Law & Order (1990) s11e17 Episode Script
Ego
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.
Oh, come on, papi It's too damn cold out here for this.
Too cold? What'd I raise here, a man or a ratoncito? Hey, actually you didn't raise me at all.
Mommy raised me.
You were always too busy workin'.
Yeah, puttin' clothes on everybody's back, taking care of the family.
Just be quiet now.
You're scarin' away my fish.
Look, can we just go over to Gristedes and buy some? I promise to let you tell everybody you caught it, okay? Look, when you do a job, you do it right, all right? Oh, oh, I think I got a nibble.
Whoa! (GRUNTING) Damn, it's heavy! It's probably all the mercury.
Gimme a hand here.
Hurry up.
VICTOR: Ay, Dios mio, pa.
So what's the story? Girl meets bridge? Girl meets bullet.
Then girl meets river.
I love a happy ending.
Any idea how long ago? It's hard to say with the bloating and decomposition.
Three, maybe four weeks.
You didn't find any ID floating around, did you? Nah.
Just the clothes she went in with.
Oh, looks like somebody did a number on her face.
Something, more likely.
Fish.
They go for the eyes first.
Victim's between Death was caused by a single .
22 caliber slug to the left temple region.
Blow back.
Up close and personal.
Any sign of sexual assault? That long in the river, I couldn't tell you.
What about her clothes? Anything there? Mass manufactured.
Nothin' unusual.
You might check out her belt buckle though Looks handcrafted.
There's an insignia stamped into the silver.
Could be Native American.
American Indian Museum downtown might give us a leg up.
Jane Doe with a buckle.
Another promising start.
Oh, actually, I'm thinkin' more like Jane Dietrich.
Given her dental work, she's probably a German national.
How do you know that? Stateside metal crowns are usually custom made from gold or silver.
Hers are generically stamped out of stainless steel.
We don't do that? A couple of quack dentists in Texas tried.
This technique's definitely German.
ED: We figure she either emigrated to the U.
S.
or she came here on a tourist visa.
You talk with the consulate? Mmm-hmm.
No German national is reported missing in New York State.
Now, with Argentina, it's a whole different story.
What about travel visas? Over 6,000 in the past three months.
Hey, the dollar's down.
And of those, 2,346 went to females between the ages of 25 to 35.
It'll take us till Oktoberfest to run through all of them.
That's it? Well, we sent her dental records to the Fatherland.
Oh, that could take months.
In the meantime, let's work with what we've got.
BRISCOE: Littlemoon Birdsong? If this is about those parking tickets, I was gonna send a check tomorrow, I swear.
Take it easy.
You're not gonna lose your micro-bus.
We're Homicide.
Homicide? The curator at the Indian Museum thought this might be your work.
Yeah, that's mine.
I did a series of them last year.
But I don't understand what this has to do with a homicide.
The victim was wearing that buckle when she was killed.
(SIGHS) Actually, it's an Apache peace symbol.
Didn't protect them much either.
We're gonna need a list of your customers.
Oh, I don't do retail.
Credit card receipts, sales tax, marketing plans A little too time consuming.
So where do you sell your work? A little boutique in Chelsea.
I let them deal with the headaches now.
I wish we all could.
Thanks.
Littlemoon Birdsong, my ass.
Her name's Linda Epstein from Cedarhurst.
Different tribe altogether.
Yeah.
I sold this.
It's some sort of peace thing.
We're trying to locate the woman who may have bought it.
You remember everyone you arrest, Detective? She might have had a German accent.
(SCOFFS) Everybody's got an accent these days.
Okay, what about credit card records? Sales receipts? You understand, we're mostly a cash business.
We're not interested in your relationship with the tax collector, Ms.
Martin.
We just want to know who bought the buckle.
Well, a lot of our customers sign our mailing list.
Would that do it? BRISCOE: We're gonna need everything.
Now, the list I need back next week.
We're sending out a new mailer.
Indonesian death masks.
Guys, here's the Missing Persons.
The whole Tri-State area.
They go back six months, right? Just like you asked, Detective.
Thank you.
Another no answer.
That makes seven.
Yeah.
Oh.
Okay.
Thanks anyway.
Yeah, I'll tell him.
Chessie Shaw, New Milford, New Jersey.
Alive and well.
You tell her about the death masks? ED: That's everybody on my list.
What does that leave us with? Uh, that's seven no answers, a disconnect and five unlisted numbers.
Any luck so far? Well, I figure either Our Lady of the Hudson wasn't on the mailing list, or the belt buckle was a gift.
Here's somethin'.
Karen Hall.
Investigator in the New York State Attorney General's Criminal Division upstate.
Disappeared six weeks ago.
That could be my Albany disconnect.
Same age and height.
Well, the hair color's similar but I thought we were looking for a German national.
Says in her bio her father was a bird colonel in the Army stationed in Germany.
Eight years.
Moved to Albany in '89.
We were Army brats.
Baden Spa, Berlin.
My sisters and me, we spent our childhoods being dragged from base to base.
Karen was the only one who seemed to enjoy it.
She loved meeting new people.
ED: And when was the last time you had contact with your sister? The day she disappeared.
Karen was in Manhattan on a work assignment.
We spoke on the phone.
I didn't realize it would be the last time I'd hear her voice.
When you say "work assignment," you mean for the Attorney General's Office? Right.
ED: Any idea what she was working on? She didn't talk about her job much.
She took it seriously, though.
What time was it when you spoke to her? VINCENT: Maybe 5:00, 5:30.
Did she say where she was? She was on her cell phone.
I thought maybe we could have an early dinner, but Karen said it would have to be another time.
She was heading to catch the Amtrak back to Albany.
You know, I told all this to the State Troopers when they were here.
ED: This is just routine, Mr.
Hall.
Did Karen have any friends in Manhattan? Somebody who might have changed her mind about goin' home? She'd only been in the city maybe once or twice.
She didn't know anyone here, outside of work.
And you reported her missing the following Monday? She was supposed to go furniture shopping with Nancy in Rhinebeck, but she never showed up.
You guys got any idea who did this to her? We're workin' on it, Mr.
Hall.
Well, work hard.
'Cause Karen was the baby of the family.
She was the favorite, you know.
And I was her big brother.
Karen started with the office's upstate division five years ago as a paralegal in Mr.
Conroy's bureau.
When did she get the bump up to investigator? I signed off on her promotion only six months ago, which is what makes what happened such a waste.
Karen was something of a project in the bureau.
Project? Well, it was obvious from the beginning that she had a real feel for the work.
It all came naturally to her.
Karen just lacked some of the formal training and education she needed to move forward.
Eventually it all came together.
You have any working theories? Had.
Till her body turned up in Manhattan.
We have a witness that puts her in the Albany train station at 9:30 that night.
And confirms her brother's story that she was taking the 6:45 from Manhattan.
The timing worked.
Ms.
Shore, we're gonna need to follow up on the interviews.
Of course.
I'll help you guys out with anything you need.
FRANKS: The car was locked.
No sign of a break-in.
We figure she was snatched somewhere between the platform and the parking lot.
I would've come to the same conclusion.
Either of you know Ms.
Hall personally? Just to say hello.
I worked a case with her once when she was a paralegal.
She was good people.
You find any signs of personal problems while you were knockin' around? No debts, no drugs, no gambling.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
No death threats, huh? She have any overdue library books in her apartment? Just a half-starved Cocker Spaniel and a closet full of clothes.
Yeah, it was pretty much a cold trail after the station.
What about this newsstand guy? The one that says he saw her that night? Hardworking Turkish.
Been at the station over 10 years.
We're gonna need to talk to him.
DAVIS: I'll run you right over now, if you want.
I told the truth.
Nothing but the truth.
Nobody's accusing you of lying, Mr.
Hoca.
Take your time, sir.
This lady in the picture, she came in on the train on the night of the 19th of February and bought magazines in my kiosk.
Then she walk away, out that Out that door? Are you Are you asking or telling? I think this is the truth.
Yeah, but you didn't actually see her get off the train, right? Me? No.
The troopers, they say she was on the train.
Can you describe this woman, Mr.
Hoca? Blonde hair, middle height, middle weight.
Was she dragging a flowered travel bag? You know, the kind you wheel around? Yes.
I remember.
I see that.
Thank you, very much, sir.
It's, uh, okay? I did good? Oh, you did fine.
Oh, he's the most convincing witness I've heard since Kato Kaelin.
He seemed solid when we interviewed him.
Who else did you talk to during your investigation? Hey, we did our damn job.
Did you canvass the damn area? Did you talk to the regular damn commuters? Somebody on the train must've remembered seeing her.
Did you talk to the conductors? The other vendors? Hey, we talked to everybody, okay? The Turk was the only one who saw her.
And that didn't tell you something? Look, I tell you something, it stays off the record.
We're all cops here, man.
The fact is, Jim and I had our own doubts.
Doubts about what? About the direction the case was being steered by the A.
G.
's office.
What direction was that? My personal opinion, and I don't have any evidence to support this.
It's all right.
I hear you.
They glommed on to the train-snatch theory for their own reasons.
ED: And the right reasons would be? Let's just say I don't think the A.
G.
wanted to face the possibility that Karen Hall's killer might be some guy from one of their own case files.
Well, naturally we considered the possibility it was work related.
It's the first thing we thought of.
But we couldn't uncover any hard evidence to support the theory.
With all due respect, Mr.
Conroy, how hard did you consider it? Well, we pulled our case files.
We examined every possibility.
But, uh, all the evidence pointed back to Albany.
We're going to need to go over all of her files.
Everything she was working on at the time.
Some of those cases are still pending.
We're not going to compromise any of my investigations, are we, Lieutenant? You can count on our discretion.
I don't see a problem.
I'll have some of those case files copied and sent off to your precinct.
Well, I'd like to get my men started on the case she was working the day she disappeared.
SHORE: Alec? Uh, Nate Richards.
A nursing home fraud.
It was a joint prosecution with the Feds.
And Karen Hall was sent to Manhattan for what? We had a reluctant witness.
I wanted Karen to hold her hand.
VAN BUREN: Why was the witness reluctant? Defendant's ex.
She was having second thoughts about testifying against him.
And that aroused no suspicion? We had Richards interviewed extensively.
ALEC: It was a dead end.
But, listen, I understand you have a job to do.
Uh, I can make a call to the facility.
Your guys are certainly welcome to take a stab at him.
RICHARDS: Like I told the guy from the A.
G.
's office.
I wouldn't know Karen Hall if I fell over the broad.
Interesting choice of words.
Ms.
Hall was one of the investigators on your case.
I never laid eyes on her.
I mean, what is it with you guys? She was working with Angela Cofresta at the time of her disappearance.
You remember Angela? Bitch gave me up when I wouldn't leave my wife.
Imagine that.
We pulled your sheet, Nate.
You had a little domestic history with this woman.
Angela dropped those charges.
Yeah, we noticed that, too.
'Cause you smacked her around a little bit, right? Only this time, they gave her a babysitter.
I was lookin' at 26 months on that fraud charge.
You think I'm gonna threaten a federal witness? Cap a state investigator? Women.
Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em, huh, Nate? You got any idea how far that would've pushed me along on the sentencing guidelines? I mean, I'd need a nursing home myself by the time I got out.
Well, can you account for your whereabouts on the night of the February 19th? Yeah.
Where every good defendant is supposed to be.
In my lawyer's office.
Testifying against Nate was the hardest thing I ever did.
I was scared of him.
But you went through with it.
Yeah, I went through with it.
Karen made me think about all those old people.
How they were suffering.
I never thought about it like that before.
Ms.
Cofresta, you had a meeting with Ms.
Hall at around 2:00 p.
m.
the day she disappeared? We talked a lot on the phone.
Karen came down just to be with me.
What'd you talk about? Mostly stuff about the case.
Goin' over stuff.
And we talked about men.
Older men, married men.
How they try to control you.
She really understood.
Did she talk about the men in her life? No, not really.
But I kind of got the feelin' she was dating an older guy, too.
She mention anything about him? A name? Anything at all? COFRESTA: Just that it was over.
BRISCOE: What time did she leave? Maybe 4:00, I think.
It was a long time ago, you know.
I do remember she said she had a late meeting in the city that night, and I could call her if I started stressing out again.
Maybe if I did, she'd still be alive.
She was staying late in town? Told her brother she had to get back to Albany to take care of her dog.
She doesn't strike me as the type to lie to her brother.
Or to let her dog starve to death.
Maybe something came up at work.
Think we'd have heard about it.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, you'd think.
ED: I want to work for the A.
G.
's office when I grow up.
The Attorney General investigated illegal billing practices at the Klensch Agency.
Karen Hall personally interviewed 17 runway models.
Maybe we should follow up.
It looks like Conroy was right on.
From what I'm seein', there's nothing life or death in these case files.
Hey, Ed, when did Conroy say Karen got her first field assignment to the big city? Couple of months back.
And her brother thought she was still gettin' her bearings around town? Right.
So how come she's got three Amtrak ticket stubs, round trip, Albany to New York, goin' back more than a year? She goes down to the Big Apple, she keeps it from her big brother and everyone else in her life.
That can only mean one thing.
A special friend? Mmm-hmm.
Karen had no time for boyfriends.
She was so busy with work.
God knows we tried, but it was always one thing or another.
Even if she had a boyfriend, she wouldn't have told me.
The age difference, it was more like a father-daughter thing with us.
Karen was seeing someone.
BRISCOE: Did she mention a name? She told you that? NANCY: She didn't want people to know.
We're people? Did she tell you who she was seeing? No.
But he was married.
Karen was going with a married guy? She told you that? She said it was over.
ED: And she never mentioned a name? She wouldn't say anything about him.
She didn't want people at work to find out.
Why didn't you tell all this to the troopers when she disappeared? I did.
I told the investigators.
But I didn't know who it was, and Karen said it had been over for awhile.
So you're thinking it may be a romance gone sour? One of the sisters thinks it might have been an office thing.
Did you call Albany and ask around? Yeah, no luck.
It seems the lady was tight-lipped.
So we pulled all of her personal credit card receipts goin' back a year.
Hotel, restaurant charges from all over the city last 10 months.
Busy girl.
Up until a month before she disappeared.
Right about the time sis says the romance cooled.
One, two, three, four five visits to Caverna? ED: You know it? Yeah, it's a quiet little place over on 21st and 10th.
You say she was a customer? Yeah.
Five or six times that we know of.
Perhaps you can come back tomorrow.
Speak with the maitre d'.
I'm usually in the back office.
Why can't we speak to the maitre d' now? Called in sick.
And we are in the middle of our busiest seating.
Well, we're in the middle of a busy homicide investigation.
Let me get Roberto, our head waiter.
Maybe he can help you.
These gentlemen are with the police, Roberto.
They'd like to see if you could help identify a photograph.
Oh, ma certo.
Absolutely.
Ah, sf.
La signorina Hall Used to come here with her gentleman friend.
But, uh, not so much anymore.
You wouldn't happen to remember this gentleman friend's name? Oh, sure, sure.
First rule of ristorante business, huh? Never forget a name.
(LAUGHS) (STAMMERS) It's, uh, Alfred.
Uh, no, Arturo.
Alexandro.
No, Alec.
Si, Alec Conroy.
Alec Conroy? He and the signorina, always the deuce in the corner.
Very private.
Uh, very romantic, huh? Very nice.
Alec Conroy? The heir apparent at the A.
G.
's office? How well do you really know him? He got organized crime convictions that everyone else thought were impossible, including myself.
In addition to which, I went to law school with his boss.
Isabel Shore.
There's a straight arrow.
As straight as they come.
If she suspected anything she never would have given him the nod.
According to Briscoe and Green, Conroy kept his investigators pursuing leads he had to know would never pay off.
And he concealed his relationship with the Hall girl.
CARMICHAEL: A married ex-boyfriend? That would have been at the top of the trooper's hit list.
Conroy told them the romance angle was a dead-end.
While he kept them in the dark about his affair with the victim.
This man is next in line at the Criminal Division.
I'm not gonna drag him out in handcuffs because he concealed an affair.
He did more than conceal it, Nora.
He told Karen Hall's sister there was no office romance, and then he turned the investigation to a less than credible witness who put her in Albany.
Taken as a whole, his conduct does evince a guilty mind.
(SCOFFS) What do you want to do? Look him in the eye and ask him the question.
I killed Karen Hall because I was having an affair with her, then stonewalled the investigation? (LAUGHS) That's That's absurd.
Is there another explanation? Yes.
The investigation into Karen's disappearance went nowhere because there was nowhere for it to go.
It's as simple as that.
Especially not with a cover story about a witness in Albany.
The newsstand vendor told the troopers she was there.
I relied on that.
JACK: They don't see it that way.
Really? Well, their activity reports say they do.
Activity reports that you supervised.
I have the distinct feeling that somebody's about to read me my rights.
Do you need your rights read, Mr.
Conroy? Off the record? Okay, on the record then.
Karen and I had been involved.
Past tense.
I broke it off.
End of story.
I assume you can tell us where you were the night she disappeared.
We already know it wasn't in Albany.
I wouldn't have taken it on faith, either.
I was with someone else.
Not your wife.
My wife and I weren't together at the time.
I had my own place.
Now, if that offends your long-horn, self-righteous sense of right and wrong, then so be it.
What offends us is withholding information from an investigation.
If I go public with my relationship with Karen, I jeopardize cases, maybe even my career.
I wasn't about to do that.
Not when I had an alibi.
Alec came over about 5:00, 5:30.
I made dinner.
We took a walk, read a bit, and then turned in.
And when did he leave? Around 10:00 the next morning.
Can anyone else verify that? I don't see why I should be answering these questions.
Because you've been noticed as an alibi witness.
That gives me the right to verify Mr.
Conroy's story.
Alec never loved that girl.
So you know about the affair? I'm not a fool Ms.
Carmichael.
I know there are things that Alec wants that I can't give him.
I've been with him 12 years.
He always comes back in the end.
I understand he reconciled with his wife.
Alec was right about you.
Houston, isn't it? Dallas.
So he's talked to you? If you think Alec was in love with this girl, that he killed her because of it, you're wrong.
Because he was with you, right? Have you ever seen Alec in court, Ms.
Carmichael? No, I haven't had the pleasure.
Well, you should.
Because then you would know, Alec Conroy doesn't fear anything.
She's lying, Jack.
I know it.
And the way she idolizes Conroy, it's just creepy.
Like he's got some kind of hold over her.
If what the police are saying is true, Conroy's been able to manipulate an entire murder investigation.
Why not an alibi witness? Anything turn up with Marner's doormen? They can't confirm Conroy was with her that night, but they can't dispute it, either.
Still leaves us without probable cause for a search warrant.
But we might be getting close.
The cops went over to Conroy's apartment building.
Anything? There was no sighting of him that night, but the concierge let it slip that a few days after Karen Hall's murder Mrs.
Conroy sent down specific instructions not to let Conroy up to the apartment under any circumstances.
One month after he supposedly broke off the affair, his wife suddenly bars him from their apartment? Why? She was afraid of somethin'.
Or someone.
But even if it's true, they've reconciled.
I doubt she'll tell us anything now.
Maybe there's someone else she'll talk to.
SHORE: Alec is a suspect in this girl's murder.
It's not possible.
He wouldn't.
You must have had some suspicion.
Why else leave specific instructions your husband not be allowed into your home? Alec still had his own apartment.
JACK: You left the same instructions at your children's school.
Where are the kids? With my parents.
JACK: Why? Are you afraid of your husband, Mrs.
Conroy? I don't see how my relationship with my husband is any of your business.
Either of yours.
This is very hard for me, too.
Alec and I worked side by side every day.
I respected him and I trusted him.
But this is no good.
We're not going to be able to protect him.
He's getting help, Isabel.
He really is trying this time.
If he killed her, nothing will ever be right again until he takes responsibility for it.
How long can you keep your children away, Mrs.
Conroy? We talked about divorcing a few times.
But this last time, I'd really decided.
When I told him, Alec just snapped.
He started accusing this girl of destroying our family.
And the more I tried to explain, the angrier he became.
I got so scared.
I thought if I went with Alec to his therapist, it might be easier.
That's when I found out.
Found out what, Mrs.
Conroy? He had already decided who was to blame.
Obviously I can't go into anything concerning what Alec told me.
Mrs.
Conroy indicated that the three of you discussed her husband's affair with Karen Hall in a therapy session with you, and that in fact it was you who recommended that they immediately separate.
Deanne Conroy wasn't my patient.
Well, you can at least verify the accuracy of her statement.
I suppose if she's already told you as much, I don't see the harm in that.
She also revealed the substance of that therapy session, and that she left it with serious concerns about the safety of Karen Hall.
Now we're treading on thinner ice here, Counselors.
That information arises directly out of my diagnosis of Mr.
Conroy.
And when another woman turns up missing, what then, Doctor? My obligation is to my patient.
I warned Ms.
Hall.
CARMICHAEL: You warned her? I put it all in the letter.
There's nothing more I could do.
What letter, Doctor? A Tarasoff letter.
You're familiar with it? Regents v.
Tarasoff.
A California case permitting a psychiatrist to send a warning letter if he believes his patient constitutes a threat to a third party.
You say you got this copy from Conroy's shrink? The original hasn't turned up yet.
Conroy probably took care of that in the initial investigation.
"It is my belief that Mr.
Conroy constitutes" "an immediate real danger to you.
" That'd be Karen Hall.
LEWIN: "And possibly others.
" Conroy's psychiatrist sent a similar letter to Alice Marner.
And you say his wife was in some of these sessions? She used the therapist's office as a safe haven to break it off with him.
And this other woman Conroy's supposed alibi what's her safe haven? We have her under Which is how we discovered that Marner's late husband kept a 26-foot Grady White in the boat basin, and she held onto it.
Well, that's a nice item to have.
I mean, if you need to dispose of a body.
We know you received a letter just like this one.
Alec would never harm me.
Karen Hall made the same assumption.
CARMICHAEL: Ask yourself this, Ms.
Marner.
When this trial is over, and Alec Conroy doesn't need you anymore, are you going to go out on your boat with him again? We know all about it.
Security from the marina told us someone took your boat out that night.
It's one thing to provide an alibi when you have doubts.
It's quite another when you know the truth.
JACK: It's called accessory after the fact, and it makes you just as guilty of the murder as Conroy.
No man is worth Alec called that night.
JACK: Where was he? At a pay phone.
JACK: What did he say? He said he needed my help.
He needed me.
I asked him what was wrong.
Do I have to do this? What did Conroy want from you? He just said he needed to use the boat.
To meet him at the marina.
Were you on board? He took the key.
Did he have anything with him? A duffel bag.
A big one.
MAN: Who's gonna pay for all this? Hey, we got a warrant.
Take it up with the building manager.
Anything? Floors have been refinished.
Place has been painted.
At 2800 for one bedroom, they damn well better have painted it.
ED: Lennie There's something in the grouting.
It could be blood.
It'll take a second for the Luminol to kick in.
Hit the light, would you, Detective? ED: That's blood.
Huh.
They should have re-tiled the place, too.
Oh, that's it.
They're payin' for a hotel.
All right, that's good, that's good.
I like that.
But if you were to take Ferguson Game's over, boys and girls.
Excuse me.
What the hell's goin' on here? Alec Conroy, you're under arrest for the murder of Karen Hall.
Call my wife please.
You have the right to remain silent Excuse me.
I know my rights, thank you.
Oh, that's right.
You used to have one of these.
"Docket 44937.
People v.
Conroy.
" "Charge is Murder, Second Degree.
" JUDGE: How does the defendant plead? Not guilty, on behalf of Mr.
Conroy.
JUDGE: People on bail? The defendant is an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division, and the victim was his former lover and employee.
Now, Your Honor, the People are in possession of a letter dated shortly before the victim's disappearance which indicates the defendant posed an immediate physical threat to her.
The letter's totally inadmissible.
His own psychiatrist will attest to it, Your Honor.
Not in any court in this land.
Motion to suppress the so-called Tarasoff letter and anything that comes with it.
Bail's set at one million.
Motion's referred to the trial part.
Spin the wheel, Louis.
JUDGE CALLAHAN: Damning stuff, Counselor.
I can understand why you wouldn't want a jury to get wind of this.
Every word in that letter is hearsay, Your Honor, and is being offered to prove the very matter asserted.
The doctor can confirm its contents.
Not unless my client is willing to waive the doctor-patient privilege which I can assure you, he's not.
What about it, Mr.
McCoy? Therapeutic privilege was shattered by the presence of a third party.
Well, your office tried that same argument in People v.
Bierenbaum.
It didn't work then, doesn't work now.
Your Honor, in Bierenbaum all we had were witnesses who were willing to testify that the defendant told them he was in therapy.
Here we have someone who was actually in the session.
It was his wife, Your Honor.
Wife? So if the psychological privilege doesn't apply STAN: Then the spousal prohibition does.
Spousal privilege precludes Mrs.
Conroy's testifying, not Conroy's psychiatrist.
Call it what you like.
I'm not letting the man's shrink violate the privilege because the man's wife was in the same room.
And without the good doctor's testimony, the letter is hearsay Relax, Stan.
The letter's out, too.
Dr.
Breitel, the letter and his testimony are gone.
What about the blood in the apartment? Too contaminated for any real analysis.
The murder weapon? Conroy doesn't own a registered handgun.
He could've gotten it anywhere.
He probably dropped it in the water along with Karen Hall's body.
Well, what does that leave us with? Alice Marner's testimony that Conroy took her boat out that night with a duffel bag.
We also have his attempt at a false alibi.
It's a roll of the dice.
(SIGHS) No.
I don't want to gamble with a jilted mistress, Jack.
A plea? You can't be serious.
Alec, let's hear them out at least.
Hear what out? Without Dr.
Breitel, all you've got is circumstantial evidence.
We all know how juries hate to convict on that.
And yet sometimes they do.
Trust me this one won't.
They might after they learn about all the blood in that bathroom.
From what I understand from your forensic report, the blood couldn't be typed.
It was too contaminated? STAN: Alec I remember reading somewhere that bleach can do that.
Aren't you forgetting about a large duffel bag you were carrying that evening? Oh, the one that Alice never actually looked into? It's in my closet.
I can bring it in, if you'd like.
Of course, it could be one that just looks like it.
Any event, I doubt Alice will be able to tell the difference either way.
We also have a witness in the marina.
ALEC: A witness to what? A late night cruise? Do you know how many times I've taken that boat out? Hmm? Even when Alice's husband was alive? You don't seriously expect to walk on this? I understand you've never seen me in court.
Consider this a preview.
Stan.
Miss Hall was last seen by Ms.
Cofresta at approximately 4:00 p.
m.
She had indicated that she was going to be staying in the city.
What about the witness who originally placed Ms.
Hall in Albany? He's since retracted that identification.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
To your knowledge, was Mr.
Conroy seen with the deceased the night of her disappearance? Uh, no.
And Mr.
Conroy has admitted that he and Ms.
Hall were having an affair, has he not? ED: I believe he has, yes.
Well, do you know of any fact Fact, Detective, that would contradict his assertion that the affair had ended? No.
In fact, the only evidence on the issue is that Mr.
Conroy returned to his wife following a legal separation.
Actually, I think he made a few stops before he went back to his wife.
Ha-ha.
Nothing further.
ALICE: I've known Alec for 12 years.
JACK: You described your relationship with the defendant as passionate.
Passionate.
Supportive.
Supportive, how? Alec was not a man who found it easy to let his guard down with others.
With me, it was different.
He trusted me.
He confided in me.
JACK: And that night, he confided in you? Alec asked for my help.
He needed to use the boat.
JACK: Those were his words? "Use the boat?" Yes, and I let him.
I let him throw that girl's body into the river.
STAN: Objection.
JUDGE: Sustained.
JACK: Thank you.
Nothing further.
Twelve years is a long time to know a man, isn't it? And you are fond of Alec Conroy, aren't you? I've been in love with Alec Conroy since the day we met.
And I still am.
And you've testified that this man who you've known and loved for nearly 12 years, who confided in you, trusted you, called and asked if he could use your boat? ALICE: Yes.
In the dead of winter.
And this man who so trusted you and relied on you gave no reason why.
He just said he needed help.
STAN: He offered no explanation, and you didn't ask him why? ALICE: No.
You just met him at the boat.
Yes.
And you claimed that when he showed up, he was carrying a duffel bag, and still you didn't ask why? ALICE: No.
You didn't meet Alec Conroy at the boat that night, did you? I don't understand.
Oh, you went to the boat all right, but you met him at his apartment, didn't you? No, I did not.
You met him at the apartment that he had rented for the two of you.
Only you weren't invited.
And when you showed up to see your lover of What are you trying to do? STAN: Your late husband owned a .
22 caliber handgun, did he not, Mrs.
Marner? ALICE: Alec STAN: You're the one who killed that woman that night, aren't you? No! The wife posed no threat.
But this one, she did.
This young sensuous woman.
Objection.
Overruled.
You killed her, and then you asked Alec Conroy, the man you love, the man you trust, to help you.
In fact, you counted on the 12 years of control that you had had over him.
Control I had? Yeah, and it worked.
Because rather than turn you in, rather than fulfill his obligations as a prosecutor he took pity on you, didn't he? Helped you get rid of Miss Hall's body? That never happened.
Never! Your boat, Mrs.
Marner.
Your boat, your gun, your jealousy.
Should've seen it coming.
How could we? The gun was registered to Marner's late husband in Florida, not New York.
You think the jury will see through that? Gillum doesn't need to prove the Marner scenario.
He just has to get one juror to buy himself reasonable doubt.
Which he can do because they will never see the Tarasoff letter.
To a lawyer like Gillum, that letter isn't a fact, it's just an annoying detail.
This guy leaves his wife, he takes two lovers, and he still has the sanctity of marital privilege to protect him.
Except he didn't just leave his wife.
When Gillum crossed Green he said They were legally separated.
Another one of those annoying details.
I was under the impression I'd already ruled on this.
The Tarasoff letter, the shrink's testimony.
It's a non-starter, Jack.
We're agreed that if Mr.
Conroy had uttered his threats to his psychiatrist and a third party, the privilege would have been shattered? We've been down this path.
The so-called third party was his wife.
Only they were legally separated at the time, not just living apart.
Page 36 of your cross-examination of Detective Green, Stan.
A legal separation? They filed an agreement with the court.
STAN: A distinction without a difference.
Your Honor, once an agreement has been filed, one spouse can go out and have an affair, and legally the other spouse can't use it as grounds for divorce.
I'd say that's a pretty big difference.
JUDGE: So you're claiming now that marital privilege doesn't apply because the sanctity of marriage no longer existed? In the eyes of the law, Deanne Conroy was a third party.
Ergo, her presence in therapy nullifies the therapeutic privilege.
Your Honor JUDGE: Stan, look at it this way.
If the jury convicts, you'll have a hell of an issue on appeal.
The letter's in, the shrink's in.
Doctor, please read the highlighted portion in the third full paragraph on page two.
DR.
BREITEL: "In the light of this, Ms.
Hall", "I believe that Mr.
Conroy should be considered" "an immediate and very real physical threat.
" What was the basis for your opinion? Mr.
Conroy suffers from CDR.
Control Domination Response.
In lay terms? He needs to feel that everything in his life, especially the people in his life, are under his control, domination.
JACK: Specifically? DR.
BREITEL: Just look at the women in his life.
Devoted wife, widowed mistress, aspiring employee.
All of them share a vulnerability to him A dependence.
When Mr.
Conroy realized he could no longer control Ms.
Hall, you can see how her defiance could be perceived by him as jeopardizing more than just their relationship.
Did he say he was going to kill Ms.
Hall? He said he wanted to.
And I believed him.
JACK: Nothing further.
Man one on the table, McCoy? You've gotta be kidding.
So what is? JACK: Murder two.
I can get that after trial.
Not with a promise of 20-to-life.
Oh, you're going to knock five years off the bottom? And we take no position on parole.
You might just see the light of day again.
(SCOFFS) The light of day.
Do you know how many times I sat on the other side of this table and said those same words to a defendant? Now or never, Mr.
Conroy.
The ticking clock.
Always an effective strategy.
You've got your plea, McCoy.
JACK: You'll have to allocute.
Oh, is that really necessary? For months, Karen Hall's family has been plagued by questions of how and why.
We're not leaving this room until your client answers them.
(WHISPERS) You don't have to.
It's okay.
You know, this may come as a big surprise to all of you, but I loved Karen.
Killing someone's a pretty sick way of saying "I love you.
" When I first met Karen, she was just another local girl in cheap shoes.
She didn't know the first thing about being a professional, about talking like one, or like dressing like one, or like thinking like one.
I was the one who taught her that.
And then you betrayed her.
ALEC: No, that was her choice, not mine.
I was willing to give up my wife and my children for her.
She just couldn't appreciate the sacrifice.
So then? So then I called her late that afternoon and told her I had some new information about the case.
She was reluctant about coming over to the apartment, but I told her it would just be a few minutes.
But I could tell in her voice she didn't want to come.
But she did.
Loyalty to the job, Ms.
Carmichael.
I taught her that, too.
Where'd you get the gun? Alice's, a few weeks before.
What happened after Ms.
Hall got there? ALEC: At first, we talked about work.
I wanted her to think everything was going to be okay.
But then I brought up the relationship, and Karen said she was uncomfortable with the subject.
That it was over.
She started putting on her coat.
I told her to sit down.
She said I couldn't tell her what to do anymore.
So I reached for her, and she pulled away.
And she said that the thought of her being touched by me again made her sick.
That's when she saw the gun.
She gave me this look like she knew she'd gone too far.
Why not just let her walk away? ALEC: I couldn't.
Karen should have known I could never do that.
Now she does.
Background checks, press coverage, and with all that, Alec Conroy was a heartbeat away from one of the most powerful jobs in the criminal justice system.
(EXHALES) What a frightening thought.
These are their stories.
Oh, come on, papi It's too damn cold out here for this.
Too cold? What'd I raise here, a man or a ratoncito? Hey, actually you didn't raise me at all.
Mommy raised me.
You were always too busy workin'.
Yeah, puttin' clothes on everybody's back, taking care of the family.
Just be quiet now.
You're scarin' away my fish.
Look, can we just go over to Gristedes and buy some? I promise to let you tell everybody you caught it, okay? Look, when you do a job, you do it right, all right? Oh, oh, I think I got a nibble.
Whoa! (GRUNTING) Damn, it's heavy! It's probably all the mercury.
Gimme a hand here.
Hurry up.
VICTOR: Ay, Dios mio, pa.
So what's the story? Girl meets bridge? Girl meets bullet.
Then girl meets river.
I love a happy ending.
Any idea how long ago? It's hard to say with the bloating and decomposition.
Three, maybe four weeks.
You didn't find any ID floating around, did you? Nah.
Just the clothes she went in with.
Oh, looks like somebody did a number on her face.
Something, more likely.
Fish.
They go for the eyes first.
Victim's between Death was caused by a single .
22 caliber slug to the left temple region.
Blow back.
Up close and personal.
Any sign of sexual assault? That long in the river, I couldn't tell you.
What about her clothes? Anything there? Mass manufactured.
Nothin' unusual.
You might check out her belt buckle though Looks handcrafted.
There's an insignia stamped into the silver.
Could be Native American.
American Indian Museum downtown might give us a leg up.
Jane Doe with a buckle.
Another promising start.
Oh, actually, I'm thinkin' more like Jane Dietrich.
Given her dental work, she's probably a German national.
How do you know that? Stateside metal crowns are usually custom made from gold or silver.
Hers are generically stamped out of stainless steel.
We don't do that? A couple of quack dentists in Texas tried.
This technique's definitely German.
ED: We figure she either emigrated to the U.
S.
or she came here on a tourist visa.
You talk with the consulate? Mmm-hmm.
No German national is reported missing in New York State.
Now, with Argentina, it's a whole different story.
What about travel visas? Over 6,000 in the past three months.
Hey, the dollar's down.
And of those, 2,346 went to females between the ages of 25 to 35.
It'll take us till Oktoberfest to run through all of them.
That's it? Well, we sent her dental records to the Fatherland.
Oh, that could take months.
In the meantime, let's work with what we've got.
BRISCOE: Littlemoon Birdsong? If this is about those parking tickets, I was gonna send a check tomorrow, I swear.
Take it easy.
You're not gonna lose your micro-bus.
We're Homicide.
Homicide? The curator at the Indian Museum thought this might be your work.
Yeah, that's mine.
I did a series of them last year.
But I don't understand what this has to do with a homicide.
The victim was wearing that buckle when she was killed.
(SIGHS) Actually, it's an Apache peace symbol.
Didn't protect them much either.
We're gonna need a list of your customers.
Oh, I don't do retail.
Credit card receipts, sales tax, marketing plans A little too time consuming.
So where do you sell your work? A little boutique in Chelsea.
I let them deal with the headaches now.
I wish we all could.
Thanks.
Littlemoon Birdsong, my ass.
Her name's Linda Epstein from Cedarhurst.
Different tribe altogether.
Yeah.
I sold this.
It's some sort of peace thing.
We're trying to locate the woman who may have bought it.
You remember everyone you arrest, Detective? She might have had a German accent.
(SCOFFS) Everybody's got an accent these days.
Okay, what about credit card records? Sales receipts? You understand, we're mostly a cash business.
We're not interested in your relationship with the tax collector, Ms.
Martin.
We just want to know who bought the buckle.
Well, a lot of our customers sign our mailing list.
Would that do it? BRISCOE: We're gonna need everything.
Now, the list I need back next week.
We're sending out a new mailer.
Indonesian death masks.
Guys, here's the Missing Persons.
The whole Tri-State area.
They go back six months, right? Just like you asked, Detective.
Thank you.
Another no answer.
That makes seven.
Yeah.
Oh.
Okay.
Thanks anyway.
Yeah, I'll tell him.
Chessie Shaw, New Milford, New Jersey.
Alive and well.
You tell her about the death masks? ED: That's everybody on my list.
What does that leave us with? Uh, that's seven no answers, a disconnect and five unlisted numbers.
Any luck so far? Well, I figure either Our Lady of the Hudson wasn't on the mailing list, or the belt buckle was a gift.
Here's somethin'.
Karen Hall.
Investigator in the New York State Attorney General's Criminal Division upstate.
Disappeared six weeks ago.
That could be my Albany disconnect.
Same age and height.
Well, the hair color's similar but I thought we were looking for a German national.
Says in her bio her father was a bird colonel in the Army stationed in Germany.
Eight years.
Moved to Albany in '89.
We were Army brats.
Baden Spa, Berlin.
My sisters and me, we spent our childhoods being dragged from base to base.
Karen was the only one who seemed to enjoy it.
She loved meeting new people.
ED: And when was the last time you had contact with your sister? The day she disappeared.
Karen was in Manhattan on a work assignment.
We spoke on the phone.
I didn't realize it would be the last time I'd hear her voice.
When you say "work assignment," you mean for the Attorney General's Office? Right.
ED: Any idea what she was working on? She didn't talk about her job much.
She took it seriously, though.
What time was it when you spoke to her? VINCENT: Maybe 5:00, 5:30.
Did she say where she was? She was on her cell phone.
I thought maybe we could have an early dinner, but Karen said it would have to be another time.
She was heading to catch the Amtrak back to Albany.
You know, I told all this to the State Troopers when they were here.
ED: This is just routine, Mr.
Hall.
Did Karen have any friends in Manhattan? Somebody who might have changed her mind about goin' home? She'd only been in the city maybe once or twice.
She didn't know anyone here, outside of work.
And you reported her missing the following Monday? She was supposed to go furniture shopping with Nancy in Rhinebeck, but she never showed up.
You guys got any idea who did this to her? We're workin' on it, Mr.
Hall.
Well, work hard.
'Cause Karen was the baby of the family.
She was the favorite, you know.
And I was her big brother.
Karen started with the office's upstate division five years ago as a paralegal in Mr.
Conroy's bureau.
When did she get the bump up to investigator? I signed off on her promotion only six months ago, which is what makes what happened such a waste.
Karen was something of a project in the bureau.
Project? Well, it was obvious from the beginning that she had a real feel for the work.
It all came naturally to her.
Karen just lacked some of the formal training and education she needed to move forward.
Eventually it all came together.
You have any working theories? Had.
Till her body turned up in Manhattan.
We have a witness that puts her in the Albany train station at 9:30 that night.
And confirms her brother's story that she was taking the 6:45 from Manhattan.
The timing worked.
Ms.
Shore, we're gonna need to follow up on the interviews.
Of course.
I'll help you guys out with anything you need.
FRANKS: The car was locked.
No sign of a break-in.
We figure she was snatched somewhere between the platform and the parking lot.
I would've come to the same conclusion.
Either of you know Ms.
Hall personally? Just to say hello.
I worked a case with her once when she was a paralegal.
She was good people.
You find any signs of personal problems while you were knockin' around? No debts, no drugs, no gambling.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
No death threats, huh? She have any overdue library books in her apartment? Just a half-starved Cocker Spaniel and a closet full of clothes.
Yeah, it was pretty much a cold trail after the station.
What about this newsstand guy? The one that says he saw her that night? Hardworking Turkish.
Been at the station over 10 years.
We're gonna need to talk to him.
DAVIS: I'll run you right over now, if you want.
I told the truth.
Nothing but the truth.
Nobody's accusing you of lying, Mr.
Hoca.
Take your time, sir.
This lady in the picture, she came in on the train on the night of the 19th of February and bought magazines in my kiosk.
Then she walk away, out that Out that door? Are you Are you asking or telling? I think this is the truth.
Yeah, but you didn't actually see her get off the train, right? Me? No.
The troopers, they say she was on the train.
Can you describe this woman, Mr.
Hoca? Blonde hair, middle height, middle weight.
Was she dragging a flowered travel bag? You know, the kind you wheel around? Yes.
I remember.
I see that.
Thank you, very much, sir.
It's, uh, okay? I did good? Oh, you did fine.
Oh, he's the most convincing witness I've heard since Kato Kaelin.
He seemed solid when we interviewed him.
Who else did you talk to during your investigation? Hey, we did our damn job.
Did you canvass the damn area? Did you talk to the regular damn commuters? Somebody on the train must've remembered seeing her.
Did you talk to the conductors? The other vendors? Hey, we talked to everybody, okay? The Turk was the only one who saw her.
And that didn't tell you something? Look, I tell you something, it stays off the record.
We're all cops here, man.
The fact is, Jim and I had our own doubts.
Doubts about what? About the direction the case was being steered by the A.
G.
's office.
What direction was that? My personal opinion, and I don't have any evidence to support this.
It's all right.
I hear you.
They glommed on to the train-snatch theory for their own reasons.
ED: And the right reasons would be? Let's just say I don't think the A.
G.
wanted to face the possibility that Karen Hall's killer might be some guy from one of their own case files.
Well, naturally we considered the possibility it was work related.
It's the first thing we thought of.
But we couldn't uncover any hard evidence to support the theory.
With all due respect, Mr.
Conroy, how hard did you consider it? Well, we pulled our case files.
We examined every possibility.
But, uh, all the evidence pointed back to Albany.
We're going to need to go over all of her files.
Everything she was working on at the time.
Some of those cases are still pending.
We're not going to compromise any of my investigations, are we, Lieutenant? You can count on our discretion.
I don't see a problem.
I'll have some of those case files copied and sent off to your precinct.
Well, I'd like to get my men started on the case she was working the day she disappeared.
SHORE: Alec? Uh, Nate Richards.
A nursing home fraud.
It was a joint prosecution with the Feds.
And Karen Hall was sent to Manhattan for what? We had a reluctant witness.
I wanted Karen to hold her hand.
VAN BUREN: Why was the witness reluctant? Defendant's ex.
She was having second thoughts about testifying against him.
And that aroused no suspicion? We had Richards interviewed extensively.
ALEC: It was a dead end.
But, listen, I understand you have a job to do.
Uh, I can make a call to the facility.
Your guys are certainly welcome to take a stab at him.
RICHARDS: Like I told the guy from the A.
G.
's office.
I wouldn't know Karen Hall if I fell over the broad.
Interesting choice of words.
Ms.
Hall was one of the investigators on your case.
I never laid eyes on her.
I mean, what is it with you guys? She was working with Angela Cofresta at the time of her disappearance.
You remember Angela? Bitch gave me up when I wouldn't leave my wife.
Imagine that.
We pulled your sheet, Nate.
You had a little domestic history with this woman.
Angela dropped those charges.
Yeah, we noticed that, too.
'Cause you smacked her around a little bit, right? Only this time, they gave her a babysitter.
I was lookin' at 26 months on that fraud charge.
You think I'm gonna threaten a federal witness? Cap a state investigator? Women.
Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em, huh, Nate? You got any idea how far that would've pushed me along on the sentencing guidelines? I mean, I'd need a nursing home myself by the time I got out.
Well, can you account for your whereabouts on the night of the February 19th? Yeah.
Where every good defendant is supposed to be.
In my lawyer's office.
Testifying against Nate was the hardest thing I ever did.
I was scared of him.
But you went through with it.
Yeah, I went through with it.
Karen made me think about all those old people.
How they were suffering.
I never thought about it like that before.
Ms.
Cofresta, you had a meeting with Ms.
Hall at around 2:00 p.
m.
the day she disappeared? We talked a lot on the phone.
Karen came down just to be with me.
What'd you talk about? Mostly stuff about the case.
Goin' over stuff.
And we talked about men.
Older men, married men.
How they try to control you.
She really understood.
Did she talk about the men in her life? No, not really.
But I kind of got the feelin' she was dating an older guy, too.
She mention anything about him? A name? Anything at all? COFRESTA: Just that it was over.
BRISCOE: What time did she leave? Maybe 4:00, I think.
It was a long time ago, you know.
I do remember she said she had a late meeting in the city that night, and I could call her if I started stressing out again.
Maybe if I did, she'd still be alive.
She was staying late in town? Told her brother she had to get back to Albany to take care of her dog.
She doesn't strike me as the type to lie to her brother.
Or to let her dog starve to death.
Maybe something came up at work.
Think we'd have heard about it.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, you'd think.
ED: I want to work for the A.
G.
's office when I grow up.
The Attorney General investigated illegal billing practices at the Klensch Agency.
Karen Hall personally interviewed 17 runway models.
Maybe we should follow up.
It looks like Conroy was right on.
From what I'm seein', there's nothing life or death in these case files.
Hey, Ed, when did Conroy say Karen got her first field assignment to the big city? Couple of months back.
And her brother thought she was still gettin' her bearings around town? Right.
So how come she's got three Amtrak ticket stubs, round trip, Albany to New York, goin' back more than a year? She goes down to the Big Apple, she keeps it from her big brother and everyone else in her life.
That can only mean one thing.
A special friend? Mmm-hmm.
Karen had no time for boyfriends.
She was so busy with work.
God knows we tried, but it was always one thing or another.
Even if she had a boyfriend, she wouldn't have told me.
The age difference, it was more like a father-daughter thing with us.
Karen was seeing someone.
BRISCOE: Did she mention a name? She told you that? NANCY: She didn't want people to know.
We're people? Did she tell you who she was seeing? No.
But he was married.
Karen was going with a married guy? She told you that? She said it was over.
ED: And she never mentioned a name? She wouldn't say anything about him.
She didn't want people at work to find out.
Why didn't you tell all this to the troopers when she disappeared? I did.
I told the investigators.
But I didn't know who it was, and Karen said it had been over for awhile.
So you're thinking it may be a romance gone sour? One of the sisters thinks it might have been an office thing.
Did you call Albany and ask around? Yeah, no luck.
It seems the lady was tight-lipped.
So we pulled all of her personal credit card receipts goin' back a year.
Hotel, restaurant charges from all over the city last 10 months.
Busy girl.
Up until a month before she disappeared.
Right about the time sis says the romance cooled.
One, two, three, four five visits to Caverna? ED: You know it? Yeah, it's a quiet little place over on 21st and 10th.
You say she was a customer? Yeah.
Five or six times that we know of.
Perhaps you can come back tomorrow.
Speak with the maitre d'.
I'm usually in the back office.
Why can't we speak to the maitre d' now? Called in sick.
And we are in the middle of our busiest seating.
Well, we're in the middle of a busy homicide investigation.
Let me get Roberto, our head waiter.
Maybe he can help you.
These gentlemen are with the police, Roberto.
They'd like to see if you could help identify a photograph.
Oh, ma certo.
Absolutely.
Ah, sf.
La signorina Hall Used to come here with her gentleman friend.
But, uh, not so much anymore.
You wouldn't happen to remember this gentleman friend's name? Oh, sure, sure.
First rule of ristorante business, huh? Never forget a name.
(LAUGHS) (STAMMERS) It's, uh, Alfred.
Uh, no, Arturo.
Alexandro.
No, Alec.
Si, Alec Conroy.
Alec Conroy? He and the signorina, always the deuce in the corner.
Very private.
Uh, very romantic, huh? Very nice.
Alec Conroy? The heir apparent at the A.
G.
's office? How well do you really know him? He got organized crime convictions that everyone else thought were impossible, including myself.
In addition to which, I went to law school with his boss.
Isabel Shore.
There's a straight arrow.
As straight as they come.
If she suspected anything she never would have given him the nod.
According to Briscoe and Green, Conroy kept his investigators pursuing leads he had to know would never pay off.
And he concealed his relationship with the Hall girl.
CARMICHAEL: A married ex-boyfriend? That would have been at the top of the trooper's hit list.
Conroy told them the romance angle was a dead-end.
While he kept them in the dark about his affair with the victim.
This man is next in line at the Criminal Division.
I'm not gonna drag him out in handcuffs because he concealed an affair.
He did more than conceal it, Nora.
He told Karen Hall's sister there was no office romance, and then he turned the investigation to a less than credible witness who put her in Albany.
Taken as a whole, his conduct does evince a guilty mind.
(SCOFFS) What do you want to do? Look him in the eye and ask him the question.
I killed Karen Hall because I was having an affair with her, then stonewalled the investigation? (LAUGHS) That's That's absurd.
Is there another explanation? Yes.
The investigation into Karen's disappearance went nowhere because there was nowhere for it to go.
It's as simple as that.
Especially not with a cover story about a witness in Albany.
The newsstand vendor told the troopers she was there.
I relied on that.
JACK: They don't see it that way.
Really? Well, their activity reports say they do.
Activity reports that you supervised.
I have the distinct feeling that somebody's about to read me my rights.
Do you need your rights read, Mr.
Conroy? Off the record? Okay, on the record then.
Karen and I had been involved.
Past tense.
I broke it off.
End of story.
I assume you can tell us where you were the night she disappeared.
We already know it wasn't in Albany.
I wouldn't have taken it on faith, either.
I was with someone else.
Not your wife.
My wife and I weren't together at the time.
I had my own place.
Now, if that offends your long-horn, self-righteous sense of right and wrong, then so be it.
What offends us is withholding information from an investigation.
If I go public with my relationship with Karen, I jeopardize cases, maybe even my career.
I wasn't about to do that.
Not when I had an alibi.
Alec came over about 5:00, 5:30.
I made dinner.
We took a walk, read a bit, and then turned in.
And when did he leave? Around 10:00 the next morning.
Can anyone else verify that? I don't see why I should be answering these questions.
Because you've been noticed as an alibi witness.
That gives me the right to verify Mr.
Conroy's story.
Alec never loved that girl.
So you know about the affair? I'm not a fool Ms.
Carmichael.
I know there are things that Alec wants that I can't give him.
I've been with him 12 years.
He always comes back in the end.
I understand he reconciled with his wife.
Alec was right about you.
Houston, isn't it? Dallas.
So he's talked to you? If you think Alec was in love with this girl, that he killed her because of it, you're wrong.
Because he was with you, right? Have you ever seen Alec in court, Ms.
Carmichael? No, I haven't had the pleasure.
Well, you should.
Because then you would know, Alec Conroy doesn't fear anything.
She's lying, Jack.
I know it.
And the way she idolizes Conroy, it's just creepy.
Like he's got some kind of hold over her.
If what the police are saying is true, Conroy's been able to manipulate an entire murder investigation.
Why not an alibi witness? Anything turn up with Marner's doormen? They can't confirm Conroy was with her that night, but they can't dispute it, either.
Still leaves us without probable cause for a search warrant.
But we might be getting close.
The cops went over to Conroy's apartment building.
Anything? There was no sighting of him that night, but the concierge let it slip that a few days after Karen Hall's murder Mrs.
Conroy sent down specific instructions not to let Conroy up to the apartment under any circumstances.
One month after he supposedly broke off the affair, his wife suddenly bars him from their apartment? Why? She was afraid of somethin'.
Or someone.
But even if it's true, they've reconciled.
I doubt she'll tell us anything now.
Maybe there's someone else she'll talk to.
SHORE: Alec is a suspect in this girl's murder.
It's not possible.
He wouldn't.
You must have had some suspicion.
Why else leave specific instructions your husband not be allowed into your home? Alec still had his own apartment.
JACK: You left the same instructions at your children's school.
Where are the kids? With my parents.
JACK: Why? Are you afraid of your husband, Mrs.
Conroy? I don't see how my relationship with my husband is any of your business.
Either of yours.
This is very hard for me, too.
Alec and I worked side by side every day.
I respected him and I trusted him.
But this is no good.
We're not going to be able to protect him.
He's getting help, Isabel.
He really is trying this time.
If he killed her, nothing will ever be right again until he takes responsibility for it.
How long can you keep your children away, Mrs.
Conroy? We talked about divorcing a few times.
But this last time, I'd really decided.
When I told him, Alec just snapped.
He started accusing this girl of destroying our family.
And the more I tried to explain, the angrier he became.
I got so scared.
I thought if I went with Alec to his therapist, it might be easier.
That's when I found out.
Found out what, Mrs.
Conroy? He had already decided who was to blame.
Obviously I can't go into anything concerning what Alec told me.
Mrs.
Conroy indicated that the three of you discussed her husband's affair with Karen Hall in a therapy session with you, and that in fact it was you who recommended that they immediately separate.
Deanne Conroy wasn't my patient.
Well, you can at least verify the accuracy of her statement.
I suppose if she's already told you as much, I don't see the harm in that.
She also revealed the substance of that therapy session, and that she left it with serious concerns about the safety of Karen Hall.
Now we're treading on thinner ice here, Counselors.
That information arises directly out of my diagnosis of Mr.
Conroy.
And when another woman turns up missing, what then, Doctor? My obligation is to my patient.
I warned Ms.
Hall.
CARMICHAEL: You warned her? I put it all in the letter.
There's nothing more I could do.
What letter, Doctor? A Tarasoff letter.
You're familiar with it? Regents v.
Tarasoff.
A California case permitting a psychiatrist to send a warning letter if he believes his patient constitutes a threat to a third party.
You say you got this copy from Conroy's shrink? The original hasn't turned up yet.
Conroy probably took care of that in the initial investigation.
"It is my belief that Mr.
Conroy constitutes" "an immediate real danger to you.
" That'd be Karen Hall.
LEWIN: "And possibly others.
" Conroy's psychiatrist sent a similar letter to Alice Marner.
And you say his wife was in some of these sessions? She used the therapist's office as a safe haven to break it off with him.
And this other woman Conroy's supposed alibi what's her safe haven? We have her under Which is how we discovered that Marner's late husband kept a 26-foot Grady White in the boat basin, and she held onto it.
Well, that's a nice item to have.
I mean, if you need to dispose of a body.
We know you received a letter just like this one.
Alec would never harm me.
Karen Hall made the same assumption.
CARMICHAEL: Ask yourself this, Ms.
Marner.
When this trial is over, and Alec Conroy doesn't need you anymore, are you going to go out on your boat with him again? We know all about it.
Security from the marina told us someone took your boat out that night.
It's one thing to provide an alibi when you have doubts.
It's quite another when you know the truth.
JACK: It's called accessory after the fact, and it makes you just as guilty of the murder as Conroy.
No man is worth Alec called that night.
JACK: Where was he? At a pay phone.
JACK: What did he say? He said he needed my help.
He needed me.
I asked him what was wrong.
Do I have to do this? What did Conroy want from you? He just said he needed to use the boat.
To meet him at the marina.
Were you on board? He took the key.
Did he have anything with him? A duffel bag.
A big one.
MAN: Who's gonna pay for all this? Hey, we got a warrant.
Take it up with the building manager.
Anything? Floors have been refinished.
Place has been painted.
At 2800 for one bedroom, they damn well better have painted it.
ED: Lennie There's something in the grouting.
It could be blood.
It'll take a second for the Luminol to kick in.
Hit the light, would you, Detective? ED: That's blood.
Huh.
They should have re-tiled the place, too.
Oh, that's it.
They're payin' for a hotel.
All right, that's good, that's good.
I like that.
But if you were to take Ferguson Game's over, boys and girls.
Excuse me.
What the hell's goin' on here? Alec Conroy, you're under arrest for the murder of Karen Hall.
Call my wife please.
You have the right to remain silent Excuse me.
I know my rights, thank you.
Oh, that's right.
You used to have one of these.
"Docket 44937.
People v.
Conroy.
" "Charge is Murder, Second Degree.
" JUDGE: How does the defendant plead? Not guilty, on behalf of Mr.
Conroy.
JUDGE: People on bail? The defendant is an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division, and the victim was his former lover and employee.
Now, Your Honor, the People are in possession of a letter dated shortly before the victim's disappearance which indicates the defendant posed an immediate physical threat to her.
The letter's totally inadmissible.
His own psychiatrist will attest to it, Your Honor.
Not in any court in this land.
Motion to suppress the so-called Tarasoff letter and anything that comes with it.
Bail's set at one million.
Motion's referred to the trial part.
Spin the wheel, Louis.
JUDGE CALLAHAN: Damning stuff, Counselor.
I can understand why you wouldn't want a jury to get wind of this.
Every word in that letter is hearsay, Your Honor, and is being offered to prove the very matter asserted.
The doctor can confirm its contents.
Not unless my client is willing to waive the doctor-patient privilege which I can assure you, he's not.
What about it, Mr.
McCoy? Therapeutic privilege was shattered by the presence of a third party.
Well, your office tried that same argument in People v.
Bierenbaum.
It didn't work then, doesn't work now.
Your Honor, in Bierenbaum all we had were witnesses who were willing to testify that the defendant told them he was in therapy.
Here we have someone who was actually in the session.
It was his wife, Your Honor.
Wife? So if the psychological privilege doesn't apply STAN: Then the spousal prohibition does.
Spousal privilege precludes Mrs.
Conroy's testifying, not Conroy's psychiatrist.
Call it what you like.
I'm not letting the man's shrink violate the privilege because the man's wife was in the same room.
And without the good doctor's testimony, the letter is hearsay Relax, Stan.
The letter's out, too.
Dr.
Breitel, the letter and his testimony are gone.
What about the blood in the apartment? Too contaminated for any real analysis.
The murder weapon? Conroy doesn't own a registered handgun.
He could've gotten it anywhere.
He probably dropped it in the water along with Karen Hall's body.
Well, what does that leave us with? Alice Marner's testimony that Conroy took her boat out that night with a duffel bag.
We also have his attempt at a false alibi.
It's a roll of the dice.
(SIGHS) No.
I don't want to gamble with a jilted mistress, Jack.
A plea? You can't be serious.
Alec, let's hear them out at least.
Hear what out? Without Dr.
Breitel, all you've got is circumstantial evidence.
We all know how juries hate to convict on that.
And yet sometimes they do.
Trust me this one won't.
They might after they learn about all the blood in that bathroom.
From what I understand from your forensic report, the blood couldn't be typed.
It was too contaminated? STAN: Alec I remember reading somewhere that bleach can do that.
Aren't you forgetting about a large duffel bag you were carrying that evening? Oh, the one that Alice never actually looked into? It's in my closet.
I can bring it in, if you'd like.
Of course, it could be one that just looks like it.
Any event, I doubt Alice will be able to tell the difference either way.
We also have a witness in the marina.
ALEC: A witness to what? A late night cruise? Do you know how many times I've taken that boat out? Hmm? Even when Alice's husband was alive? You don't seriously expect to walk on this? I understand you've never seen me in court.
Consider this a preview.
Stan.
Miss Hall was last seen by Ms.
Cofresta at approximately 4:00 p.
m.
She had indicated that she was going to be staying in the city.
What about the witness who originally placed Ms.
Hall in Albany? He's since retracted that identification.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
To your knowledge, was Mr.
Conroy seen with the deceased the night of her disappearance? Uh, no.
And Mr.
Conroy has admitted that he and Ms.
Hall were having an affair, has he not? ED: I believe he has, yes.
Well, do you know of any fact Fact, Detective, that would contradict his assertion that the affair had ended? No.
In fact, the only evidence on the issue is that Mr.
Conroy returned to his wife following a legal separation.
Actually, I think he made a few stops before he went back to his wife.
Ha-ha.
Nothing further.
ALICE: I've known Alec for 12 years.
JACK: You described your relationship with the defendant as passionate.
Passionate.
Supportive.
Supportive, how? Alec was not a man who found it easy to let his guard down with others.
With me, it was different.
He trusted me.
He confided in me.
JACK: And that night, he confided in you? Alec asked for my help.
He needed to use the boat.
JACK: Those were his words? "Use the boat?" Yes, and I let him.
I let him throw that girl's body into the river.
STAN: Objection.
JUDGE: Sustained.
JACK: Thank you.
Nothing further.
Twelve years is a long time to know a man, isn't it? And you are fond of Alec Conroy, aren't you? I've been in love with Alec Conroy since the day we met.
And I still am.
And you've testified that this man who you've known and loved for nearly 12 years, who confided in you, trusted you, called and asked if he could use your boat? ALICE: Yes.
In the dead of winter.
And this man who so trusted you and relied on you gave no reason why.
He just said he needed help.
STAN: He offered no explanation, and you didn't ask him why? ALICE: No.
You just met him at the boat.
Yes.
And you claimed that when he showed up, he was carrying a duffel bag, and still you didn't ask why? ALICE: No.
You didn't meet Alec Conroy at the boat that night, did you? I don't understand.
Oh, you went to the boat all right, but you met him at his apartment, didn't you? No, I did not.
You met him at the apartment that he had rented for the two of you.
Only you weren't invited.
And when you showed up to see your lover of What are you trying to do? STAN: Your late husband owned a .
22 caliber handgun, did he not, Mrs.
Marner? ALICE: Alec STAN: You're the one who killed that woman that night, aren't you? No! The wife posed no threat.
But this one, she did.
This young sensuous woman.
Objection.
Overruled.
You killed her, and then you asked Alec Conroy, the man you love, the man you trust, to help you.
In fact, you counted on the 12 years of control that you had had over him.
Control I had? Yeah, and it worked.
Because rather than turn you in, rather than fulfill his obligations as a prosecutor he took pity on you, didn't he? Helped you get rid of Miss Hall's body? That never happened.
Never! Your boat, Mrs.
Marner.
Your boat, your gun, your jealousy.
Should've seen it coming.
How could we? The gun was registered to Marner's late husband in Florida, not New York.
You think the jury will see through that? Gillum doesn't need to prove the Marner scenario.
He just has to get one juror to buy himself reasonable doubt.
Which he can do because they will never see the Tarasoff letter.
To a lawyer like Gillum, that letter isn't a fact, it's just an annoying detail.
This guy leaves his wife, he takes two lovers, and he still has the sanctity of marital privilege to protect him.
Except he didn't just leave his wife.
When Gillum crossed Green he said They were legally separated.
Another one of those annoying details.
I was under the impression I'd already ruled on this.
The Tarasoff letter, the shrink's testimony.
It's a non-starter, Jack.
We're agreed that if Mr.
Conroy had uttered his threats to his psychiatrist and a third party, the privilege would have been shattered? We've been down this path.
The so-called third party was his wife.
Only they were legally separated at the time, not just living apart.
Page 36 of your cross-examination of Detective Green, Stan.
A legal separation? They filed an agreement with the court.
STAN: A distinction without a difference.
Your Honor, once an agreement has been filed, one spouse can go out and have an affair, and legally the other spouse can't use it as grounds for divorce.
I'd say that's a pretty big difference.
JUDGE: So you're claiming now that marital privilege doesn't apply because the sanctity of marriage no longer existed? In the eyes of the law, Deanne Conroy was a third party.
Ergo, her presence in therapy nullifies the therapeutic privilege.
Your Honor JUDGE: Stan, look at it this way.
If the jury convicts, you'll have a hell of an issue on appeal.
The letter's in, the shrink's in.
Doctor, please read the highlighted portion in the third full paragraph on page two.
DR.
BREITEL: "In the light of this, Ms.
Hall", "I believe that Mr.
Conroy should be considered" "an immediate and very real physical threat.
" What was the basis for your opinion? Mr.
Conroy suffers from CDR.
Control Domination Response.
In lay terms? He needs to feel that everything in his life, especially the people in his life, are under his control, domination.
JACK: Specifically? DR.
BREITEL: Just look at the women in his life.
Devoted wife, widowed mistress, aspiring employee.
All of them share a vulnerability to him A dependence.
When Mr.
Conroy realized he could no longer control Ms.
Hall, you can see how her defiance could be perceived by him as jeopardizing more than just their relationship.
Did he say he was going to kill Ms.
Hall? He said he wanted to.
And I believed him.
JACK: Nothing further.
Man one on the table, McCoy? You've gotta be kidding.
So what is? JACK: Murder two.
I can get that after trial.
Not with a promise of 20-to-life.
Oh, you're going to knock five years off the bottom? And we take no position on parole.
You might just see the light of day again.
(SCOFFS) The light of day.
Do you know how many times I sat on the other side of this table and said those same words to a defendant? Now or never, Mr.
Conroy.
The ticking clock.
Always an effective strategy.
You've got your plea, McCoy.
JACK: You'll have to allocute.
Oh, is that really necessary? For months, Karen Hall's family has been plagued by questions of how and why.
We're not leaving this room until your client answers them.
(WHISPERS) You don't have to.
It's okay.
You know, this may come as a big surprise to all of you, but I loved Karen.
Killing someone's a pretty sick way of saying "I love you.
" When I first met Karen, she was just another local girl in cheap shoes.
She didn't know the first thing about being a professional, about talking like one, or like dressing like one, or like thinking like one.
I was the one who taught her that.
And then you betrayed her.
ALEC: No, that was her choice, not mine.
I was willing to give up my wife and my children for her.
She just couldn't appreciate the sacrifice.
So then? So then I called her late that afternoon and told her I had some new information about the case.
She was reluctant about coming over to the apartment, but I told her it would just be a few minutes.
But I could tell in her voice she didn't want to come.
But she did.
Loyalty to the job, Ms.
Carmichael.
I taught her that, too.
Where'd you get the gun? Alice's, a few weeks before.
What happened after Ms.
Hall got there? ALEC: At first, we talked about work.
I wanted her to think everything was going to be okay.
But then I brought up the relationship, and Karen said she was uncomfortable with the subject.
That it was over.
She started putting on her coat.
I told her to sit down.
She said I couldn't tell her what to do anymore.
So I reached for her, and she pulled away.
And she said that the thought of her being touched by me again made her sick.
That's when she saw the gun.
She gave me this look like she knew she'd gone too far.
Why not just let her walk away? ALEC: I couldn't.
Karen should have known I could never do that.
Now she does.
Background checks, press coverage, and with all that, Alec Conroy was a heartbeat away from one of the most powerful jobs in the criminal justice system.
(EXHALES) What a frightening thought.