Law & Order (1990) s19e22 Episode Script
The Drowned and the Saved
(male announcer) 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.
- I put the new budget on your desk.
- Stay out of my office, Caroline.
- Charles.
- Anything you have for me, give it to Amy.
- I'm sure you understand my position.
- You obviously don't understand mine.
- You can't seriously expect me to.
- What I expect is a little consideration.
Good night, Caroline.
- Guy going out to get pampers for his kid called it in from his cell.
We got a canvass started.
So far, no witnesses.
- [sighs.]
All right, let's see.
- Looks like knife wounds from the back.
- Ruined a pretty good suit.
Crockett and Jones wingtips-- obviously not from the neighborhood.
- No wallet.
Just a business card case here.
- "Charles Whitley.
Executive Director of the Boland Initiative.
" Pretty big charity.
- Yeah, they got 100 bucks off me last year.
Hey, check this out.
Ligature marks on his wrists.
Somebody had him tied up.
- What's this? It's not a tattoo.
It looks like fresh ink.
- A bank account, password.
- One thing I know for sure, it's definitely not his lucky number.
[dramatic music.]
# # - Charles was usually home by 7:00.
I thought he'd stopped to have a drink with a colleague.
I fell asleep.
When I woke up and he wasn't home - You have any idea why he'd be up in Inwood? - No.
Was this a robbery? - Maybe.
He ever mention any threats? Or people following him? - No, nothing like that.
- Executive Director at the Boland Initiative-- What did that involve? - He oversaw their philanthropic projects.
- Your husband, did he talk about problems at the office? - No, he loved his work.
He even turned down a generous retirement package.
- He had this written on his arm.
See? That mean anything to you? - It's not like Charles to do that.
That doesn't even look like his handwriting.
- Contusions on his limbs and torso, bruised ribs, welts on the back of his legs, all leading up to the tercio de muerte.
- The final act of a bullfight.
- Five stab wounds to the right lower back.
- That's a nice cluster.
Might be somebody with training.
- What do you make of the numbers on his forearm? - It was applied with a regular pen not more than a day before you found him.
As for the numbers themselves, I've seen this before.
[beep.]
Survivors from Auschwitz-- The only death camp where prisoners were tattooed with serial numbers.
- Maybe someone put this number on his arm as a message.
- Anti-Semitic threats? Charles wasn't Jewish.
- well, maybe somebody thought the Boland Initiative Was too sympathetic to Jewish causes.
- That would surprise me.
We spread the money around very equally.
- Do you spread any of it up in Inwood? - We have grant recipients all over the city.
But I spoke with Charles yesterday.
He didn't mention going to Inwood.
- His wife said he was offered a retirement package.
- That was pro forma.
When Charles turned 62, he was eligible for early retirement.
We were relieved when he decided to stay on.
- Mrs.
Reeves, your conference call.
- Oh, excuse me.
- This is all of Mr.
Whitley's personal correspondence.
- Thank you.
- I see his date book has every other Tuesday blocked off between 5:00 and 6:00.
- That's right.
I'd call a car for him for a 4:15 pickup, and off he'd go.
- Off he'd go where? - I never asked, and he never told me.
I just told the dispatcher to take Mr.
Whitley as directed.
- NYPD.
Can we come in? - Oh, sure.
You must be here about the murder down the street.
- [murmurs.]
- Let me put up some fennel tea for you.
It's great for the digestion.
- We're good.
You were here last night? Ms? - Lorraine Flockhart.
Yes, I was.
- A car service sent-- oops, sorry.
Uh, a car service said that they dropped the victim off at this address.
- Oh, my God! It's Charles Whitley.
He was one of my clients.
-You were his nutritionist? - Yes, I was.
He had a standing appointment here for years.
- How did he seem yesterday? - He said he was a bit run-down, actually.
I reviewed his glycemic index and we made some changes to his diet.
And then he left, just after 6:00.
- He had this written on his left forearm.
- Sorry.
He had his jacket on the whole time.
- There are plenty of nutritionists near his office in midtown.
You sure this wasn't about sex? - We didn't get that vibe.
- Because? - The woman's practically as old as his wife.
What would be the point? - I can't believe you said that, detective.
- What? - I can't believe it, either.
[phone ringing.]
- Van Buren.
Yes, put her through.
- You want this closed? - This is Lieutenant Van Buren.
Yes, that's our case.
Of course we're interested.
- It arrived at the metro desk this morning.
No return address, no note.
This is a copy.
When I saw that Whitley was on this, I called you.
- Let's play it.
[click.]
- Bring the prisoner here.
- On your knees.
- Yes, Fraulein Vera.
- Hey, hey.
It's Lorraine, the nutritionist.
- Lick her boots, you scum.
[whip noise.]
- Oh.
- Talk about your low calorie diet.
- [grunts.]
- You didn't say please.
- May I please lick your boot, fraulein? - Lick it clean.
And don't get your lice on her.
[whipping noise.]
[click.]
- What I do is completely legal.
Mr.
Whitley got exactly the treatment he paid for and agreed to.
- Getting abused as a prisoner, the number on his arm-- that was all his idea? - Yes.
Don't ask me why.
- Maybe providing S&M services is legal, but making blackmail videos isn't.
- I didn't spend 15 years building a reputation just to ruin it by blackmailing a client.
- This was shot in your office.
- Without my knowledge.
Charles came over two weeks ago.
He was furious.
He said that someone had sent a DVD to his work and now they were trying to fire him.
- So if you didn't make the video, who did? Maybe one of yourelves.
- They didn't know where Charles worked.
- Okay.
So last Tuesday why did he come over? - For his usual session.
- After being videoed? - I fired my two girls.
We moved to a different room.
He needed this.
He couldn't stop.
- Somebody sends a DVD to Whitley's boss to try to get him fired a month after he was offered a retirement package.
- Which he turned down.
- Somebody wanted him out of that job badly.
- They got him out of that job nowbadly.
- I didn't tell you about the DVD because I didn't want to embarrass Charles' family.
- Do you have the DVD and the envelope it came in? - No, on the advice of our council, those materials were destroyed.
- Why? Wouldn't you need the DVD if you were trying to fire Mr.
Whitley? - Charles refused to resign and he threatened to sue if we fired him.
He was completely unapologetic.
He said he wasn't breaking any laws, that this was his private hobby, and it didn't impact his duties here.
Our lawyers said he had a strong case if we tried to terminate him.
- So you just let it drop.
What about the retirement offer? Whose idea was that? - I told you that was pro forma.
- Anyone in particular in or out of the Initiative who wanted Whitley gone? - No, he was respected.
That is, before that DVD landed on my desk.
- I didn't know how to tell you about Charles' predilection.
I asked him once to explain it to me.
He couldn't.
- Did he tell you a video of one of his sessions was sent to Boland Initiative? - Yes, they weren't after money.
They wanted to hurt him professionally.
I have to call my children before they hear about this on the news.
- Of course.
We're very sorry.
Thank you for coming in.
- That is gonna be one awkward phone call.
- At both ends.
What did you find at the nutritionist's place? - Enough leather to outfit a biker convention, but no spy cam.
- So it must've been an inside job.
Take a run at the nutritionist's little elves.
- jawohl.
- [chuckles.]
- Yes! That's me.
It's not like I'm a prostitute.
It's just acting.
- It's not what you were doing, but how it got on the DVD.
- I told Lorraine I had nothing to do with that, and she still fired me.
And I'm about to be evicted and I got, like, $100 to my name.
- Did you just get some work done, Vera? - They're too high, right? No, they're gonna look normal when the implants settle.
- You didn't have them on the video.
Where'd you get the money for them? - My savings? - Uh-huh, okay.
So money you saved over months? Is that what we're gonna find when we check your bank account? - Or if we call your doctor, is he gonna tell us that you paid cash? - You know, Vera, if you paid for those with money you got from planting a camera in Lorraine's place, the government can seize them as proceeds from a crime.
They'll just put you under a knife and take them out.
- You can't be serious.
- As serious as murder, which is what happened to the gentleman in the video.
- Charlie? Oh, my God! - If you cooperate with us, We can make sure that you keep your, um enhancements.
- [sighs.]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait, wait, wait.
- It's behind the cocoa puffs.
- Just stand over there.
- I swear I had nothing to do with any murder! The guy gave me 10 grand to put that in Lorraine's place, and that's all I did.
- Which guy? - His name is Phil.
I met him outside of Lorraine's.
He said he was looking for some restaurant, and after we hooked up at his hotel a few times, he asked me to plant the camera the next time Charlie came by.
He paid me and I never heard from him again.
- Well, how do we find Phil? - I don't know.
I went to the hotel and he checked out.
The hotel said that he paid cash.
- Did he have a phone number? - It stopped working so I threw it out.
- The hotel is the only place you ever saw him? - I saw him using an ATM around the corner from the hotel, and he looked at me like I caught him stealing money.
So - Hmm? - Are you gonna let me keep them now? - We'll be in touch.
- That's some nice police work, fellas.
You found me through an ATM? - You recognize her? - [clears throat.]
[chuckles.]
I was in a nice hotel.
Expense account.
I just wanted a no-strings-attached fling, no crime in that.
- No crime so far.
- You know what she does for a living? She's a dominatrix.
A nut job.
I got a weakness for crazy girls.
That's why I love them and run.
- She's connected to a murder victim named Charles Whitley.
You know who he is? - No.
- He's one of Vera's clients.
She said you paid her $10,000 to get compromising video of him.
- She said that? That's the thing about crazy girls-- they make trouble if they don't get what they want.
- You're right about that.
How about you tell us where you were last Tuesday around 6:00? - And how about I don't? I'm a security professional, guys.
I know my rights.
- Sure.
We'll get out of your way.
Just curious how did you get into the security business? - Personal interest.
My older sister was killed by a stalker in college.
You have a nice ride back to the city.
- Your witness is a woman who beats up men for a living.
If that's your probable cause, it won't impress a judge.
- Well, Amato said he was in the city on a job.
His boss said he was on vacation.
- Well, Vera said Amato gave her $10,000 to plant the camera.
Does he have that kind of money? - No, he's moonlighting for someone who wanted Whitley out of the way.
- That's not enough probable cause for murder, but it may be enough for an extortion charge.
Talk to a judge about a search warrant.
- Hey, what do we have here? A program to operate remote cameras.
- Yeah, that's standard equipment in the security business, big deal.
- Let's turn one on and see what we come up with.
- Looks like the property room at our precinct.
- Which is where we stored the camera that Vera gave us-- The camera she says you gave her.
You're under arrest for extortion.
Hook him up.
- Vera set me up.
- Hey b, check this out.
- She set me up! - It's a letter of recommendation for our friend here, addressed to the Halliwell Group, dated last year.
Check out the signature at the bottom.
- Rita Shalvoy.
- Governor's wife.
No wonder he's so cocky.
The guy's got juice.
- Oops.
We just stepped into a deep, stinking pile.
- According to her letter of recommendation, Rita Shalvoy met Bobby Amato 13 years ago, when his sister was killed.
- Rita was a victims' rights advocate back then.
What was his sister's name? - Ellie.
Ellie Amato.
- Ellie's law.
- Mm-hmm.
The anti-stalking statute.
- Rita fought to make that happen.
- You know what a fighter she is.
And how corrupt the husband is.
- Start by finding out who Mr.
Amato is working for.
I'll talk to Rita Shalvoy.
Just to give her a heads up that we're charging her friend with extortion.
- Your boss told us you weren't working for him in New York.
You were freelancing for someone else.
- There is no someone else.
I did a job for Halliwell, then I decided to stay in town and enjoy the sights.
- The sights? From where? Zagat's guide to S&M dungeons? - Well, yeah, I want to tell you about that.
- Mr.
Amato-- - It's okay.
I was up in Inwood, I was looking for a Dominican restaurant when I met Vera.
After we hooked up, she told me what she did for a living.
She said she was worried about this client of hers, this creep, she thought he was stalking her.
I told her that my sister had been killed by a stalker and that I would follow him for her to put her mind at ease.
- An act of gallantry toward a woman you were dating under a pseudonym and planning to dump? - Did I mention that following people is fun? I told Vera where he lived and worked in case she needed to protect herself.
Then she has the nerve to turn on me and set me up with this extortion rap.
- So you're saying she planted spy cam software in your computer? - No.
That would be ridiculous.
I gave her the camera so I could watch her.
She liked to put on little shows for me on her computer, but then she made a video of Whitley and framed me for it.
- You sure you didn't leave anything out? - No, that just about covers it.
- Except Vera never mentioned her worries about Whitley to the police.
- Oh, no, she was definitely concerned.
The guy was twisted.
And hyped up on coke.
- Drugs now.
- That's what she said.
He went to a dinner a few months ago in honor of Jimmy Carter and he spent the whole night in the bathroom with a bloody nose.
That's a guy with a problem right there.
- I'm sorry to hear about Bobby Amato.
He's never recovered from his sister's death.
Can I get you some coffee? - I'm fine, Rita.
- I appreciate the heads up.
Come what may, Jack, when this election's over, I hope you and I are able to find a way to be friends again.
- You know me, I'm an optimist by nature.
But wouldn't Donald object? - Donald's had ample proof of my loyalty.
And with our youngest going off to boarding school, there's an opportunity for me to reengage with the world.
- Well, you can't keep a good woman down.
Back to Bobby Amato.
You wrote a pretty glowing recommendation for him.
How well do you know him? - I should've known you wouldn't come all this way for a courtesy call.
The fight for Ellie's law gave Bobby a purpose.
He became attached to me.
He's loyal to a fault.
- The fault being? - [sighs.]
A few years ago, he called me.
I was on my way to Maine to visit my mom who was ill.
Two days later, Bobby shows up-- in Maine, car full of groceries, ready to pitch in and help.
I had to explain why his behavior was inappropriate.
He apologized and left.
- Sounds like you need Ellie's law to protect you from him.
- You ever have a cat, Jack? They'll bring you mice they've killed as a gift-- A kind of unsolicited act of devotion.
Bobby's like that.
- In December, there was a dinner honoring President Carter-- an intimate dinner for 30 at the Shalvoys' townhouse, and it was on a Tuesday.
- Whitley went there straight from one of his S&M sessions.
If he was in the bathroom tending to a bloody nose-- - Rita Shalvoy would've known.
- She might've been the one who told Bobby Amato what happened.
- Meaning she sicced Amato on Charles Whitley.
- Whatever Rita's motive, she's already laid out a preemptive defense for herself.
She accused Amato of stalking her and doing unsolicited favors.
Rita Shalvoy and Charles Whitley.
Connect the dots.
- The invitation to the Carter dinner was sent to the Boland Initiative.
Charles happened to be free that night.
- Do you know if he had any kind of relationship with Rita Shalvoy? - No, he never mentioned her.
- What about a relationship between Rita Shalvoy and the Boland Initiative? - The Shalvoys have attended some of our functions, but there was no relationship.
- What about you, Ms.
Reeves? Did you ever talk to Rita Shalvoy about Charles Whitley? Maybe complain about him? - No, what a strange question.
- Well, you offered him the retirement package.
You were sent the DVD.
You tried to fire him.
This campaign to get rid of Mr.
Whitley-- if it didn't come from you it certainly came through you.
- That is completely untrue.
I knew Charles for almost 20 years.
I never wished him any harm.
- She left her office a half an hour after you talked to her and took a cab to Hudson River Park.
- She looks kind of familiar.
- Yeah, it's Thea Curry, City Councilwoman from District 52.
She spoke at my niece's graduation.
Impressive.
Whatever you said to Ms.
Reeves, you got to her.
- They're lovers? - Not to mention Caroline Reeves is married.
- Half an hour after she talks to us, Caroline Reeves is crying on Thea Curry's shoulder.
We should remind Councilwoman Curry she has an obligation to report any criminal activity to us.
- I'm aware of my ethical obligations, Mr.
Cutter, As I'm sure you're aware of yours.
Whatever your detective saw is nobody's business.
- Right, nobody's business, of course.
And Ms.
Reeves is a lovely woman.
- Well, I could put in a good word for you, but it wouldn't do any good.
She's married.
- Isn't this the school the Obamas considered for their girls-- Georgetown Day School? - I think it was.
- Are you thinking of it for your kids? You're moving to Washington? - No, my husband and I have shared custody, and he's had job offers, so we're just you never know.
- Right.
Yeah, you don't.
The people at Georgetown Day School say Thea Curry visited twice.
She told them that she was the one who might be moving to D.
C.
, not her ex-husband.
- So why lie about it? - She's a smart politician.
Everyone expects her to run for State office, maybe even for Congress.
Of course.
It's been staring us in the face.
New York has an open U.
S.
Senate seat.
Governor Shalvoy can appoint whoever he wants to fill that vacancy.
- If there's something in it for him.
- Does a bear crap in the woods? - Meanwhile, Thea Curry's lover, Caroline Reeves, tries to coax Charles Whitley into early retirement.
- When that didn't work, Rita's "loyal-to-a-fault" private spy dug up the dirt on Whitley to force him out of his job.
- That's the horse trade.
Thea Curry becomes Senator and Rita Shalvoy becomes Executive Director of a prestigious international charity.
- The Shalvoys are running a big game of musical chairs.
- And Charles Whitley didn't want to give up his seat.
But it's still not clear if Amato killed Whitley on Rita Shalvoy's orders or what the Governor knows about his wife's involvement.
- We'll have to find out, won't we? - If Shalvoy goes down, he takes Joe Chappell with him.
- That's not a factor in how we prosecute this case.
- Don't look so happy, Jack.
- Rita Shalvoy described you as a quasi-stalker who did her favors she never asked for.
- No, Mrs.
Shalvoy would never say that.
- She told us about the time you brought groceries up to Maine.
- You see what she's doing, Bobby? Whatever you did to Whitley, she never asked you to do it.
We're sending you to prison.
She's greasing the skids.
- Is there a plea offer here? - Manslaughter.
But first we hear what he has to say.
- Mrs.
Shalvoy wanted my help forcing Whitley out of the Boland Initiative.
She told me about his nosebleed at the Jimmy Carter dinner.
She said I'd have no trouble finding something on him.
- Did she pay you? - She gave me a Diamond necklace.
Told me where I could sell it.
I got 20 grand for it.
I used ten to pay Vera to make the DVD.
Two weeks after I sent the DVD to Caroline Reeves, Mrs.
Shalvoy called me.
She said Whitley was being stubborn, and would I remove him? Mrs.
Shalvoy said he was standing in her way of doing great things.
She reminded me of all the good she'd done.
Ellie's Law.
And how could I turn my back on her now? So I did what she asked.
- Did she say anything to indicate if Governor Shalvoy knew what she was up to? - No, she never mentioned him once.
- It's hard to believe Rita Shalvoy would go so far off the reservation without her husband knowing about it.
- When it comes to the Shalvoys, I've suspended disbelief a long while ago.
How much of Amato's story can we corroborate? - Well, we talked to the jeweler who bought Rita's necklace from Amato.
He resold it to a tourist from Qatar for cash.
There's no way to track it down.
- That necklace could've belonged to anybody.
It's gonna take more than the word of an accused killer to convict the Governor's wife.
- Amato offered to wear a wire if we can get Rita into a room with him.
- This woman wasn't born yesterday.
Have Amato's lawyer move for a bail hearing.
- I'm not asserting a privilege, I just don't understand why I've been called to testify at a bail hearing.
- I subpoenaed her to address my client's Bona Fides for release on bail.
She's known him for a dozen years and can testify to the likelihood he'll appear.
- I don't want to hurt Mr.
Amato's chances for bail, but I'm not going to address that.
- Can I speak to Mrs.
Shalvoy in private? - That's highly irregular, your honor.
- Please, Judge, just give him a chance to convince her to cooperate.
- Your client has ten minutes.
- You've put me in a really awkward position, Bobby.
- Why aren't you helping me, Mrs.
Shalvoy? I'm going crazy in jail.
I've kept my mouth shut until now.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- I don't want to hurt you or your family.
At least help me come up with a story.
- A story? Are you implying you murdered Charles Whitley for me? - Yeah, well, I did.
- Bobby, you know that's not true.
You may have heard me criticize Whitley, but I never asked you to harm him.
- I'll tell them about the necklace.
- The necklace.
Bobby, I've told you before, you need psychiatric help.
Bobby, I've told you before, You need psychiatric help.
- She didn't come close to an admission.
- She's too smart.
[phone ringing.]
- Yes, Ida.
Tonight? Tell him I'll be there.
I've been summoned.
- I advised Mrs.
Shalvoy that she had to report this.
She insisted on doing it as soon as possible.
- Bobby Amato confessed to me today that he killed Charles Whitley.
As fond as I am of Bobby, I'm prepared to testify against him.
- She'll come down tomorrow and give a full statement to Mr.
Cutter.
- It's the right thing to do, Rita.
Can we have a word? - Give us a minute, Rita? - Rita told me that Amato might try to drag her down with him.
- Let's not insult each other's intelligence, okay? We both know what this murder was about-- the Senate seat.
Seems like every day we hear about another corrupt civil servant.
Corrupt banker or businessman, athlete.
Seems that behind every success story of the last ten years, a scandal is exploding.
We're facing a rising sea of corruption, and we wonder who will be the next to be drowned? Who will be saved? And what will become of our good works? When will it stop, Donald, and who will stop it? - If you expect me to implicate Rita and jeopardize my family? - Your family-- they're campaign props you use to get elected.
They mean as much to you as balloons and bumper stickers.
Your whoring proves it.
- Be careful, Jack.
I'll attribute that to the stress of your campaign.
I know you're in a dead heat with Joe Chappell.
I also know a few things about Joe.
Maybe we could swing the numbers your way.
- You're trying to buy me off? - Well, you worry about your good works, Jack.
How are you going to safeguard them if you're not in the game anymore? - Rita came in and gave her statement.
She's practically inoculated herself against anything Bobby might say.
- Every time we zig, the Shalvoys zag.
- Then go straight at them.
Convene a Grand Jury to investigate the selling of a Senate seat by Governor Shalvoy.
Once we prove the why of Whitley's murder, we can prove the who.
- I had discussions with Governor Shalvoy about my possible appointment to the U.
S.
Senate.
- Did the Governor mention his wife, Rita, during these discussions? - He said his wife was looking to get back into public service.
He asked if I could help her find a position.
- So was it your understanding, then, that finding Rita Shalvoy a job was a prerequisite to your getting the Senate appointment? - He didn't say those words, but that's what I read between the lines.
- So what did you do? - I told him a friend at the Boland Initiative was unhappy with their Executive Director, Charles Whitley.
I said that I would look into that situation for his wife.
- And what happened next? - My friend Caroline Reeves agreed to urge Mr.
Whitley to retire.
He refused.
It was then that I called the Governor and told him that the Boland job wasn't opening up.
- And what did the Governor say? - That he'd let me know about the Senate appointment.
A week later, Caroline told me that Mr.
Whitley had been murdered.
- She "read between the lines.
" I'm not sure that makes out pay-to-play.
- Should be enough for an indictment.
- You're asking a Grand Jury to indict a sitting governor.
He's not exactly a ham sandwich.
- Shalvoy's giving an interview about the vacant Senate seat.
- My only criterion is who will best represent the State of New York.
Right now, I'm leaning towards someone I've had my disagreements with in the past, but he's seasoned enough to handle the rough-and-tumble world of national politics.
Manhattan District Attorney Jack McCoy is at the top of my list.
Thank you.
- Shalvoy must've found out we convened a Grand Jury on him.
He's muddying the waters.
- Not to mention who's going to vote for a D.
A.
Who's got one eye on Washington? You have to admit, it's rather brilliant.
- Ida, get me Mark in the campaign office.
I'll put an end to it tomorrow morning with a press conference.
- We're wanted in the Grand Jury.
- We saw the news during the lunch break, And some of us wondered if Jack McCoy might be horse-trading with the Governor too.
- Mr.
Foreman, Jack McCoy is not a target of your investigation.
- Maybe Thea Curry was subpoenaed because McCoy's trying to whittle down his competition for the Senate job.
- We'd like to hear what he has to say about it.
- Mr.
McCoy will be speaking at a news conference tomorrow morning.
- We want him under oath when he tells his side of it.
- Your Grand Jury is out of control.
- We always claim Grand Juries are independent.
- If it leaks out that I've been called to appear, I might as well concede to Joe Chappell right now.
- You need to get out in front of this before you find your name on the first page of an indictment.
- My campaign director is advising me to assert executive privilege-- to stall until after the election.
- Well, if that's your plan, Jack I'd rather you conceded.
Mr.
McCoy, have you ever sought an interim appointment to the United States Senate? - Never.
I'm running for election to remain the District Attorney.
I have no desire to hold any other office.
- Have you ever discussed the interim Senate seat with Governor Shalvoy? - Not as it concerns myself.
- Um - Yes.
- In other words, Mr.
McCoy, you had a discussion with the Governor about it.
- Yes.
- And yesterday the Governor said he was thinking of appointing you.
Why shouldn't we infer you made a deal? - I convened this Grand Jury because the police uncovered evidence of political corruption during the investigation of a murder.
The Governor's announcement is a ploy to hijack your inquiry.
I never sought and will not accept appointment of the Senate, because I remain committed to one thing: To serve this city as its chief law enforcement officer.
And in that capacity, I will prosecute political corruption wherever it occurs and whomever perpetrates it.
- Two hours and counting.
- I think he'll be okay.
- Don't be so sure.
That one Grand Juror was ready to storm the barricades.
There's a mob mentality in this country right now.
None of us can afford to be complacent.
[bell ringing.]
- Thank you.
They voted a sealed indictment against Governor Shalvoy for official misconduct and attempted bribe receiving in the second degree.
Nothing about you.
- It's just an indictment.
They still don't have enough evidence to convict him in trial.
- It's sufficient for what I need to do with it.
- I will not be sent out again, Donald.
- Whatever you have to say to me, Jack, you say in front of my wife.
- Fine.
I have a sealed indictment against you for bartering the Senate seat with Thea Curry.
- I'm just curious, what did you promise Thea in return for her perjured testimony? - I'd be careful.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
- Are you Mirandizing him? - I have officers outside waiting to arrest you.
- Waiting? What do you want from me? - Corroboration of Bobby Amato's testimony against your wife for Charles Whitley's murder.
- Jack.
This vendetta against me is pathological.
- If you give me what I need, I might be convinced that your conversation with Thea Curry was political back-scratching that didn't rise to the level of criminality.
I'll withdraw the indictment as legally insufficient before it even sees the light of day.
You'll keep your position, your power.
- How can I trust you - You can't seriously be considering this, Donald.
- Never mind trust.
Do the math.
- Donald, I remind you that every conversation we've had is subject to the spousal privilege.
I can stop you from testifying against me, just as you can stop me from testifying against you.
- The privilege has exceptions.
- Yes, I know.
Did Bobby Amato mention a necklace? - The Diamond necklace-- that's how Rita paid him.
Amato sold it to a jeweler.
- If I remember my law classes, it's an exception to the privilege if I see my wife take a necklace out of our safe and put it in her purse.
A necklace our insurance company has a picture of.
- Jack Every word out of his mouth is a lie.
You must know that.
- Of course, for our son's sake I can't take the stand against Rita.
- No, you wouldn't have to.
If the jeweler recognizes the necklace from the photo, that corroborates Amato's story.
- Done.
- You bastard! After I cleaned up after you and that Brazilian whore, this is how you repay me? - Just suck it up, Rita.
You know, when I heard that Whitley was killed, I knew it had to be her.
She was in heat for the Boland job.
- You're sick! - You wanted to be this big humanitarian jetting around the globe, saving the world.
And now look at you-- sad, pathetic.
- Shut up, Donald.
- Jack, he's framing me.
This is what he's always wanted so that he could be with his whores.
- Rita.
- You have no idea what it's been like to live like this, share a bed with him.
- Rita, don't do this to yourself.
- He owed me.
You owe me! - When the police were investigating Charles Whitley's private life, they discovered that his dark world overlapped yours.
- I doubt that.
I'm not one of those S&M freaks.
- Well, maybe not, but you'd be surprised how often sex workers migrate between specialties.
High-class escort one month may be working in a dungeon the next.
And service people, they love to gossip about their clients.
- That's old news.
I learned my lesson last year.
- Not well enough it seems.
One thing about people like you you can't stop.
I have names, dates, and places.
- What do you want? - Your resignation, Governor, with your reputation-- such as it is--intact.
Just say you're leaving office to support your wife and family in a time of personal crisis.
- That wasn't the deal.
McCoy said I'd stay in office.
- I'm not Jack McCoy.
- After my wife's arrest on these tenuous and politically-motivated charges, I find myself torn between my obligation to my family and my commitment to my constituents.
But after speaking to one of the most talented minds in the state-- Deputy Attorney General Joe Chappell-- I realize I need to put my family first.
I'm resigning as Governor of the State of New York effective immediately.
No further questions.
- One last shot at me before the door slams behind him.
I'm surprised, though.
- About what? - Given the chance to keep his job, I thought he'd hold on with both hands.
What'd you say to him yesterday? - I I told him that I had this list of his latest assignations with prostitutes.
[paper rustles.]
- I'm not sure I approve.
- Not sure? I thought you wanted to win this election.
- Polls open in seven hours.
- [sighs.]
May we live to fight another day.
- Here, here.
[clinks.]
These are their stories.
- I put the new budget on your desk.
- Stay out of my office, Caroline.
- Charles.
- Anything you have for me, give it to Amy.
- I'm sure you understand my position.
- You obviously don't understand mine.
- You can't seriously expect me to.
- What I expect is a little consideration.
Good night, Caroline.
- Guy going out to get pampers for his kid called it in from his cell.
We got a canvass started.
So far, no witnesses.
- [sighs.]
All right, let's see.
- Looks like knife wounds from the back.
- Ruined a pretty good suit.
Crockett and Jones wingtips-- obviously not from the neighborhood.
- No wallet.
Just a business card case here.
- "Charles Whitley.
Executive Director of the Boland Initiative.
" Pretty big charity.
- Yeah, they got 100 bucks off me last year.
Hey, check this out.
Ligature marks on his wrists.
Somebody had him tied up.
- What's this? It's not a tattoo.
It looks like fresh ink.
- A bank account, password.
- One thing I know for sure, it's definitely not his lucky number.
[dramatic music.]
# # - Charles was usually home by 7:00.
I thought he'd stopped to have a drink with a colleague.
I fell asleep.
When I woke up and he wasn't home - You have any idea why he'd be up in Inwood? - No.
Was this a robbery? - Maybe.
He ever mention any threats? Or people following him? - No, nothing like that.
- Executive Director at the Boland Initiative-- What did that involve? - He oversaw their philanthropic projects.
- Your husband, did he talk about problems at the office? - No, he loved his work.
He even turned down a generous retirement package.
- He had this written on his arm.
See? That mean anything to you? - It's not like Charles to do that.
That doesn't even look like his handwriting.
- Contusions on his limbs and torso, bruised ribs, welts on the back of his legs, all leading up to the tercio de muerte.
- The final act of a bullfight.
- Five stab wounds to the right lower back.
- That's a nice cluster.
Might be somebody with training.
- What do you make of the numbers on his forearm? - It was applied with a regular pen not more than a day before you found him.
As for the numbers themselves, I've seen this before.
[beep.]
Survivors from Auschwitz-- The only death camp where prisoners were tattooed with serial numbers.
- Maybe someone put this number on his arm as a message.
- Anti-Semitic threats? Charles wasn't Jewish.
- well, maybe somebody thought the Boland Initiative Was too sympathetic to Jewish causes.
- That would surprise me.
We spread the money around very equally.
- Do you spread any of it up in Inwood? - We have grant recipients all over the city.
But I spoke with Charles yesterday.
He didn't mention going to Inwood.
- His wife said he was offered a retirement package.
- That was pro forma.
When Charles turned 62, he was eligible for early retirement.
We were relieved when he decided to stay on.
- Mrs.
Reeves, your conference call.
- Oh, excuse me.
- This is all of Mr.
Whitley's personal correspondence.
- Thank you.
- I see his date book has every other Tuesday blocked off between 5:00 and 6:00.
- That's right.
I'd call a car for him for a 4:15 pickup, and off he'd go.
- Off he'd go where? - I never asked, and he never told me.
I just told the dispatcher to take Mr.
Whitley as directed.
- NYPD.
Can we come in? - Oh, sure.
You must be here about the murder down the street.
- [murmurs.]
- Let me put up some fennel tea for you.
It's great for the digestion.
- We're good.
You were here last night? Ms? - Lorraine Flockhart.
Yes, I was.
- A car service sent-- oops, sorry.
Uh, a car service said that they dropped the victim off at this address.
- Oh, my God! It's Charles Whitley.
He was one of my clients.
-You were his nutritionist? - Yes, I was.
He had a standing appointment here for years.
- How did he seem yesterday? - He said he was a bit run-down, actually.
I reviewed his glycemic index and we made some changes to his diet.
And then he left, just after 6:00.
- He had this written on his left forearm.
- Sorry.
He had his jacket on the whole time.
- There are plenty of nutritionists near his office in midtown.
You sure this wasn't about sex? - We didn't get that vibe.
- Because? - The woman's practically as old as his wife.
What would be the point? - I can't believe you said that, detective.
- What? - I can't believe it, either.
[phone ringing.]
- Van Buren.
Yes, put her through.
- You want this closed? - This is Lieutenant Van Buren.
Yes, that's our case.
Of course we're interested.
- It arrived at the metro desk this morning.
No return address, no note.
This is a copy.
When I saw that Whitley was on this, I called you.
- Let's play it.
[click.]
- Bring the prisoner here.
- On your knees.
- Yes, Fraulein Vera.
- Hey, hey.
It's Lorraine, the nutritionist.
- Lick her boots, you scum.
[whip noise.]
- Oh.
- Talk about your low calorie diet.
- [grunts.]
- You didn't say please.
- May I please lick your boot, fraulein? - Lick it clean.
And don't get your lice on her.
[whipping noise.]
[click.]
- What I do is completely legal.
Mr.
Whitley got exactly the treatment he paid for and agreed to.
- Getting abused as a prisoner, the number on his arm-- that was all his idea? - Yes.
Don't ask me why.
- Maybe providing S&M services is legal, but making blackmail videos isn't.
- I didn't spend 15 years building a reputation just to ruin it by blackmailing a client.
- This was shot in your office.
- Without my knowledge.
Charles came over two weeks ago.
He was furious.
He said that someone had sent a DVD to his work and now they were trying to fire him.
- So if you didn't make the video, who did? Maybe one of yourelves.
- They didn't know where Charles worked.
- Okay.
So last Tuesday why did he come over? - For his usual session.
- After being videoed? - I fired my two girls.
We moved to a different room.
He needed this.
He couldn't stop.
- Somebody sends a DVD to Whitley's boss to try to get him fired a month after he was offered a retirement package.
- Which he turned down.
- Somebody wanted him out of that job badly.
- They got him out of that job nowbadly.
- I didn't tell you about the DVD because I didn't want to embarrass Charles' family.
- Do you have the DVD and the envelope it came in? - No, on the advice of our council, those materials were destroyed.
- Why? Wouldn't you need the DVD if you were trying to fire Mr.
Whitley? - Charles refused to resign and he threatened to sue if we fired him.
He was completely unapologetic.
He said he wasn't breaking any laws, that this was his private hobby, and it didn't impact his duties here.
Our lawyers said he had a strong case if we tried to terminate him.
- So you just let it drop.
What about the retirement offer? Whose idea was that? - I told you that was pro forma.
- Anyone in particular in or out of the Initiative who wanted Whitley gone? - No, he was respected.
That is, before that DVD landed on my desk.
- I didn't know how to tell you about Charles' predilection.
I asked him once to explain it to me.
He couldn't.
- Did he tell you a video of one of his sessions was sent to Boland Initiative? - Yes, they weren't after money.
They wanted to hurt him professionally.
I have to call my children before they hear about this on the news.
- Of course.
We're very sorry.
Thank you for coming in.
- That is gonna be one awkward phone call.
- At both ends.
What did you find at the nutritionist's place? - Enough leather to outfit a biker convention, but no spy cam.
- So it must've been an inside job.
Take a run at the nutritionist's little elves.
- jawohl.
- [chuckles.]
- Yes! That's me.
It's not like I'm a prostitute.
It's just acting.
- It's not what you were doing, but how it got on the DVD.
- I told Lorraine I had nothing to do with that, and she still fired me.
And I'm about to be evicted and I got, like, $100 to my name.
- Did you just get some work done, Vera? - They're too high, right? No, they're gonna look normal when the implants settle.
- You didn't have them on the video.
Where'd you get the money for them? - My savings? - Uh-huh, okay.
So money you saved over months? Is that what we're gonna find when we check your bank account? - Or if we call your doctor, is he gonna tell us that you paid cash? - You know, Vera, if you paid for those with money you got from planting a camera in Lorraine's place, the government can seize them as proceeds from a crime.
They'll just put you under a knife and take them out.
- You can't be serious.
- As serious as murder, which is what happened to the gentleman in the video.
- Charlie? Oh, my God! - If you cooperate with us, We can make sure that you keep your, um enhancements.
- [sighs.]
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait, wait, wait.
- It's behind the cocoa puffs.
- Just stand over there.
- I swear I had nothing to do with any murder! The guy gave me 10 grand to put that in Lorraine's place, and that's all I did.
- Which guy? - His name is Phil.
I met him outside of Lorraine's.
He said he was looking for some restaurant, and after we hooked up at his hotel a few times, he asked me to plant the camera the next time Charlie came by.
He paid me and I never heard from him again.
- Well, how do we find Phil? - I don't know.
I went to the hotel and he checked out.
The hotel said that he paid cash.
- Did he have a phone number? - It stopped working so I threw it out.
- The hotel is the only place you ever saw him? - I saw him using an ATM around the corner from the hotel, and he looked at me like I caught him stealing money.
So - Hmm? - Are you gonna let me keep them now? - We'll be in touch.
- That's some nice police work, fellas.
You found me through an ATM? - You recognize her? - [clears throat.]
[chuckles.]
I was in a nice hotel.
Expense account.
I just wanted a no-strings-attached fling, no crime in that.
- No crime so far.
- You know what she does for a living? She's a dominatrix.
A nut job.
I got a weakness for crazy girls.
That's why I love them and run.
- She's connected to a murder victim named Charles Whitley.
You know who he is? - No.
- He's one of Vera's clients.
She said you paid her $10,000 to get compromising video of him.
- She said that? That's the thing about crazy girls-- they make trouble if they don't get what they want.
- You're right about that.
How about you tell us where you were last Tuesday around 6:00? - And how about I don't? I'm a security professional, guys.
I know my rights.
- Sure.
We'll get out of your way.
Just curious how did you get into the security business? - Personal interest.
My older sister was killed by a stalker in college.
You have a nice ride back to the city.
- Your witness is a woman who beats up men for a living.
If that's your probable cause, it won't impress a judge.
- Well, Amato said he was in the city on a job.
His boss said he was on vacation.
- Well, Vera said Amato gave her $10,000 to plant the camera.
Does he have that kind of money? - No, he's moonlighting for someone who wanted Whitley out of the way.
- That's not enough probable cause for murder, but it may be enough for an extortion charge.
Talk to a judge about a search warrant.
- Hey, what do we have here? A program to operate remote cameras.
- Yeah, that's standard equipment in the security business, big deal.
- Let's turn one on and see what we come up with.
- Looks like the property room at our precinct.
- Which is where we stored the camera that Vera gave us-- The camera she says you gave her.
You're under arrest for extortion.
Hook him up.
- Vera set me up.
- Hey b, check this out.
- She set me up! - It's a letter of recommendation for our friend here, addressed to the Halliwell Group, dated last year.
Check out the signature at the bottom.
- Rita Shalvoy.
- Governor's wife.
No wonder he's so cocky.
The guy's got juice.
- Oops.
We just stepped into a deep, stinking pile.
- According to her letter of recommendation, Rita Shalvoy met Bobby Amato 13 years ago, when his sister was killed.
- Rita was a victims' rights advocate back then.
What was his sister's name? - Ellie.
Ellie Amato.
- Ellie's law.
- Mm-hmm.
The anti-stalking statute.
- Rita fought to make that happen.
- You know what a fighter she is.
And how corrupt the husband is.
- Start by finding out who Mr.
Amato is working for.
I'll talk to Rita Shalvoy.
Just to give her a heads up that we're charging her friend with extortion.
- Your boss told us you weren't working for him in New York.
You were freelancing for someone else.
- There is no someone else.
I did a job for Halliwell, then I decided to stay in town and enjoy the sights.
- The sights? From where? Zagat's guide to S&M dungeons? - Well, yeah, I want to tell you about that.
- Mr.
Amato-- - It's okay.
I was up in Inwood, I was looking for a Dominican restaurant when I met Vera.
After we hooked up, she told me what she did for a living.
She said she was worried about this client of hers, this creep, she thought he was stalking her.
I told her that my sister had been killed by a stalker and that I would follow him for her to put her mind at ease.
- An act of gallantry toward a woman you were dating under a pseudonym and planning to dump? - Did I mention that following people is fun? I told Vera where he lived and worked in case she needed to protect herself.
Then she has the nerve to turn on me and set me up with this extortion rap.
- So you're saying she planted spy cam software in your computer? - No.
That would be ridiculous.
I gave her the camera so I could watch her.
She liked to put on little shows for me on her computer, but then she made a video of Whitley and framed me for it.
- You sure you didn't leave anything out? - No, that just about covers it.
- Except Vera never mentioned her worries about Whitley to the police.
- Oh, no, she was definitely concerned.
The guy was twisted.
And hyped up on coke.
- Drugs now.
- That's what she said.
He went to a dinner a few months ago in honor of Jimmy Carter and he spent the whole night in the bathroom with a bloody nose.
That's a guy with a problem right there.
- I'm sorry to hear about Bobby Amato.
He's never recovered from his sister's death.
Can I get you some coffee? - I'm fine, Rita.
- I appreciate the heads up.
Come what may, Jack, when this election's over, I hope you and I are able to find a way to be friends again.
- You know me, I'm an optimist by nature.
But wouldn't Donald object? - Donald's had ample proof of my loyalty.
And with our youngest going off to boarding school, there's an opportunity for me to reengage with the world.
- Well, you can't keep a good woman down.
Back to Bobby Amato.
You wrote a pretty glowing recommendation for him.
How well do you know him? - I should've known you wouldn't come all this way for a courtesy call.
The fight for Ellie's law gave Bobby a purpose.
He became attached to me.
He's loyal to a fault.
- The fault being? - [sighs.]
A few years ago, he called me.
I was on my way to Maine to visit my mom who was ill.
Two days later, Bobby shows up-- in Maine, car full of groceries, ready to pitch in and help.
I had to explain why his behavior was inappropriate.
He apologized and left.
- Sounds like you need Ellie's law to protect you from him.
- You ever have a cat, Jack? They'll bring you mice they've killed as a gift-- A kind of unsolicited act of devotion.
Bobby's like that.
- In December, there was a dinner honoring President Carter-- an intimate dinner for 30 at the Shalvoys' townhouse, and it was on a Tuesday.
- Whitley went there straight from one of his S&M sessions.
If he was in the bathroom tending to a bloody nose-- - Rita Shalvoy would've known.
- She might've been the one who told Bobby Amato what happened.
- Meaning she sicced Amato on Charles Whitley.
- Whatever Rita's motive, she's already laid out a preemptive defense for herself.
She accused Amato of stalking her and doing unsolicited favors.
Rita Shalvoy and Charles Whitley.
Connect the dots.
- The invitation to the Carter dinner was sent to the Boland Initiative.
Charles happened to be free that night.
- Do you know if he had any kind of relationship with Rita Shalvoy? - No, he never mentioned her.
- What about a relationship between Rita Shalvoy and the Boland Initiative? - The Shalvoys have attended some of our functions, but there was no relationship.
- What about you, Ms.
Reeves? Did you ever talk to Rita Shalvoy about Charles Whitley? Maybe complain about him? - No, what a strange question.
- Well, you offered him the retirement package.
You were sent the DVD.
You tried to fire him.
This campaign to get rid of Mr.
Whitley-- if it didn't come from you it certainly came through you.
- That is completely untrue.
I knew Charles for almost 20 years.
I never wished him any harm.
- She left her office a half an hour after you talked to her and took a cab to Hudson River Park.
- She looks kind of familiar.
- Yeah, it's Thea Curry, City Councilwoman from District 52.
She spoke at my niece's graduation.
Impressive.
Whatever you said to Ms.
Reeves, you got to her.
- They're lovers? - Not to mention Caroline Reeves is married.
- Half an hour after she talks to us, Caroline Reeves is crying on Thea Curry's shoulder.
We should remind Councilwoman Curry she has an obligation to report any criminal activity to us.
- I'm aware of my ethical obligations, Mr.
Cutter, As I'm sure you're aware of yours.
Whatever your detective saw is nobody's business.
- Right, nobody's business, of course.
And Ms.
Reeves is a lovely woman.
- Well, I could put in a good word for you, but it wouldn't do any good.
She's married.
- Isn't this the school the Obamas considered for their girls-- Georgetown Day School? - I think it was.
- Are you thinking of it for your kids? You're moving to Washington? - No, my husband and I have shared custody, and he's had job offers, so we're just you never know.
- Right.
Yeah, you don't.
The people at Georgetown Day School say Thea Curry visited twice.
She told them that she was the one who might be moving to D.
C.
, not her ex-husband.
- So why lie about it? - She's a smart politician.
Everyone expects her to run for State office, maybe even for Congress.
Of course.
It's been staring us in the face.
New York has an open U.
S.
Senate seat.
Governor Shalvoy can appoint whoever he wants to fill that vacancy.
- If there's something in it for him.
- Does a bear crap in the woods? - Meanwhile, Thea Curry's lover, Caroline Reeves, tries to coax Charles Whitley into early retirement.
- When that didn't work, Rita's "loyal-to-a-fault" private spy dug up the dirt on Whitley to force him out of his job.
- That's the horse trade.
Thea Curry becomes Senator and Rita Shalvoy becomes Executive Director of a prestigious international charity.
- The Shalvoys are running a big game of musical chairs.
- And Charles Whitley didn't want to give up his seat.
But it's still not clear if Amato killed Whitley on Rita Shalvoy's orders or what the Governor knows about his wife's involvement.
- We'll have to find out, won't we? - If Shalvoy goes down, he takes Joe Chappell with him.
- That's not a factor in how we prosecute this case.
- Don't look so happy, Jack.
- Rita Shalvoy described you as a quasi-stalker who did her favors she never asked for.
- No, Mrs.
Shalvoy would never say that.
- She told us about the time you brought groceries up to Maine.
- You see what she's doing, Bobby? Whatever you did to Whitley, she never asked you to do it.
We're sending you to prison.
She's greasing the skids.
- Is there a plea offer here? - Manslaughter.
But first we hear what he has to say.
- Mrs.
Shalvoy wanted my help forcing Whitley out of the Boland Initiative.
She told me about his nosebleed at the Jimmy Carter dinner.
She said I'd have no trouble finding something on him.
- Did she pay you? - She gave me a Diamond necklace.
Told me where I could sell it.
I got 20 grand for it.
I used ten to pay Vera to make the DVD.
Two weeks after I sent the DVD to Caroline Reeves, Mrs.
Shalvoy called me.
She said Whitley was being stubborn, and would I remove him? Mrs.
Shalvoy said he was standing in her way of doing great things.
She reminded me of all the good she'd done.
Ellie's Law.
And how could I turn my back on her now? So I did what she asked.
- Did she say anything to indicate if Governor Shalvoy knew what she was up to? - No, she never mentioned him once.
- It's hard to believe Rita Shalvoy would go so far off the reservation without her husband knowing about it.
- When it comes to the Shalvoys, I've suspended disbelief a long while ago.
How much of Amato's story can we corroborate? - Well, we talked to the jeweler who bought Rita's necklace from Amato.
He resold it to a tourist from Qatar for cash.
There's no way to track it down.
- That necklace could've belonged to anybody.
It's gonna take more than the word of an accused killer to convict the Governor's wife.
- Amato offered to wear a wire if we can get Rita into a room with him.
- This woman wasn't born yesterday.
Have Amato's lawyer move for a bail hearing.
- I'm not asserting a privilege, I just don't understand why I've been called to testify at a bail hearing.
- I subpoenaed her to address my client's Bona Fides for release on bail.
She's known him for a dozen years and can testify to the likelihood he'll appear.
- I don't want to hurt Mr.
Amato's chances for bail, but I'm not going to address that.
- Can I speak to Mrs.
Shalvoy in private? - That's highly irregular, your honor.
- Please, Judge, just give him a chance to convince her to cooperate.
- Your client has ten minutes.
- You've put me in a really awkward position, Bobby.
- Why aren't you helping me, Mrs.
Shalvoy? I'm going crazy in jail.
I've kept my mouth shut until now.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- I don't want to hurt you or your family.
At least help me come up with a story.
- A story? Are you implying you murdered Charles Whitley for me? - Yeah, well, I did.
- Bobby, you know that's not true.
You may have heard me criticize Whitley, but I never asked you to harm him.
- I'll tell them about the necklace.
- The necklace.
Bobby, I've told you before, you need psychiatric help.
Bobby, I've told you before, You need psychiatric help.
- She didn't come close to an admission.
- She's too smart.
[phone ringing.]
- Yes, Ida.
Tonight? Tell him I'll be there.
I've been summoned.
- I advised Mrs.
Shalvoy that she had to report this.
She insisted on doing it as soon as possible.
- Bobby Amato confessed to me today that he killed Charles Whitley.
As fond as I am of Bobby, I'm prepared to testify against him.
- She'll come down tomorrow and give a full statement to Mr.
Cutter.
- It's the right thing to do, Rita.
Can we have a word? - Give us a minute, Rita? - Rita told me that Amato might try to drag her down with him.
- Let's not insult each other's intelligence, okay? We both know what this murder was about-- the Senate seat.
Seems like every day we hear about another corrupt civil servant.
Corrupt banker or businessman, athlete.
Seems that behind every success story of the last ten years, a scandal is exploding.
We're facing a rising sea of corruption, and we wonder who will be the next to be drowned? Who will be saved? And what will become of our good works? When will it stop, Donald, and who will stop it? - If you expect me to implicate Rita and jeopardize my family? - Your family-- they're campaign props you use to get elected.
They mean as much to you as balloons and bumper stickers.
Your whoring proves it.
- Be careful, Jack.
I'll attribute that to the stress of your campaign.
I know you're in a dead heat with Joe Chappell.
I also know a few things about Joe.
Maybe we could swing the numbers your way.
- You're trying to buy me off? - Well, you worry about your good works, Jack.
How are you going to safeguard them if you're not in the game anymore? - Rita came in and gave her statement.
She's practically inoculated herself against anything Bobby might say.
- Every time we zig, the Shalvoys zag.
- Then go straight at them.
Convene a Grand Jury to investigate the selling of a Senate seat by Governor Shalvoy.
Once we prove the why of Whitley's murder, we can prove the who.
- I had discussions with Governor Shalvoy about my possible appointment to the U.
S.
Senate.
- Did the Governor mention his wife, Rita, during these discussions? - He said his wife was looking to get back into public service.
He asked if I could help her find a position.
- So was it your understanding, then, that finding Rita Shalvoy a job was a prerequisite to your getting the Senate appointment? - He didn't say those words, but that's what I read between the lines.
- So what did you do? - I told him a friend at the Boland Initiative was unhappy with their Executive Director, Charles Whitley.
I said that I would look into that situation for his wife.
- And what happened next? - My friend Caroline Reeves agreed to urge Mr.
Whitley to retire.
He refused.
It was then that I called the Governor and told him that the Boland job wasn't opening up.
- And what did the Governor say? - That he'd let me know about the Senate appointment.
A week later, Caroline told me that Mr.
Whitley had been murdered.
- She "read between the lines.
" I'm not sure that makes out pay-to-play.
- Should be enough for an indictment.
- You're asking a Grand Jury to indict a sitting governor.
He's not exactly a ham sandwich.
- Shalvoy's giving an interview about the vacant Senate seat.
- My only criterion is who will best represent the State of New York.
Right now, I'm leaning towards someone I've had my disagreements with in the past, but he's seasoned enough to handle the rough-and-tumble world of national politics.
Manhattan District Attorney Jack McCoy is at the top of my list.
Thank you.
- Shalvoy must've found out we convened a Grand Jury on him.
He's muddying the waters.
- Not to mention who's going to vote for a D.
A.
Who's got one eye on Washington? You have to admit, it's rather brilliant.
- Ida, get me Mark in the campaign office.
I'll put an end to it tomorrow morning with a press conference.
- We're wanted in the Grand Jury.
- We saw the news during the lunch break, And some of us wondered if Jack McCoy might be horse-trading with the Governor too.
- Mr.
Foreman, Jack McCoy is not a target of your investigation.
- Maybe Thea Curry was subpoenaed because McCoy's trying to whittle down his competition for the Senate job.
- We'd like to hear what he has to say about it.
- Mr.
McCoy will be speaking at a news conference tomorrow morning.
- We want him under oath when he tells his side of it.
- Your Grand Jury is out of control.
- We always claim Grand Juries are independent.
- If it leaks out that I've been called to appear, I might as well concede to Joe Chappell right now.
- You need to get out in front of this before you find your name on the first page of an indictment.
- My campaign director is advising me to assert executive privilege-- to stall until after the election.
- Well, if that's your plan, Jack I'd rather you conceded.
Mr.
McCoy, have you ever sought an interim appointment to the United States Senate? - Never.
I'm running for election to remain the District Attorney.
I have no desire to hold any other office.
- Have you ever discussed the interim Senate seat with Governor Shalvoy? - Not as it concerns myself.
- Um - Yes.
- In other words, Mr.
McCoy, you had a discussion with the Governor about it.
- Yes.
- And yesterday the Governor said he was thinking of appointing you.
Why shouldn't we infer you made a deal? - I convened this Grand Jury because the police uncovered evidence of political corruption during the investigation of a murder.
The Governor's announcement is a ploy to hijack your inquiry.
I never sought and will not accept appointment of the Senate, because I remain committed to one thing: To serve this city as its chief law enforcement officer.
And in that capacity, I will prosecute political corruption wherever it occurs and whomever perpetrates it.
- Two hours and counting.
- I think he'll be okay.
- Don't be so sure.
That one Grand Juror was ready to storm the barricades.
There's a mob mentality in this country right now.
None of us can afford to be complacent.
[bell ringing.]
- Thank you.
They voted a sealed indictment against Governor Shalvoy for official misconduct and attempted bribe receiving in the second degree.
Nothing about you.
- It's just an indictment.
They still don't have enough evidence to convict him in trial.
- It's sufficient for what I need to do with it.
- I will not be sent out again, Donald.
- Whatever you have to say to me, Jack, you say in front of my wife.
- Fine.
I have a sealed indictment against you for bartering the Senate seat with Thea Curry.
- I'm just curious, what did you promise Thea in return for her perjured testimony? - I'd be careful.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
- Are you Mirandizing him? - I have officers outside waiting to arrest you.
- Waiting? What do you want from me? - Corroboration of Bobby Amato's testimony against your wife for Charles Whitley's murder.
- Jack.
This vendetta against me is pathological.
- If you give me what I need, I might be convinced that your conversation with Thea Curry was political back-scratching that didn't rise to the level of criminality.
I'll withdraw the indictment as legally insufficient before it even sees the light of day.
You'll keep your position, your power.
- How can I trust you - You can't seriously be considering this, Donald.
- Never mind trust.
Do the math.
- Donald, I remind you that every conversation we've had is subject to the spousal privilege.
I can stop you from testifying against me, just as you can stop me from testifying against you.
- The privilege has exceptions.
- Yes, I know.
Did Bobby Amato mention a necklace? - The Diamond necklace-- that's how Rita paid him.
Amato sold it to a jeweler.
- If I remember my law classes, it's an exception to the privilege if I see my wife take a necklace out of our safe and put it in her purse.
A necklace our insurance company has a picture of.
- Jack Every word out of his mouth is a lie.
You must know that.
- Of course, for our son's sake I can't take the stand against Rita.
- No, you wouldn't have to.
If the jeweler recognizes the necklace from the photo, that corroborates Amato's story.
- Done.
- You bastard! After I cleaned up after you and that Brazilian whore, this is how you repay me? - Just suck it up, Rita.
You know, when I heard that Whitley was killed, I knew it had to be her.
She was in heat for the Boland job.
- You're sick! - You wanted to be this big humanitarian jetting around the globe, saving the world.
And now look at you-- sad, pathetic.
- Shut up, Donald.
- Jack, he's framing me.
This is what he's always wanted so that he could be with his whores.
- Rita.
- You have no idea what it's been like to live like this, share a bed with him.
- Rita, don't do this to yourself.
- He owed me.
You owe me! - When the police were investigating Charles Whitley's private life, they discovered that his dark world overlapped yours.
- I doubt that.
I'm not one of those S&M freaks.
- Well, maybe not, but you'd be surprised how often sex workers migrate between specialties.
High-class escort one month may be working in a dungeon the next.
And service people, they love to gossip about their clients.
- That's old news.
I learned my lesson last year.
- Not well enough it seems.
One thing about people like you you can't stop.
I have names, dates, and places.
- What do you want? - Your resignation, Governor, with your reputation-- such as it is--intact.
Just say you're leaving office to support your wife and family in a time of personal crisis.
- That wasn't the deal.
McCoy said I'd stay in office.
- I'm not Jack McCoy.
- After my wife's arrest on these tenuous and politically-motivated charges, I find myself torn between my obligation to my family and my commitment to my constituents.
But after speaking to one of the most talented minds in the state-- Deputy Attorney General Joe Chappell-- I realize I need to put my family first.
I'm resigning as Governor of the State of New York effective immediately.
No further questions.
- One last shot at me before the door slams behind him.
I'm surprised, though.
- About what? - Given the chance to keep his job, I thought he'd hold on with both hands.
What'd you say to him yesterday? - I I told him that I had this list of his latest assignations with prostitutes.
[paper rustles.]
- I'm not sure I approve.
- Not sure? I thought you wanted to win this election.
- Polls open in seven hours.
- [sighs.]
May we live to fight another day.
- Here, here.
[clinks.]