Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s10e05 Episode Script

In New York city's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
- Doucement, doucement.
Gentle, damn it.
Loy, these have to get to the cellar right away.
I wish you could join us.
- I wish you could join me.
- I may go out afterwards.
- Oh.
- Mm.
- Okay.
Oh Happy anniversary.
- It's a week away.
- Well, there's more to come.
You've been working so hard.
Open it after your shoot tonight.
You are so sweet.
- Yeah, I like that one in blue.
- Aren't you beautiful? - Mr.
Bing.
Should I put the others in the walk-in, sir? - Not yet, loy.
Our guests are almost here.
- You've been gone an hour.
Where did you go? - Can you give me a lift home? - Oh! Ugh! Oh! Help me! Help! Help! Help! Adriano_csi Wine porter, Bing Cullman 56.
Probable coronary.
Butler found him 9:00 am in the wine cooler.
- And they need Major Case because? - Mr.
Cullman advised the mayor on his wine acquisitions.
The wife, Avery, is an advertising executive.
We kept her upstairs.
- Nice cellar.
Someone cleaned.
- The Butler did it.
Last night.
Says he left at 11:00 P.
M.
, Mr.
Bing was having a cigar in the back garden.
- Got a bilateral crease on his earlobe.
That's consistent with cardiovascular disease.
- Wine spatter.
He dropped his glass when he fell.
And he's got a safe up there.
Open And empty.
- I smell cigars Wine, sweat.
See these scrapes on his pinky knuckles? Both sides.
And nail marks in his palms.
Clenching his fists like he You know, was banging against the door.
- He panicked? Still, it seems to easily open from the inside.
Unless It was locked from the outside.
- Bing gave a wine tasting, and I had a photo shoot in Chelsea.
- Last night, what time did you come home? - Around 11:00.
Right after the wrap.
I assumed that he was in the cellar, and I went to bed.
And then this morning, when I woke up, he wasn't there.
And then loy found him.
- Did he have any health problems? - I mean, the usual for men of his age.
High blood pressure, gout - Heart trouble? - Yeah.
- We'll need a list of his meds.
- You said that you went right to bed.
Is that your usual schedule? - We were in a long term marriage.
And we loved each other.
Was it perfect? It was better than most.
- Okay.
Thanks for your candor.
- I went in and saw him on the ground.
- Loy Last night, you said it was a special tasting? One of the vintages was so rare, Mr.
ng had it delivered by armored car.
- How many ces? - Just six bottles.
- Did you know all the guests? - Mr.
ev.
Dilahunt.
And two other guests.
I don't remember their names, I'm sorry.
Mr.
Bing sells his wine through Mr.
Dilahunt's auction house.
- 1775, chateau de tour.
Brilliant color, almost no oxidation.
It was acolossuscollossus, my God.
- How do you get a hold of wines like that? - Only Bing finds wine like that.
This time he unearthed a sub-basement in new Jersey, of all places.
A stash of George Washington's wine as he lead his army against the redcoats.
His initials are engraved on each of the three bottles.
- Three bottles? We heard there were six.
- Did loy tell you that? He's dim.
He must've meant that we tasted six wines.
A '45, a '21.
An 1899.
Bing wanted us to put the chateau de tour in context.
- Must've hardo contextualize, after drinking half a case of wine.
- Not at this level.
Our sommelier gave it a perfect score.
I bought the remaining pair for 350,000 Euros.
They'll fetch half a million at auction.
- What time did you leave? - Just after 11:00.
Why would you- you said Bing died of a heart attack.
- A millionaire's death is never simple.
We'll need the names of your guests.
- Ms.
balon, our sommelier, was there.
But lang/malreaux can't give out the name of a client.
That's confidential.
- This is a police investigation.
We'll just get a subpoena.
- You make it sound chilling, detective.
Send the D.
A.
My best.
- So how's the investigation going into the heart attack of the mayor's wine advisor? - Tox screen says he had a blood alcohol level of 1.
9.
Blood pressure meds, nitrates for angina.
- None of those will kill you.
- Well, those with Viagra can.
- Viagra? Whoa.
Whoa, now is this even a homicide? - Lab scanned a shard of glass from the wine cellar.
It tested positive for Viagra.
- Nitrates and Viagra dissolved in wine, could've triggered a heart attack.
The killer locked Bing inside his walk-in, and left him to die.
- The spouse would have access to the medicine cabinet.
What about Avery? - She's from Nebraska.
No priors.
Tough childhood, though.
Her mom had a sheet.
Drugs and prostitution.
Avery came to New York after college.
She's a senior vp at Wellman media.
- She wasn't the only one there, though.
He had a wine tasting at his place that night, with three other guests.
And the t.
O.
D.
Was between 1:00 and 3:00 A.
M.
- He could've died anytime between thirty minutes and three hours after his wine was dosed.
- So everyone had means and opportunity.
But who had motive? - Your wine expert's here.
Hm, maybe she can tell us who had one.
- I'm sorry.
I was told not to discuss who was at the tasting.
- By who? - Mr.
Dilahunt.
He insists on client confidentiality.
- Well, I can understand that.
Lang/malreaux must respect you enormously, to have brought you to a Bing tasting.
- I was honored.
It was my first time at that level.
- It's terrible that he - Your first time, how longe have you been with him? Two and a half year in ny office before that, London.
And your company helped you with your e h-1b visa? - You have to get that renewed, right? How often do you? - Every three years.
You must be about to apply for an extension.
- Oh, geez.
- SoWho was the client? - Bing's death, eh, it's a tragedy.
A terrible loss.
- Were you close? - No.
No, I found him a bit, uh, pushy.
That's 17th century savoyard.
Please don't touch it.
- But, you know, having the chance to taste a 1775 chateau de tour.
There's two bottles like that left the world.
I'm surprised that you let Dilahunt take both.
- Bing had an arrangement with Dilahunt.
Dilahunt showed up with a briefcase full of Euros, and left with the wine.
- So you're going to bid on the de tour at auction? - Well, the tasting was ev's version of marketing.
And it worked.
So yeah, I'll be bidding.
And you buy mostly from auction? - Yeah.
Bordeaux futures subscriptions.
I've got 5,000 bottles here, and 2,000 in palm beach.
- Oh.
Could we see your cellar? - Sadly no.
I need to limit the vibration and movement down there, I'm sure you understand.
- Mm.
- Carl will show you out.
- A man with something to hide? - I think it's my size 13 vibe.
- Thanks.
My doctor told me I should drink more water.
And he wants me to take better care of myself.
Um, I thought a lot about last week.
- Oh, you did? - About what I said, that everybody lies.
It's childish.
You're right.
The truth is is that there are people that I trust.
- Anyone in particular come to mind? - Yeah, my partner.
Yeah, she always has my back.
- Tell me a little bit about her.
- Well, she's a good cop.
You know, she's more practical than I am.
She's smart You know, works hard, commands respect- - okay, I know what she does.
What's she like? - She grew up here.
Her father was a cop, her husband.
- Oh, she's married? - No.
He died in the line of duty before we met.
- And she never remarried? How long have you been together? - Um You know, there have been Breaks.
Uh, I guess, like, 11 or 12 years? - Hm.
How do you feel about her? - I told you, I respect her, I admire her.
She puts up with my crap, you know? And as you're learning, that's not easy.
- Do you love her? - What? I- she'sMy partner! A profess-I mean, the last thing she would need is for me to hit on her- - no, I didn't ask you what she needs.
- Yeah.
- She's a major relationship in your life.
Do you have any romantic feelings for her? - No.
She's like a sister to me.
- Do you have a sister? - I have a brother.
- That woman Is that your wife? - That's That's my partner.
- So what are you waiting for? - It's not that kind of partner, it's Now he's gone too.
- So she's like a sister? It's important to you that I know that there aren't any romantic possibilities between the two of you, isn't it? - You know, I don't get it.
I mean, what? You know, when a man can't have a working friendship with his partner? I mean, it has to be more than that? - This is not my point.
I'm wondering if you think romantic feelings for someone you admire and respect are at odds.
- Are there any women in your life? - The last few years I've been dealing with a lot of loss.
- Mm-hmm, more than your fair share.
And before that? - I've hadRelationships.
It's just that in my work You know, the hours aren't conducive.
You know, a man of my age Single a long time, you know? All of my problems, it's too late.
I mean, that's what you're thinking.
- What else am I thinking? Look, between your work and your affect, um You've created an emotional drawbridge that's protected you in many ways.
It's a good thing.
Do you ever feel lonely? - Ev Dilahunt told us he gave your husband But the safe was empty.
- There's a safe down there? The only one that he let in the cellar was loy.
- We need to talk to loy.
- Loy's home.
He asked to take a few days off.
I told you, I took care of Mr.
Bing.
I cook for him.
I gave him his pills.
When I saw him that morning, on the floor, I cried.
- Before or after you took his money? - My sister called me on Friday.
She said our mother needs dialysis.
I prayed to God all night for the money to take care of her.
Then, I came in and saw Mr.
Bing on the floor, and the money in the safe.
- God's will? Or yours? - Mine? Of course not.
He had a heart attack.
- No.
See, he didn't.
So someone gave him a glass of we laced with Viagra.
- Oh my God.
- Then from the cooler was locked from outside.
- It was unlocked when I saw him.
I swear.
He was fine when I left.
Ask Mr.
ev.
- Mr.
Dilahunt was still there when you left? - Mr.
Bing was very angry that the nose wasn't there.
He said that if he was going down, they were all going down.
- The nose? - Hutton mays? He's one of the world's foremost wine critics.
He writes descriptions of the wine for the auction house catalog.
And if he gives it a perfect score, well, then the price of it could skyrocket.
- He comes to all the tastings.
Except this last one.
- My nose was congested.
Couldn't smell.
- But here you are! Antibiotics? - Zinc.
- You must've been upset.
Missing an opportunity of a lifetime like that one.
- Bing held opportunity of a lifetime tastings every six months.
- May I? - Oh.
- A brunello.
Di montalcino? - And? - It's nice.
It's a bit thin for my taste.
I'm more like a barbaresco kind of guy.
You know, a little more umph.
- Well, let's just say you don't have a cop's palate.
- Well, it's nothing like yours.
Did you know his nose was insured for $5 million? I mean, someone of your talent, and ego Why would you let a novice rate that wine? - I told you, I was stopped up.
- When you didn't show, Bing told ev Dilahunt he would take you all down with him.
Any idea what he meant? - Bing had this uncanny knack for unearthing lost collections of the czars, wines hidden in monasteries from the Nazis - So you thought the wines were fake.
- Not by taste.
He may have given me the real ones, then passed the fake ones off.
But I felt that he and Dilahunt may have been using my name to promote fraud.
- Carbon-dating measures the radioactive isotopes in the grapes.
Now radiation levels changed in the '50s.
- After the bomb.
- Yes.
Now, judging from the sediment, is this wine pre-Hiroshima? It's no question.
Was it produced before the declaration of independence? You'd have to ask George Washington.
Now that said This wine is counterfeit.
See? Washington's initials? There, see? Machine-tooled.
A bottle from 1775 would've been hand-engraved.
- If it's that obvious, how come no one else caught it? - Obvious? It's an impeccable forgery.
- The nose knew.
- Why do you think I caught a cold? - You ungrateful little prick! - Oh, you mean nose.
- I'll pull them from the auction.
- How about the rest of the sale? You're selling hundreds of lots imported by Arnold binder.
- Who? Bing Cullman's prints belong to one Arnold binder who was dishonorably discharged from the British army in - A 30-year-old rap sheet in england, isn't he? - We had no clue- - come on, ev.
Come on.
I have a question.
How do you know that all the wines he sold you weren't fake? Like the '47 la tonne? - The proof is in the tasting.
Hutton gave it a 3.
95.
- The wine I tasted was genuine.
- You told us you thought some of Bing's wines might be counterfeit.
- Hutton's an artist, but he's also a drama queen.
- And you, ev, are a poseur.
You can't tell the difference between a burgundy and a Bordeaux.
- Easy, boys.
- No, no, let them go.
Let them go, look what they've told us already.
So we have fraud Grand theft, counterfeiting, criminal conspiracy - We got into it.
Bing said he'd bring everybody down.
- Now, you made that lying drunk millions, and he threatened to ruin the reputation of your auction house.
So what'd you do? Did you drop a little blue pill in his glass? - Absolutely not! Bing was alive when I left.
He was plastered.
But he was upright.
Ask his wife.
Avery and a very handsome young man had just come home as I was leaving.
Mrs.
Cullman, we were just coming up to talk to you.
You didn't tell us you brought a man home with you.
- Oh, Shane Berlin.
He's one of our models.
I got a little tipsy, and he gave me a lift home.
- He came inside with you? - Yeah.
Yeah, for a couple minutes.
- Do you usually bring models home with you? - I don't sleep around, if that's what you're saying.
We had a glass of wine.
- George Washington's? - No, Bing was drinking a bottle with his friends, and selling the other five.
- Six bottles.
We thought three.
- No, I saw the receipt for the armored car delivery.
It was six.
Okay, now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet a client.
- Drank one, two sold for auction Someone has the other three.
- Could be the dilettante, the drama queen, or some other alcoholic snob.
- Coming.
Wow.
Uh, you're here.
Bing's dead.
It's time.
Well, isn't the New York finest.
- We just had to see the cellar.
- Come on in.
- Guess what we found.
- Will you look at that? George Washington's initials right on the bottle.
- Bing Cullman was a greedy son of a bitch.
He knew enough about me to know I'd want George Washington's wine.
Well, he rang me a few hours before the tasting.
Said if I got there early enough, he'd put three bottles aside.
He'd give them to me and cut out the middleman.
- Ev Dilahunt.
- Mm-hmm.
So I got there early, and I bought the chateau de tour.
- And? - I didn't want him dead.
I wanted him in jail.
I taped the whole meeting.
It's all there, detective.
Wine investigators, chemists, lawyers I had detectives tracking him when he unearthed kaiser's lost cellars.
Bing Cullman was the Bernie Madoff of the wine world.
- You had him under surveillance in New York? - Oh, yeah.
For months at a time, he was careless.
- What's this? - That turned out to be a dead end.
I thought I'd finally discovered his counterfeit wine lab.
Turns out to be his His f-pad.
He sublet it from a fella named Arnold binder.
- Good to see Bing's the sentimental type.
- I know.
Condoms, lubes No Viagra.
- Oh when it comes to escorts, he knows what he likes.
- Farmer's daughter escort service.
- Last e-mail "Send Emily.
" - It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor any other part belonging to man Oh, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet Very, very nice.
- Are you here for the showcase? - When did you last see Bing? - Um Thursday.
Late dinner.
He was like an uncle.
- An uncle? Really? What did you two do at his loft? - It's not- we were friends, really.
- You meanWhat? You provided a A girlfriend experience.
That's what your agency calls it, right? He was super supportive.
Taught me about wines.
- Do you know if he took Viagra Thursday or Friday night? - Not with me.
He couldn't.
He already had his Nitroglycerin.
- And he was careful about that? - Oh, God, so was I.
I don't feel guilty.
He had an open marriage.
- An open marriage? Hardly.
- He had a playpen for his call girls.
- What are you guys, the sex police? We had been married for a long time.
- Understood.
And you were still married with the stresses.
- Yes.
We fixed things.
- You fixed things.
This was the picture we found on the wall of an apartment where he met prostitutes.
- Not so fixed I saw this photo in your house.
Your husband had it blown up to poster size and then desecrated it.
He had it hung in the same room where he had sex with call girls.
When I came home with Shane I heard noises from the cellar.
He had a girl down there.
One of his whores.
- Avery- - no.
No.
- Please.
I waited for her to leave.
I knew that if he'd been with a girl, he would've taken Viagra.
I poured a glass, I put in the nitrates, and I locked the cellar door.
I am glad he's dead.
I am really, really happy about that.
- You know, Avery, we have to take you into custody.
In holding.
Nice job.
You got your confession.
She drugged her husband's wine, and then locked him in the cellar.
- But she's lying.
- Excuse me? - She told us that she put his heart medicine in his wine glass.
But we tested the glass shard, it had Viagra, no nitrates.
- Why would she lie? - She's covering for someone.
- Thanks.
Might know who.
Turns out Avery's been paying rent on a Murray hill one bedroom.
Started two months ago.
- His and her love nests.
- I brought you something to drink.
- Thanks.
- You have your own apartment.
Who do you bring there? Just Shane, or? - No, we work together, that's all.
- We'll put the two of you together, you know that.
You really want to carry his water? - I did it.
So with Bing out of the way, he would have you and all Bing's money to himself.
What happened that Friday night? - I came home with Shane, we heard Bing in the basement with his girl, and I sent Shane home.
- You overheard your husband with a hooker, you then you waited for her to leave.
You poisoned him.
And that's your story? - Yes.
- Shane Berlin? - Yeah? - Do you mind if we come in? Thank you.
You live here alone? - No, with my girlfriend.
- Your girlfriend Avery Cullman? - What? - Avery Cullman.
- Juliet And her Romeo.
- What are you doing here? - We were just talking about Avery.
- You mind if I take a look around? - No, go ahead.
- SoYou two meet in acting class? - Emily, listen, this is not off-Broadway theatre.
Okay? You're looking at felony murder.
- That's crazy.
We didn't do anything.
- Maybe you didn't, but we're thinking that Shane did.
That he poisoned Bing, and he left him to die.
- You think Shane was jealous? 'Cause he wasn't.
He knew all about me and Bing, he was cool with it.
- Of course he was.
- So how did it play out? You help Shane get Bing out of the picture, so that Shane could hook up with Avery And the two of you could bleed her dry? - I didn't want Bing out of the way.
I told you, I liked him.
- Like an uncle.
- And Bing really, really liked me.
He said I gave him his smile back.
- Really, really? - He was leaving his wife, you know.
- He told you that? - I heard him talking to his lawyer about it.
He said it was days away.
- Okay.
The wife, I get.
She confesses to keep her lover out of jail.
Then she'll hire the best defense attorney money can buy.
And the D.
A.
Won't file charges based on her confession.
Shane gives her reasonable doubt.
We've got nothing.
- You know, when Avery saw the wedding photo, I mean, she looked hurt, but she didn't look surprised.
I'm gonna get a hold of her personal belongings.
We need a search warrant.
Here's the man you confessed for.
He played you.
- No.
Why would I kill him? - Avery says you were in love with her.
You can't be serious.
Look at me.
- So maybe you were in love with her townhouse.
You were there the night Bing was killed.
- She left for awhile, then came back and asked me for a lift home.
- She left the shoot? Where'd she go? - I don't know.
- You don't know? Really? You two were close, right? She gave you modeling jobs, an apartment You've got it all wrong.
I was working for him.
- Bing was paying you? Can you prove it? - He paid in cash.
Bing told Emily he needed a dude to hook up with some cougar.
- He hired you to service his wife? - Yep.
But she had no interest in hooking up.
- We spoke to Bing's lawyer, and his filing says you planned on testifying that you and Avery were having an affair.
- I told Bing I did her anyway.
I wanted the bonus that he promised me if I scored before the end of the week.
- So you never had sex with Avery Cullman? - Ew.
No.
Too old and too weird for me.
Then a couple days after Bing died, she came by my place and came on to me.
Hard.
Then she went into the bedroom and must have freaked out, 'cause she left before anything could happen.
- Shane says that Bing offered him a big bonus at end of the week.
Just before your tenth anniversary.
Ten years of that that lying, cheating It was a fraud.
I mean, he didn't even tell you his real name! I don't know how you stuck with him for all those years.
- I took a vow.
And I loved him.
- You must have to sign this prenup.
Did you even have a lawyer? - I wasn't marrying him for his money.
- According to this The prenup disappears after ten years.
You become equal partners.
- That's irrelevant.
- D you know That you have a fidelity clause, but he didn't? Did you just find that out last Friday? The day of your photo shoot? He was serve you the divorce papers.
Pardon me for going through your bag here.
This key This is to Bing's love nest, right? Apartment six, Arnold binder.
See, Shane He said that you left the photo shoot.
Now I'm thinking you went to apartment six.
And you saw the wedding photo and what he had done to it.
Did he leave the divorce papers there? Were they on the bed? Because we had to subpoena Bing's lawyer to get a hold of this.
"The claimant files on the grounds of infidelity.
"Included is a deposition from Shane Berlin, "who testifies to a two month sexual relationship with Mrs.
Avery Cullman.
" - Yes! - No.
See, Bing He thought he had you because Shane lied to him about you being unfaithful.
And he was going to serve you the divorce papers three days before your tenth anniversary.
- Shane is lying.
We loved each other.
And I confessed to protect him.
- You confessed to make it look like you were protecting him.
You deliberately gave us a flawed confession, knowing that we would catch you in a lie.
- So confess to something that I actually did? Okay, I would have to be crazy.
- Yeah, crazy like a fox.
You knew that eventually we would stumble onto the divorce papers and Shane.
You needed to create reasonable doubt in case we ever charged you.
So what did you do? You took Shane to the townhouse and placed him at the scene.
You took Bing's Viagra and planted it when you went to Shane's apartment.
- I didn't want Bing's money.
I have no reason to kill him.
- No, it's not about the money.
Right.
Not at all.
Nebraska? Your mother? She had a hard life.
Drugs.
Prostitution.
- I am not my mother.
- No.
No, you got out of Nebraska.
You moved to the big city, you married a millionaire.
He tried to make you cheat, and you didn't.
- I told you - I know, you're not your mother.
But you told Bing all about her.
And he used that to hurt you.
To make you feel like you were her.
He's a monster.
A psychopath.
He was- he was sadistic! - My prenup was $1 million over ten years.
That comes out to $300 a night.
"Just enough for a whore like you," he said.
- But you're not a whore.
He did all that to ruin the last ten years of your life.
To erase it.
To make your life irrelevant.
- So, I said "let's have a toast To the good years.
" He went to the John, and I put Viagra in his wine.
- And you heard him go into the walk-in.
- I knew that he'd go there.
He couldn't resist one more bottle.
So I went downstairs I slammed the door Locked it And went to bed.
- The irony is, is that he died before the divorce papers could be officially filed.
You would have inherited everything.
- It was never about the money.
I am not a whore.
- No.
No, you're not.
You're a murderer.