Law & Order (1990) s12e06 Episode Script
Formerly Famous
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.
Dorothy Lemoine.
Wasn't she a sight to behold.
Yeah.
Had a lot of meat on her bones.
I know.
They're all anorexic today.
So unattractive.
NORM: I don't know, Gwyneth Paltrow's not too bad.
Frank, I need your help.
Oh, my God.
Are you all right? My wife's been shot.
I need an ambulance.
Somebody call 911.
Where is she, Mr.
Vega? She's near Leroy and Hudson.
Tell them on Leroy and Hudson.
Yeah.
Near Leroy and Hudson.
NOONAN: Somebody get Mr.
Vega a glass of water right away.
(GROANS) (EXHALES) There's so much blood.
It's gonna be okay, Mr.
Vega.
Help's on the way.
Victim was Beth Anne Vega.
Thirty-two.
Took a slug to the head.
Where is she now? Sidewalk.
What's with all the press? Ah, husband was some big shot singer.
Tommy Vega? You heard of him? He had a big Vegas act.
He's gonna be the next Tom Jones.
Who's Tom Jones? Was Mr.
Vega with her when she got shot? No.
They were coming from Noonan's, about five blocks south.
Vega left her for a few minutes to go back to the pub, said the wife waited for him here.
Anybody see the shooting? OFFICER: Nah.
The neighborhood's pretty dead at night.
So he leaves his wife on a dark city street, comes back to find her missing part of her skull.
OFFICER: Yeah, along with her purse and wedding ring.
Could be a robbery gone bad.
Or a marriage.
Where's Vega now? Guy seemed to be in shock.
You know, we were gonna put him in a bus, but then he gave us the number of his private doctor.
You called him? Yeah.
He came down, took him home.
All right.
Well, let's check the dumpsters and the sewers.
Maybe the perp tossed the purse.
I remember watching Vega's Christmas special when I was a kid.
What happened to him? He took up with a guy named Jack Daniel's.
Well, he's back in the limelight now.
We were walking uptown to get a taxi, and I had to go back to Noonan's to take care of something.
Take care of what? It has nothing to do with this.
Why don't you let us be the judge of that, Mr.
Vega.
Okay.
I play the ponies, and I went back there to make spread on the bet I made.
They make book there? Yeah.
I put down $600, then after dinner I got to thinking, I'm just not as lucky as I have been lately.
Why didn't your wife go back with you? She wanted a smoke.
She snuck one after dinner.
I wish she had've come back with me.
So how long were you gone? Five, six minutes.
BRISCOE: When you got back from the pub, did you see anybody on the street? Did you hear anything? No.
Nothing.
I just saw Beth Anne laying there.
BRISCOE: She say anything? No.
Just a lot of blood.
Tom, I just heard.
How are you? As good as I can be.
Who are you? Art Cahill.
I'm Tom's manager.
Artie, she's dead.
It's gonna be okay, Tommy.
We're gonna get through it.
What am I gonna tell Sara? DR.
GELLER: Excuse me, gentlemen, at this point I think Mr.
Vega should really be allowed just to rest.
We just have a few more questions.
He's under the influence of a narcotic, Detective.
Any questions will have to wait till tomorrow.
On the news, they said it was a mugging.
Well, that's the way it looks right now.
What about any leads? Well, we were hoping your client might be able to help us out with that.
It's just so unbelievable.
(DOOR CLOSES) Hey.
Where's Dad? Doctor gave him a sedative.
He's gonna be okay.
Who are they? I'm Detective Green.
This is Detective Briscoe.
What are they doing here? This is Peter and Jason, Tom's sons.
I'll tell you, guys, I better head home.
I got my wife waiting up for me.
You make sure he gets his rest in there, okay? And if you need anything, you call me.
Thanks.
All right.
BRISCOE: We just have a few questions about what happened to your dad's wife.
Maybe you guys can help us out.
Sure.
But I'd really like to see my dad.
The doctor didn't think that was a real good idea right now.
When was the last time you saw your step-mother? Last month.
We threw my father a surprise birthday party.
BRISCOE: How would you describe their relationship? Normal ups and downs, I guess.
How long were they married? About a year and a half.
And Sara's Right.
What difference does it make how old Sara is? We're just covering all the angles.
Well, I think you should know our father hired a lawyer.
When did he do that? Peter called him before we came over.
You think your father needs a lawyer? If you're asking questions like this, what do you think the press is gonna do to him? Hey, we're just trying to find out what happened.
And we wanna help.
We're just trying to do what's right by our dad.
Hired their father a lawyer, that's pretty smart.
They didn't give us very much either.
Just enough to know the thought that dad did it crossed their minds too.
Do we have anything on Vega? Well, for openers, his real name's Cedric Flannigan.
Vega's a stage name.
He's got a sheet.
Some drunk and disorderlies, some gambling.
But that happened a long time ago.
Nothing happened during the marriage.
Well, other than this "spread-my-bet," alibi what else do we have? Nothin' so far.
Canvass didn't turn up a single witness, and the GAR test on his hands came back negative.
You said he went back to the pub to call 911.
Maybe he cleaned himself up.
Lieutenant, Beth Anne Vega's sister's here.
Thanks.
Listen, I'll follow up on Vega with the sister.
Meantime, why don't you guys head back to Noonan's and see what you can find.
Hi.
I'm Lieutenant Van Buren.
I'm very sorry about your loss.
I always knew this marriage would turn out badly for Beth Anne.
Please sit down.
Now, why is that? Because I don't think Tommy really ever loved my sister.
Did you ever hear him threaten her? Not in so many words.
But he was always picking on her, blaming her for things.
What things? Well, his career mostly.
I mean, he was a pretty bitter guy.
Well, my understanding is, your brother-in-law's career was in trouble long before he met your sister.
Try telling Beth Anne that.
I mean, to her Tommy Vega was this big celebrity.
People still knew who he was, that's all that Beth Anne cared about.
She was starstruck.
Miss Boyle, was there anything specific that makes you think Mr.
Vega might be involved in your sister's murder? How about the fact they were getting divorced.
BRISCOE: Mr.
Vega was a regular here? Every Friday night for 10 years.
Ten years.
ls there some special dish I should know about? Well, Mr.
Vega felt at home here.
We treat him like family make him feel good.
How was he feeling Friday night? He seemed okay.
He and Mrs.
Vega had a quiet dinner, left at 9:00.
Then he came back a few minutes later to talk with your bartender, right? About 20 minutes later, yep.
Are you sure it was I remember because we'd just seated a 9:20 walk-in.
How long did he talk to the bartender? A few minutes, then he left.
Well, what time did he come back to make the 911 call? About nine, ten minutes later.
He came running in.
He was sweating, breathing heavy.
His color was no good.
After we called 911, he ran to the bathroom to throw up.
We need to talk to that bartender.
No problem.
He put 600 straight on the nose.
Horse was called, Shooting Star, something like that.
Which race? The fifth at Belmont.
He came back about Told me to spread it across the board.
How did he seem? Kinda edgy, I guess.
Wanted to make sure I got it right.
ED: That's a sucker's play.
What, killing your wife? No, spreading your bet.
When you place a bet straight on the nose, you go with your hunch.
You don't go back to cover your losses.
How about to cover your ass? That's five minutes from the restaurant.
Figure 10 minutes round trip.
How come it took him 20? If Noonan's right about the time, that's 10 minutes unaccounted for.
Hey, pal, it's a crime scene.
Police only behind the tape.
Police and defense attorneys.
Brad Feldman.
Vega's kids must be pretty worried to have hired you so fast.
It's merely a precaution.
You know as well as I, celebrities are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Until dream team attorneys like you get 'em acquitted.
You see, that attitude is what I'm talking about.
It compromises objectivity.
Our objectivity's just fine, Counselor.
I don't think so, because if it were, you'd be looking into Beth Anne's past as well as my client's.
If you got something to say, don't be shy.
Spit it out.
Prior to marrying my client, Mrs.
Vega kept company with some pretty shady characters, and from what I understand, slept with most of them.
Mr.
Feldman, you got anybody specific in mind? I'm simply suggesting there's no shortage of suspects given Mrs.
Vega's former lifestyle.
Thanks for the tip.
Look, anything I can do, please feel free.
My client and I, we wish to cooperate fully.
Hey, Sam Spade, Let's go.
Come on.
Come.
"Dirtying the victim", that's page one out of the defense attorney's playbook.
What about the crime scene? It's a commercial area.
The whole street shuts down at night.
We figure Vega could've popped his wife, then run back to Noonan's to give himself an alibi.
The timeline support that? We retraced his steps.
He lost 10 minutes somewhere.
Well, if you've got opportunity, I might have the motive.
Her sister said there was a divorce action pending.
They're in the middle of a divorce, and they're out pubbing? They could be trying to patch things up.
Or maybe he thought a .
9mm divorce would be cheaper.
Not to mention less bloody.
You know, his divorce attorney is gonna invoke privilege.
Well, he does have a business manager.
Go talk to him If Vega was on the hook, he'd know for how much.
CAHILL: Tom's had a hell of a run.
Seven gold records, more money than he knew what to do with.
Broads crawling out of the woodwork.
He's had some problems, made some mistakes, but trust me, he's no killer.
Oh, no, thanks.
No.
So, how long have you been with him? Twenty-five years.
He did right by that girl, stepped up to the plate when she got knocked up.
Yeah.
A real prince.
She told him she was on the pill.
You know, he married that girl, so the baby would have a father.
And then filed for divorce? Some things just aren't meant to be.
BRISCOE: Like alimony, huh? There was a pre-nup.
Limited Beth Anne to half a mill.
Please sit down.
And he had the money to pay for that? That's why he still loves me.
I'd never let him sell his publishing rights.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Oh, excuse me.
Yeah.
Green.
(PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Art Cahill.
All right.
Thank you.
They just found the gun.
Where? Stead man Square Park FELDMAN: Mr.
Roarke found the gun and wallet during routine maintenance of a storm drain on the northwest corner of the park.
REPORTER 1: And is there any speculation about who may have placed them there? Well, that question is probably better left to the police.
But this is a known drug den, reinforcing the theory that Mrs.
Vega was the victim of a robbery for drug money.
What made Mr.
Roarke go to The Ledger instead of the police? The Ledger has a track record in the field of investigative journalism.
And Mr.
Roarke felt it was his civic duty to bring his discovery to the public's attention.
Civic duty.
You know, stir up a lot of that.
REPORTER 2: Where is Mr.
Vega now? At home taking care of his daughter.
Yeah.
Please Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING) We'll take that evidence now.
Oh, of course, Detective.
You saved me the trouble from going to the precinct.
Detective, do you have any comment? The show's over.
Given the gun's location and the timeline, there is no way that my client could be the perpetrator.
Hey, could you say that again for the camera? Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Where would you like me to stand? Right over here.
Well, Feldman's right about the one thing, Vega didn't have time to shoot his wife, ditch the gun and then run back to the pub.
Unless he had help.
Or hired a hit man.
Every Friday night for 10 years is a pretty regular schedule.
What about the gun? Ballistics confirms it was the murder weapon.
It's a Browning .
9mm.
Wiped clean.
Latent got a partial on the clip, but so far no hits.
Serial numbers? They were filed down.
Lab's trying to raise them.
So chances are this isn't an amateur we're talking about.
That'd be my guess.
Well, I'm on my way to explain to the bosses why the parks department found that gun before we did.
We'll get after his financials.
If there's a hit man, there could be a money trail someplace.
Great.
You know, Vega ain't had a gig in close to 10 years.
And he's socked away $10 million.
Maybe I ought to get myself a manager.
Singing at a karaoke bar doesn't count.
Cahill pays all of Vega's bills through his management company.
Yeah, it's probably so he won't blow it all on booze.
You got that right.
I got a check right here made out for $12,000 to Clarkson Rehabilitation Center.
Twelve steps.
It's a grand a step.
This check's made out to Rick Jordan for $20,000.
Somebody I should know? He owns a bunch of clubs.
The Post calls him the next Ian Schrager.
In the notation it says "RE: Beth Anne".
Too bad it doesn't say "RE: Hit on Beth Anne.
" Here's another one, $20,000.
Same notation.
Here's a third That's a total of 60,000.
This one's dated a month before Beth Anne was killed.
JORDAN: The money was payback for a loan.
Mr.
Vega is a multi-millionaire.
Why would he need a loan from you? He didn't.
Beth Anne did.
You knew his wife? We used to live together.
She racked up over a 60 grand credit card debt.
Sure.
You volunteered to pay it back.
Beth Anne had a way of making you do things.
How long were you with her? About a year.
How did this fairytale end? Tommy Vega.
How'd you feel about that? I got over it.
And Vega pays you back why? Guilty conscience.
ED: About what? I found out Beth Anne was seeing him while we were still together.
Just for the record, Mr.
Jordan, you mind telling us where you were last Friday night? Here.
With about So after you split up, you ever see Beth Anne again? Yeah.
She'd stop by sometimes when she was picking up her mail.
ED: She got her mail here? No, one of those mail drop places around the corner.
She said it was because she moved around so much.
Yeah, she had a box here.
Can we get a look at it? Her box? BRISCOE: Her mail, smart ass.
It's all gone.
Some dude came in yesterday.
Cleared everything out.
And you just allowed that? He said he was a lawyer, showed me a bunch of papers.
Did you read 'em or roll 'em? Detectives, if you'll wait outside.
I'm with a client at the moment.
ED: Sorry.
Now, you're with us.
Excuse me? We both know you're gonna bill her for the hour anyway, Counselor.
Mrs.
Lederman, could you please give me five minutes? Of course.
Don't worry about it.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Right this way.
Thank you very much.
How can I help you? We want the letters that you stole from Beth Anne's mailbox.
No one stole anything.
Hand over the letters or you're gonna be charged with obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
Title to the contents of that box, indeed, the obligation to pay for the box itself, passed to my client on his wife's death, or should I say to her estate.
And my client being the sole beneficiary of that estate has clear title.
Thanks for the law lesson.
Now we'll take the letters.
Well, I'm afraid the surrogate court disagrees.
This is a copy of the letters of administration, authorizing Mr.
Vega to inventory his wife's assets.
The box falls under that purview.
But you're welcome to review the contents of the box here.
I'll even show you a few other items I've dug up.
She wrote letters to guys all over the country.
Here's one to some poor schmuck in Reno.
"I'm lonely due to a recent break-up.
"Will visit if you pay my way.
" "I enjoy clubbing, horseback riding and phone sex.
" Sounds just like your type, Lennie.
I don't club.
Did she enclose a picture? You'll have to use your imagination.
Oh, here's one to her.
"Dear Psycho, keep screwing with me and you'll regret it.
"Sincerely, Davey Reynolds.
" Davey Reynolds, the pitcher? Hall of Fame.
Best knuckleballer lever saw.
Who should I make it out to? BRISCOE: We already have your autograph.
So, how was Beth Anne screwing you, Mr.
Reynolds? I mean, money-wise? (LAUGHING) Well, the first time I saw her was at a ball signing I did up in Albany.
How much do you charge? Ten a POP- So, anyway, I sign her ball, and then she asks if I'd like to sign her rack.
So you waive the fee? The wife died almost nine years ago.
So, any action I get I figure's icing on the cake.
ED: Keep talking.
So, she starts following me around.
Leaving messages.
She even showed up at a show in Denver.
She snuck right in my hotel room.
That must've been terrible for you.
You got no idea.
I mean, I bang this broad a couple of times, and she starts following me around the country.
You still haven't answered our question about how she tried to rob you.
Well, I finally got rid of her.
And about a month or so later, she writes me, she says, "I'm going to the IRS "unless you pay me The IRS? Yeah, you know, these ball signings are strictly a cash business.
And I might have made some bookkeeping errors here and there along the way.
I just wrote her that letter to get her to back off.
"Screw with me and you'll regret it.
" (CELL PHONE RINGING) Oh, excuse me.
So, did it work? I guess so.
I never heard from her after that.
What about last Friday night? Where were you? Last Friday night.
Oh, I did a card show up at Philly.
You can check.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks.
Latent raised the serial number off the gun.
It was registered to some guy named Duane Hawthorne in Queens.
Duane's not here.
Who are you? Can you tell us where we can find him? It's pretty important, ma'am.
My husband's dead.
He passed away two years ago.
We're sorry to hear that.
Mr.
Hawthorne had a gun registered in his name.
Duane was a security guard at First American.
Grandma, is everything okay? My grandson, Jackson.
These gentlemen are asking about your grandfather's gun.
What about it? It was used to kill a woman last week.
MRS.
HAWTHORNE: I'm sorry.
You must be mistaken, honey.
Duane's gun is packed away with his other things.
Jackson, can we have a word with you? You got something to tell us? (SIGHS) No.
'Cause if you do, now is the time to say it.
It's only gonna get uglier from here on.
Okay.
So I took the gun.
But I didn't kill anybody, I swear.
Jackson, if you know something, now is the time to say so.
All right.
I gave the gun to somebody, but there's no way he did this.
Some buddy of yours? No.
My boss.
This boss got a name? Look, he's been good to me.
I don't want to get him in any trouble, all right.
It's a little late for that.
His name is Arthur Cahill.
I work for his management company.
I gave him the gun last year.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Cahill, they wouldn't wait.
It's okay.
Hey, I want you to meet Sound Joint.
They're the next 'N Sync.
BRISCOE: Yeah, well, we're a little out of sync right now.
Mr.
Cahill, we need to ask you some questions about one of your employees.
CAHILL: We were just getting ready to break for lunch.
Jackson Hawthorne.
Hawthorne? ED: He works in your payroll department.
Right.
The gun that killed Beth Anne Vega was registered in his grandfather's name.
Well, what's this got to do with me? He says he gave you that gun about a year ago.
Hey, look, fellas, why don't we step out just for a second.
Nah.
That's okay, fellas.
I think we're the ones who're gonna step out.
Am I under arrest? BRISCOE: Ah, the day's young yet.
You think I killed Beth Anne? You got this gun from your employee.
His alibi checks out.
So, yeah, it's a good possibility.
That's crazy.
We pulled your service records, Mr.
Cahill.
You remember giving them your fingerprints? That one was on the gun clip.
Look, I managed this rapper.
We had a business dispute.
He starts making threats.
One night I was alone, he came in with a bunch of gangsters.
The next day it was the talk of the office.
Jackson came to me, said he knew where I could get a gun.
Why didn't you go to a gun store? My life was threatened.
I wasn't about to wait two months for a permit.
So you filed the serial number off the gun? What are you talking about? I don't even know where those things are.
This rapper who threatened you, what's him name? Ali-X.
He went to jail on a drug possession charge.
After that, I stuck the gun in my desk and forgot all about it.
And when your client's wife was killed by a Browning .
9mm, you didn't think to look in your desk drawer? Detective Briscoe, I didn't know what type of gun it was.
It was the type of gun that killed Beth Anne Vega.
I keep it in an unlocked drawer.
I didn't even know it was missing.
Look, I was working at the office the night Beth Anne got shot.
BRISCOE: Anybody see you? It was a Friday night.
It was late.
So the answer's no.
I think I should probably have a lawyer in here.
Your choice, Art.
Well, that's what I want.
What else do we have on him besides the gun? Just that he was Vega's manager for 25 years.
That's not enough for an indictment.
What about his alibi? Janitor doesn't remember seeing him.
Well, does the building keep entry/exit records? Yeah, there's a keycard system, but the logs are purged every week.
So he can't back up his alibi and we can't disprove it.
Keeps him in play as a suspect.
Yeah, unless what Cahill's telling us about the gun is true.
Have we run down everyone who had access to his office? Cleaning crews, office staff, clients.
Which would include Tommy Vega.
Mr.
Cahill had a problem with a client.
So you were aware of the gun? He mentioned it.
He's spent his career representing the Neil Diamonds and Barry Manilows of the world.
With Ali-X, he was completely out of his element.
When we saw Mr.
Cahill, he was with some clients.
Does he ever leave a client alone in his office? It's possible he may have stepped out on occasion, why? Have you seen him with the gun recently? (SCOFFS) He didn't murder Mrs.
Vega.
That's not how Mr.
Cahill handles his problems.
So, he did see Mrs.
Vega as a problem? No more than any other celebriphille.
BRISCOE: Celebriphille? Someone who needs to be around celebrities.
Being with famous people.
It makes them feel special.
And you'd describe Mrs.
Vega that way? This business attracts them.
ED: I thought that Tommy Vega was yesterday's news.
It's the people on the C-list that get it the worst.
They don't have an entourage protecting them.
And that's where your boss comes in? Tom can be careless when it comes to money.
I think Mr.
Cahill wanted to make sure Beth Anne didn't take advantage.
Hmm.
How did he do that? There was some office gossip that Mr.
Cahill was paying her an allowance, so she wouldn't be tempted.
SOUTHERLYN: Six payments totaling almost $750,000.
That's no allowance.
Particularly since all the payments went through Beth Anne's divorce attorney.
You know, Briscoe and Green said that there was a pre-nup.
Five hundred grand was the buyout figure for the marriage.
This is 250 more and still no divorce.
Beth Anne's holding out, so Cahill shoots her? Sounds pretty thin.
Cahill's spent his career protecting Vega, growing his fortune.
The wife was fleecing the golden goose.
What do we know about the progress of this divorce? Vega's matrimonial lawyer obviously won't talk to us, and Beth Anne's attorneys invoked privilege.
On behalf of a dead client.
Your honor, the People seek disclosure of details of payments made to Beth Anne Vega by Arthur Cahill Management.
In other words, Miss Southerlyn wants the court to ignore attorney-client privilege.
In re Colby, when a client is deceased, her attorney stands in her shoes and can waive privilege.
Only if I choose to.
I don't here.
Why not, Counselor? Your client's dead.
Why stand on ceremony? I don't believe Mrs.
Vega would want certain facts to come to light.
But she would want her killer brought to justice.
And you need Miss Brandees' testimony to do that? Why not question Mr.
Cahill? Mr.
Cahill has retained counsel and refuses to answer any questions.
All right.
I can order Miss Brandees to waive privilege and I hereby do so.
Your Honor What I won't do is force her to cooperate with the district attorney's office, nor will I compel her to testify without a trial for her to testify in.
But, Your Honor, without Miss Brandees' cooperation, we'll never get to that trial.
I wouldn't be Solomon if I didn't occasionally split the baby.
What about putting her in front of a grand jury, subpoena her to testify there.
We don't have enough for an indictment.
I don't want to take the chance the grand jury's term expires before we do.
What about convening a special grand jury? One with a longer term? Convening a special grand jury only fuels the media frenzy, makes it harder to uncover new witnesses.
Then what about using one that already exists? I could contact my old bureau chief.
I'm sure she's got a sitting grand jury that she'll let us borrow.
The money was paid to settle the Vegas' divorce.
But their prenuptial agreement capped Mrs.
Vega's recovery at $500,000.
The additional 250,000 was for certain considerations.
What considerations? Sole custody of their daughter Sara to Mr.
Vega.
Mr.
Vega paid a quarter of a million dollars for custody of their baby? Which is why I resisted testifying.
Mrs.
Vega wouldn't want her daughter to learn that she'd agreed to abandon her.
SOUTHERLYN: If they'd reached this agreement, why wasn't the divorce finalized? Mrs.
Vega realized she couldn't go through with it and told her husband that if they divorced, she'd take the baby with her.
How did Mr.
Vega react? Disappointment.
Anger.
Did he make threats of any kind? No.
All he said was that he'd do whatever it took to be with Sara.
And you didn't report this threat to the police after Mrs.
Vega was killed? I'm a divorce lawyer.
As threats go, I hear far worse every day.
SOUTHERLYN: Vega wanted it all.
To divorce Beth Anne, but still keep his daughter.
Theory being that if Beth Anne backed out of the custody agreement, he might have seen murder as the only solution.
That gives us motive.
But if Vega pulled the trigger, how'd he stash the gun Cahill.
Well, I think he clearly knows more than he's telling us, but that still isn't enough for an accessory charge.
Well, without a charge, we can't leverage Cahill against Vega.
What if we take the choice to cooperate out of his hands? Subpoena him to the grand jury.
If he testifies as a witness, he gets automatic immunity.
Which we'd be willing to give him in exchange for testimony against Vega anyway.
Only if Vega was the triggerman.
If Cahill were the one who shot Beth Anne, he'd have to know that Vega would be an immediate suspect.
He wouldn't put more suspicion on Vega by killing Beth Anne while she was with him.
Unless he did it at Vega's request.
Well, the whole point in hiring a hit man is to allow for a solid alibi.
So the only explanation for Vega being at the crime scene is if he killed Beth Anne.
I couldn't have helped Tom move the gun.
I was doing something else that night.
JACK: Working late? No one recalls seeing you in your office, Mr.
Cahill.
I think I'll take the Fifth on that.
The Fifth Amendment is not relevant here, Mr.
Cahill.
Not with immunity.
You can't be charged with any crimes reasonably related to my questions, other than perjury.
I was in my office that night with a woman.
Not my wife.
JACK: You admitted to the detectives that you owned the gun used to kill Mrs.
Vega.
And I told them my desk drawer was unlocked.
Anybody could've taken it.
JACK: Have you ever had meetings with Mr.
Vega in your office? He's a client.
Have you ever left him there alone? Mr.
Cahill? He's been there alone, yes.
How recently? We can subpoena your appointment book if you make that necessary, Mr.
Cahill.
He was there the week before the murder.
But Tom would never kill Beth Anne.
Not even for his daughter? What are you talking about? Mr.
Vega wanted sole custody of Sara but Beth Anne backed out of their custody agreement.
That's why you think Tom shot her? I think he was a man desperate to get custody of his daughter.
With all due respect, Mr.
McCoy, you don't know how wrong you are.
Sara wasn't his daughter.
Do you understand? The baby wasn't his.
SOUTHERLYN: If the baby isn't his, Vega's killing Beth Anne for sole custody just doesn't make sense.
Unless Vega didn't know.
But Cahill knew.
Who else but Vega could have told him? I doubt Vega would pay a quarter of a million dollars for a child unless he believed at the time that he was her father.
So sometime after the custody agreement falls apart, Vega finds out he was conned into a marriage using somebody else's baby.
Takes Cahill's gun to settle the score.
And arranges for an accomplice to dispose of the gun.
In order to prove that to a jury, we're gonna have to show that Vega found out the baby wasn't his before the night of the murder.
Then let's try to nail down when Vega found out.
HOW? We can start by finding out when Beth Anne knew.
You're sure Tommy isn't Sara's father? Beth Anne's lawyer turned over Sara's birth records.
Mr.
Vega's listed as her father, but the blood typing just doesn't work.
I never knew.
She didn't tell you? Beth Anne didn't confide much.
I suppose she thought I would disapprove.
I mean, I know how all this looks, but Beth Anne was not a bad person.
She just wanted whatever she thought was lacking in herself, she tried finding that with men.
Men touched by fame.
You gotta understand, Beth Anne was a late bloomer.
She wasn't popular in high school.
You know, she didn't get asked out very much.
She used to barricade herself in her room with these movie magazines.
I think that's where it all started.
Where what started? You know, the whole fame thing.
It was, kind of like an escape for her, this idea that she'd be a big star someday show everybody.
But that never happened.
I think she thought being with somebody famous was the next best thing.
Her picture's in all the papers now.
I can't help but think that she finally got her wish.
Miss Boyle, do you have any idea who the father could be? She was with Rick Jordan for awhile.
Right before Tommy.
But I honestly don't know.
My understanding is Beth Anne left you to be with Tommy Vega.
Yeah.
But the relationship was on life support when she did.
We stopped sleeping together three months before she even hooked up with him.
Not even once for old time's sake? I'm not the nostalgic type.
Were you aware that she became pregnant shortly after you broke up? Yeah.
She let it slip once while we were out having coffee.
Did she tell you who the father was? Some washed up old rock and roll drummer from Pittsburgh.
She didn't mention his name.
Did you ever mention this to Tommy Vega? Vega slept with Beth Anne while she was still with me.
I didn't figure I owed the guy a heads-up, you know.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR) Late night? Yeah, it took awhile to find Beth Anne's drummer.
He says Beth Anne called him a week before the murder, and told him the baby was his.
Anything to connect him to the murder? Well, he was playing a club in Pittsburgh.
How'd you track him down? Her phone records.
It turns out she had a cell phone.
But it was under her maiden name.
The police never recovered it.
Was it used after the murder? No, but there was a call the night of the murder.
Right around the time she was killed.
Who's this call to? A corporate financing company Rikleen and Cabot Financial Services.
But Peter Vega works there.
JACK: This call came within minutes of your step-mother's homicide, Mr.
Vega.
I I didn't realize.
Is that why you didn't mention the call to the police? What did you do after the phone call, Mr.
Vega? Nothing.
The firm just closed an acquisition.
I was getting the agreement to the printers.
SOUTHERLYN: What time did you finish up? Uh, around 10:00.
Did your step-mother call you often Mr.
Vega? Every once in a while, I guess.
$0, you get along? I didn't know her very well.
Did you know Sara wasn't your father's child? What are you saying? He was not her biological father, Mr.
Vega.
That's crazy.
My dad worships Sara.
Then he didn't mention it to you.
Look, I don't think I'm gonna answer anymore of these questions.
SOUTHERLYN: He's lying, either about the phone call or his relationship with Beth Anne.
There's one other possibility.
Beth Anne didn't make the call, Vega did.
Beth Anne's cell phone was never found because it was never stolen.
Vega kills Beth Anne, makes a panicked call to his son, using the cell phone.
But the son can't leave the office without arousing suspicion.
So Peter calls someone else.
Someone he can trust.
Did Briscoe and Green interview Jason? Just on the night of the murder.
Jack, even if we can prove Jason moved the gun, We're never gonna get Jason or Peter to testify against their father.
Then we leverage the father to testify against himself.
You've questioned my client's manager, his son, hijacked the grand jury.
I mean, it's a lot of effort to connect this family to a random killing for drug money.
Which is what planting the murder weapon in a known drug location would lead most people to believe.
Your doorman saw you leave the night Beth Anne was murdered.
He'd just come on duty at 9:00.
FELDMAN: So he left his apartment.
That proves nothing.
Five minutes after getting a call from Peter.
Yeah, a series of calls between a family in crisis.
That wasn't your brother's explanation.
FELDMAN: You're under no obligation to answer any of these questions.
You might want to consult with your own lawyer before you decide that, Mr.
Vega.
I don't have a lawyer.
SOUTHERLYN: One will be assigned to you, once you've been arrested.
Can they do that? SOUTHERLYN: We have phone records, the doorman.
The police are re-canvassing the park with Peter and Jason's photographs.
JACK: How long do you think it will be before we find someone who can identify at least one of them? Why are you going after my kids? You leave us no alternative, Mr.
Vega.
Without someone telling this grand jury what really happened that night, they won't have any choice but to indict both your sons.
Well, they don't know that, Tom.
But it could happen.
What if I testify? Well, you can't do that, not without immunity.
Listen, anything you said could be used against you.
If I don't, he arrests my kids.
They're just setting you up, Pop.
I do this, you leave my kids alone.
I won't make any promises until I've heard what you have to say.
Dad, don't.
Relax, Jason.
It's gonna be okay.
Grand jury is just another audience.
VEGA: When we walked out of Noonan's, we headed toward Grand, and I began having second thoughts about something.
About the bet you placed? Right.
So you left your wife.
Beth Anne didn't wanna come with me.
And when you got back, she'd been shot? Yes.
So you returned to Noonan's to get help? Right.
But not before using your wife's cell phone to place a call to your son? I guess I just panicked.
Panicked? Yeah.
Because you'd just shot Beth Anne.
I didn't kill my wife.
Mr.
Vega, if you had a cell phone, why did you have to run all the way back to Noonan's to call 911? Why not call for an ambulance right there and then? I couldn't get a signal.
The call to your son lasted almost three minutes, Mr.
Vega.
At the time of her death, you and your wife were in the middle of a divorce.
That's right.
A divorce in which you were seeking sole custody of your daughter.
I thought it would be better, at that time, if Sara lived with me.
Even though she wasn't yours? That baby girl is mine.
Mr.
Vega, we've already established you couldn't have been her father from her birth records.
Doesn't change a thing.
Doesn't it? Without proof of paternity, you had no financial obligation to that child.
I never cared about the money.
Never cared that Beth Anne had used that child to bilk you out of a quarter of a million dollars? No.
Never cared that she tricked you into a marriage using a child that wasn't yours? She is mine! Do you think it mattered to me about some lab report? About some piece of paper? I am the father of that kid, no matter what Beth Anne said.
Is that what she was threatening? To take your child away from you? We had an agreement.
But she backed out of it.
She didn't have that right.
She could prove you weren't the biological father.
Without that, you had no hope of keeping Sara.
I would have paid anything! It's okay.
No.
What happened that night, Mr.
Vega? I had fame.
And I had a career.
I was somebody.
And then I threw it all away.
I was a has-been.
I lost it all.
And then this baby comes along, and she didn't care if I was a has-been.
She didn't care if I lost it all.
She just needed me.
She was my second chance.
And guys like me don't get second chances.
FELDMAN: My client has entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney's office.
Mr.
Vega, why'd you kill your wife? Mr.
Vega was in the throes of a major depression.
His last 15 minutes of fame.
I guess there's nothing the public enjoys more than watching a celebrity on camera.
REPORTER 1: What do your sons have to say about your sentencing? Except watching one fall from grace.
REPORTER 2: What are the conditions of your plea bargain? FELDMAN: Mr.
Vega has nothing to say at this time.
These are their stories.
Dorothy Lemoine.
Wasn't she a sight to behold.
Yeah.
Had a lot of meat on her bones.
I know.
They're all anorexic today.
So unattractive.
NORM: I don't know, Gwyneth Paltrow's not too bad.
Frank, I need your help.
Oh, my God.
Are you all right? My wife's been shot.
I need an ambulance.
Somebody call 911.
Where is she, Mr.
Vega? She's near Leroy and Hudson.
Tell them on Leroy and Hudson.
Yeah.
Near Leroy and Hudson.
NOONAN: Somebody get Mr.
Vega a glass of water right away.
(GROANS) (EXHALES) There's so much blood.
It's gonna be okay, Mr.
Vega.
Help's on the way.
Victim was Beth Anne Vega.
Thirty-two.
Took a slug to the head.
Where is she now? Sidewalk.
What's with all the press? Ah, husband was some big shot singer.
Tommy Vega? You heard of him? He had a big Vegas act.
He's gonna be the next Tom Jones.
Who's Tom Jones? Was Mr.
Vega with her when she got shot? No.
They were coming from Noonan's, about five blocks south.
Vega left her for a few minutes to go back to the pub, said the wife waited for him here.
Anybody see the shooting? OFFICER: Nah.
The neighborhood's pretty dead at night.
So he leaves his wife on a dark city street, comes back to find her missing part of her skull.
OFFICER: Yeah, along with her purse and wedding ring.
Could be a robbery gone bad.
Or a marriage.
Where's Vega now? Guy seemed to be in shock.
You know, we were gonna put him in a bus, but then he gave us the number of his private doctor.
You called him? Yeah.
He came down, took him home.
All right.
Well, let's check the dumpsters and the sewers.
Maybe the perp tossed the purse.
I remember watching Vega's Christmas special when I was a kid.
What happened to him? He took up with a guy named Jack Daniel's.
Well, he's back in the limelight now.
We were walking uptown to get a taxi, and I had to go back to Noonan's to take care of something.
Take care of what? It has nothing to do with this.
Why don't you let us be the judge of that, Mr.
Vega.
Okay.
I play the ponies, and I went back there to make spread on the bet I made.
They make book there? Yeah.
I put down $600, then after dinner I got to thinking, I'm just not as lucky as I have been lately.
Why didn't your wife go back with you? She wanted a smoke.
She snuck one after dinner.
I wish she had've come back with me.
So how long were you gone? Five, six minutes.
BRISCOE: When you got back from the pub, did you see anybody on the street? Did you hear anything? No.
Nothing.
I just saw Beth Anne laying there.
BRISCOE: She say anything? No.
Just a lot of blood.
Tom, I just heard.
How are you? As good as I can be.
Who are you? Art Cahill.
I'm Tom's manager.
Artie, she's dead.
It's gonna be okay, Tommy.
We're gonna get through it.
What am I gonna tell Sara? DR.
GELLER: Excuse me, gentlemen, at this point I think Mr.
Vega should really be allowed just to rest.
We just have a few more questions.
He's under the influence of a narcotic, Detective.
Any questions will have to wait till tomorrow.
On the news, they said it was a mugging.
Well, that's the way it looks right now.
What about any leads? Well, we were hoping your client might be able to help us out with that.
It's just so unbelievable.
(DOOR CLOSES) Hey.
Where's Dad? Doctor gave him a sedative.
He's gonna be okay.
Who are they? I'm Detective Green.
This is Detective Briscoe.
What are they doing here? This is Peter and Jason, Tom's sons.
I'll tell you, guys, I better head home.
I got my wife waiting up for me.
You make sure he gets his rest in there, okay? And if you need anything, you call me.
Thanks.
All right.
BRISCOE: We just have a few questions about what happened to your dad's wife.
Maybe you guys can help us out.
Sure.
But I'd really like to see my dad.
The doctor didn't think that was a real good idea right now.
When was the last time you saw your step-mother? Last month.
We threw my father a surprise birthday party.
BRISCOE: How would you describe their relationship? Normal ups and downs, I guess.
How long were they married? About a year and a half.
And Sara's Right.
What difference does it make how old Sara is? We're just covering all the angles.
Well, I think you should know our father hired a lawyer.
When did he do that? Peter called him before we came over.
You think your father needs a lawyer? If you're asking questions like this, what do you think the press is gonna do to him? Hey, we're just trying to find out what happened.
And we wanna help.
We're just trying to do what's right by our dad.
Hired their father a lawyer, that's pretty smart.
They didn't give us very much either.
Just enough to know the thought that dad did it crossed their minds too.
Do we have anything on Vega? Well, for openers, his real name's Cedric Flannigan.
Vega's a stage name.
He's got a sheet.
Some drunk and disorderlies, some gambling.
But that happened a long time ago.
Nothing happened during the marriage.
Well, other than this "spread-my-bet," alibi what else do we have? Nothin' so far.
Canvass didn't turn up a single witness, and the GAR test on his hands came back negative.
You said he went back to the pub to call 911.
Maybe he cleaned himself up.
Lieutenant, Beth Anne Vega's sister's here.
Thanks.
Listen, I'll follow up on Vega with the sister.
Meantime, why don't you guys head back to Noonan's and see what you can find.
Hi.
I'm Lieutenant Van Buren.
I'm very sorry about your loss.
I always knew this marriage would turn out badly for Beth Anne.
Please sit down.
Now, why is that? Because I don't think Tommy really ever loved my sister.
Did you ever hear him threaten her? Not in so many words.
But he was always picking on her, blaming her for things.
What things? Well, his career mostly.
I mean, he was a pretty bitter guy.
Well, my understanding is, your brother-in-law's career was in trouble long before he met your sister.
Try telling Beth Anne that.
I mean, to her Tommy Vega was this big celebrity.
People still knew who he was, that's all that Beth Anne cared about.
She was starstruck.
Miss Boyle, was there anything specific that makes you think Mr.
Vega might be involved in your sister's murder? How about the fact they were getting divorced.
BRISCOE: Mr.
Vega was a regular here? Every Friday night for 10 years.
Ten years.
ls there some special dish I should know about? Well, Mr.
Vega felt at home here.
We treat him like family make him feel good.
How was he feeling Friday night? He seemed okay.
He and Mrs.
Vega had a quiet dinner, left at 9:00.
Then he came back a few minutes later to talk with your bartender, right? About 20 minutes later, yep.
Are you sure it was I remember because we'd just seated a 9:20 walk-in.
How long did he talk to the bartender? A few minutes, then he left.
Well, what time did he come back to make the 911 call? About nine, ten minutes later.
He came running in.
He was sweating, breathing heavy.
His color was no good.
After we called 911, he ran to the bathroom to throw up.
We need to talk to that bartender.
No problem.
He put 600 straight on the nose.
Horse was called, Shooting Star, something like that.
Which race? The fifth at Belmont.
He came back about Told me to spread it across the board.
How did he seem? Kinda edgy, I guess.
Wanted to make sure I got it right.
ED: That's a sucker's play.
What, killing your wife? No, spreading your bet.
When you place a bet straight on the nose, you go with your hunch.
You don't go back to cover your losses.
How about to cover your ass? That's five minutes from the restaurant.
Figure 10 minutes round trip.
How come it took him 20? If Noonan's right about the time, that's 10 minutes unaccounted for.
Hey, pal, it's a crime scene.
Police only behind the tape.
Police and defense attorneys.
Brad Feldman.
Vega's kids must be pretty worried to have hired you so fast.
It's merely a precaution.
You know as well as I, celebrities are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Until dream team attorneys like you get 'em acquitted.
You see, that attitude is what I'm talking about.
It compromises objectivity.
Our objectivity's just fine, Counselor.
I don't think so, because if it were, you'd be looking into Beth Anne's past as well as my client's.
If you got something to say, don't be shy.
Spit it out.
Prior to marrying my client, Mrs.
Vega kept company with some pretty shady characters, and from what I understand, slept with most of them.
Mr.
Feldman, you got anybody specific in mind? I'm simply suggesting there's no shortage of suspects given Mrs.
Vega's former lifestyle.
Thanks for the tip.
Look, anything I can do, please feel free.
My client and I, we wish to cooperate fully.
Hey, Sam Spade, Let's go.
Come on.
Come.
"Dirtying the victim", that's page one out of the defense attorney's playbook.
What about the crime scene? It's a commercial area.
The whole street shuts down at night.
We figure Vega could've popped his wife, then run back to Noonan's to give himself an alibi.
The timeline support that? We retraced his steps.
He lost 10 minutes somewhere.
Well, if you've got opportunity, I might have the motive.
Her sister said there was a divorce action pending.
They're in the middle of a divorce, and they're out pubbing? They could be trying to patch things up.
Or maybe he thought a .
9mm divorce would be cheaper.
Not to mention less bloody.
You know, his divorce attorney is gonna invoke privilege.
Well, he does have a business manager.
Go talk to him If Vega was on the hook, he'd know for how much.
CAHILL: Tom's had a hell of a run.
Seven gold records, more money than he knew what to do with.
Broads crawling out of the woodwork.
He's had some problems, made some mistakes, but trust me, he's no killer.
Oh, no, thanks.
No.
So, how long have you been with him? Twenty-five years.
He did right by that girl, stepped up to the plate when she got knocked up.
Yeah.
A real prince.
She told him she was on the pill.
You know, he married that girl, so the baby would have a father.
And then filed for divorce? Some things just aren't meant to be.
BRISCOE: Like alimony, huh? There was a pre-nup.
Limited Beth Anne to half a mill.
Please sit down.
And he had the money to pay for that? That's why he still loves me.
I'd never let him sell his publishing rights.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Oh, excuse me.
Yeah.
Green.
(PHONE RINGING) Excuse me.
Art Cahill.
All right.
Thank you.
They just found the gun.
Where? Stead man Square Park FELDMAN: Mr.
Roarke found the gun and wallet during routine maintenance of a storm drain on the northwest corner of the park.
REPORTER 1: And is there any speculation about who may have placed them there? Well, that question is probably better left to the police.
But this is a known drug den, reinforcing the theory that Mrs.
Vega was the victim of a robbery for drug money.
What made Mr.
Roarke go to The Ledger instead of the police? The Ledger has a track record in the field of investigative journalism.
And Mr.
Roarke felt it was his civic duty to bring his discovery to the public's attention.
Civic duty.
You know, stir up a lot of that.
REPORTER 2: Where is Mr.
Vega now? At home taking care of his daughter.
Yeah.
Please Thank you for your time.
Thank you.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING) We'll take that evidence now.
Oh, of course, Detective.
You saved me the trouble from going to the precinct.
Detective, do you have any comment? The show's over.
Given the gun's location and the timeline, there is no way that my client could be the perpetrator.
Hey, could you say that again for the camera? Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Where would you like me to stand? Right over here.
Well, Feldman's right about the one thing, Vega didn't have time to shoot his wife, ditch the gun and then run back to the pub.
Unless he had help.
Or hired a hit man.
Every Friday night for 10 years is a pretty regular schedule.
What about the gun? Ballistics confirms it was the murder weapon.
It's a Browning .
9mm.
Wiped clean.
Latent got a partial on the clip, but so far no hits.
Serial numbers? They were filed down.
Lab's trying to raise them.
So chances are this isn't an amateur we're talking about.
That'd be my guess.
Well, I'm on my way to explain to the bosses why the parks department found that gun before we did.
We'll get after his financials.
If there's a hit man, there could be a money trail someplace.
Great.
You know, Vega ain't had a gig in close to 10 years.
And he's socked away $10 million.
Maybe I ought to get myself a manager.
Singing at a karaoke bar doesn't count.
Cahill pays all of Vega's bills through his management company.
Yeah, it's probably so he won't blow it all on booze.
You got that right.
I got a check right here made out for $12,000 to Clarkson Rehabilitation Center.
Twelve steps.
It's a grand a step.
This check's made out to Rick Jordan for $20,000.
Somebody I should know? He owns a bunch of clubs.
The Post calls him the next Ian Schrager.
In the notation it says "RE: Beth Anne".
Too bad it doesn't say "RE: Hit on Beth Anne.
" Here's another one, $20,000.
Same notation.
Here's a third That's a total of 60,000.
This one's dated a month before Beth Anne was killed.
JORDAN: The money was payback for a loan.
Mr.
Vega is a multi-millionaire.
Why would he need a loan from you? He didn't.
Beth Anne did.
You knew his wife? We used to live together.
She racked up over a 60 grand credit card debt.
Sure.
You volunteered to pay it back.
Beth Anne had a way of making you do things.
How long were you with her? About a year.
How did this fairytale end? Tommy Vega.
How'd you feel about that? I got over it.
And Vega pays you back why? Guilty conscience.
ED: About what? I found out Beth Anne was seeing him while we were still together.
Just for the record, Mr.
Jordan, you mind telling us where you were last Friday night? Here.
With about So after you split up, you ever see Beth Anne again? Yeah.
She'd stop by sometimes when she was picking up her mail.
ED: She got her mail here? No, one of those mail drop places around the corner.
She said it was because she moved around so much.
Yeah, she had a box here.
Can we get a look at it? Her box? BRISCOE: Her mail, smart ass.
It's all gone.
Some dude came in yesterday.
Cleared everything out.
And you just allowed that? He said he was a lawyer, showed me a bunch of papers.
Did you read 'em or roll 'em? Detectives, if you'll wait outside.
I'm with a client at the moment.
ED: Sorry.
Now, you're with us.
Excuse me? We both know you're gonna bill her for the hour anyway, Counselor.
Mrs.
Lederman, could you please give me five minutes? Of course.
Don't worry about it.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Right this way.
Thank you very much.
How can I help you? We want the letters that you stole from Beth Anne's mailbox.
No one stole anything.
Hand over the letters or you're gonna be charged with obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.
Title to the contents of that box, indeed, the obligation to pay for the box itself, passed to my client on his wife's death, or should I say to her estate.
And my client being the sole beneficiary of that estate has clear title.
Thanks for the law lesson.
Now we'll take the letters.
Well, I'm afraid the surrogate court disagrees.
This is a copy of the letters of administration, authorizing Mr.
Vega to inventory his wife's assets.
The box falls under that purview.
But you're welcome to review the contents of the box here.
I'll even show you a few other items I've dug up.
She wrote letters to guys all over the country.
Here's one to some poor schmuck in Reno.
"I'm lonely due to a recent break-up.
"Will visit if you pay my way.
" "I enjoy clubbing, horseback riding and phone sex.
" Sounds just like your type, Lennie.
I don't club.
Did she enclose a picture? You'll have to use your imagination.
Oh, here's one to her.
"Dear Psycho, keep screwing with me and you'll regret it.
"Sincerely, Davey Reynolds.
" Davey Reynolds, the pitcher? Hall of Fame.
Best knuckleballer lever saw.
Who should I make it out to? BRISCOE: We already have your autograph.
So, how was Beth Anne screwing you, Mr.
Reynolds? I mean, money-wise? (LAUGHING) Well, the first time I saw her was at a ball signing I did up in Albany.
How much do you charge? Ten a POP- So, anyway, I sign her ball, and then she asks if I'd like to sign her rack.
So you waive the fee? The wife died almost nine years ago.
So, any action I get I figure's icing on the cake.
ED: Keep talking.
So, she starts following me around.
Leaving messages.
She even showed up at a show in Denver.
She snuck right in my hotel room.
That must've been terrible for you.
You got no idea.
I mean, I bang this broad a couple of times, and she starts following me around the country.
You still haven't answered our question about how she tried to rob you.
Well, I finally got rid of her.
And about a month or so later, she writes me, she says, "I'm going to the IRS "unless you pay me The IRS? Yeah, you know, these ball signings are strictly a cash business.
And I might have made some bookkeeping errors here and there along the way.
I just wrote her that letter to get her to back off.
"Screw with me and you'll regret it.
" (CELL PHONE RINGING) Oh, excuse me.
So, did it work? I guess so.
I never heard from her after that.
What about last Friday night? Where were you? Last Friday night.
Oh, I did a card show up at Philly.
You can check.
Yeah.
Okay, thanks.
Latent raised the serial number off the gun.
It was registered to some guy named Duane Hawthorne in Queens.
Duane's not here.
Who are you? Can you tell us where we can find him? It's pretty important, ma'am.
My husband's dead.
He passed away two years ago.
We're sorry to hear that.
Mr.
Hawthorne had a gun registered in his name.
Duane was a security guard at First American.
Grandma, is everything okay? My grandson, Jackson.
These gentlemen are asking about your grandfather's gun.
What about it? It was used to kill a woman last week.
MRS.
HAWTHORNE: I'm sorry.
You must be mistaken, honey.
Duane's gun is packed away with his other things.
Jackson, can we have a word with you? You got something to tell us? (SIGHS) No.
'Cause if you do, now is the time to say it.
It's only gonna get uglier from here on.
Okay.
So I took the gun.
But I didn't kill anybody, I swear.
Jackson, if you know something, now is the time to say so.
All right.
I gave the gun to somebody, but there's no way he did this.
Some buddy of yours? No.
My boss.
This boss got a name? Look, he's been good to me.
I don't want to get him in any trouble, all right.
It's a little late for that.
His name is Arthur Cahill.
I work for his management company.
I gave him the gun last year.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Cahill, they wouldn't wait.
It's okay.
Hey, I want you to meet Sound Joint.
They're the next 'N Sync.
BRISCOE: Yeah, well, we're a little out of sync right now.
Mr.
Cahill, we need to ask you some questions about one of your employees.
CAHILL: We were just getting ready to break for lunch.
Jackson Hawthorne.
Hawthorne? ED: He works in your payroll department.
Right.
The gun that killed Beth Anne Vega was registered in his grandfather's name.
Well, what's this got to do with me? He says he gave you that gun about a year ago.
Hey, look, fellas, why don't we step out just for a second.
Nah.
That's okay, fellas.
I think we're the ones who're gonna step out.
Am I under arrest? BRISCOE: Ah, the day's young yet.
You think I killed Beth Anne? You got this gun from your employee.
His alibi checks out.
So, yeah, it's a good possibility.
That's crazy.
We pulled your service records, Mr.
Cahill.
You remember giving them your fingerprints? That one was on the gun clip.
Look, I managed this rapper.
We had a business dispute.
He starts making threats.
One night I was alone, he came in with a bunch of gangsters.
The next day it was the talk of the office.
Jackson came to me, said he knew where I could get a gun.
Why didn't you go to a gun store? My life was threatened.
I wasn't about to wait two months for a permit.
So you filed the serial number off the gun? What are you talking about? I don't even know where those things are.
This rapper who threatened you, what's him name? Ali-X.
He went to jail on a drug possession charge.
After that, I stuck the gun in my desk and forgot all about it.
And when your client's wife was killed by a Browning .
9mm, you didn't think to look in your desk drawer? Detective Briscoe, I didn't know what type of gun it was.
It was the type of gun that killed Beth Anne Vega.
I keep it in an unlocked drawer.
I didn't even know it was missing.
Look, I was working at the office the night Beth Anne got shot.
BRISCOE: Anybody see you? It was a Friday night.
It was late.
So the answer's no.
I think I should probably have a lawyer in here.
Your choice, Art.
Well, that's what I want.
What else do we have on him besides the gun? Just that he was Vega's manager for 25 years.
That's not enough for an indictment.
What about his alibi? Janitor doesn't remember seeing him.
Well, does the building keep entry/exit records? Yeah, there's a keycard system, but the logs are purged every week.
So he can't back up his alibi and we can't disprove it.
Keeps him in play as a suspect.
Yeah, unless what Cahill's telling us about the gun is true.
Have we run down everyone who had access to his office? Cleaning crews, office staff, clients.
Which would include Tommy Vega.
Mr.
Cahill had a problem with a client.
So you were aware of the gun? He mentioned it.
He's spent his career representing the Neil Diamonds and Barry Manilows of the world.
With Ali-X, he was completely out of his element.
When we saw Mr.
Cahill, he was with some clients.
Does he ever leave a client alone in his office? It's possible he may have stepped out on occasion, why? Have you seen him with the gun recently? (SCOFFS) He didn't murder Mrs.
Vega.
That's not how Mr.
Cahill handles his problems.
So, he did see Mrs.
Vega as a problem? No more than any other celebriphille.
BRISCOE: Celebriphille? Someone who needs to be around celebrities.
Being with famous people.
It makes them feel special.
And you'd describe Mrs.
Vega that way? This business attracts them.
ED: I thought that Tommy Vega was yesterday's news.
It's the people on the C-list that get it the worst.
They don't have an entourage protecting them.
And that's where your boss comes in? Tom can be careless when it comes to money.
I think Mr.
Cahill wanted to make sure Beth Anne didn't take advantage.
Hmm.
How did he do that? There was some office gossip that Mr.
Cahill was paying her an allowance, so she wouldn't be tempted.
SOUTHERLYN: Six payments totaling almost $750,000.
That's no allowance.
Particularly since all the payments went through Beth Anne's divorce attorney.
You know, Briscoe and Green said that there was a pre-nup.
Five hundred grand was the buyout figure for the marriage.
This is 250 more and still no divorce.
Beth Anne's holding out, so Cahill shoots her? Sounds pretty thin.
Cahill's spent his career protecting Vega, growing his fortune.
The wife was fleecing the golden goose.
What do we know about the progress of this divorce? Vega's matrimonial lawyer obviously won't talk to us, and Beth Anne's attorneys invoked privilege.
On behalf of a dead client.
Your honor, the People seek disclosure of details of payments made to Beth Anne Vega by Arthur Cahill Management.
In other words, Miss Southerlyn wants the court to ignore attorney-client privilege.
In re Colby, when a client is deceased, her attorney stands in her shoes and can waive privilege.
Only if I choose to.
I don't here.
Why not, Counselor? Your client's dead.
Why stand on ceremony? I don't believe Mrs.
Vega would want certain facts to come to light.
But she would want her killer brought to justice.
And you need Miss Brandees' testimony to do that? Why not question Mr.
Cahill? Mr.
Cahill has retained counsel and refuses to answer any questions.
All right.
I can order Miss Brandees to waive privilege and I hereby do so.
Your Honor What I won't do is force her to cooperate with the district attorney's office, nor will I compel her to testify without a trial for her to testify in.
But, Your Honor, without Miss Brandees' cooperation, we'll never get to that trial.
I wouldn't be Solomon if I didn't occasionally split the baby.
What about putting her in front of a grand jury, subpoena her to testify there.
We don't have enough for an indictment.
I don't want to take the chance the grand jury's term expires before we do.
What about convening a special grand jury? One with a longer term? Convening a special grand jury only fuels the media frenzy, makes it harder to uncover new witnesses.
Then what about using one that already exists? I could contact my old bureau chief.
I'm sure she's got a sitting grand jury that she'll let us borrow.
The money was paid to settle the Vegas' divorce.
But their prenuptial agreement capped Mrs.
Vega's recovery at $500,000.
The additional 250,000 was for certain considerations.
What considerations? Sole custody of their daughter Sara to Mr.
Vega.
Mr.
Vega paid a quarter of a million dollars for custody of their baby? Which is why I resisted testifying.
Mrs.
Vega wouldn't want her daughter to learn that she'd agreed to abandon her.
SOUTHERLYN: If they'd reached this agreement, why wasn't the divorce finalized? Mrs.
Vega realized she couldn't go through with it and told her husband that if they divorced, she'd take the baby with her.
How did Mr.
Vega react? Disappointment.
Anger.
Did he make threats of any kind? No.
All he said was that he'd do whatever it took to be with Sara.
And you didn't report this threat to the police after Mrs.
Vega was killed? I'm a divorce lawyer.
As threats go, I hear far worse every day.
SOUTHERLYN: Vega wanted it all.
To divorce Beth Anne, but still keep his daughter.
Theory being that if Beth Anne backed out of the custody agreement, he might have seen murder as the only solution.
That gives us motive.
But if Vega pulled the trigger, how'd he stash the gun Cahill.
Well, I think he clearly knows more than he's telling us, but that still isn't enough for an accessory charge.
Well, without a charge, we can't leverage Cahill against Vega.
What if we take the choice to cooperate out of his hands? Subpoena him to the grand jury.
If he testifies as a witness, he gets automatic immunity.
Which we'd be willing to give him in exchange for testimony against Vega anyway.
Only if Vega was the triggerman.
If Cahill were the one who shot Beth Anne, he'd have to know that Vega would be an immediate suspect.
He wouldn't put more suspicion on Vega by killing Beth Anne while she was with him.
Unless he did it at Vega's request.
Well, the whole point in hiring a hit man is to allow for a solid alibi.
So the only explanation for Vega being at the crime scene is if he killed Beth Anne.
I couldn't have helped Tom move the gun.
I was doing something else that night.
JACK: Working late? No one recalls seeing you in your office, Mr.
Cahill.
I think I'll take the Fifth on that.
The Fifth Amendment is not relevant here, Mr.
Cahill.
Not with immunity.
You can't be charged with any crimes reasonably related to my questions, other than perjury.
I was in my office that night with a woman.
Not my wife.
JACK: You admitted to the detectives that you owned the gun used to kill Mrs.
Vega.
And I told them my desk drawer was unlocked.
Anybody could've taken it.
JACK: Have you ever had meetings with Mr.
Vega in your office? He's a client.
Have you ever left him there alone? Mr.
Cahill? He's been there alone, yes.
How recently? We can subpoena your appointment book if you make that necessary, Mr.
Cahill.
He was there the week before the murder.
But Tom would never kill Beth Anne.
Not even for his daughter? What are you talking about? Mr.
Vega wanted sole custody of Sara but Beth Anne backed out of their custody agreement.
That's why you think Tom shot her? I think he was a man desperate to get custody of his daughter.
With all due respect, Mr.
McCoy, you don't know how wrong you are.
Sara wasn't his daughter.
Do you understand? The baby wasn't his.
SOUTHERLYN: If the baby isn't his, Vega's killing Beth Anne for sole custody just doesn't make sense.
Unless Vega didn't know.
But Cahill knew.
Who else but Vega could have told him? I doubt Vega would pay a quarter of a million dollars for a child unless he believed at the time that he was her father.
So sometime after the custody agreement falls apart, Vega finds out he was conned into a marriage using somebody else's baby.
Takes Cahill's gun to settle the score.
And arranges for an accomplice to dispose of the gun.
In order to prove that to a jury, we're gonna have to show that Vega found out the baby wasn't his before the night of the murder.
Then let's try to nail down when Vega found out.
HOW? We can start by finding out when Beth Anne knew.
You're sure Tommy isn't Sara's father? Beth Anne's lawyer turned over Sara's birth records.
Mr.
Vega's listed as her father, but the blood typing just doesn't work.
I never knew.
She didn't tell you? Beth Anne didn't confide much.
I suppose she thought I would disapprove.
I mean, I know how all this looks, but Beth Anne was not a bad person.
She just wanted whatever she thought was lacking in herself, she tried finding that with men.
Men touched by fame.
You gotta understand, Beth Anne was a late bloomer.
She wasn't popular in high school.
You know, she didn't get asked out very much.
She used to barricade herself in her room with these movie magazines.
I think that's where it all started.
Where what started? You know, the whole fame thing.
It was, kind of like an escape for her, this idea that she'd be a big star someday show everybody.
But that never happened.
I think she thought being with somebody famous was the next best thing.
Her picture's in all the papers now.
I can't help but think that she finally got her wish.
Miss Boyle, do you have any idea who the father could be? She was with Rick Jordan for awhile.
Right before Tommy.
But I honestly don't know.
My understanding is Beth Anne left you to be with Tommy Vega.
Yeah.
But the relationship was on life support when she did.
We stopped sleeping together three months before she even hooked up with him.
Not even once for old time's sake? I'm not the nostalgic type.
Were you aware that she became pregnant shortly after you broke up? Yeah.
She let it slip once while we were out having coffee.
Did she tell you who the father was? Some washed up old rock and roll drummer from Pittsburgh.
She didn't mention his name.
Did you ever mention this to Tommy Vega? Vega slept with Beth Anne while she was still with me.
I didn't figure I owed the guy a heads-up, you know.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR) Late night? Yeah, it took awhile to find Beth Anne's drummer.
He says Beth Anne called him a week before the murder, and told him the baby was his.
Anything to connect him to the murder? Well, he was playing a club in Pittsburgh.
How'd you track him down? Her phone records.
It turns out she had a cell phone.
But it was under her maiden name.
The police never recovered it.
Was it used after the murder? No, but there was a call the night of the murder.
Right around the time she was killed.
Who's this call to? A corporate financing company Rikleen and Cabot Financial Services.
But Peter Vega works there.
JACK: This call came within minutes of your step-mother's homicide, Mr.
Vega.
I I didn't realize.
Is that why you didn't mention the call to the police? What did you do after the phone call, Mr.
Vega? Nothing.
The firm just closed an acquisition.
I was getting the agreement to the printers.
SOUTHERLYN: What time did you finish up? Uh, around 10:00.
Did your step-mother call you often Mr.
Vega? Every once in a while, I guess.
$0, you get along? I didn't know her very well.
Did you know Sara wasn't your father's child? What are you saying? He was not her biological father, Mr.
Vega.
That's crazy.
My dad worships Sara.
Then he didn't mention it to you.
Look, I don't think I'm gonna answer anymore of these questions.
SOUTHERLYN: He's lying, either about the phone call or his relationship with Beth Anne.
There's one other possibility.
Beth Anne didn't make the call, Vega did.
Beth Anne's cell phone was never found because it was never stolen.
Vega kills Beth Anne, makes a panicked call to his son, using the cell phone.
But the son can't leave the office without arousing suspicion.
So Peter calls someone else.
Someone he can trust.
Did Briscoe and Green interview Jason? Just on the night of the murder.
Jack, even if we can prove Jason moved the gun, We're never gonna get Jason or Peter to testify against their father.
Then we leverage the father to testify against himself.
You've questioned my client's manager, his son, hijacked the grand jury.
I mean, it's a lot of effort to connect this family to a random killing for drug money.
Which is what planting the murder weapon in a known drug location would lead most people to believe.
Your doorman saw you leave the night Beth Anne was murdered.
He'd just come on duty at 9:00.
FELDMAN: So he left his apartment.
That proves nothing.
Five minutes after getting a call from Peter.
Yeah, a series of calls between a family in crisis.
That wasn't your brother's explanation.
FELDMAN: You're under no obligation to answer any of these questions.
You might want to consult with your own lawyer before you decide that, Mr.
Vega.
I don't have a lawyer.
SOUTHERLYN: One will be assigned to you, once you've been arrested.
Can they do that? SOUTHERLYN: We have phone records, the doorman.
The police are re-canvassing the park with Peter and Jason's photographs.
JACK: How long do you think it will be before we find someone who can identify at least one of them? Why are you going after my kids? You leave us no alternative, Mr.
Vega.
Without someone telling this grand jury what really happened that night, they won't have any choice but to indict both your sons.
Well, they don't know that, Tom.
But it could happen.
What if I testify? Well, you can't do that, not without immunity.
Listen, anything you said could be used against you.
If I don't, he arrests my kids.
They're just setting you up, Pop.
I do this, you leave my kids alone.
I won't make any promises until I've heard what you have to say.
Dad, don't.
Relax, Jason.
It's gonna be okay.
Grand jury is just another audience.
VEGA: When we walked out of Noonan's, we headed toward Grand, and I began having second thoughts about something.
About the bet you placed? Right.
So you left your wife.
Beth Anne didn't wanna come with me.
And when you got back, she'd been shot? Yes.
So you returned to Noonan's to get help? Right.
But not before using your wife's cell phone to place a call to your son? I guess I just panicked.
Panicked? Yeah.
Because you'd just shot Beth Anne.
I didn't kill my wife.
Mr.
Vega, if you had a cell phone, why did you have to run all the way back to Noonan's to call 911? Why not call for an ambulance right there and then? I couldn't get a signal.
The call to your son lasted almost three minutes, Mr.
Vega.
At the time of her death, you and your wife were in the middle of a divorce.
That's right.
A divorce in which you were seeking sole custody of your daughter.
I thought it would be better, at that time, if Sara lived with me.
Even though she wasn't yours? That baby girl is mine.
Mr.
Vega, we've already established you couldn't have been her father from her birth records.
Doesn't change a thing.
Doesn't it? Without proof of paternity, you had no financial obligation to that child.
I never cared about the money.
Never cared that Beth Anne had used that child to bilk you out of a quarter of a million dollars? No.
Never cared that she tricked you into a marriage using a child that wasn't yours? She is mine! Do you think it mattered to me about some lab report? About some piece of paper? I am the father of that kid, no matter what Beth Anne said.
Is that what she was threatening? To take your child away from you? We had an agreement.
But she backed out of it.
She didn't have that right.
She could prove you weren't the biological father.
Without that, you had no hope of keeping Sara.
I would have paid anything! It's okay.
No.
What happened that night, Mr.
Vega? I had fame.
And I had a career.
I was somebody.
And then I threw it all away.
I was a has-been.
I lost it all.
And then this baby comes along, and she didn't care if I was a has-been.
She didn't care if I lost it all.
She just needed me.
She was my second chance.
And guys like me don't get second chances.
FELDMAN: My client has entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney's office.
Mr.
Vega, why'd you kill your wife? Mr.
Vega was in the throes of a major depression.
His last 15 minutes of fame.
I guess there's nothing the public enjoys more than watching a celebrity on camera.
REPORTER 1: What do your sons have to say about your sentencing? Except watching one fall from grace.
REPORTER 2: What are the conditions of your plea bargain? FELDMAN: Mr.
Vega has nothing to say at this time.