had bad habits.
What about Ethan? Look, you have to talk to us, Mrs.
Morris.
Ethan did a little drinking.
All boys do that.
He ever get violent when he drank? No.
He got sick sometimes, that's all.
Ever forget what he did the night before? I don't know.
He's not an alcoholic.
But he drinks enough to get sick.
(SIGHS) By accident.
He gets drunk by accident? Yes.
Like at Nick's bachelor party.
They carried Ethan home, sick as a pup.
It was because he gave blood that morning at his school and he hadn't eaten.
That was his excuse? He gave blood? Where? At his school, Langley Prep.
I don't see anything here.
Langley Prep.
Two weeks ago.
Blood drive.
Ethan Vance.
You have records of that.
We do.
And you keep records for public use? Tracking donors, eliminating AIDS, other blood-transmitted diseases? Of course.
And the donated blood is carefully screened, tracked? Yes, but it's private information.
We're not asking you to tell us if Ethan Vance has any disease.
We just want to know where the blood is.
We don't want to drink it.
V-A-N-C-E.
Ethan Daniel.
We'd like to know if the blood was used.
No, it was not used.
And, no, I can't give it to you.
BRISCOE: You see this? Oh.
Ah.
You see this? Temporary restraining order.
We're prevented from giving up the blood.
Who issued this thing? Judge Walter Schreiber.
So, does this mean somebody comes in here bleeding from every orifice, you can't give it to them either? That means, you're B-positive, Detective, and your head explodes, I gotta take a pass.
(SIGHS) CARMICHAEL: Why slap an order on the blood if they aren't concerned about what the blood will show? Violation of doctor-patient privilege, pure and simple.
Why Miss Carmichael's insistent on getting her panties in a Mr.
Eliezer.
Ethan Vance gave the blood away in a school drive.
There was no privilege implied, nor any expectation of it.
There wasn't even a doctor.
ELIEZER: Doctor? Nurse? What difference does it make? It was a medical procedure.
Privilege implies choice about how the blood would be used.
Ethan Vance did not, nor could he, mandate to whom the blood would be given or in what manner it might be used.
Once he provided it to a federally funded agency, his blood became public domain.
I think the key words here, Your Honor, are "his blood.
" It was blood given up to be used on or for anyone.
It was not a blood test.
SCHREIBER: I agree.
The minute he gave blood, Mr.
Vance forfeited his right to privacy.
I'll lift the restraining order.
The police can have the blood.
Ethan Vance's DNA didn't match the semen in the limo.
But it matched the semen found in the girl's body.
I thought you already did a rape kit.
This wouldn't have shown up on a rape kit.
Oh, the New York Disco Diet.
She had sex within a half hour of her death.
Different semen.
So, there's another player on the scene.
One from the home team.
I ran a mitochondrial DNA on the two semen samples.
They're from two related individuals.
(SIGHS) M.
E.
Says we can count the father out.
With prostate surgery, chemo, she doubts if he could come up with the goods.
That leaves the groom, Nicholas Vance.
Bring both brothers in? Absolutely.
Charge them with murder? Their lawyers will have that bounced before we can say boo.
Start with statutory rape, and we'll work up the food chain from there.
Ethan Vance, we're gonna need your hands.
Why? You're under arrest for the rape of Christy Garrison.
You can thank me later.
I hope you went for the Ming vase.
What do you want? We can, uh, talk in my car, huh? What can you possibly have to tell me in your car that you can't tell me here? That you're under arrest.
This is ridiculous.
For what? Rape.
What? Who? Mr.
Vance, in the car, please.
No, no, no, no, no.
Just who did I allegedly rape? Your late future sister-in-law.
I'm sorry, Miss.
A million dollars each? That's ludicrous, Your Honor.
My clients are charged with statutory rape.
And forcible rape.
They're also suspects in a murder.
They had sex with a 15-year-old within half an hour of her death.
If they had substantiating evidence of murder, they would have charged my clients with murder.
I want to keep them from running before we can gather that evidence.
These are people of means And people without means never flee? Your Honor, Nicholas Vance is engaged to be married.
Ethan is a full-time student.
This family is well known.
And well connected enough to facilitate flight.
Two million dollars is simply prohibitive.
They have assets.
The Vances are heavily invested, Your Honor.
They would have to liquidate a large part of their assets.
Property, then.
Mortgaged.
Some in the process of being sold, others in escrow.
Mr.
Kaufer, is this a temporary situation, or are your clients just poor? Pedal back on the sarcasm, Miss Carmichael.
The charge at present is not murder.
A million each for two counts of rape is not indicated.
Bail is set at $100,000 per.
(GAVEL STRIKES) You can expect our motions on this crap tomorrow.
Sounds like you're the one with the knot in your shorts.
The firm of Eliezer, Kaufer and Larkin has 500 lawyers.
And all of them must have been working on these last night.
ADAM: Yes, right.
They cover the waterfront.
Everything from tossing the DNA to changing the color of my lipstick.
They have studies from a Dr.
Euclidene of Lucerne, a lab in the UK, expert witnesses lined up from all points.
They're bringing in the pros from Dover.
Yeah, and the pros will confuse a jury enough to make them think DNA is a new pop group.
The Vances are spending a lot of money for people who were pleading poverty at the bail hearing.
Well, I checked their finances.
Lots of restructured loans.
The old money seems to be getting a bit arthritic.
Maybe they borrowed a cup of money from their neighbor.
The Vances still have fire power.
They will not go gently.
Neither will we.
Read and respond.
What about your murder investigation? Search warrant's already executed on the Vances' house.
The boys' rooms, Ethan's locker at school came up empty.
Any evidence that this was forcible rape? CARMICHAEL: No.
Then where's their motive for murder? Ethan had motive.
Jealousy.
He has sex with Christy first, and comes back and finds her with Nick.
And Nick slept with his fiancée's under-age sister.
She tells anyone, it might put the kibosh on the wedding plans.
Two motives, one possible killer.
Pick one.
Nicholas Vance is not Mercedes' former fiancé.
They're still engaged.
I'm sorry? I'm confused.
We have proof he had sexual relations with your sister.
I don't believe it.
It's okay, Mercedes.
Nick wouldn't do that.
PEPPER: We're told you can make DNA say anything you want it to say.
Why in the world would we want to I don't know.
First you picked on this black man, now on the boys.
Maybe rich people are fair game.
Mrs.
Garrison We've had this terrible thing happen to us.
Now, we're just trying to salvage whatever happiness we can for our only daughter.
Why do you insist on destroying that? Look, I'm sorry your fiancé is not the man you thought he was.
Only you know what he's capable of.
When you're ready to help us, you can call me at this number.
Nick? I got nothing bad to say about him.
When you drove Nick around, what did you talk about? Look, my mom's too old to get another job.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Vance like her, and she likes them.
I'm not getting in the middle of this.
I don't want to hurt your mother, and you telling me what you know about Nick can't do that.
I'm saying guy's been good to me.
Good to you? He's the guy who pointed the finger at you in the first place the morning of the murder.
He told us you were using his dad's car phone to call your girlfriend.
He did? Come on.
How do you think the police found out about Regina? Man, I was on that phone with her because I was cooling my jets, waiting while Nick was popping one off with his girlfriend.
You mean, someone besides Mercedes? Someone way besides Mercedes.
He's my lover and he hasn't tried to kill me yet.
How often do you see him? (CHUCKLES) You know.
No, I really don't.
As often as he wants it.
Sometimes four times a week, sometimes once a month.
You know he has a fiancée.
Yeah.
Well, we all got someone.
And you still do this? You see him? Why shut off the faucet? It's Nick Vance, lady.
Ain't some homeboy named Jo-Jo who brings me a can of beer once a month.
And after he's married? Why would it stop? Look, his fiancée's Mercedes Garrison, okay? I met her once.
Some snooty store Nick took me to.
Nick says she has some issues.
Issues? With you? Some emotional junk.
You know how rich people are.
You can afford a therapist, you see one.
You met her at a store.
You let on who you were? She knows who I am.
Really? Look, lady, it ain't a big deal.
I'm, like, on his payroll, and she knows it.
When she can't find him, she calls here looking for him, like I'm an answering service.
I tried asking Mercedes about Nick's girlfriend.
Couldn't get past the front door.
But the LUDS confirm calls from the Garrison house to the girlfriend.
Mercedes afraid of Nick? That why she'd put up with him? These people are aliens, Jack.
I have no idea what any of them are thinking.
What the hell is this marriage about? Well, I'm guessing love is not at the top of the hit parade.
So, Carlita says Mercedes knows about her.
We can't ask Mercedes, 'cause she's playing MIA.
Who else would know? Your fiancé's sleeping around, you're gonna tell someone.
Maid of honor? Do you know who she is? Maybe the society pages? Merce hinted Nick played around.
She didn't seem to mind.
I'm having a hard time understanding what Mercedes sees in him.
He's Nick Vance, for one thing.
Mrs.
Garrison was turned down for membership to the Merrimont Club three times.
Since the engagement, she's in.
That's so important to Mercedes? I met her in boarding school in Connecticut.
They had just gotten back from Argentina, where her dad was working.
I think her parents spent their last dime getting her into St.
Bethany's.
I thought her parents were loaded.
Not till Mr.
Garrison cashes in his stock options, maybe.
What was her relationship with Christy like? Big age difference, so they weren't close.
Did you see either of them the Sunday, the day before Christy was killed? I was supposed to meet them at Taryn Hsu on Saturday, Merce's final fitting for her wedding gown.
But she called me on my cell, told me change of plans, to meet her at Paillard.
Why? She said Christy wasn't going to join us, that they had gotten into some kind of fight at the store.
A fight about Nick? Mercedes didn't say.
She just talked about her dress.
It was being delivered that afternoon.
Did you ask her about the fight? Yes.
She ignored the question.
Whenever she got really anxious or she forgot to take her medication, she would just freeze you out.
What kind of medication? I don't know.
She's always been on something for something.
I didn't work that Saturday.
I wasn't supposed to work Sunday either.
But the manager called me up at home.
Told me to pick up the dress at the Garrison house and bring it back for repairs.
What kind of repairs? We had to replace the sleeve.
Somebody spilled something on it and tore it.
Is it still here? Yes.
Can I see it? Sure.
Did you speak to the Garrisons when you picked up the dress? No.
The maid, Anna, handed it to me at the door.
Right or left? Left.
Hmm.
Yeah, someone spilled something, all right.
Lab confirmed it's blood.
The rips are bite marks.
Bite pattern matches Christy Garrison's.
So, Mercedes tried on the dress at home on Sunday.
Mmm-hmm.
Christy bites her for some reason.
Couple of hours later, Christy's dead.
I guess big sister bit back.
I pick up the phone, and some politico on the other end says he owes Mark Vance a favor.
I turn on the faucet, and someone he plays golf with falls out.
Now never mind the Vance boys.
It's the Garrison girl.
I don't want to stand up with egg on our faces either, Adam.
I'm preparing papers to move on Mercedes.
Can't go near her with nothing more than teeth marks on a wedding dress.
And we stop playing musical suspects.
The clerk from the store said she picked up the wedding dress from the Garrisons' maid.
The door is closed, but I hear them fighting.
Did you hear what it was about? No, I hear yelling.
I don't get the words.
Then someone screams, and Miss Christy runs out crying.
And Mercedes? She comes out, too, crying, holding her arm in her wedding dress.
Miss Pepper, she comes, takes Mercedes back into the room.
Was this the first time you saw them fight? The temporary agency sends me for help for the wedding.
Two weeks only I was there.
Then Miss Christy dies.
No more job.
Anyone else who works in the house might be closer to the girls? Elyssa Fuegos.
She's working there many years.
Hey, the Garrisons' attorney, Peter Behrens, wants to bring Mercedes in to talk.
This should be interesting.
Well, as of three days after the murder, Elyssa Fuegos has been working at the Garrison villa in Puerto Vallarta.
How nice for her.
She's been working for the Garrisons on and off for the past 20 years.
She was Mercedes' nanny.
Talk to the Feds.
Notify the Mexican authorities.
Let's bring Miss Fuegos back to New York.
It's been brought to our attention that you've been talking to people at Taryn Hsu and a maid for the Garrisons.
JACK: So what? We feel the inevitable is coming.
What's inevitable? Arresting Mercedes.
We prefer to come forward.
As you probably know by now, Mercedes isn't well.
She's been under a doctor's care for years.
Even if she did something, she's not responsible.
You're conceding to an "if" now? No, I'm conceding nothing.
Dr.
Dana Ritchie, attesting to the fact that she's been Miss Garrison's primary physician for most of her life and has prescribed different psychogenics and tranquilizers in myriad dosages.
Librium, Ativan, Xanax, Soma, Zoloft, Elavil.
Dr.
Paul Terino, psychiatrist.
Valium.
She sleepwalks.
Dr.
Leslie Sowers, shrink.
Ritalin.
She's ADHD.
Dr.
Sally Kleiman, behavioral specialist.
Prozac.
She's PPD.
Cut to the chase.
Man two.
Diminished capacity, no jail time, she goes into the GlenAugust Clinic.
CARMICHAEL: GlenAugust? You're suggesting she killed her sister, but a few months of rest and a high-fiber diet will make it all better? I just want I did something terrible, and if I can It's all right, Mercedes.
Did you know about this, Mrs.
Garrison? No.
No, I I thought there was a chance.
But no, I wasn't sure.
Okay, I think Mr.
McCoy has heard enough.
I don't think so.
Before I agree to any kind of plea, I want our shrink to talk to her.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't see how we can refuse them.
I remember a fight.
I don't remember what the fight was about.
Does that happen to you a lot? That you can't remember things? Yeah.
I take so many medications.
And some things I remember, I'm not sure they really happened.
Your marriage to Nicholas Vance, is it important to you? Yeah.
It's important to our families.
I asked if it was important to you.
Oh, um Sure.
I always wanted to be married.
Do you love Nick? Of course.
Even though he has other women in his life? I know he'll take very good care of me.
What about your sister? Like her? Hate her? I loved her.
Uh, I was sent away when she was born, and when I came back, she was already there.
I never got to know her very well.
I regret that.
What was this fight about? I don't remember what the fight was about.
Was it about Nick? No.
Maybe it was about Nick.
It must have been.
Was there another issue between you and Christy? No, nothing.
Oh She stole some makeup from me when she was 11.
Um, some jewelry, two years ago.
Sister stuff.
Yeah, sister stuff.
How did you feel about her having sex with Nick? Christy had a lot of problems.
But your lawyer said you killed her because you were enraged when you saw her with Nick.
Yeah.
Do you remember it? I detected some big ugly critter under a rock, but I wasn't able to turn it over.
Seeing your sister having sex with your fiancé is big and ugly.
She's conveniently forgotten it? Or she can't bear to remember.
Or? She never saw it.
But she did kill her sister.
The signals this girl sends out are so jumbled, I can't tell what she knows, what she imagines, what she's done, what she's convinced herself she did.
The drugs? That's just one factor.
This woman's been rewired by a lot of different hands.
So, what do we do with this plea? I said I'd have our guy look at her.
He looked at her.
No deal.
(SIGHS) What are you going for? Jail time? A trial? Or are you just going to grind that family into the dirt? I'm going to do my job.
Elyssa Fuegos is on a plane out of Mexico right now.
Our luck, three more suspects'll pop up before the wheels touch down.
You drag me thousands of miles.
You order me here.
This wouldn't have been necessary if the Garrisons hadn't spirited you out of the country.
There was no subterfuge.
The Garrisons bought the villa three months ago.
They needed Mrs.
Fuegos to organize the household.
Three days after their daughter was murdered? You've worked for the Garrisons since Mercedes was born? Except when they moved for four years to Argentina.
They couldn't afford to bring me along.
They brought me back when they came home with the new baby, Christy.
So, you were there that Sunday when Mercedes and Christy had a fight? I don't know anything about a fight.
Christy bit Mercedes? I don't know about that.
Have the Garrisons talked to you? Did they tell you we can put you in prison for perjury? These are good people.
Why are you Mrs.
Fuegos, they're going to drop you no matter what you do.
You can't protect them.
You can't protect Mercedes.
You can tell the truth.
Mercedes has been charged with murder.
She killed Christy.
What? She confessed.
She didn't do it.
I know.
How? I was with her.
She was sick from her pills.
And what time was this? She called me just after She was throwing up I stay in her room all night.
Then I woke her up when the police came.
I can understand why you'd want to protect Mercedes.
How could you say she did it? She didn't even remember I slept in the room with her.
I called the poison control from her room because I was concerned about her pills.
What about Mr.
And Mrs.
Garrison? Did you hear them get up during the night? No.
Whose idea was it to send you to Mexico? Mrs.
Garrison told me.
She said her and Mr.
Garrison wanted the house ready for after the wedding.
Mercedes still wanted to get married to Nick? Mercedes never knew what she wanted, except peace.
Thank you, Mrs.
Fuegos.
I need to instruct you not to leave the city and not to discuss what you told us with anybody.
(CLEARS THROAT) Someone convinced Mercedes to fall on her sword.
Or they convinced her she did it.
Either way, it turns my stomach.
Plead diminished capacity, a couple of months rest at GlenAugust, and Mercedes is on her way back down the aisle.
So, which one? Mr.
Or Mrs.
Garrison? Unless we want to give Adam a heart attack, we better pick one.
Let's bring in the whole family.
Elyssa Fuegos said you called her at around You remember that? I don't know.
You were sick from your medication.
Miss Fuegos stayed with you until the morning.
Simply put, Miss Garrison, you didn't kill your sister.
Elyssa practically raised Mercedes.
Of course she'd say anything.
She called the poison control hotline on your daughter's phone.
The phone records confirm a call was made at 2:57 in the morning.
We believe her, Mrs.
Garrison.
Your daughter's innocent.
You told me you saw her do it.
She killed Christy.
That's what you said.
Michael, not here.
For God sake, Paula, what could you be thinking? I wanted it to end.
It had to be her.
Why? Why not that creep, Nick? We couldn't find a reason Nick would have killed Christy.
Or his brother, or some maniac.
It's you.
Mercedes, don't You did it.
You killed my daughter.
You took her away from me, and now you've killed her.
Mercedes.
Christy was your daughter.
In Argentina, when I was 14.
Mercedes, not in front of strangers.
I needed her to know.
That afternoon, I told her.
That's why she was so angry.
We agreed, she was never supposed to know.
She had a right to know! And you had a right to be happy.
She was going to ruin that, darling.
CARMICHAEL: Ruin what? Your chances ofjoining the Mayflower Tea Club if they ever found out your daughter was knocked up at 14? Is that what Christy threatened? You saw her outside with Nick and Ethan.
JACK: You confronted her.
That's when she told you she knew? No.
Oh, my God, Paula.
I am not going to discuss this here.
Michael, we're leaving.
Mr.
Behrens, tell him.
Mr.
Garrison, we should leave.
You, too, Mercedes.
Mrs.
Garrison, I suggest you get yourself an attorney.
Briscoe, Green and a bucket of cops have been over that house, Jack.
And? They found a pantsuit of Pepper's.
Elyssa confirms Pepper was wearing it the night of the murder.
Blood splatters? If we had both parts of the pantsuit.
They found the pants but not the jacket.
Can I see you two in here? You know the Vances.
They have something to say.
What our sons did was inexcusable.
We're dealing with them harshly.
You've come to make apologies for your sons? We've come to tell you who killed Christy Garrison.
That night, we heard Nick come in.
I wanted to know what he'd gotten into this time.
I stopped him on the stairs.
We heard noises outside.
Yelling.
Our room is over the service alley.
Christy was screaming at Pepper.
MARK: Christy was attacking her.
I ran down the stairs, got outside.
Christy was sliding down the wall.
Christy was rushing her, striking her.
Pepper didn't have a choice.
Christy was dead.
Pepper was inconsolable.
I I told her to go inside.
We'd handle it.
It was an act of cowardice on our parts that we didn't come forward earlier.
You kept silent when your sons were suspected of murder.
Why? We knew they hadn't done it.
That they'd be released.
CARMICHAEL: And when Mercedes was arrested? She hadn't done it.
She's fragile.
MARIANNA: We knew that would come out.
And you good Samaritans come forward now because All right, Jack.
I'm sorry, Adam.
It's just so damned convenient.
Pepper is accused of murder.
It was self-defense.
We saw it.
We can help.
(SIGHS) You know where to find us.
We'll be of whatever help we can.
I think we can make a case for murder against Pepper Garrison.
The case is self-defense.
We can go for it, Adam.
The girl was hopped up on drugs.
Vances are impeccable witnesses.
And Pepper Garrison has a rock-solid affirmative defense.
Never get a conviction.
CARMICHAEL: Society page, the long awaited honeymoon of Nicholas and Mercedes Vance.
Greece.
Must be lovely this time of year.
Take a look.
Page is marked.
Vance Affiliated Industries announces a huge infusion of cash and stock from its new partner, the Garrison Investment Group.
This was a merger.
It was never a marriage.
The laws for the rich are different.
What laws for the rich?