Original subtitles

My daughter, Darlene, came here from Terre Haute. That's our home.

She never was happy in Terre Haute.

You don't have to talk to us until your lawyer gets here.

What's the charge?

Assaulting a police officer.

I was trying to tell him about Darlene. He picked up a phone and started to talk

to a friend about some sports thing.

So you beat him up?

I took the phone out of his hand and hung it up.

Only his finger was on the cradle.

Officer suffered a bruised fifth digit.

A boo-boo on his pinky.

Darlene hasn't called me in four weeks.

So I went to her apartment.

There was old food in the refrigerator.

Her cat was dead.

Did you file a missing persons report?

They wouldn't take me seriously.

Why do you think that?

Darlene is a prostitute.

Mrs. Hooper, prostitutes live very transient lives.

You'd look for a missing school teacher or factory worker.

Darlene is a human being. I'm Mrs. Hooper's attorney. Anything that's been

said in my absence is inadmissible. I'm moving for immediate dismissal on the

grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.

The people have decided in the interest of justice not to prosecute.

Don't thank me.

It's my job to fight for people like you.

Can you tell me where interview room four is?

Between room three and five.

Thanks.

Why don't you see what you can find out about her daughter? Tess.

Give it one hour.

The morgue. Mr. Cobb.

I did my best to eliminate the worst possibilities first, ma'am.

You of the parties want to see the Jane Doe's?

Age 19, 5'6", blonde.

239, 263, 101.

This is hard enough as it is, pal.

You can't tell the difference between a blonde and a brunette.

Sorry.

263 is okay.

See what else I've got.

Now, if she's not the one, I got a couple... This is her.

Doesn't missing persons check prints against their reports anymore?

I just store them.

You got a beef with the cops?

Call a cop.

Darlene.

I know that you guys don't like to interrupt your coffee breaks. I've been

here since midnight.

But how hard can it be to find a missing person who's lying in the county morgue?

That Mrs. Hooper.

You let her walk? Her daughter is dead.

Here you've been looking for a hooker cop. Not getting any satisfaction at

home? Another voice of compassion.

Some pross doesn't call a mother on Sunday, and he expects us to drop

everything. How many open cases we have in the precinct, Willie?

How many fleas on Cobb's dog?

We've got an open hooker murder named McCandy. Now you have two open hooker

murders. You got any suspects?

Two murders. We're working on it. Good.

Yeah.

Another body.

Female. Found in the park.

Three.

You want to go look at the scene, Cobb?

Straighten us out? Solve them all?

No. You send me your report.

I can't believe you've never read Philip Roth.

Books taught me half of what I know about America.

You taught me the rest.

Wait here.

I'll get you Portnoy's complaint.

Happy Chanukah, brother.

Lady, back here.

Lady, now! She can't hear you.

Don't screw with me, man.

She's gonna hear this.

Miss Kaufman, is anything the matter?

No.

Your client is charged with the murder of Miss Candy Touché.

The E is silent.

Floyd, please let me handle this.

He's also a suspect in the murders of Darlene Hooper.

Never heard of her.

And another woman, as yet unidentified.

Well, gee, now, why don't we just toss in the murder of JFK while we're at it?

You ever been to Dallas, Floyd?

What is this, clearance day at the district attorney's office?

Your client was seen with Miss... Tush.

Tush! Tush! The night she died, he was slapping her.

We're not denying that my client was acquainted with Miss Tush.

Tush. Nor that they had a very tempestuous relationship. She was doing

most of the slapping.

All three victims died under similar circumstances.

I didn't kill nobody.

Your client will plead to one count of murder. Come along, Floyd.

I don't think they're listening.

No need to dawdle about here.

Come along. Chop, chop.

Did that man kill Darlene?

We believe he did.

Then why isn't he charged with killing her?

There is no evidence linking him to your daughter, but he's charged with

strangling another woman in the same park.

I don't know what you did to missing persons, Cobb, but they jumped all over

that last Jane Doe. Arthur, this is Mrs.

Pearl Hooper.

Mrs. Hooper? Her daughter was a murder victim.

Oh. Oh, yes.

She was one of the... Prostitutes.

I'm sorry.

With Ms.

Kaufman prosecuting, I'm sure we'll get a conviction.

That last Jane Doe was Janet Oliver, daughter of the late Senator Frank

Hammond, wife to Louis Oliver, investment counselor.

Why was she in the park?

That's what Cobb's going to find out. I thought we were just chalking her up to

Floyd Givens. If he did it, prove it. If he didn't, quarterback the police until

they find out who did.

This woman had important friends.

This is, uh... Hooper.

Hooper.

Darling, you never did have the right friends.

We never said Floyd Givens killed all three. Oh, no, you just closed the file

on the other two as soon as you got him.

We're busy here.

Floyd Givens was in jail when Janet Oliver was murdered.

Or are you too busy to check your own records?

Sorry, we don't all have you leisurely scheduled bouncing back and forth

between two lady lawyers.

Hey, when one of them gets jealous, does she sue the other one or just make a

motion? Elliot, there are a few things wrong with living in a man's world.

And you are a walking example.

This all you got from the scene?

Well, actually, the killer dropped his monogrammed cigarette case, but we

forgot to pick it up.

I wouldn't be surprised.

There's a cigarette butt, maybe ten feet from the bottom.

It is not in the box.

Here's a handkerchief. It is in the box.

It is not in the photo.

You have got everything in airtight bags, so they are decomposing as we

speak. We got called to a double murder from that scene. So you just figured

you'd shine this on because she's just another hooker? We didn't know she was a

North Shore princess.

So what?

You were here when that call came in. You could have gone to the scene.

You got beeped. I've seen you toss that beeper in a pitcher of beer. You thought

the Vic was a hooker, too.

Cops blew the Oliver investigation.

I'm gonna hit the streets with Elliot.

Phone. Hey.

Something happened the other night you didn't mention.

Mugger get to you?

What?

Asher. Asher?

You were lucky he was there with you.

Tess, he probably learned karate in the Israeli army.

He owns a gun.

He sells books.

A gun owning?

Karate chopping.

Book dealer.

It doesn't make sense.

It is natural to have doubts starting something new, Tess.

Come on. I mean, look at me and Maggie.

You've got to get past your doubts.

Or you're going to be alone.

But, Tess...

Officer Elliot.

You reconsidering my proposition?

Skin, we found a body in the park Monday afternoon back in there.

Suddenly you're interested in the welfare of the girls.

She wasn't one of your girls.

Here's a picture.

Outsiders.

Ruining the neighborhood.

Maybe you or one of your associates have seen her around.

Maybe you want to look at the picture.

It's a very nice picture.

We keep pretty much to ourselves.

Well, maybe you need some more company.

Like a cop every ten feet along this block.

You think it'll be safe? This is a bad neighborhood.

Melvin, call my attorney.

I believe I'm being harassed.

Come on.

Major point.

See you guys at church.

Hey, Floyd Givens bail hearing.

$200,000.

Mr. Sizemore says that man didn't kill Darlene.

Mr. Sizemore says a lot of things.

The girl he was charged with killing was in the same line with Darlene. They

worked the same neighborhood.

He fought with her. He harassed other prostitutes.

Dead girl had a cut.

Her blood matched the blood on his shirt. But it also matched Floyd's own

blood, my dear Detective Cobb. He couldn't shave his cheek or slice a

frankfurter without wounding himself.

Yes, of course, he hadn't been drinking, which he never hadn't been unless he's

in jail, which is where he was when he supposedly killed one of the other girls

he didn't kill.

Huh?

I just want to know who killed my daughter.

Is that too much to ask?

Shine on you.

I'll meet you there.

We're not very popular.

Mm-hmm.

Well, we have each other.

Yes.

I have a minute.

See you.

Hey.

Well, what happened to you, Ellie? A trip and fall on your gun?

I'm not in the mood, Cobb.

You went back to see Skin by yourself?

Well, I didn't get any help when I went with the Boy Scouts. I thought your

interrogation technique was counterproductive.

What did you get?

Blindsided. You know, Elliot, if you didn't try to hot dog every case, you

wouldn't walk around like a cover girl for Mike Tyson perfume.

Oh, sweet talk.

Is that how you get all the girls?

There's good police work, and there's tough police work.

And this...

But please work.

You're a great quarterback from the couch, Colin.

But I haven't seen you do score.

It would mean a lot to me, Tess.

I don't know.

At least think about it, okay?

Hey, Cobster.

Cobster?

What's he want?

Borrow your pension fund?

Reinstatement hearing?

Tess, he stole from his clients.

What's a lawyer have to do to be permanently disbarred?

Shoot a Supreme Court justice?

Well, I poop in.

I volunteered a few more hours to the Oliver case.

I'm an old-fashioned guy, Tess.

A wife gets murdered.

I look at the husband.

Where is that the matter?

Mr. Oliver, the investment counselor.

He had been losing millions, most of it hers. She had been interviewing divorce

lawyers.

Let me make it simple for you.

I had dinner with my wife Sunday night and drove to O'Hare.

I got back two days later and Janet was gone.

When she was killed, I was in Los Angeles.

Do you have any idea why she would be in the neighborhood where her body was

found? She volunteered in a soup kitchen.

I don't know why she didn't send a check like everyone else.

You seem real broken up.

Well, we didn't have a perfect marriage.

Yeah.

Cops were called to a screaming match in your backyard two months ago.

Nobody was hurt. Nobody was arrested.

I have a neighbor who likes to dial 911.

We know that your wife wanted a divorce.

So I killed her?

You people.

Are you here to arrest me?

No. Then leave me alone.

Tell me again why I should give a damn.

You work the park.

You could be next.

I'm not an heiress.

You get lucky.

This was when?

They found her Monday afternoon.

Near the lagoon.

I saw a car Sunday night.

You're sure? Sunday?

I was waiting for the clinic to open Monday morning.

Counting the minutes.

Let's see.

It was a big car.

White. And it had those, um... Vanity plates.

My John got all excited. Stupid son of a bitch.

Into astrology.

It was his sign, Sagittarius or Pluto or something.

Could it have been Leo?

Yeah.

Hey. Hello.

Hey.

Carb light bag.

See if you can get guacamole for me.

Are you sleeping with Peggy Elliott?

What happened to... Hi, Dickie.

Nice to see you.

We're all grown-ups here. I just want to know.

No. Because if you're sleeping with her, you're not sleeping with me.

No. That's just the way it is.

Objection, Your Honor.

Asked and answered.

Really?

Really.

Well, in that case, where the hell have you been?

Look, Lassie, I think we have to divide up the territory.

You promise to stay away from his bed, and I promise not to jump in the air and

catch his frisbee in my teeth.

And if you ate my shoe again, you are catfish bait.

A cop.

Yeah.

Yeah, hang on a minute.

Yes.

Okay.

I'll be there.

She left early, so I figured, what the hell?

I'd go to work.

Good thing.

Tess Cobb.

I believe you've met, Mr. Oliver.

I don't think you've met my attorney.

Morning, Counselor.

Detective Cobb.

You've been snooping into my client's personal life, questioning his business

associates and causing him considerable embarrassment.

It is called police work.

Mr. Oliver is a bereaved widower. Stop harassing him.

Thank you, Arthur.

I couldn't have said it better.

We have a witness.

A crack addict prostitute. A recovering crack addict prostitute. Who saw a

license plate that matched a sign of the Zodiac. She said that it was Leo.

His license plate is L-I-O.

Lewis. Inman Oliver.

L-I-O.

So she's not going to win any spelling bees.

It's close enough.

You don't indict someone like Lewis Oliver for the murder of his own wife on

circumstantial motive evidence and the testimony of a recovering crack addict

prostitute who might have misspelled something while she was doing push-ups

in the park on a paying customer.

Arthur, this guy killed his wife.

And he was smart enough to dump the body in a park where the police would think

she was a hooker and do a crappy job with the evidence. You want to charge

him?

You better find some other evidence.

Oh, man.

You couldn't have given me a hint?

You know we're going to cross paths professionally.

Maggie, you went right from my bed to a meeting to chew out my ass.

I can't talk about my work with you.

I don't want to talk about my work with you.

What do you want to talk about?

What do other people talk about?

What they did today?

What they're going to do tomorrow?

The weather?

It's rather cool out, don't you think?

What are you going to do today?

Look for a prostitute.

You want to risk your career on the testimony of Bambi?

You want to meet her?

Who is he?

I don't know.

I'll go ask her co-workers.

Uh, I think they're more used to, uh, talking to single guys.

A death, John?

Hey,

buddy. I saw her first.

Yeah, well, uh, money talks.

I got $7. I got $30.

$7. $50.

And 15 cents.

Double buck?

You had a higher offer.

You could have gone elsewhere.

Our report on the Oliver autopsy.

Strangled. No evidence of sexual activity.

We need the time of death.

The best we can do, between 4 and 10 p.m. Sunday.

That's a wide range.

Well, our patients can't give us the details. They're dead.

There's no other way to know?

Well, there's a researcher at City University, the Department of

Entomology.

Insects? Well, flies lay eggs on a body within minutes of death.

He's asked us for samples of everything we find.

And we found fly eggs and maggots on Mrs. Oliver.

Three flies consume the corpse of a horse as quickly as a lion.

Linnaeus said that.

Really?

You're looking at Caulifla Versina in the second larval stage, detective.

No kidding.

What exactly is a forensic entomologist?

You track killer bees?

China, 13th century. A man is found murdered, cut down by a sickle.

Authorities gather all the local farmers, lay down their sickles.

Flies come and settle on one blade.

The killers.

This was a strangling.

Mrs. Oliver, I raised the larva to adulthood. The only certain way to

identify the species.

Lucilia illustris.

That's supposed to mean something, right?

Lucilia often get to the body first, but they only lay their eggs in sunlight.

This body was found in a shaded area.

You're saying she was killed somewhere else?

Lucilia says so.

And live first-stage larvae were found on the body at 6 p.m. Monday.

Lucilia eggs take 14 hours to hatch.

So the eggs were laid the day before, on Sunday, before sunset.

They never lay before someone is dead.

Do you have any flies on you?

We have got a suspect that says that he had dinner with the lady Sunday night.

Either they had a very early dinner or she wasn't much of a conversation

partner.

Yes.

The charge of murder against Louis Oliver is ridiculous.

We'll let a jury decide.

You get to a jury.

I'm filing a motion to suppress evidence.

You can count on a hearing. Got a discovery motion for your files on Floyd

Givens. Got a motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground the grand jury

pool was unrepresentative.

And a few other odds and ends. I'm sure you'll find them interesting.

Have a nice weekend.

Oh.

Look at that beautiful laser print job.

Do you know what kind of printer we have in the public defender's office, Ms.

Kaufman? I'll have to go home.

I have 27 active cases.

I do not have a clerk.

I do not have a budget.

Floyd Givens is being railroaded through the justice system. I wouldn't have time

to write a brief like that, even if it was to save my own soul as I stood

before the pearly gates.

What I do have, Ms. Kaufman, is an innocent client.

You managed to make your points.

Well, I do have some small ability to communicate.

Mom always said it was a mixed blessing.

You said you would call.

I have a lot of work tonight.

You always have a lot of work.

Tell me, Tess.

I know your husband lied to you.

But I work with people who lie to me.

Criminals.

Do you want to cross-examine me?

Or do you want to trust what we feel?

I love you, Tess Kaufman.

These tire tracks, Detective Elliott, that the people wish to admit into

evidence. It matches the defendant's car.

But in the photo taken at the crime scene, these treads were obscured. It's

clear in the other photo.

This was simulated on a computer.

Based on the crime scene photo with subtractive analysis.

You mean a computer has removed the treads of a second vehicle that drove

over the treads that supposedly match Mr. Oliver's car. They do match.

And for a computer to know what to remove, it would have to know what that

second pair of tracks looked like exactly.

Is that correct?

Speak up, detective.

Yes. So you found the car that ran over the original tracks?

Yes. And how did the police find that car in this big city?

It was my car.

So you drove your car onto a crime scene and ran over the treads of a car that

you now claim dumped the body?

Yes.

Is that standard procedure?

We didn't know at first the body had been dumped.

And did you drive over these fibers as well?

Your Honor, argumentative. I'll rephrase.

They were photographed on the victim's body. They match fibers in her husband's

trunk. Can we examine them?

No. And why is that, detective?

We didn't collect them.

And why is that?

There was a failure of communication at the crime scene.

I see.

And who was in charge of the scene?

I was.

Your Honor, this is Badgeray. But effective.

Zombro. I'm granting your motion to suppress physical evidence from the

crime scene.

Unless it can be shown that the piece in question wasn't driven over, lost, or

accidentally flushed down the toilet.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Hey! How are you?

You've got a killer for a girlfriend, Cod. It's been rough on you.

That's her job, huh?

Sometimes she enjoys it more than others.

Peggy, hi.

Your boss sent you to make sure the body was cold?

What? Oh, no, I'm sorry about that. I had nothing to do with that.

You ought to try working for her.

Look, I was wondering if you might like to have dinner sometime.

Give me a break.

Okay, bad timing. I'll call you.

What's your number?

9-1-1.

Samantha, I told you to wear a longer skirt. What would your mama say? Tug at

the bottom of it.

And Dawn, I don't think that see-through blouses are even allowed in the

courtroom. Get your hand out of my pocket.

Why exactly do they call you size more?

That is beneath you, Dawn. I'm not even going to dignify that with a reply.

Now, girls, I'm really glad that you all showed up today.

But do me a favor.

Lose the gum.

Sure,

we all knew Floyd.

You're referring to the defendant?

Yeah.

He used to hang around kind of like a mascot, you know.

He'd bring us coffee, but he was usually so drunk.

We'd say, thank you, Floyd. Look down and the cup would be empty.

He'd spill it.

He'd always try to kiss us, you know, on the cheek.

Candy used to say to him, that's going to be a dollar, Floyd. We're working

girls.

He'd go off and try to panhandle it.

But once, some creep hit Candy and Floyd jumped at the guy and ended up in the

hospital. He missed the guy and, like, cracked his head on the wall.

But he'd march around saying we were all his special gals.

He's harmless.

Any one of us could have beat him up.

Candy did slap him the night she was killed.

He snuck up and kissed her on the cheek right while she was negotiating with a

date. Floyd pursed out ballin'. Later.

He was sitting on a curb and Candy came by and kissed him on the forehead and

stuck a dollar in his pocket.

Then she walked into the park and never came out.

You girls get to heaven and you will. You're going to have many stars in your

crown for what you did today.

I'm just not sure that man killed anyone, Miss Coughlin.

Neither am I.

Trial with Sizemore and Maggie?

Tug-but-tug week.

You are the best lawyer in Chicago.

Except that Maggie's ombro is.

So you're relying on the evidence of these flies.

Lucilia illustrious do not lay their eggs in the shade.

Any word yet from the birds and the bees?

Your Honor.

Entomological evidence is widely accepted.

Miss Sombro?

Professor, how many of these flies are there in the world?

That would be very difficult to calculate.

Billions? Billions, certainly. And you're swearing that not one of these

billions of flies, possibly one who was ill,

or confused, or learning disabled, ever laid an

egg in a shadow?

I've never seen it, counselor.

But is it possible?

It's never been reported.

Is it possible?

It's possible.

About this license plate.

It said Leo.

Miss Klein, Bambi, how do you spell Leo?

I'm flexible.

I'm sure you are.

What were you doing when this car drove by?

I was, uh, with a date.

Did he see the car?

Well, he's the one who sat about the plate. His sign is Leo.

So he was facing the car?

Yeah. What position was he in?

He was standing up. And what position were you in?

I was, uh, facing him.

So, he was facing the car, and you were facing him.

How did you see the car?

I saw it. He just saw it first.

Maybe we should ask your date about it.

Do you know his name, his address?

She's kidding, right?

I have nothing further.

I saw what I saw.

Leo!

I left the house at 8 p.m. My flight was at 10.

And was your wife alive when you left the house? Very much.

She gave me a book to read on the plane by Ann Tyler.

She liked Ann Tyler.

And you never saw your wife again?

That's right.

Did you love your wife, Mr. Oliver?

She was the only woman I ever loved.

Did you kill your wife?

No.

No, I did not.

I have nothing further.

What do you do for a living, Mr. Oliver?

I manage investments.

Mainly your wife's?

Not entirely.

More than half?

Yes.

More than three quarters?

Yes.

Now, you say that you saw your wife alive at 8 p.m. that Sunday night?

That's right.

We've heard expert testimony that she was dead before sundown.

A bug expert.

Your wife's body was found ten miles from your house.

When she went downtown, ordinarily, how did she get there?

Drive. Uh, take a cab, ride with a friend.

Her car is still in your garage.

No taxi company has any record of picking her up. And the police can't

find a friend who drove her in.

Do you have any suggestions for other friends of hers that we might ask?

I didn't know all Janet's friends.

You didn't know the friends of the only woman you've ever loved?

We had friends.

She had friends. I had friends.

Did you have girlfriends?

No.

Never? No.

Didn't you kill your wife, put her body in your car, drop her in the park, and

then continue on to the airport?

No.

Isn't that how she got downtown?

Objection. He said no.

Turn the page, Ms. Kaufman.

Have you ever been to the park where your wife's body was found?

No.

Some technique.

Cross-examination by a thousand cuts.

It's all I could do.

Who do you think's more exhausted?

Him or you?

Me.

Louis Oliver killed Janet Oliver in the seclusion of their home because she was

going to leave him and take her money with her.

Then he drove her body to a park frequented by prostitutes, and a

prostitute saw his car.

Bambi Klein is not a perfect citizen.

If we had another witness of sterling character to bring forward, we would.

But we do not get to pick our witnesses.

Louis Oliver picked Bambi Klein as our witness when he drove into that park.

And he did that on purpose.

He calculated that anyone in that park who saw him would be disbelieved or

devalued if they came forward to testify.

And that's what he still calculates.

So you've heard about Bambi Klein's past drug use.

and about her profession.

Lewis Oliver is counting on your disapproval turning into your denial of

her intelligence and humanity.

But do not buy into Lewis Oliver's cynicism.

You may not approve of the way Bambi Klein lives her life, but she is a human

being with a heart and a sense of justice.

She saw what she saw.

She told you what she saw.

Do not ignore her.

Do not degrade her.

Do not deny her humanity.

The jury?

Still out.

Three days.

Your Honor, I asked today for Bruce Kaufman's reinstatement to the practice

of law.

He committed a crime.

He paid the price.

He's worked hard to rehabilitate... After completing your legal ethics

course, how did Mr. Kaufman do on the exam?

He passed.

Is he continuing his legal education?

He frequents the district attorney's office and the company of police

officers, trying to pick up anything he can.

Miss Kaufman, does the fact that you were married to the appellant bias you

in his favor?

If anything, it would bias me the other way.

Jersey. He's a good lawyer when he wants to be, and I think he wants to be now.

I'm sure he doesn't want to go back to jail.

Your Honor, a short recess?

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

The

defendant

will rise.

On the charge of murder in the first degree, how do you find the defendant,

Lewis Oliver?

Guilty.

Yeah, but you won Bruce Kaufman's reinstatement hearing. If you ask me,

that's a much tougher case.

Well, I had to get him back into practice so he could pay me back faster

and get out of my life sooner.

You are sicking Bruce Kaufman on the rest of the world so he can pay you

back. Oh, he's a decent lawyer.

If you keep your hand on your wallet.

Counselor, I have got a lot to learn.

About you.

You can study when I get back.

I'm going to San Francisco to take depositions.

San Francisco?

How long?

A couple of weeks.

You were planning on mentioning this to the man you're sleeping with. I just

did.

Maggie, when people are involved, I don't think they spring things like this

on each other.

This doesn't come naturally to me.

Yeah.

What you said about that Bambi was very nice.

Made me think about...

I'm glad that man was convicted, but I don't know what to think about Mr.

Givens being acquitted.

They're both close cases.

Mr. Sizemore put on a good defense.

I still want to know who killed my daughter.

So do we.

The police won't talk to me.

Are they doing anything now?

I'll look into it. Will you?

He will.

Sure.

I hope so.

Who does it believe us?

Can you blame her?