All language subtitles for law.and.order.s09e04.dvdrip.xvid-ingot

NARRATOR:
In the criminal justice system

the people are represented
by two separate
yet equally important groups,

the police,
who investigate crime,

and the district attorneys,
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Okay, sleepyheads,
come on it's time to get up.

There you go.

Alice, will you, uh, get out
the finger paint and
pass out the smocks, please?

Sure.

Come on, up, up, up yeah.
Here you go.

Fold up your blanket, sweetie.

Ryan, honey, wake up.

BOY: What are you gonna be?

Ryan Downing, come on now,
rise and shine.

BOY 2: Where's my blankie?

(CHILDREN CHATTERING)

Okay. Um, everyone,
let's visit
Mrs. Fredman's class.

Call 9-1-1. Go.

Ryan Downing spiked
a fever of 106.

DOA at Lenox Hill.

Kids still die
from staph infections?

Not usually.

Vancomycin-Resistant
staphylococcus aureus.

V.R.S.A.

Meaning it doesn't respond
to antibiotics?

Yeah. A few mutant bacteria
survive broad-spectrum
antibiotics.

A million reproductive
cycles later, V.R.S.A.,
killer bacteria.

With all due
respect, Doc,

shouldn't you
be telling all this to
the Health Department?

I already did.

So what are we doing here?

This strain of V.R.S.A.
Doesn't occur in the US.

Well, then how'd
the Downing kid get it?

That's why I called you.

It didn't walk out
of a lab.

Somebody let it loose.

Somebody? You talking
about a terrorist?

I sure as hell hope not.

It's cheap. Fast. Deadly.

Gene stereotyping
says the bacteria
that killed Ryan Downing

comes from rural France,
outside Chambord.

What, the kid picked this up
from a tourist?

No. A sick tourist would be
hospitalized by now...

Or dead.

So what are we looking for?

Muscle aches, dehydration.
Body temps go ballistic,
you know the rest.

Well, how long
start to finish?

Forty-eight hours
for the Downing kid.

Maybe longer for an adult.

So the kid picked up
the bug Tuesday.

Any other cases?

No. Ryan Downing's the
only one that's turned up.
So far.

Look, the kid's infection
could be an isolated episode.

Like some nut trying out
a science project?

Or a dry run
for a terrorist attack.

Well, whatever it is, we need
to get a handle on it.

How do you get your hands on
this V.R.S.A.?

Anyone with credentials
can order a sample from
a bio-supply house.

So we're talking
a couple of dozen
microbiologists?

Any idiot with a PC
and a printer.

How do you mean?

Well, you dummy up
some medical letterhead,

you fax it in with
a credit card number,

one of these companies
will ship it to you
overnight.

It's easier than
getting a gun.

Yeah. And a thousand times
more dangerous.

Well, suppose you wanted
to infect somebody?

WEISS: One person?

You get a $1.99
plant sprayer, you spritz
the kid in the face.

Put an aerosol bomb
in the subway, you got
the beginning of an epidemic.

(SIGHS)

WEISS: The boy's family
and apartment
came up negative.

HARKAVY: How about
the boy's school?

Clean. We checked every
student. No V.R.S.A.

Hospital notification?

The BCD's faxed every
hospital and clinic in
a 50-mile radius.

The hazmat unit's on stand-by.

Good. Agent Sykes.

The bureau is handling
the terrorist angle.

We've contacted Interpol,

our anti-terrorism people are
monitoring our
home-grown crazies.

By the way, we're putting our
usual turf skirmishes on hold.

Everybody cooperates.

What about the outfits
that sell this stuff?

We faxed a bulletin to
every bio-supply house in
the US and overseas.

I'm putting together
a joint task force,

law enforcement
and the CDC.

Your squad will take
up the point on the local end.

Find out how that
Downing boy was exposed.

Maybe my detectives
should get their shots first.

WEISS: Wouldn't help.

Once you get infected,
you're dead.

The commissioner's office
wants a complete lockdown
on information.

They don't want
to start a panic.

What do we tell
the parents?

Low-key it.

This is
a routine investigation.

Well, how contagious is
this stuff supposed to be?

Well, it can't be passed
by casual contact.

As long as you
don't get sneezed on.

And what if we do?

What can I tell you?

Did somebody infect our son
on purpose?

BRISCOE:
It was probably an accident,

but we need to know exactly
where Ryan went Tuesday.

He's a five-year-old kid.

He went to school,
he came home, same as
every other day.

CURTIS: He was feeling
fine that day?

He had a little trouble
getting out of bed.

I didn't think
anything of it.

Which one of you
took him to school?

PAULA: Uh, I did.

Um, it starts at 8:30.

And then Angie picked him up
at 2:00 and brought him home.

(SOFTLY) Oh, it's okay.

(SOBBING)

Angie?

Our housekeeper.

BRISCOE: How's she feeling?

I don't know.

They told her to
see a doctor.

How long has Angie
been with you?

Oh, three years, since I
went back to work.

Would you know if Angie
stopped anyplace
on her way back?

No. We give her cab fare

and she brings Ryan
straight home.

Am I going to get this?

If the doctors were concerned,
they wouldn't send you home.

It's important that we find
that cab you took with Ryan.

Did you happen
to get a receipt?

I didn't take a cab.
Ryan likes to go
on the bus.

BRISCOE: What bus?

The 104. Look,
I took Ryan straight home.

While you were on the bus, did
you see anything unusual?

Like what?

Anybody spray anything on
Ryan, maybe sneeze on him?

No, no, nothing like that.

Do you remember who was
sitting next to you?

I wasn't paying attention.
How could something
like this happen?

MTA took the bus out of
service 15 minutes
after you called.

The hazmat unit's
just about finished up.

The passengers went home?

Yeah. They're not in
any danger.

The bacteria dies
within seconds
after it's airborne.

Well, why the Tyvek suits?

It's just standard for
a level three bio-hazard.

Well, that makes me
feel better.

No aerosol bomb.
Bus is clean.

If somebody released V.R.S.A.
Inside, it would've showed up.

So as far as we know,
nobody got sick except
for the Downing kid.

Yeah, we may have
lucked out here.

Even at the far end
of the curve,

the incubation time's past
for aerosol infection.

Well, does exposure have to be
through the air?

No, it's just most likely.

How about unlikely?

I went over every inch
with a 20-power glass.

Here.

A small injection mark
over the left quadricep,
less than a week old.

Well, maybe
he got vaccinated?

Not according to
his medical records.

This kid could have been
injected with V.R.S.A.

Okay, so the kid's
walking home from school

and some wacko jabs him
in the leg with a needle.

The fact he was injected
changes the time-line.

Different delivery system,
different absorption rate.

Symptoms would develop
more slowly with injection
into hard muscle tissue.

All right, assuming
he was injected,
when did this happen?

Working back from
time of death,

Sunday night,
early Monday.

Somebody stuck Ryan
with a needle?

Any chance you could
be wrong, detective?

There's a puncture wound
on your son's left thigh.

Any idea how he got that?

No. Of course not.
Who would do that?

Anybody have anything
against you or your wife?

CURTIS: Somebody
at work, maybe?

I sit behind a desk
at Foxbury Insurance,
crunch numbers.

My wife is
a systems analyst.

Who could hate us that much?

I can't think of anyone.

You sure he wasn't
picked at random?

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

It's possible.

Did Ryan go
to school on Monday?

AARON: Same as every week day.

I was out of town,

my wife took him
on her way to work.
Angie picked him up.

And Sunday?

He was at home with us.

I was working
on my quarterly revenues.

And he never complained
about pain in his leg?

No, no, I don't think so.

Lennie.

LT got a call from
Beekman hospital.

Another case of V.R.S.A.

The man's girlfriend brought
him in with a temp of 105.

BP, heart rate,
off the charts.

Resident botched
the diagnosis.

Asian flu.

The patient got a name?

Yeah. Clarence Meeks.

You check him
for needle marks?

Ah, that's the problem.

Mr. Meeks has been
main-lining heroin for
10, 15 years.

BRISCOE:
When can we talk to him?

He died 10 minutes ago.

WEISS: Clarence Meeks'
personal effects.

You need gloves?
We have our own.

You should have been with me
in South America in '89.

Bolivian hemorrhagic fever.

Pick that up from
clothing, bed sheets.
Stuff kicks ass.

Internal hemorrhaging of
the organs, bleeding from
every orifice, vomiting...

Yeah. Yeah.
We get the picture, Doc.

Two dime bags,

Armageddon.

Poor Clarence, too sick to
shoot up his last score.

I got it.

Clarence's works.

Or the murder weapon.

There's V.R.S.A.
In the syringe.

Genetic analysis indicates
it's the strain that
killed Ryan Downing.

Both samples came from
the same batch of bacteria?

Exactly. And there were
trace amounts

of Ryan Downing's blood
in the needle.

So Clarence stuck the kid,
then stuck himself?

I don't see a junkie
ordering up some exotic germ.

Figure Clarence
for another victim.

So where'd he get the needle?

Doesn't make sense.

I take Clarence
to the hospital
for a fever,

now I'm planning a funeral.

They won't even tell me
what killed him.

Do you know if Clarence was
in Midtown on Monday?

He went with me up at
the VA, in the Bronx,

registering for
a drug program.

The man was finally
pulling himself together.

He was clean for two weeks.

Except for his works
and the two decks
of smack

we found in his pocket.

The bacteria that
killed him came
from his needle.

He didn't have a needle.

Son of a bitch, Willie.

Who's Willie?

Him and Clarence used to
get high together.

Where's this Willie live?

I don't have a clue.

But he... He sells his junk
over on Clinton street.

Willie deals drugs?

Not that kinda junk.

You know, junk.

(SIGHS)

WILLIE: Clarence Meeks?

Haven't seen him all week.

That's because he's dead.

Oh, man.

OD'd?
Something like that.

His girlfriend says
you hooked him up.

Not me.

You got a permit
to sell this stuff?

This is a free gallery.
I don't need a permit.

Oh, maybe we
ought to toss you
just for the hell of it,

see what we come up with.

Whatever snuffed Clarence,
he scored on his own.

Where'd he get his works?

I sold him a set-up,
Tuesday, I think it was.

Did you use that needle?

I got my own.

Where'd you get the one
you sold to Clarence?

I found it.

Show us.

Who's gonna keep an eye
on my sculptures?

Oh, I wouldn't
worry about that.

So what'd you charge
Clarence for the needle?

Ten.

Did you bother to
clean it first?

Yeah, yeah, of course.

You know, your buddy
got sick from that needle...

I wiped it off.

Hey, hey, this is it. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.
Right in those cans.

What were you doing
back here?

Looking for materials.

You can't believe
what people throw away.

Or pick up.

So what do you think, Rey,
about 90 apartments?

That's a lot of buzzers
to push.

Let's get a tenant list from
the building manager.

CURTIS: Mildred Kinsky.

Forty years in the building.

BRISCOE: What's she pay?

$212 for a three-bedroom.

With that rent,
I could retire.

FBI sent these.

Responses from
European bio-supply houses.

No V.R.S.A. Shipments.

CURTIS:
What about the American firms?

Two checked in negative.
And get this.

The others want to
run it by their lawyers.

They're hiding something.

Yeah, people are dying
from the germs
they're selling.

Well, Forensics went through
the trash cans.
There's nothing there.

What about you guys?

We went through all
the tenants there's no
doctors, no biologists,

nobody who works
for a lab

VAN BUREN:
Nurses? Hospital employees?

One chiropractor. Retired.

Theresa Copeland.
Apartment 8C.

Mr. Downing works
in insurance?

Yeah, the Foxbury group.

Uh, 42 Park Avenue.

So does Miss Copeland.

Well, it's a big company.

Get a photo of
Theresa Copeland from DMV.

Show it to Downing.

Theresa Copeland.
She works in Claims.

Uh, Foxbury has
1,200 employees here.

Are you sure?

Uh, in the elevator. Maybe.

Your department
have anything to do
with Claims?

Nothing. What's this woman
have to do with my son?

We traced the needle that
was used on your son to her
apartment building.

Why would some stranger
kill Ryan?

Maybe your wife knows her?

I don't see how.

We can show her
the picture,
if you think it'd help?

You know a man named
Aaron Downing?

He works upstairs,
in Compliance.

(SCOFFS) We don't
have anything to do
with Compliance.

That's not what he asked you.

Sorry, I don't know him.

Mind telling us where
you were on Monday?

Here.

How about before work?

Monday.

Oh, I showered at my
sister's. They were
working on my water.

You leave the office
during the day?

I went out on my lunch
break. Did someone
accuse me of something?

Where'd you eat?
I didn't.

I needed a pair
of platform sandals.

Did you get a receipt?

No. I just looked.
Where'd you look?

Prada, Chanel,

Manolo Blahnik.

Midtown.

How long were you
out of the office?

I don't know,
about two hours.

That's not a crime, is it?

The kids ate early on Monday.

About 11:30.
Then rest time.

We got them up,
it was a nice day,

so we took them to
the Heckscher playground,
in the park.

A stone's throw from
the shoe stores.

Is it possible that you
noticed this woman
in the park?

Her name is Theresa Copeland.

Oh, I'm sorry,
I don't recognize her.

Is she the one who...

Right now we're
running down leads.

She's pretty.

Is she a friend
of the Downings?

She works for the same company
as Mr. Downing.
Why do you ask?

Well, I'm not sure,

but, Mrs. Downing
brings Ryan to school

because she says that
Mr. Downing runs laps around
the reservoir at 7:00.

And?

Well, I run the reservoir
that time every morning

and I haven't seen him
in there for at least
six months.

Daniel, Christopher!
Excuse me.

Wanna guess where he's
getting his exercise.

Yeah. Right,
Miss Copeland, 8C.

Take a look at this.

Name's Aaron Downing.

You ever see him
go up to her place?

I'm usually down here.
I don't keep track of
who comes and goes.

Oh, yeah, this guy.

He was having trouble
with his vestibule key
so I let him in.

When was this?

Uh, last month.
In the morning.

And he was here to see
Theresa Copeland?

Well, he had a key. I figured
he was showing her apartment.

Oh, she's moving?

Hell if I know.

She's given notice three times
in the last three months.

Keeps changing her mind.

You've been to my office.

One of the parents told me
you were around the school.

What more do you
want me to tell you?

Why you're covering your ass.

You having an affair?

With this Copeland woman?
Come on.

Hey, you want to lie
to your wife, fine.

But don't play us
for idiots.

She might've
murdered your son.

What did you say?

BRISCOE: Theresa's super
ID'd you.

We know the work-outs you've
been getting are in her bed.

So, we on the same page?

(SIGHS)

Yeah, okay.

I was seeing her.

How long?

Almost a year.

But it was just
something on the side.

No big deal.
CURTIS: For you.

What about for Theresa?

She knew the score.

Maybe she didn't
like the score.

So she killed Ryan?

Hey, I've been there, pal.

You make a few promises
under the sheets,

the lady gets expectations.

There were no expectations.

Theresa kept giving
notice to her landlord,
kept changing her mind.

You were stringing
her along.

Maybe it looked that way.

Come on, Aaron. A single
woman investing the best
years of her life

in a married man.

Maybe she got tired of
waiting for you
to dump your wife.

Theresa understood I had
no problem leaving my wife.

But she knew
I'd never leave Ryan.

No.

No, that's crazy.

Maybe she's crazy.

I don't believe it.

She couldn't do
something like that.

Any headway?

Well, he copped to the affair,
but he insists it was
strictly recreational.

Theresa's credit card
information came in.

Any charges to
a bio-supply house?

No, but check out her balance.

Whoa. $20,000
on her Amex card.

She's way in the hole.

It's a credit.

$20,000 on her MasterCard,

$45,000
on her Visa.

She's using her
credit cards as
bank accounts.

Where did she get
that kind of money?

You'll talk to us
without a lawyer?

I don't need a lawyer.
I didn't do anything.

We got a witness puts you in
the park the day
Ryan was injected.

What?

The closest I ever got
to Ryan was when Aaron
showed me his picture.

The needle you used on
the kid was found in
your building's trash.

Uh, I didn't put it there.
You have to believe me.

Why?
You were in deep
with Aaron Downing.

He told you he'd
never leave his family as long
as his son was around.

Did Aaron say that?

Come on, Theresa.

He was going to
leave his wife.

This wasn't just a fling.
We had something
special together.

He told us it
was no big deal.

No.

Aaron needed me. He said
there was something missing
until I came along.

Yeah, a different bed
to jump into.

You don't understand.

We talked about
getting married.

We found an apartment
with a room for Ryan...

BRISCOE: He was
jerking you around.

You gave notice
on your apartment
three different times.

You got tired of all his
promises, and you figured,

hey, maybe without
the kid around...

I didn't kill Ryan!

CURTIS: He thinks you did.

He wouldn't say that.
We had plans.

Is that what
the money was for?

What money?

The cash balance
on your credit cards.

BRISCOE:
We know all about you now.

And we're gonna find out
how you got that bacteria.

That's 25 years
minimum, Theresa.

Your boyfriend is
selling you out.

So if you have
something to say...

I... I saved that money.

From what?
Your $500 a week paycheck?

I made some investments.

This is bull, Lennie.
Let's book her for murder.

Okay. Okay.

We stole the money.

Me and Aaron.

From Foxbury.

$100,000.

That was our money,
so we could
start a new life.

He was gonna
leave his family.

Ryan wasn't
a problem.

She masterminded
a six-figure fraud

from her cubicle
in the Claims department?

Well, it looks like
she had help.

JACK: Downing?

Theresa paid in premiums for
lapsed accounts, submitted
change of address forms.

Downing knew
where to channel
the paperwork.

Arrest them both
for embezzlement.

Downing was also smart enough
to have his girlfriend
do all the dirty work.

CURTIS: And smart enough
to keep most of the money
for himself.

They embezzled
$450,000.

$350,000 is missing.

Downing's bank account?

Not a bank account
on these shores.

Maybe Theresa
killed the kid

so she could shake
a bigger cut out of Downing?

Then why fess up
to the embezzlement?

That's handing us
her motive
on a silver platter.

Then who did it?

Aaron Downing?

Wait a second.
He murdered his own son?

Don't rule it out.
He had opportunity.

He was cheating on his wife,

hiding money from
his mistress, who knows
what he's capable of.

CURTIS: Killing his kid?

I don't believe it.

You don't have to believe it.
Just prove it.

Connect him to the syringe.
Nail down his movements
to the minute.

Your wife told us
you went to Syracuse.

Right. I told you
that already.

You never told us
you went that morning.

You didn't ask.

Didn't you think
that was important?

Why would it matter
where I was?

How'd you get
to the airport?

Taxi.

And where'd you get the cab?
In front of my building.

Make any stops along the way?

No. I had
a plane to catch.

Good. You were
on a business trip
means you got a receipt.

We can get the hack
number off that
and verify your story.

I forgot to get a receipt.

That's because you were at
Theresa's place, just like
every other morning, yeah?

That's where you dumped
the needle you used
to kill your boy.

No!

Why don't you tell us
all about it, Aaron.

Get it off your chest.

There's nothing to tell.

Well, how about
the money you embezzled
with your sweetheart?

I don't know what
you're talking about!

Your little war chest?

We know all about it.

What were you gonna do?
Skip out on your wife,
on your girlfriend?

That's why you
killed your son, isn't it?

That's enough!

I know all about guys
like you, Aaron.

Stuck with a wife,
a job, obligations.

You can't hack it.
No.

Yeah. You want to leave
but you can't run out
on your kid.

So you go into his room,
while he's sleeping,

pull down the covers,
maybe you stroke his hair
a few times

before you stick the needle
in his leg.

I did not hurt my son.

You gonna arrest me?

If not, get the hell
out of my office.

Downing had to
dump the needle at Theresa's
on the way to the airport.

I know it's a long shot,
but we could start canvassing
the cab companies.

Hey, you know what?

Theresa said there was
a problem with her shower
on Monday morning, right?

So you were in her apartment
fixing her pipes?

Yeah. The girl left. She was
pissed I cut off her water.

Did you happen to see a guy
come around the apartment,

uh, would've been
around 9:00.

Yeah. A guy with a suitcase.
He was there for a minute
and he left.

Uh, this the guy?

Uh, could be.

He would've been wearing
a suit and tie.

Could be, but I dunno
if I could swear to it.

Hey, fellas,
I was under a sink.

Yeah. Okay. Thanks anyway.

Guy with a suitcase
in Theresa's apartment
who could be Downing?

Sound like probable
cause to you?

I'll call Carmichael.

Downing, put the clothes down.

Why?
Just do it.

You're under arrest
for the murder
of Ryan Downing.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you do say
can and will be used against
you in a court of law.

You have the right
to an attorney.

If you cannot
afford one, one...

You can skip
the next part Lennie.

Mr. Downing's got
a wad of cash, passport,
airline ticket.

Fiji islands.

Open return.

Come on, Robinson Crusoe.

Your Honor, Mr. Downing
has never been
in trouble before.

He's pleaded not guilty.
He's entitled to bail.

The defendant murdered
his five-year-old.

He's the child's
natural father?

HARWOOD:
Yes, Judge. And he strenuously
denies these allegations.

Mr. Downing injected his
son with a deadly bacteria.

Which can't be connected
to Mr. Downing.

CARMICHAEL:
We can connect him
to the murder weapon.

A man fitting Mr. Downing's
description was seen where
the syringe was discarded.

By a plumber who couldn't
positively ID my client.

Motive, Miss Carmichael.

Mr. Downing was leading
a triple-life.

He was deceiving his wife,
deceiving his mistress,

embezzling money
from his employer.

Yes, but murder
his own son? Why?

CARMICHAEL:
Motive isn't relevant to
Mr. Downing's bail status.

He was one step away
from fleeing the country.

He had a ticket to
the Fiji islands in
the trunk of his car.

My client's no longer
a flight risk, Judge.

The police have seized
his passport, the ticket,
his money...

Except for $350,000
he probably has
stashed somewhere.

Enough.

The defendant clearly had
his traveling shoes on.

But your murder allegation
strains the imagination,
Miss Carmichael.

I hope you have more
for the grand jury.

I'm setting bail.
$1,000,000.

(GAVEL POUNDING)

(BUZZER BUZZING)

He'll plead guilty to
embezzlement, that's it.

With the evidence you got,
that's a gift.

Then the three of us
took a long ride for nothing.

Mr. McCoy,

I didn't murder my son.

JACK: Then who did?

What about Theresa?

You're the one who was
running away from his life.

Okay.

Okay, I just needed to
get away for a while,
think things over.

I was suffocating.

My job, my wife, Theresa.

I just needed
to get out of there.

I'm not defending
that part of it.

Ryan...

No.

Murder two. Maximum time.
We throw in
the embezzlement.

Can't do it.

See you both in court.

Oh, you may never
get to court, Mr. McCoy.

You've got a grand jury
to worry about first.

Downing can't raise
$1,000,000.

He's not going anywhere.

For the next six days.

If we don't
indict him by then...

You've got a
bigger problem
than bail.

Judge Fraser nailed
it on the head.

If we can prove Downing
injected his son,

we don't have to
explain his motive.

You're positive it can't be
someone else?

We exhausted
the other possibilities.

It's not a terrorist,
it's not his wife
or his girlfriend.

Everything lines up
against Downing.

ADAM: You have a smoking gun?

Circumstantial evidence.

CARMICHAEL: There's evidence
of intended flight.

Downing made
inquiries about buying
a restaurant in Fiji.

He was cashing out
of his life.

We can sell it, Adam.

But first he injects his son
with a little bacteria?

CARMICHAEL: He said he'd
leave his wife,
not his son.

It doesn't make sense.

We still have six days

to present our case
to the grand jury
before Downing's ROR'd.

If you can't convince me
how are you gonna
convince them?

What do you know
about his background?

Middle class, grew up
in Meriden, Connecticut.

Uh, majored in Biology at
Brown, couldn't
get into med school.

Explains his interest
in microbes.

JACK: Now he's counting beans
for an HMO.

And stealing them.

Any history of
abusing his son?

Nothing. The parents at
the pre-school say Downing's
a great father.

What's he do for fun?

His wife said he loved to
golf, but he quit that
cold turkey.

Came home drunk
once in a while.

He used to run
in the mornings,

but he gave that up
to shack up with
the girlfriend.

You want an educated guess?

Sounds like a guy whose whole
life turned out to be
one huge disappointment.

Stuck in a boring job,

feels like he settled
when he married his wife.

I know a lot of guys
feel that way.

His whole life's a compromise.

The embezzlement
and the mistress tell me

he's groping for
another strategy
to get by.

By blowing off everything
and heading for Fiji.

Jimmy Buffett syndrome.

Pure fantasy, escapism.

Yeah, everybody daydreams.

But murdering your own son...

He probably thinks
he did him a favor.

Saved him from life's
inevitable pain,

disappointments and betrayals.

So Downing's
sullen, selfish...

It's more than
a personality flaw.

To do what he did,
you have to be
one sick bastard.

Like that guy in California,

torched his kid
rather than
lose custody.

"I love you so much
I have to kill you."

You think he has a viable
psychiatric defense?

Viable, I don't know.

If he's been in therapy
a few years,

his lawyer would have
a platform for
an argument.

Aaron would never go
near a psychiatrist.

I had to drag him
into marriage counseling.

Anyway, he quit
after four months.

What prompted you
to go in the first place?

Well, he was having
a mid-life crisis.

He hated his job,

he hated how we lived.

CARMICHAEL:
Did it get any worse?

The same.

I just thought
he was moody.

I mean, I didn't know.

You ever get any hint he
might do something violent?

No. Maybe if he'd
murdered me.

At our sessions,
I was usually
the scapegoat.

The scapegoat for what?

For Aaron's unhappiness.

He, um...

He said I didn't
stimulate him anymore.

You know, that he'd
married the wrong person.

That I'd trapped him
in this empty,
materialistic life.

Did he ever blame your son?

No.

No. He and Ryan
were the victims.

There is something
he said once.

Aaron knew I wanted
to have another child.

A few months ago, I was late.

And Aaron got this look
of panic on his face.

He told Dr. Newman,
"What's the point in
having more kids?

"They're just going to
grow up miserable like me."

Aaron said
kids were better off never
seeing the light of day.

He murdered his boy
because he was depressed?

He's the man in
the gray flannel suit, Adam.

With a syringe
in his pocket.

When I'm in the dumps,
I have a scotch
and put on Louis Armstrong.

Downing had his back up
against the wall.

He couldn't stay,
he couldn't leave.

Make sure this crackpot
doesn't get out.

Can you connect
him to the bacteria?

Every supply house
has accounted
for its shipments.

Except the Allgen
Corporation.

They're stalling.

Or stonewalling.

They mailed the stuff
to Downing,
they won't come clean.

Go easy. We need
their cooperation.

You don't have a case
without them.

JACK: We're putting
Paula Downing in front of
the grand jury tomorrow.

Mr. Downing said
some things in therapy

that should convince them
he's capable of this.

We can indict him by the end
of the week, we can keep him
locked up.

Thank you.
That should solve
our 18080 problem.

Motion to exclude
Paula Downing from
the grand jury.

Hearsay?
Privilege.

Wonderful.

Any statements my client made
are protected by privilege.

The defendant's wife can't
reveal her husband's
confidential communications.

Marital privilege doesn't
apply. A third party
was present.

The third party was
a licensed psychologist.

If there's no marital
privilege, then the doctor-
patient privilege applies.

We're not calling the doctor.

What difference
does that make?

You're calling the wife
to breach the confidentiality
of the therapy session.

JACK: Her presence
defeats the privilege.

There was
no private communication

between Mr. Downing
and his doctor.

Your Honor, Mr. McCoy's
playing games here
with rules of evidence.

He's using one privilege
to defeat the other.

It's defense counsel
who's playing games.

He's trying to use
the rules of evidence
to shield a murderer.

Gentlemen, gentlemen, look.

The law should encourage
troubled couples
to seek counseling.

What they say in therapy
isn't fair game
for subsequent litigation.

Mrs. Downing's testimony
is out.

But he said my son
was better off dead!

JUDGE: Please sit down,
Mrs. Downing.

You killed him,
you son of a bitch,
you killed my baby!

JUDGE: Take her out.

You killed my baby!

(SOBBING)

That's it?
I can't testify?

We can take another shot
with the trial judge.

You said if you can't indict
him the judge will
let him out.

In or out, we'll get him.

He's going to jail.

He'll run, Mr. McCoy.

I hope you have
some way to stop him.

What do you
want to do, Jack?

Go to the grand jury
with what we have?

Not until we can prove
he ordered the bacteria.

It's time to play
hard ball with Allgen.

Well, every time I call,
they refer me to their lawyer

and he's always
with a client.

Let's drop a subpoena on them.

Let's get their attention.

I don't understand
the problem.

All we need is a few
shipping documents
and a clerk for an hour.

I'm sorry, it can't be done.

Allgen was served
with a subpoena.

You don't have a choice.

Actually we do.
We're moving to quash.

On what grounds?

The board of directors
needs a little more time

to consider the legal
ramifications of...

Double talk.

I want the documents in this
office 9:00 a.m. Tomorrow.

These decisions
can't be made overnight.

What's wrong with you people?

Either you sold Downing
the bacteria or you didn't.

It's not that simple.

It's about money, isn't it?

Are you afraid of being sued?

Not at all, Mr. McCoy.
It's just a matter of
corporate procedure.

JACK: Or corporate arrogance.

You people mail bacteria
all around the country,

you have to
answer for it.

I'm not the company,
Mr. McCoy.

I just work for them.

(DOOR OPENING)

(DOOR CLOSING)

We just ran out of time.

I'm moving for
my client's release.

JUDGE: Do the people
have an indictment

on either
the murder
or the embezzlement?

No, Judge. We're moving to
extend 18080.

Grounds?

Exceptional circumstances.
We have
an uncooperative witness.

The people need time to secure
the witness's attendance
in the grand jury.

The witness is Allgen.

My client shouldn't
sit in jail while Mr. McCoy

wrestles with
corporate America.

Is that it, Mr. McCoy?

If Mr. Downing is released,
he intends to flee.

(SLAMMING FIST)

Judge, I know
my responsibilities.

I'm not gonna run
from my responsibilities.

They took my passport
and my plane ticket.

Mr. Downing has
$350,000 stashed away.

I loved Ryan.

Ryan was my boy.

Aaron. Please.

JUDGE: I'm sorry, Mr. McCoy,
but the statute is clear.

You don't have an indictment.
My hands are tied.

Mr. Downing,

you're released on
your own recognizance.

However, I suggest that you
stay very close to home.

I had the police
put a car on Downing.

They can't watch him forever.

You need to get him
behind bars.

CARMICHAEL: Allgen is still
ignoring our subpoena.

Since Downing was released,

they even managed to
push back their
motion to quash.

They know how to play
the four corners.

I've had enough
of their stall tactics.

Downing takes off,
they're responsible.

We can start
a contempt proceeding.

What they've done is more than
contempt. They're complicit
and now they're covering up.

ADAM: Planning on charging
them as accomplices?

Why not? They send out
V.R.S.A. At the drop of a hat.

No verification.
No bona fides.

It's harder to
get penicillin.

A tactic to get
the documentation you need.

You never learn, do you?

This is not a tactic, Adam.

They sent V.R.S.A.
To a murderer.

One of their products
gets in the wrong hands,

there'll be 10,000
Ryan Downings.

Good luck.

We can charge Allgen with

criminally negligent homicide
in the death of Ryan Downing.

It's an E felony.

What about manslaughter?

Reckless homicide?

Allgen makes two phone calls,
they find out
he's not a doctor.

Ryan Downing's
in school tomorrow.

Or his father would've found
another way of killing him.

We go for manslaughter.

I'll draw up a search warrant
for Allgen.

Worst case scenario,
we get the documents
we need to nail Downing.

Anything interesting?

Allgen's sales records
indicate they sold

17 units of V.R.S.A.
In the last year.

But we could only find
16 order forms.

Yeah. They sanitized their
files before we could
get to them.

That the corporate minutes?
Yeah.

Thank you.

Huh. At a board meeting last
year, an Allgen VP

opposed the company's
sales polices as
being too lax.

Hyram Jenkins.

(SOFTLY) Jenkins.

Here. Jenkins left
the company last year.

Golden parachute?

Hmm. Three weeks
accrued vacation pay.

No wristwatch?

A lab in Pakistan wants
a small amount
of anthrax precursor.

It's got legitimate
research applications.

Allgen should have put
the order under a microscope.

Why is that?

It turned up in the hands of
an Iraqi national in Paris.

That really sent
a shiver down my spine.

When I asked
the obvious questions,

the company honchos laughed.

Laughed about what?

I suggested a protocol
for handling pathogen orders.

Routine credential checks.
Interface with
law enforcement.

Waiting periods
for the really nasty stuff.

All sounds reasonable.

They did
a costlbenefits analysis.

My suggestions were
too expensive.

Cut into company profits.

Buyers would go
to the competition.

When I took it to
the president of the company,

they let me go.

They fired you and you didn't
complain to anyone?

That would look really good
on my resume.

I got a wife and kids.

Besides, who would
I complain to?

I know 26 people who
would love to listen.

Let's block some time
on the Downing grand jury.

Your Honor, the president
and CEO of Allgen

have interrupted their
busy schedules,
waived extradition,

and traveled here at their own
expense to answer this
frivolous charge.

The manslaughter
charge is not frivolous.

It's a ploy
by the district attorney
to get document production

on the Downing
murder case.

Allgen's lax
customer screening policies

caused Ryan Downing's
death. These men should be
held responsible.

Can you make out
the charge Mr. McCoy.

Allgen's behavior
was reckless.

They refused to adopt
safeguards in their
distribution of bacteria.

It caused
Ryan Downing's death.

The boy's father injected him
with a bacteria, not Allgen.

If Allgen hadn't sent V.R.S.A.
To Mister Downing, his son
would be alive today.

Mr. McCoy can't even say
for sure that the bacteria
came from the company.

JACK:
Allgen has never denied it.

There's a V.R.S.A.
Order that's unaccounted for.

If you're moving to dismiss,
Mr. Axtell, forget it.

Arraign the defendants
on the manslaughter
indictment.

What?

Mr. McCoy,

do you really think
you can prove this?

Hyram Jenkins is
ready to testify.

You risked thousands of lives
to put a few dollars
in your pockets.

This is just about
the Downing child.

Yeah, only one
dead little boy.

Does that help you
sleep better?

We'll sleep better when we get
the hell out of
your jurisdiction.

JACK:
If you don't get jail time.

I'm going to paint the jury
a picture of a boat cruising
down the Hudson,

spraying Allgen's products
into the wind.

Maybe we can dispose
of this quietly.

What do you have in mind?

Downing's V.R.S.A. Order.

Maybe we can locate it.

We do, and we're
off the hook?

Not quite.

You plead down to
negligent homicide.

No jail.
JACK: No jail.

Mr. Buckner?

You'd make a good
businessman,
Mr. McCoy.

And what was that all about?

You just dealt a C felony
down to an E.

We got the documents we need
to prosecute Downing.

You made a devil's bargain
to get them.

Or I killed two vultures
with one stone.

Let's get the Downing jury
off its ass.

The only V.R.S.A. Shipment to
the New York area in
the past 12 months.

It just turned up.

Filed in our archives
by mistake.

Faxed order form.

Under the name of
Medical Diagnostic Labs.

Probably phony.

On Allgen's invoice

to a private mailbox on
28th street.

I'll send Briscoe and Curtis
over there with
Downing's photo.

Your Honor, my clients don't
want to belabor this matter.

Without admitting
any specific wrongdoing,

they would like to enter
guilty pleas

to the lesser
included offense

of criminally
negligent homicide.

You've secured
Mr. McCoy's approval?

Yes, Judge.

The plea's accepted.

Defendants waive
a pre-sentence report?

It's my understanding that
the maximum fine is $10,000.

Or double the profits
from the criminal conduct.

Right. Which comes to
about $18.

JACK:
I'm asking the court to fine
the Allgen corporation

twice their corporate profits

for as long as they've
been selling V.R.S.A.

That's five years' profits.
$11,000,000.

Your Honor,
we are being sandbagged.

The only promise on sentence
was no jail.

Right, but that's not what
double the profits means.

Read the statute.
Penal law section 80.

Point ten.
I know where it is.

Then you have
no reason to complain.

Interesting interpretation,
Mr. McCoy.

Allgen doesn't have
that kind of cash.

(WHISPERING INAUDIBLY)

Yes. Then the court
can appoint a receiver

to run the company
until the fine is recouped.

He can't be serious.

Well, if he's not, I am.

This is outrageous.

Submit a list of
candidates for receivership,
Mr. McCoy.

I'll take the matter of
sentencing under advisement.

(GAVEL POUNDING)

Home field advantage,
Mr. McCoy.

Let's see how you do
on the road.

The grand jury voted
murder two on Downing.

Call the police,
have them pick him up.

I just got this.

A federal restraining order?

Mmm-hmm. Prohibiting Judge
Schreiber from imposing
sentence on Allgen.

They must've raced their limos
over to US District Court.

Jack, it's just a temporary
restraining order.

The good news is
we indicted Aaron Downing.

A clerk in the mailbox
store recognized him.

You have him back in custody?

Police are on their way.

Allgen dodged the bullet.

Let it go.

Companies make
business decisions everyday
that kill people.

Spend a few bucks more
on a brake assembly,
save a hundred lives.

A car is not a deadly weapon.

Do we prosecute
the gun manufacturers
for shooting deaths?

Well, maybe we should.

Hiding behind a corporate
logo doesn't absolve these
people of responsibility.

Where does it end?

The paper mill that makes
the boxes that holds the
bullets lock up the criminals.

Let the legislators
and the civil juries

worry about
the other nonsense.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Downing sniffed out the arrest
and took off.

He's been spotted in
New Jersey.

JACK: The airport?

At the Eden motel
in Secaucus.

Curtis wants us
to meet him there.

Route three.
West of the Turnpike.

You can see it
from the highway.

Hudson county PD
spotted his car.

Clerk said he
checked in two hours ago.

Alone?
He's in number four.

Well, it ain't Fiji.

Send your materials
to Paula Downing.

She has a civil suit
against Allgen.

They've got a battalion
of lawyers on their side.

Allgen'll wear her down.
They'll walk away from this.

Just like Aaron Downing.

Not quite.

Got that Louis Armstrong
record handy?

Yeah.