Law & Order Special Victims Unit s18e14 Episode Script
Net Worth
1 In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Zoe.
The Hang Seng is crashing right now.
Do you want me to call the guys in Hong Kong? No, no.
You should have a drink.
Take a night off.
Have some fun.
I'm trying.
Eli's happy.
Well, when you're worth 3 bil, it's easy to get the serotonin flowin'.
Roger.
Zoe.
Thank you for your hard work.
Our pleasure.
You know, I think it's gonna be a home run, Eli.
Better be with the fees I'm paying.
Nothing good comes cheap.
Not on Wall Street.
Well, I appreciate your hard work, Roger.
And I appreciate your hard work.
Thank you.
He's gonna take the credit, of course.
But I know that you found this deal and set the whole thing in motion, so thank you.
Cheers.
- Wine? - Oh.
No, thank you.
You might want to rethink that.
DRC.
1978.
Not a wine connoisseur.
I paid $1.
6 million for 112 bottles.
That's over $3,500 a glass.
Don't waste something that unique on me.
I have a very unsophisticated palate.
Stop! No.
Thank you.
[laughs.]
All right.
Rookie move.
- What are you talking about? - Three rules of Wall Street: never tell the truth, never use your own money, and never say no to a client.
Okay.
Still pouring that DRC? [chuckles.]
All right, well, guys, stay on it.
Hey.
I didn't know we had a meeting.
Roger called this morning about some Chinese media company we can get for four times EBITDA.
That's cheap.
Well, you get what you pay for.
Not when you work with Cromwell Moore.
Get what you don't pay for.
That's why you're so rich.
So, last night.
That was fun.
We should do it again.
[Chuckles.]
So? Any word? No.
Stop asking.
All right, it's just, you know, Sergeant Tutuola's got a nice ring to it.
Hey, what is a ten-letter word for "bad luck"? Misfortune.
Hi.
Can I help you? Uh, yes.
I need to speak to a detective.
Okay, I'm Lieutenant Benson.
Okay, how about we step into my office? How can I help you? I was raped.
Okay.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
Yeah, um, I-I don't know how this works, so No worries.
We're just gonna take it one step at a time.
Do you have any idea who did this to you? Yes.
Okay.
Him.
Eli Colton? Yeah.
King of Wall Street.
[dramatic music.]
I was at a party at Eli's penthouse.
We'd just closed a deal.
Okay, so you and Eli work together? Sort of.
I work at an investment bank.
- Cromwell Moore.
- Uh-huh.
Eli's firm is our biggest client.
Got it.
He invited a bunch of people back to his apartment after the dinner.
We were celebrating his latest acquisition.
So first you went to dinner, and then you went to his apartment.
Yeah.
Um I ended up in his bedroom.
He wanted to show me his watch collection.
Anyway He kissed me, and I-I did kiss him back.
You know, we were having fun.
Of course.
So, Zoe, just tell me exactly what happened, okay? A few minutes later, he tried to take my dress off.
I told him I did not want to have sex.
But he he threw me down on the bed, and, uh and I tried to push him off.
I tried so hard to get him off of me.
I screamed, but he just covered my mouth.
Okay, do you remember anything else? Any other details? Yeah.
Staring at his stupid $4 million watch on the night stand.
I just watched the hand go around and around till it was over.
Okay, did he say anything when it was over? Yeah.
He winked at me and said, "I hope you had just as much fun as I did," and then he jumped in the shower.
Okay, and what time was this? 3:05 a.
m.
Have you told anybody about what happened? Yeah, I did.
I told my boss, Roger, this morning.
Okay.
And he told me to think it over.
Think it over? His exact words were, "Be careful.
It's never easy to kill the king.
" I'm confused are you saying that Zoe was raped? Yes.
And now I'm confused because she told you that this morning.
Well, she never said "rape.
" I thought that she was just upset and regretful.
Do you remember her exact words? No.
Not really.
She said things got weird between her and Eli.
That he was aggressive.
But, in all honesty, I think that she seemed more worried about appearances.
She didn't want people talking about her or or what happened, but I didn't realize that If I knew that she'd been raped, I would've been the first to call the police.
Good afternoon, detectives.
- Dan Hewitt.
CEO.
- Lieutenant Benson.
SVU.
This is Detective Tutuola.
I heard what happened.
I'm shocked.
You heard? Who told you? Well, employees are the most important asset a corporation possesses.
Of course, you can count on my full cooperation.
Well, great because we definitely have some more questions.
I'm sure you do, but right now, Roger and I need to speak with our general counsel.
You understand? Uh, no, actually, I don't.
[chuckles.]
We'll be in touch.
Again, if there's anything I can do.
Okay Mr.
Colton, Detectives Carisi and Rollins from SVU are here.
SVU? Special Victims Unit, right? Well, how can I help you? - We're here about Zoe White.
- Zoe? Why? What happened? I just saw her this morning.
Did you see her last night? Yeah.
I had a couple people over, why? Were you alone with her? Maybe between 2:00 and 3:00 a.
m.
? Liza, could you show these detectives out? Sorry, guys.
This meeting's over.
We're not accusing you of anything.
We just want to hear your side of the story.
I'd just prefer to have my lawyer present for any formal discussions.
If you want to talk about this more, just contact her, and we'll set up a meeting.
- Can you get them her card? - Before we go can we just have the names of all the people that were there at the apartment last night? I mean, lawyer or no lawyer, we're obviously gonna find out for ourselves, so I mean, just, why make us waste our time? Well, that's a good point.
I hate inefficiency.
It drives me nuts people just wasting time, activity for the sake of activity.
- You got a pen? - Yep.
Roger Littrell, Allison Kring, Zoe White, Zoya oh, gosh, what's her last name? I don't think she has a last name.
She's a model.
Yeah, I remember her.
Did you see her and Eli hanging out? Yes.
She was very determined.
That makes sense.
He's a he's a good catch, right? He's the holy grail rich, fun, decent-looking.
Let's face it, most billionaires are disgusting.
But he's a total player.
He goes from girl to girl to girl, and word is, he doesn't even give parting gifts.
I mean, if you're gonna shag a billionaire, you deserve something.
That's one way of looking at it.
Okay, listen.
Back to Eli and Zoe, all right? Do you remember anything else? Anything specific? I saw them walk upstairs to his bedroom.
Late at night.
Hand in hand.
And I remember feeling relieved.
Why's that? Because I knew I didn't have to sleep with him.
Excuse me? This guy at Cromwell Moore Roger something paid me $20,000 to come to the party and be Eli's date.
Eli didn't know, of course.
Roger told him we were friends from the Hamptons.
Anyway, I was thrilled when Eli went upstairs with Zoe.
Win-win.
Got to keep the 20 grand, and I didn't have to sleep with him.
Plus, I met a really cute guy.
Nate.
So, you and Zoya were hanging out.
Do you remember seeing Eli and Zoe together? Yes, but I didn't notice anything unusual.
What time did you leave the party? Around 12:00.
I'm not really into the party scene.
I went there to fly the Cromwell flag.
Do you remember seeing Zoe at work the next day? Yeah.
She seemed distracted.
Did she mention anything about what happened? No, but let's cut to the chase.
If Zoe said that Eli assaulted her, he did.
Why, 'cause she's honest? Because she's smart.
Zoe's the most driven woman I know.
She grew up middle-class in Reading, Pennsylvania, worked her ass off, went to Harvard, got her MBA from Stanford there's no way she would risk everything just to go after Eli, unless it were true.
There's no upside to burning a bridge with the King.
Security footage from Eli's lobby confirms there were 20 people at the party.
So far, we talked to 11 of them.
Okay.
Anything interesting? They all say the same thing.
Eli and Zoe were flirting, having fun, but nothing unusual.
Okay.
What about photos? Videos? Nothing so far.
Zoe's rape kit came back.
Internal bruising consistent with rough sex or sexual assault, and there were traces of semen too.
I ran it through CODIS.
There's no match in the system.
Great.
Get a warrant for Eli's DNA.
Mr.
Colton.
What brings you here? The sooner we put this to rest, the better.
I couldn't agree more.
How about you give us a sample of your DNA? No need.
Mr.
Colton's ready to talk.
Zoe and I had sex, it was consensual, and we both had a great time.
Sure.
We'll just take your word for it.
Well, you don't have to.
This is an email sent from Ms.
White to Mr.
Colton the day after the party.
Our IT department confirmed it was sent from her office computer.
"Glad we closed the deal.
Ha.
"Thinking about you.
"Last night was amazing.
XOXO, Zoe.
" "Glad we closed the deal"? What the hell is this? It's an email that you allegedly sent to Eli the morning after the party.
I didn't write this.
According to our tech experts, the IP address matches Cromwell Moore's networks, and they confirmed that it specifically came from your computer.
We also checked the digital sign-in log.
You were at Cromwell Moore from 9:00 a.
m.
to 9:00 p.
m.
Yeah, I was.
I'm not in my office every second of the day.
I mean, obviously, somebody went into my office and sent this from my computer.
You have any idea who? No.
But it wasn't me.
Well, great.
That's all we need to hear.
We'll send our people over, have 'em dust for prints, touch DNA, figure out who sent that email.
We're on your side.
Thank you.
Either everybody at work has no idea what's going on, or they're not acknowledging it, but it's making me feel really alone.
You're not.
I promise.
[sighs.]
No luck on the keyboard.
Techs couldn't find any prints or DNA.
Somebody must've wiped it down.
Okay, so we can't prove that the email came from anyone other than Zoe.
Yeah, but it does prove Eli's nervous.
I mean, if you're innocent, you're not gonna send phony emails from a victim's computer trying to get ahead of the story.
Okay, so let's keep digging.
We talked to the last of the party guests.
- And? - Nobody saw anything suspicious except cocaine apparently, Eli and some of the guests were hitting it pretty hard.
Okay, so we're back to Eli.
Let's dig into his past.
Look at civil suits, harassment complaints, any Wall Street gossip anything that can establish a pattern of behavior.
And guys, let's focus on his enemies, because his friends are too busy getting rich off him.
Thanks for meeting with us, Tyler.
Like I said on the phone, we've got some questions about Eli Colton.
- Yeah, you guys worked together? - Yeah.
Ten years.
He was best man at my wedding.
Okay, so you guys were good friends too, huh? Well, yeah, till he fired me.
He didn't want to pay your yearend bonus.
That's what you alleged in the lawsuit, right? Yeah, he owed me $80 million so rather than cut me a check, he blew me out.
Litigation arbitrage.
Spread between what is owed and the expected payout, which in my case was zero 'cause I lost.
- Cost me 2 mil in legal fees too.
- Sorry to hear that.
Sorry? [Laughs.]
Taking it on the chin from Eli was a godsend.
Raised my profile, like, 10x, which in turn gave me a platform to build this $4 billion fund.
If anything, I owe Eli.
So, yeah, anyway, like I was saying on the phone, about three years ago, there were some rumors flying that Eli raped someone.
I assumed it was just gossip, but Do you remember any details? Any names? No, it was just a rumor, but it had traction.
And then one day, it suddenly just disappeared.
Are you saying that he paid her off? Now, that would be unethical.
Can you think of anyone in Eli's life who might know something about this, might be willing to talk? No, but you can probably track down the woman yourself.
She filed a police report.
Not sure what there is to talk about.
I recanted.
I told the police it was consensual.
Kate, we're not here to judge you.
Okay, we understand how complex and how emotional these cases can be, believe me.
We just want to know what happened that night with Eli, because we think he did it again.
I'm sorry to hear that.
But I can't talk about it.
I signed a non-disclosure agreement.
- Ah, he wrote you a check, huh? - Fin.
Hey, I'm just talking straight to her, okay? I know this is your life, but we have another victim, and I think she deserves justice.
Look, Kate, we're not asking you to go public, but we do need your help.
We're just trying to figure out what happened.
He He said he would destroy my career.
My life.
And let's face it, no matter what I did or how hard the prosecutors would have tried, he would have walked.
And I'd be left hanging in the wind.
No way.
I worked too hard to just blow up my life.
For free.
I cut the best deal I could given the hand I was dealt.
That's what I did.
The son of a bitch still ruined my life.
But hey, at least I'm rich, right? One last question.
You said in the police report that you filed you stated that you and Eli had a preexisting professional relationship.
How did you two know each other? Roger Littrell.
Got a second? I'm not talking to you without a lawyer.
This isn't about Zoe.
Oh, yeah? You two looking to make a few M&A deals? No, we're actually here to talk about a former associate of yours, Kate Tompkins.
Yeah, I remember Kate.
MIT.
Wharton MBA.
Brilliant.
Yeah.
Pretty too.
Bet Eli liked working with her.
Eli raped her three years ago.
Then he paid her off.
I don't know anything about that.
You were her supervisor.
Yeah, I supervise lots of people.
Well, from where I sit, it seems like you supervise pretty women who end up getting assaulted by your biggest client.
It sounds like you need to get better seats, because I got nothing to do with this! I make Eli money.
I find undervalued businesses that he can buy at a discount and sell at a premium.
Simple as that.
And in the process, I get rich too! As for his private life, I don't know anything about it.
Even though he raped two of your associates? If he did, that's on him.
And you.
Because you're the bastard that helps him cover it up.
Zoe White and Kate Tompkins: junior bankers both sexually assaulted by Eli Colton, and they both worked under Roger Littrell, Eli's go-to banker.
And chief fixer.
Ten to one he's who snuck into Zoe's office and sent that email.
He's got way too much to lose if Eli goes down.
So we have a billionaire predator with a thing for young, beautiful bankers.
Problem is, we can't prove it because the other victim recanted and signed a non-disclosure.
What else do we have on Eli? Nothing that'll stick.
It's still Zoe's word against his.
Okay, so let's get warrants for his office, computers, and his apartment.
Hey, Lieu.
You see this? The "Ledger" did an exposé on the "fabulous life" of Eli Colton.
Look who made a cameo.
"Fabulous friend Zoe White sunbathing at Eli's Hamptons mansion.
" Wow, Eli's team is pulling out every trick in the book.
This is insane.
I am not his "fabulous friend.
" I'm a banker.
I graduated third in my class at business school.
I'm not some bikini bimbo.
Okay.
Where are these photos from? Last summer, Eli threw a party at his house in the Hamptons.
Okay, I went with a few work friends.
Look, he wasn't even there when these photos were taken.
He flew to London that Saturday morning.
But he told everybody to stay there and have a great weekend.
Was Roger at this party? Yeah.
He has a house a mile away.
Okay.
Zoe, do you remember Roger taking any photos? Yeah.
Probably.
I mean, everybody was.
So is it possible that Roger took these photos and and he gave them to Eli? I mean he's my mentor.
He's my he's my friend.
I I mean, I thought he was my friend.
Why would he throw me under the bus? To undermine your case.
This? This is undermining my career! Bikini shots? I work 80 hours a week! Okay, this is the first time that I had a break in in over a year! They're trying to intimidate you.
Yeah, well, you know what, it's starting to work.
So, Zoe, I-I hate to ask you to do this, but I would like you to walk us through what happened one last time.
The more details, the better, even if you think that they're meaningless.
Anything that you could tell us or remember would be helpful.
Eli and I were upstairs.
I was looking at the watch.
There was music playing.
We were kissing.
When he was inside of me, I saw this flash of light, and I Hold on.
Hold on.
A flash of light? Yeah, I-I don't I have no idea what it was.
My my therapist thinks that it was my brain reacting to the trauma.
[knocking.]
Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant, but we got the search warrants.
Great.
Thank you.
Please be respectful of the surroundings the furniture, the artwork.
Of course.
Yeah.
Looks just like the apartment I grew up in.
Uhhuh.
No security cameras.
Not in here, anyway.
Now, this really reminds me of the apartment I grew up in.
I had a roof terrace just like that.
Wow.
Mind if I kill the lights? Yeah.
Go for it.
Fin! Come back inside.
A flash of light.
That wasn't Zoe trying to process her trauma.
There's a fire stairwell that leads up to the roof.
A service elevator too.
Do Eli's guests have access to this elevator? Some of the more high-profile ones.
Celebrities.
Things like that.
They come in the back entrance and go up on the service elevator.
More more privacy.
Well, Eli threw a party here three nights ago.
Did anyone use that entrance then? Mr.
Colton is a very private person, and That's not the question.
We can take this down to the station if you'd prefer.
[sighs.]
No need for any of that.
So? Yeah.
Some guy rode up the elevator that night.
All right.
You know his name? No.
- He sign in? - Nope.
Eli tells me to just let 'em up.
Does this elevator have a camera in it? Mmhmm.
Guy comes up at 2:45 a.
m.
, right around the time Zoe was raped, and then he comes back down five minutes later.
And we got a hit on facial recognition.
The guy's name is Harry Ingram.
He's got one prior, cocaine possession with intent to distribute.
Now, I talked to my friend in Narcotics.
He says this guy Ingram is a well-known dealer to the Wall Street crowd.
Okay, so Harry shows up to sell Eli some coke.
He takes the service elevator up, and then he opens up Eli's terrace door Creating the flash of light in the dark room.
He sees what's going on, gets the hell out of there.
So what do we do, bring him in? No.
He has no reason to cooperate with us.
Not yet, anyway.
You know anything about the stock market? Can I help you? Hey.
Harry.
It's, uh, Stuart Gleacher.
I called you and left a message.
Anyway, I-I used to work with Eli Colton.
In fact, I-I think I met you a few times at, uh, at his place in in Tribeca, one of those rooftop parties he had last fall? Think we rode that private elevator up together? What can I do for you, Stuart? Um Did, uh, Eli he didn't he didn't call you? No.
Okay.
Uh, I'm sorry.
You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna track him down.
I'm gonna get him to call you.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to pop up out of the blue like that.
You know, that that's my bad.
Uh, it's it's cool, bro.
Come on in.
Thank you.
So, uh, you and Eli are are buddies? Yeah, we used to work together, among other things.
What, uh, what can I do for you? I'm, uh, I'm looking to get a big eight.
Say, where do you where do you work now? Hedge fund called Panther.
Oh.
What kind of what kind of fund? You know, it's, uh, it's long-short, it's low beta, It's real quant shop, you know? I'm on the sales side now, though, why? You looking for an internship or something? No, no, I'm I'm more of an entrepreneur.
I actually, I got this-this one idea.
I like the business you're in now.
You got endless demand, high margins.
Yeah, but the the risk is too high.
Anyway, check it out.
I was in China a few months ago.
There's fast food chains everywhere, so invest in Chinese weight loss gyms, diet pills, all of that.
Make a killing.
How much is that? Three grand? - Four.
- What? Supply and demand, bro.
Of course.
You know what, Harry? It's been a real, real pleasure doing business with you.
Sure, sure.
Hey! Get down on your knees.
Hands on your head.
Harry Ingram.
You're under arrest for possession of a class-A drug with intent to distribute.
Hey, guys, check the oven.
I'm sorry, bro.
Did I forget to tell you I was a cop? Eight ounces, that's a lot of weight.
I mean, one prior, plus this.
You are staring down a lot of time.
Unless you might want to help us.
- What the hell is this? - This? That's a video of you on your way up to a party at Eli Colton's penthouse four nights ago.
A party which you spent exactly five minutes at.
Now, you mind telling me what happened that night? I went up to hang out at Eli's, I took the service elevator up, and when I opened the master bedroom door I'm guessing you want to know what I saw? You're a genius.
Well I'm happy to share, but I'm I'm gonna need certain assurances.
Well, we're not in the business of making assurances, but you know what, if you tell us the truth, we can put in a good word for you at the DA's office.
Tell us what happened, Harry.
Come on.
Because if you don't, this is gonna end badly for you.
[sighs.]
When I opened the door, Eli was on top of this girl, and she was struggling.
I heard her say, "Stop.
Get off me," and he didn't.
Ugh.
It was it was ugly.
I shut the door, and I got the hell out of there.
Look, I'm no saint, but I am definitely not okay with that kind of thing.
Okay, so, Eli's self-interested coke dealer witnessed the rape.
Okay, so he's not a perfect witness.
Even if he's telling the truth, he's practically useless.
So let's use him outside the courtroom to gather more evidence.
You think he's willing to wear a wire? I think he's willing to wear a clown suit.
This guy is so afraid of going to prison, he'll do anything we want.
Worth a shot.
I'm sorry to bother you with this, but I am freaking out.
Well, tell me what's going on.
Maybe I can help you out.
The police found out that I was at your place the other night, the night of the The night I had work friends over for drinks to celebrate the closing of the Whitmere Hotel chain that I had just purchased? Yeah, they wanted to know if I saw anything suspicious.
Like what? Drug use, or? No, like, something else.
Well, what did you tell them? I told them that I wanted to talk to a lawyer.
Well, that was smart.
But the fact is, nothing suspicious did happen.
Yeah, right.
Excuse me? Look, I-I was there, Eli.
I saw you on top of that girl.
I heard her yell "stop.
" You mean you heard her yell "don't stop"? Eli's pretty good.
Because I would never have sex with a woman without her consent.
Look, Eli, I'm not in the mood to dance.
I, uh, I'm in a bind.
I owe my buddy in Miami some cash.
Need money? I need to make a deal.
I keep my mouth shut, you cut me a check.
This guy's pretty good too.
How much do you need? 500,000.
500,000? Well, I think you need more than that.
How about a million? 500,000? Well, I think you need more than that.
How about a million? He's clearly trying to buy him off.
I mean, the guy asked for 500,000, and he counters with a million? The jury's gonna see right through that.
I'm not so sure.
Eli's too smooth.
He never took the bait.
Every time Harry pressed him, he denied any culpability.
What are you saying, that you don't want to use it? We can play this audio for a jury and let them decide if Eli's lying, but we need something more definitive.
Like what? Like Eli's banker, Roger Littrell.
We tried.
He won't cooperate.
Eli is his golden goose.
That guy is not talking.
Not without the proper motivation, anyway.
These guys are all motivated by one thing.
Money.
Mr.
Hewitt.
How can I assist you, Lieutenant? Actually, I'm here to assist you.
- In what way? - By giving you a tip.
You know, as you guys like to say, inside information.
My firm is far too reputable to engage in that kind of activity.
Right.
Well, later on today, we're going to be arresting your friend and your client, Eli Colton, for raping your associate, Zoe White.
I thought you were here to help.
- Oh, I am.
- How? By giving you a chance to get on the right side of history.
You see, Eli's name is going to be everywhere all over the news, in newspapers, tabloids which means that Cromwell Moore's name is going to be splattered everywhere.
So the question is, how do you want to be characterized? As a hero or a villain? Tell me what you need.
Please.
Roger Littrell.
His testimony's crucial.
He owes his whole career to Eli.
Without him, Roger's just another guy in an expensive suit pulling down 2 mil a year.
He'll never flip.
But we don't need him.
Excuse me? Every conversation in our office is recorded.
Brutal honesty is the cornerstone of our firm's philosophy.
I'll have the relevant videos sent to your office within the hour.
Nice doing business with you.
And you.
What's gonna happen to Roger? He'll be out of the office before the end of the day.
Conference call was canceled for Friday, - but the meeting for Monday - Eli Colton! You're under arrest for first-degree rape.
- Is this absolutely necessary? - Yeah.
It is.
We find that arresting, handcuffing rapists is an efficient way to do business, and don't worry, this isn't activity for activity's sake.
So Eli's under arrest? It's official? Oh, we arrested him last night of first-degree rape.
It turns out that Cromwell Moore records everything.
There is footage of your conversation with Roger the morning after the assault and him typing on your computer later that afternoon.
So it was Roger who sent the phony email to Eli.
Sure looks that way.
They have cameras in our office? That's really creepy.
It certainly is, but it gave us the evidence that we need to move forward.
So what's next? We indict Eli, and he goes to trial.
Which means I have to testify.
Yes.
Zoe, what's going on? I thought this was what you wanted.
No, I-I do.
I do.
It's just that it's it's complicated.
How so? I met with the head of the M&A group at Cromwell the other night, and he suggested that I transfer to Brussels, that it would be good for my career.
- They're retaliating.
- I know, but I was offered a very lucrative position at another firm.
Sullivan Davis.
What does that have to do with this? One of the conditions is that I keep a low profile.
They don't want you to testify.
Because of Eli.
So this job offer is a payoff, is that what you're saying? Call it whatever you want, but it's a really good deal.
They're gonna pay me $5 million a year for four years.
I can't say no to that.
Zoe, listen to me.
No.
Hold on a second.
I did everything right I came forward, I told the truth, I even took on Eli Colton and where did it get me? What happened? They almost decimated my career.
My future.
Zoe, I know that this is hard.
The thing is is that it's always going to be hard.
Whether or not I testify against Eli, whether or not he goes to prison, the pain and everything that I just endured is never gonna disappear.
So I have two options.
I can either be a poor and careerless victim, or I can be a wealthy, employed victim.
That's it.
I prefer the latter.
After all this, Zoe wants to go paws up and let this guy walk? - Look, she wants to get paid.
- I get it, but ain't nothing for free.
Check this out.
Two rich white men having dinner.
That's not exactly newsworthy.
That is Eli and David Potter, CEO of Sullivan Davis.
That's the company that just made Zoe that ridiculous job offer.
Now, legally, this doesn't prove anything.
No, but it does confirm what we suspect.
Eli cut a deal to run his business through Sullivan, and in return, Sullivan funnels some of that revenue to Zoe.
Yeah, to keep her quiet.
Gotta love Wall Street.
This is a payoff.
It's a bribe.
We can't just let them get away.
I'll keep Barba, see what our options are.
Two businessmen having dinner doesn't prove a damn thing.
For ten years Eli's only bank is Cromwell Moore, and then right before he's about to go on trial on a rape charge, some firm, out of the blue, offers a 26-year-old kid, who makes 300 grand a year, $5 million.
Are you kidding me? I know, but we can't prove it.
The paper trail is clean.
From the outside, Sullivan Davis offered Zoe White, a talented young banker with impeccable credentials, a lucrative contract.
There's nothing incriminating about it.
Okay.
But rape is still illegal, right? Liv.
So we'll call her as a hostile witness.
We can do that, and we can look like fools.
I know.
I know.
I know that this is hard to accept, but it is her life.
Her decision.
She's not making a decision.
The girl is being extorted! Does he feel that way? Maybe this job, this money, will help her heal, will give her closure.
I don't believe that for a second.
And neither do you.
Of course not.
So let's go find another way to bury this prick.
I respect your passion, Lieutenant, but you need to respect my decision.
I do respect your decision, Zoe.
And I've been doing this for a very long time, and testifying can be a crucial part of the healing process.
I'm sure it is.
For some people.
But I am a deal maker.
I make decisions based on fact, not feeling.
I analyze the pros, the cons, the opportunity costs.
I get it.
I get it.
So using your leverage against Eli to extract a premium deal makes you feel like a winner, not a loser.
And bankers are different.
You think differently, and you may heal differently, but a payoff money for silence never healed anyone.
Okay.
Let me be clear.
I do not want to give Eli a pass.
I would love to see that pig go to prison and get everything that he deserves.
But like I said, I'm a pragmatist, and right now, based on all the data and information that I have right in front of me in this moment, this is the best decision.
If you take the money, Zoe, Eli wins.
He avoids prison.
And he victimizes you all over again, and he steals your dignity one last time.
But maybe I'm not the best person to talk to you about this.
Excuse me? Come on in, Kate.
Zoe, this is Kate.
She used to work at Cromwell Moore.
When it was clear to me that he wanted to have sex, I said no.
And what happened? He pulled down my underwear.
I tried to pull away, but he held me down.
I screamed that I didn't want to have anything to do with this, but he didn't care.
He wasn't listening.
And then he put his penis inside of me.
Do you see that man here today? Yes.
He's right there.
Your Honor, I'd like to present People's Exhibit G.
This is surveillance footage from Cromwell Moore, time-stamped 9:12 a.
m.
, the day after the assault.
I even was clear that I didn't want to have sex with him I told him that.
Well, I'm shocked that Eli would do something like that.
What do you mean? Do you think I'm making this up? I'm not I'm telling you the truth.
Roger I told him no, and I tried to leave, and he pinned me down.
Eli r he raped me.
Just to confirm, Zoe, that is you talking to your supervisor, Roger Littrell, the morning after the party where the defendant sexually assaulted you? Yes.
People's Exhibit H.
That's a letter from Sullivan Davis to Zoe White, offering her a job two days prior to the arrest of the defendant for first-degree rape.
Could you please read the paragraph under the heading "compensation," please? "Ms.
White, hereafter referred to as 'employee, ' "will receive a minimum cash compensation "of $5 million per year for four years "plus a discretionary bonus based on the firm's overall financial performance.
" Thank you.
Did you accept this job offer? No.
Why not? Because it was clear to me the only reason why they offered me so much money was to ingratiate themselves to Eli.
Could you elaborate? One of the conditions of my employment was that I keep a low profile.
So you turned down $20 million in guaranteed compensation, just for the opportunity to testify here today? Yes, I did.
Why? Because I didn't want him to steal my dignity one more time.
Nothing further.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
Zoe.
The Hang Seng is crashing right now.
Do you want me to call the guys in Hong Kong? No, no.
You should have a drink.
Take a night off.
Have some fun.
I'm trying.
Eli's happy.
Well, when you're worth 3 bil, it's easy to get the serotonin flowin'.
Roger.
Zoe.
Thank you for your hard work.
Our pleasure.
You know, I think it's gonna be a home run, Eli.
Better be with the fees I'm paying.
Nothing good comes cheap.
Not on Wall Street.
Well, I appreciate your hard work, Roger.
And I appreciate your hard work.
Thank you.
He's gonna take the credit, of course.
But I know that you found this deal and set the whole thing in motion, so thank you.
Cheers.
- Wine? - Oh.
No, thank you.
You might want to rethink that.
DRC.
1978.
Not a wine connoisseur.
I paid $1.
6 million for 112 bottles.
That's over $3,500 a glass.
Don't waste something that unique on me.
I have a very unsophisticated palate.
Stop! No.
Thank you.
[laughs.]
All right.
Rookie move.
- What are you talking about? - Three rules of Wall Street: never tell the truth, never use your own money, and never say no to a client.
Okay.
Still pouring that DRC? [chuckles.]
All right, well, guys, stay on it.
Hey.
I didn't know we had a meeting.
Roger called this morning about some Chinese media company we can get for four times EBITDA.
That's cheap.
Well, you get what you pay for.
Not when you work with Cromwell Moore.
Get what you don't pay for.
That's why you're so rich.
So, last night.
That was fun.
We should do it again.
[Chuckles.]
So? Any word? No.
Stop asking.
All right, it's just, you know, Sergeant Tutuola's got a nice ring to it.
Hey, what is a ten-letter word for "bad luck"? Misfortune.
Hi.
Can I help you? Uh, yes.
I need to speak to a detective.
Okay, I'm Lieutenant Benson.
Okay, how about we step into my office? How can I help you? I was raped.
Okay.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
Yeah, um, I-I don't know how this works, so No worries.
We're just gonna take it one step at a time.
Do you have any idea who did this to you? Yes.
Okay.
Him.
Eli Colton? Yeah.
King of Wall Street.
[dramatic music.]
I was at a party at Eli's penthouse.
We'd just closed a deal.
Okay, so you and Eli work together? Sort of.
I work at an investment bank.
- Cromwell Moore.
- Uh-huh.
Eli's firm is our biggest client.
Got it.
He invited a bunch of people back to his apartment after the dinner.
We were celebrating his latest acquisition.
So first you went to dinner, and then you went to his apartment.
Yeah.
Um I ended up in his bedroom.
He wanted to show me his watch collection.
Anyway He kissed me, and I-I did kiss him back.
You know, we were having fun.
Of course.
So, Zoe, just tell me exactly what happened, okay? A few minutes later, he tried to take my dress off.
I told him I did not want to have sex.
But he he threw me down on the bed, and, uh and I tried to push him off.
I tried so hard to get him off of me.
I screamed, but he just covered my mouth.
Okay, do you remember anything else? Any other details? Yeah.
Staring at his stupid $4 million watch on the night stand.
I just watched the hand go around and around till it was over.
Okay, did he say anything when it was over? Yeah.
He winked at me and said, "I hope you had just as much fun as I did," and then he jumped in the shower.
Okay, and what time was this? 3:05 a.
m.
Have you told anybody about what happened? Yeah, I did.
I told my boss, Roger, this morning.
Okay.
And he told me to think it over.
Think it over? His exact words were, "Be careful.
It's never easy to kill the king.
" I'm confused are you saying that Zoe was raped? Yes.
And now I'm confused because she told you that this morning.
Well, she never said "rape.
" I thought that she was just upset and regretful.
Do you remember her exact words? No.
Not really.
She said things got weird between her and Eli.
That he was aggressive.
But, in all honesty, I think that she seemed more worried about appearances.
She didn't want people talking about her or or what happened, but I didn't realize that If I knew that she'd been raped, I would've been the first to call the police.
Good afternoon, detectives.
- Dan Hewitt.
CEO.
- Lieutenant Benson.
SVU.
This is Detective Tutuola.
I heard what happened.
I'm shocked.
You heard? Who told you? Well, employees are the most important asset a corporation possesses.
Of course, you can count on my full cooperation.
Well, great because we definitely have some more questions.
I'm sure you do, but right now, Roger and I need to speak with our general counsel.
You understand? Uh, no, actually, I don't.
[chuckles.]
We'll be in touch.
Again, if there's anything I can do.
Okay Mr.
Colton, Detectives Carisi and Rollins from SVU are here.
SVU? Special Victims Unit, right? Well, how can I help you? - We're here about Zoe White.
- Zoe? Why? What happened? I just saw her this morning.
Did you see her last night? Yeah.
I had a couple people over, why? Were you alone with her? Maybe between 2:00 and 3:00 a.
m.
? Liza, could you show these detectives out? Sorry, guys.
This meeting's over.
We're not accusing you of anything.
We just want to hear your side of the story.
I'd just prefer to have my lawyer present for any formal discussions.
If you want to talk about this more, just contact her, and we'll set up a meeting.
- Can you get them her card? - Before we go can we just have the names of all the people that were there at the apartment last night? I mean, lawyer or no lawyer, we're obviously gonna find out for ourselves, so I mean, just, why make us waste our time? Well, that's a good point.
I hate inefficiency.
It drives me nuts people just wasting time, activity for the sake of activity.
- You got a pen? - Yep.
Roger Littrell, Allison Kring, Zoe White, Zoya oh, gosh, what's her last name? I don't think she has a last name.
She's a model.
Yeah, I remember her.
Did you see her and Eli hanging out? Yes.
She was very determined.
That makes sense.
He's a he's a good catch, right? He's the holy grail rich, fun, decent-looking.
Let's face it, most billionaires are disgusting.
But he's a total player.
He goes from girl to girl to girl, and word is, he doesn't even give parting gifts.
I mean, if you're gonna shag a billionaire, you deserve something.
That's one way of looking at it.
Okay, listen.
Back to Eli and Zoe, all right? Do you remember anything else? Anything specific? I saw them walk upstairs to his bedroom.
Late at night.
Hand in hand.
And I remember feeling relieved.
Why's that? Because I knew I didn't have to sleep with him.
Excuse me? This guy at Cromwell Moore Roger something paid me $20,000 to come to the party and be Eli's date.
Eli didn't know, of course.
Roger told him we were friends from the Hamptons.
Anyway, I was thrilled when Eli went upstairs with Zoe.
Win-win.
Got to keep the 20 grand, and I didn't have to sleep with him.
Plus, I met a really cute guy.
Nate.
So, you and Zoya were hanging out.
Do you remember seeing Eli and Zoe together? Yes, but I didn't notice anything unusual.
What time did you leave the party? Around 12:00.
I'm not really into the party scene.
I went there to fly the Cromwell flag.
Do you remember seeing Zoe at work the next day? Yeah.
She seemed distracted.
Did she mention anything about what happened? No, but let's cut to the chase.
If Zoe said that Eli assaulted her, he did.
Why, 'cause she's honest? Because she's smart.
Zoe's the most driven woman I know.
She grew up middle-class in Reading, Pennsylvania, worked her ass off, went to Harvard, got her MBA from Stanford there's no way she would risk everything just to go after Eli, unless it were true.
There's no upside to burning a bridge with the King.
Security footage from Eli's lobby confirms there were 20 people at the party.
So far, we talked to 11 of them.
Okay.
Anything interesting? They all say the same thing.
Eli and Zoe were flirting, having fun, but nothing unusual.
Okay.
What about photos? Videos? Nothing so far.
Zoe's rape kit came back.
Internal bruising consistent with rough sex or sexual assault, and there were traces of semen too.
I ran it through CODIS.
There's no match in the system.
Great.
Get a warrant for Eli's DNA.
Mr.
Colton.
What brings you here? The sooner we put this to rest, the better.
I couldn't agree more.
How about you give us a sample of your DNA? No need.
Mr.
Colton's ready to talk.
Zoe and I had sex, it was consensual, and we both had a great time.
Sure.
We'll just take your word for it.
Well, you don't have to.
This is an email sent from Ms.
White to Mr.
Colton the day after the party.
Our IT department confirmed it was sent from her office computer.
"Glad we closed the deal.
Ha.
"Thinking about you.
"Last night was amazing.
XOXO, Zoe.
" "Glad we closed the deal"? What the hell is this? It's an email that you allegedly sent to Eli the morning after the party.
I didn't write this.
According to our tech experts, the IP address matches Cromwell Moore's networks, and they confirmed that it specifically came from your computer.
We also checked the digital sign-in log.
You were at Cromwell Moore from 9:00 a.
m.
to 9:00 p.
m.
Yeah, I was.
I'm not in my office every second of the day.
I mean, obviously, somebody went into my office and sent this from my computer.
You have any idea who? No.
But it wasn't me.
Well, great.
That's all we need to hear.
We'll send our people over, have 'em dust for prints, touch DNA, figure out who sent that email.
We're on your side.
Thank you.
Either everybody at work has no idea what's going on, or they're not acknowledging it, but it's making me feel really alone.
You're not.
I promise.
[sighs.]
No luck on the keyboard.
Techs couldn't find any prints or DNA.
Somebody must've wiped it down.
Okay, so we can't prove that the email came from anyone other than Zoe.
Yeah, but it does prove Eli's nervous.
I mean, if you're innocent, you're not gonna send phony emails from a victim's computer trying to get ahead of the story.
Okay, so let's keep digging.
We talked to the last of the party guests.
- And? - Nobody saw anything suspicious except cocaine apparently, Eli and some of the guests were hitting it pretty hard.
Okay, so we're back to Eli.
Let's dig into his past.
Look at civil suits, harassment complaints, any Wall Street gossip anything that can establish a pattern of behavior.
And guys, let's focus on his enemies, because his friends are too busy getting rich off him.
Thanks for meeting with us, Tyler.
Like I said on the phone, we've got some questions about Eli Colton.
- Yeah, you guys worked together? - Yeah.
Ten years.
He was best man at my wedding.
Okay, so you guys were good friends too, huh? Well, yeah, till he fired me.
He didn't want to pay your yearend bonus.
That's what you alleged in the lawsuit, right? Yeah, he owed me $80 million so rather than cut me a check, he blew me out.
Litigation arbitrage.
Spread between what is owed and the expected payout, which in my case was zero 'cause I lost.
- Cost me 2 mil in legal fees too.
- Sorry to hear that.
Sorry? [Laughs.]
Taking it on the chin from Eli was a godsend.
Raised my profile, like, 10x, which in turn gave me a platform to build this $4 billion fund.
If anything, I owe Eli.
So, yeah, anyway, like I was saying on the phone, about three years ago, there were some rumors flying that Eli raped someone.
I assumed it was just gossip, but Do you remember any details? Any names? No, it was just a rumor, but it had traction.
And then one day, it suddenly just disappeared.
Are you saying that he paid her off? Now, that would be unethical.
Can you think of anyone in Eli's life who might know something about this, might be willing to talk? No, but you can probably track down the woman yourself.
She filed a police report.
Not sure what there is to talk about.
I recanted.
I told the police it was consensual.
Kate, we're not here to judge you.
Okay, we understand how complex and how emotional these cases can be, believe me.
We just want to know what happened that night with Eli, because we think he did it again.
I'm sorry to hear that.
But I can't talk about it.
I signed a non-disclosure agreement.
- Ah, he wrote you a check, huh? - Fin.
Hey, I'm just talking straight to her, okay? I know this is your life, but we have another victim, and I think she deserves justice.
Look, Kate, we're not asking you to go public, but we do need your help.
We're just trying to figure out what happened.
He He said he would destroy my career.
My life.
And let's face it, no matter what I did or how hard the prosecutors would have tried, he would have walked.
And I'd be left hanging in the wind.
No way.
I worked too hard to just blow up my life.
For free.
I cut the best deal I could given the hand I was dealt.
That's what I did.
The son of a bitch still ruined my life.
But hey, at least I'm rich, right? One last question.
You said in the police report that you filed you stated that you and Eli had a preexisting professional relationship.
How did you two know each other? Roger Littrell.
Got a second? I'm not talking to you without a lawyer.
This isn't about Zoe.
Oh, yeah? You two looking to make a few M&A deals? No, we're actually here to talk about a former associate of yours, Kate Tompkins.
Yeah, I remember Kate.
MIT.
Wharton MBA.
Brilliant.
Yeah.
Pretty too.
Bet Eli liked working with her.
Eli raped her three years ago.
Then he paid her off.
I don't know anything about that.
You were her supervisor.
Yeah, I supervise lots of people.
Well, from where I sit, it seems like you supervise pretty women who end up getting assaulted by your biggest client.
It sounds like you need to get better seats, because I got nothing to do with this! I make Eli money.
I find undervalued businesses that he can buy at a discount and sell at a premium.
Simple as that.
And in the process, I get rich too! As for his private life, I don't know anything about it.
Even though he raped two of your associates? If he did, that's on him.
And you.
Because you're the bastard that helps him cover it up.
Zoe White and Kate Tompkins: junior bankers both sexually assaulted by Eli Colton, and they both worked under Roger Littrell, Eli's go-to banker.
And chief fixer.
Ten to one he's who snuck into Zoe's office and sent that email.
He's got way too much to lose if Eli goes down.
So we have a billionaire predator with a thing for young, beautiful bankers.
Problem is, we can't prove it because the other victim recanted and signed a non-disclosure.
What else do we have on Eli? Nothing that'll stick.
It's still Zoe's word against his.
Okay, so let's get warrants for his office, computers, and his apartment.
Hey, Lieu.
You see this? The "Ledger" did an exposé on the "fabulous life" of Eli Colton.
Look who made a cameo.
"Fabulous friend Zoe White sunbathing at Eli's Hamptons mansion.
" Wow, Eli's team is pulling out every trick in the book.
This is insane.
I am not his "fabulous friend.
" I'm a banker.
I graduated third in my class at business school.
I'm not some bikini bimbo.
Okay.
Where are these photos from? Last summer, Eli threw a party at his house in the Hamptons.
Okay, I went with a few work friends.
Look, he wasn't even there when these photos were taken.
He flew to London that Saturday morning.
But he told everybody to stay there and have a great weekend.
Was Roger at this party? Yeah.
He has a house a mile away.
Okay.
Zoe, do you remember Roger taking any photos? Yeah.
Probably.
I mean, everybody was.
So is it possible that Roger took these photos and and he gave them to Eli? I mean he's my mentor.
He's my he's my friend.
I I mean, I thought he was my friend.
Why would he throw me under the bus? To undermine your case.
This? This is undermining my career! Bikini shots? I work 80 hours a week! Okay, this is the first time that I had a break in in over a year! They're trying to intimidate you.
Yeah, well, you know what, it's starting to work.
So, Zoe, I-I hate to ask you to do this, but I would like you to walk us through what happened one last time.
The more details, the better, even if you think that they're meaningless.
Anything that you could tell us or remember would be helpful.
Eli and I were upstairs.
I was looking at the watch.
There was music playing.
We were kissing.
When he was inside of me, I saw this flash of light, and I Hold on.
Hold on.
A flash of light? Yeah, I-I don't I have no idea what it was.
My my therapist thinks that it was my brain reacting to the trauma.
[knocking.]
Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant, but we got the search warrants.
Great.
Thank you.
Please be respectful of the surroundings the furniture, the artwork.
Of course.
Yeah.
Looks just like the apartment I grew up in.
Uhhuh.
No security cameras.
Not in here, anyway.
Now, this really reminds me of the apartment I grew up in.
I had a roof terrace just like that.
Wow.
Mind if I kill the lights? Yeah.
Go for it.
Fin! Come back inside.
A flash of light.
That wasn't Zoe trying to process her trauma.
There's a fire stairwell that leads up to the roof.
A service elevator too.
Do Eli's guests have access to this elevator? Some of the more high-profile ones.
Celebrities.
Things like that.
They come in the back entrance and go up on the service elevator.
More more privacy.
Well, Eli threw a party here three nights ago.
Did anyone use that entrance then? Mr.
Colton is a very private person, and That's not the question.
We can take this down to the station if you'd prefer.
[sighs.]
No need for any of that.
So? Yeah.
Some guy rode up the elevator that night.
All right.
You know his name? No.
- He sign in? - Nope.
Eli tells me to just let 'em up.
Does this elevator have a camera in it? Mmhmm.
Guy comes up at 2:45 a.
m.
, right around the time Zoe was raped, and then he comes back down five minutes later.
And we got a hit on facial recognition.
The guy's name is Harry Ingram.
He's got one prior, cocaine possession with intent to distribute.
Now, I talked to my friend in Narcotics.
He says this guy Ingram is a well-known dealer to the Wall Street crowd.
Okay, so Harry shows up to sell Eli some coke.
He takes the service elevator up, and then he opens up Eli's terrace door Creating the flash of light in the dark room.
He sees what's going on, gets the hell out of there.
So what do we do, bring him in? No.
He has no reason to cooperate with us.
Not yet, anyway.
You know anything about the stock market? Can I help you? Hey.
Harry.
It's, uh, Stuart Gleacher.
I called you and left a message.
Anyway, I-I used to work with Eli Colton.
In fact, I-I think I met you a few times at, uh, at his place in in Tribeca, one of those rooftop parties he had last fall? Think we rode that private elevator up together? What can I do for you, Stuart? Um Did, uh, Eli he didn't he didn't call you? No.
Okay.
Uh, I'm sorry.
You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna track him down.
I'm gonna get him to call you.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to pop up out of the blue like that.
You know, that that's my bad.
Uh, it's it's cool, bro.
Come on in.
Thank you.
So, uh, you and Eli are are buddies? Yeah, we used to work together, among other things.
What, uh, what can I do for you? I'm, uh, I'm looking to get a big eight.
Say, where do you where do you work now? Hedge fund called Panther.
Oh.
What kind of what kind of fund? You know, it's, uh, it's long-short, it's low beta, It's real quant shop, you know? I'm on the sales side now, though, why? You looking for an internship or something? No, no, I'm I'm more of an entrepreneur.
I actually, I got this-this one idea.
I like the business you're in now.
You got endless demand, high margins.
Yeah, but the the risk is too high.
Anyway, check it out.
I was in China a few months ago.
There's fast food chains everywhere, so invest in Chinese weight loss gyms, diet pills, all of that.
Make a killing.
How much is that? Three grand? - Four.
- What? Supply and demand, bro.
Of course.
You know what, Harry? It's been a real, real pleasure doing business with you.
Sure, sure.
Hey! Get down on your knees.
Hands on your head.
Harry Ingram.
You're under arrest for possession of a class-A drug with intent to distribute.
Hey, guys, check the oven.
I'm sorry, bro.
Did I forget to tell you I was a cop? Eight ounces, that's a lot of weight.
I mean, one prior, plus this.
You are staring down a lot of time.
Unless you might want to help us.
- What the hell is this? - This? That's a video of you on your way up to a party at Eli Colton's penthouse four nights ago.
A party which you spent exactly five minutes at.
Now, you mind telling me what happened that night? I went up to hang out at Eli's, I took the service elevator up, and when I opened the master bedroom door I'm guessing you want to know what I saw? You're a genius.
Well I'm happy to share, but I'm I'm gonna need certain assurances.
Well, we're not in the business of making assurances, but you know what, if you tell us the truth, we can put in a good word for you at the DA's office.
Tell us what happened, Harry.
Come on.
Because if you don't, this is gonna end badly for you.
[sighs.]
When I opened the door, Eli was on top of this girl, and she was struggling.
I heard her say, "Stop.
Get off me," and he didn't.
Ugh.
It was it was ugly.
I shut the door, and I got the hell out of there.
Look, I'm no saint, but I am definitely not okay with that kind of thing.
Okay, so, Eli's self-interested coke dealer witnessed the rape.
Okay, so he's not a perfect witness.
Even if he's telling the truth, he's practically useless.
So let's use him outside the courtroom to gather more evidence.
You think he's willing to wear a wire? I think he's willing to wear a clown suit.
This guy is so afraid of going to prison, he'll do anything we want.
Worth a shot.
I'm sorry to bother you with this, but I am freaking out.
Well, tell me what's going on.
Maybe I can help you out.
The police found out that I was at your place the other night, the night of the The night I had work friends over for drinks to celebrate the closing of the Whitmere Hotel chain that I had just purchased? Yeah, they wanted to know if I saw anything suspicious.
Like what? Drug use, or? No, like, something else.
Well, what did you tell them? I told them that I wanted to talk to a lawyer.
Well, that was smart.
But the fact is, nothing suspicious did happen.
Yeah, right.
Excuse me? Look, I-I was there, Eli.
I saw you on top of that girl.
I heard her yell "stop.
" You mean you heard her yell "don't stop"? Eli's pretty good.
Because I would never have sex with a woman without her consent.
Look, Eli, I'm not in the mood to dance.
I, uh, I'm in a bind.
I owe my buddy in Miami some cash.
Need money? I need to make a deal.
I keep my mouth shut, you cut me a check.
This guy's pretty good too.
How much do you need? 500,000.
500,000? Well, I think you need more than that.
How about a million? 500,000? Well, I think you need more than that.
How about a million? He's clearly trying to buy him off.
I mean, the guy asked for 500,000, and he counters with a million? The jury's gonna see right through that.
I'm not so sure.
Eli's too smooth.
He never took the bait.
Every time Harry pressed him, he denied any culpability.
What are you saying, that you don't want to use it? We can play this audio for a jury and let them decide if Eli's lying, but we need something more definitive.
Like what? Like Eli's banker, Roger Littrell.
We tried.
He won't cooperate.
Eli is his golden goose.
That guy is not talking.
Not without the proper motivation, anyway.
These guys are all motivated by one thing.
Money.
Mr.
Hewitt.
How can I assist you, Lieutenant? Actually, I'm here to assist you.
- In what way? - By giving you a tip.
You know, as you guys like to say, inside information.
My firm is far too reputable to engage in that kind of activity.
Right.
Well, later on today, we're going to be arresting your friend and your client, Eli Colton, for raping your associate, Zoe White.
I thought you were here to help.
- Oh, I am.
- How? By giving you a chance to get on the right side of history.
You see, Eli's name is going to be everywhere all over the news, in newspapers, tabloids which means that Cromwell Moore's name is going to be splattered everywhere.
So the question is, how do you want to be characterized? As a hero or a villain? Tell me what you need.
Please.
Roger Littrell.
His testimony's crucial.
He owes his whole career to Eli.
Without him, Roger's just another guy in an expensive suit pulling down 2 mil a year.
He'll never flip.
But we don't need him.
Excuse me? Every conversation in our office is recorded.
Brutal honesty is the cornerstone of our firm's philosophy.
I'll have the relevant videos sent to your office within the hour.
Nice doing business with you.
And you.
What's gonna happen to Roger? He'll be out of the office before the end of the day.
Conference call was canceled for Friday, - but the meeting for Monday - Eli Colton! You're under arrest for first-degree rape.
- Is this absolutely necessary? - Yeah.
It is.
We find that arresting, handcuffing rapists is an efficient way to do business, and don't worry, this isn't activity for activity's sake.
So Eli's under arrest? It's official? Oh, we arrested him last night of first-degree rape.
It turns out that Cromwell Moore records everything.
There is footage of your conversation with Roger the morning after the assault and him typing on your computer later that afternoon.
So it was Roger who sent the phony email to Eli.
Sure looks that way.
They have cameras in our office? That's really creepy.
It certainly is, but it gave us the evidence that we need to move forward.
So what's next? We indict Eli, and he goes to trial.
Which means I have to testify.
Yes.
Zoe, what's going on? I thought this was what you wanted.
No, I-I do.
I do.
It's just that it's it's complicated.
How so? I met with the head of the M&A group at Cromwell the other night, and he suggested that I transfer to Brussels, that it would be good for my career.
- They're retaliating.
- I know, but I was offered a very lucrative position at another firm.
Sullivan Davis.
What does that have to do with this? One of the conditions is that I keep a low profile.
They don't want you to testify.
Because of Eli.
So this job offer is a payoff, is that what you're saying? Call it whatever you want, but it's a really good deal.
They're gonna pay me $5 million a year for four years.
I can't say no to that.
Zoe, listen to me.
No.
Hold on a second.
I did everything right I came forward, I told the truth, I even took on Eli Colton and where did it get me? What happened? They almost decimated my career.
My future.
Zoe, I know that this is hard.
The thing is is that it's always going to be hard.
Whether or not I testify against Eli, whether or not he goes to prison, the pain and everything that I just endured is never gonna disappear.
So I have two options.
I can either be a poor and careerless victim, or I can be a wealthy, employed victim.
That's it.
I prefer the latter.
After all this, Zoe wants to go paws up and let this guy walk? - Look, she wants to get paid.
- I get it, but ain't nothing for free.
Check this out.
Two rich white men having dinner.
That's not exactly newsworthy.
That is Eli and David Potter, CEO of Sullivan Davis.
That's the company that just made Zoe that ridiculous job offer.
Now, legally, this doesn't prove anything.
No, but it does confirm what we suspect.
Eli cut a deal to run his business through Sullivan, and in return, Sullivan funnels some of that revenue to Zoe.
Yeah, to keep her quiet.
Gotta love Wall Street.
This is a payoff.
It's a bribe.
We can't just let them get away.
I'll keep Barba, see what our options are.
Two businessmen having dinner doesn't prove a damn thing.
For ten years Eli's only bank is Cromwell Moore, and then right before he's about to go on trial on a rape charge, some firm, out of the blue, offers a 26-year-old kid, who makes 300 grand a year, $5 million.
Are you kidding me? I know, but we can't prove it.
The paper trail is clean.
From the outside, Sullivan Davis offered Zoe White, a talented young banker with impeccable credentials, a lucrative contract.
There's nothing incriminating about it.
Okay.
But rape is still illegal, right? Liv.
So we'll call her as a hostile witness.
We can do that, and we can look like fools.
I know.
I know.
I know that this is hard to accept, but it is her life.
Her decision.
She's not making a decision.
The girl is being extorted! Does he feel that way? Maybe this job, this money, will help her heal, will give her closure.
I don't believe that for a second.
And neither do you.
Of course not.
So let's go find another way to bury this prick.
I respect your passion, Lieutenant, but you need to respect my decision.
I do respect your decision, Zoe.
And I've been doing this for a very long time, and testifying can be a crucial part of the healing process.
I'm sure it is.
For some people.
But I am a deal maker.
I make decisions based on fact, not feeling.
I analyze the pros, the cons, the opportunity costs.
I get it.
I get it.
So using your leverage against Eli to extract a premium deal makes you feel like a winner, not a loser.
And bankers are different.
You think differently, and you may heal differently, but a payoff money for silence never healed anyone.
Okay.
Let me be clear.
I do not want to give Eli a pass.
I would love to see that pig go to prison and get everything that he deserves.
But like I said, I'm a pragmatist, and right now, based on all the data and information that I have right in front of me in this moment, this is the best decision.
If you take the money, Zoe, Eli wins.
He avoids prison.
And he victimizes you all over again, and he steals your dignity one last time.
But maybe I'm not the best person to talk to you about this.
Excuse me? Come on in, Kate.
Zoe, this is Kate.
She used to work at Cromwell Moore.
When it was clear to me that he wanted to have sex, I said no.
And what happened? He pulled down my underwear.
I tried to pull away, but he held me down.
I screamed that I didn't want to have anything to do with this, but he didn't care.
He wasn't listening.
And then he put his penis inside of me.
Do you see that man here today? Yes.
He's right there.
Your Honor, I'd like to present People's Exhibit G.
This is surveillance footage from Cromwell Moore, time-stamped 9:12 a.
m.
, the day after the assault.
I even was clear that I didn't want to have sex with him I told him that.
Well, I'm shocked that Eli would do something like that.
What do you mean? Do you think I'm making this up? I'm not I'm telling you the truth.
Roger I told him no, and I tried to leave, and he pinned me down.
Eli r he raped me.
Just to confirm, Zoe, that is you talking to your supervisor, Roger Littrell, the morning after the party where the defendant sexually assaulted you? Yes.
People's Exhibit H.
That's a letter from Sullivan Davis to Zoe White, offering her a job two days prior to the arrest of the defendant for first-degree rape.
Could you please read the paragraph under the heading "compensation," please? "Ms.
White, hereafter referred to as 'employee, ' "will receive a minimum cash compensation "of $5 million per year for four years "plus a discretionary bonus based on the firm's overall financial performance.
" Thank you.
Did you accept this job offer? No.
Why not? Because it was clear to me the only reason why they offered me so much money was to ingratiate themselves to Eli.
Could you elaborate? One of the conditions of my employment was that I keep a low profile.
So you turned down $20 million in guaranteed compensation, just for the opportunity to testify here today? Yes, I did.
Why? Because I didn't want him to steal my dignity one more time.
Nothing further.