Original subtitles

[Horn blaring in distance]

[Dramatic music]

What can I do for you today?

I need to talk to the boss.

- He's, um.. - Is that him?

Yes. He's busy at the moment.

Why don't you.. Can I get your name?

Burrows. Wayne Burrows.

I'm surprised you don't remember me.

You probably didn't get those 50 messages I left.

Why don't you tell me what this is about?

Like I said, I wanna talk to the owner.

I just want some answers.

Uh-uh, sir?

If you have a complaint, I advise you

to contact the consumer advisory...

I contacted them. Okay?

I've contacted the realtor.

I've contacted the bank.

Now I'm contacting you, the appraiser.

Okay, I-I just think that maybe you should come back

after you've calmed down a little.

You do? That's what you think?

I do, yes.

If you go home, and you calm down then you can come back

when you have an appointment.

Good idea.

I'll come back.

Honey, I'm out of those, um..

You know, those, uh, tabs you use to sign papers.

Signature tabs?

Scott, I have that appraisal at noon, and I need you...

I'm running the comps right now.

They need it this afternoon.

[Tires screeching]

(Male #1) 'Look out!'

oh, my god.

(Male #2) 'Get out of the way!'

[glass shatters]

[Woman screams]

I'm fine, I'm fine.

Go in my office and dial 9-1-1.

- 'Johnson, what happened?' - 'Get over here!'

everybody okay?

Anybody hurt?

[Panting]

Good.

I'm back.

Now that I've got your attention..

May I please speak with the owner?

Wayne Burrows, married, two kids.

Middle-class, working-class guy.

No criminal history.

In fact, this is the first time

Mr. Burrows is in trouble.

What set him off?

Says he's upset about a fraudulent appraisal.

When he bought his house, the birdseyes appraised it

at $265,000.

But when he went to sell it an independent appraisal came in

at only $182,000.

That could get a guy upset.

So his first instinct is

to drive through their front window.

Well, actually

Mr. Burrows filed complaints

all over the place.

The real estate business is basically

self-policing.

The fox guarding the henhouse.

So Mr. Burrows decided to get himself some justice.

Somebody could have easily gotten killed.

I don't care what Mr. Burrows' problem is.

We can't have people driving trucks into buildings

every time they feel ripped off.

They'll be a lot of smashed up buildings.

Whatever way you look at it, it's criminal recklessness

assault with a deadly weapon, in this case, a truck.

All yours.

- 'How do you plead?' - My client pleads...

Guilty, your honor.

(Wayne) One hundred percent.

Mr. Burrows, please.

- Judge, that's not.. - Which is it, counselor?

Judge..

I-i don't want to waste anybody's time.

I take full responsibility and..

I-i know how lucky I am that nobody got hurt.

Mr. Burrows..

A plea of guilty means you will be

automatically sentenced to a jail term.

Your honor... May I speak?

Keep it brief.

I-I want you to know that

that these appraisers here

stole $83,000 from me and my family

and they did it by intentionally overpricing our house

before we even bought it.

That wipes out my kid's college fund

our retirement..

I'm sorry, your honor.

Thank you for listening.

And if I have to go to jail in order to be heard..

And so be it.

Two years is outrageous.

It's way overreaching for a first offense.

What are you looking for?

A suspended sentence

and mandatory rage counseling.

Your client almost killed somebody.

Excuse me, miss chase?

Hold on a second, Mrs. Burrows.

- We'll get this worked out. - It's not that.

Miss chase, we've tried everything.

Every agency, called all sorts of people...

Mrs. Burrows, I'm very sorry.

I bet half a dozen people

on our street owe more on their mortgages

than their homes are even worth.

That's what's got Wayne so upset.

We've lost our life savings.

I know he's done a stupid thing

but someone has to help us.

[Instrumental music]

(Annabeth) Just think about it

if Wayne Burrows was telling the truth

they've lost $83,000 on their house.

This would be the same Mr. Burrows you just put in jail

for driving his truck through

the front window of a real estate office?

- 'Appraiser's office.' - Whatever.

This is not the kind of guy

we should go out of our way to help.

You're a prosecutor, somebody commits a crime

you put them in jail, you don't try

to defend their actions.

But, Steve, Wayne Burrows

bought a brand-new house

in a brand-new neighborhood.

Okay, let's just say 40

of those homes were overvalued by the same amount.

We're looking at..

I, I suck at math.

$3,320,000.

How did you do that?

It's a gift.

But is there really a crime here?

It's not illegal to sell houses

for as much as the market can bear.

But it is a crime to falsify an appraisal.

Yes, but it's hard to prove.

But it didn't just happen once.

If the birdseye brothers falsified 40 appraisals

all in the same development, that starts to smell

like a conspiracy to commit fraud to me.

Which makes me wonder who they're conspiring with.

- Exactly. - Okay.

We can look into it.

(Steve) Canvass the neighborhood

and see how widespread this thing actually is.

If you can establish a provable pattern of real estate fraud

we can consider bringing charges.

And you'll need copies of every single appraisal

that was done on that development

plus credible victims and witnesses.

Do you happen to remember your appraisal company's name?

Bird, something.

You guys stay in the driveway!

We just moved in here last week.

We absolutely love it.

Is there something I should be worried about?

(George) 'So you can't sell your house?'

well, we thought we sold it

but the buyer's loan fell through because..

His appraisal showed the house wasn't worth

anywhere near what we paid for it.

I got transferred, that's why we're selling to begin with.

I gave up my job here, now I haven't got a job

can't move, and I can't make the payments. It's a mess.

(Scott) What usually happens in a new development like this

is that the first appraisal is done on paper.

Meaning, we don't actually look at the property.

It sounds bad, but it's common practice.

You base the number on the value

of comparable homes in the area

acreage, square footage, etc.

So, in Wayne burrow's case

you based the value of his house

on comparable houses in this neighborhood?

But didn't you appraise all these other houses as well?

Most of 'em.

So then weren't you basing his price

on prices you set yourself?

Well, actually, that's..

True.

Yeah.

Jack, how much do we owe on our house?

The last month, it was $78,500 something.

So, after that payment it's going to be 77 or something.

So how much do you think it's worth now?

- Why, you ready to move? - No.

I'm looking into some crooked home appraisers.

Appraisers don't make the big bucks in real estate.

- Who does? - The developer.

He builds the house.

He pays for the house to be built.

- And the appraiser.. - The appraiser.

He sets the value in the beginning

which is the sale price.

And everybody wants it to be as high as it can

'cause the realtor and the lender work on commission.

But-but the main pressure comes from the developer.

He wants it to be as high as it can be

so he can make the most return on his investment.

What speakin' of, by the way

I have to meet with the developer

in two minutes to go over schematics.

You tryin' to get rid of me?

I just don't want you to arrest my boss.

Yeah, that could get complicated.

Yes, it could.

- Bye, baby. - Bye.

(Steve) So follow the money, who's raking it in?

(George) The developer.

He owns a company named heartland castles

which is a subcorp of a company named

keystone haven international.

Which also owns dobson dream realty the listing agent.

Yeah, not to mention heartland castle savings and loan company

and keystone haven title insurance..

So who owns keystone international?

Maurice hardecker.

(Annabeth) 'Doesn't he look proud of himself?'

you'd be proud, too, if you were making money

at every stage of the home sale

'from building it to getting a six percent commission'

as the listing agent, to points as the lender.

(George) 'And everything's inflated by'

the over-appraisal to begin with.

Steve, he's replicating this scam all over the state.

He's building hundreds of houses

and raking in millions of dollars.

I mean, he's practically printing money.

And the state regulatory agency, where are they in all of this?

Grossly under-funded and under-staffed

effectively rendering them powerless.

Oh, the da is gonna love this.

He's gonna eat this right up with a spoon.

Middle-class victims, middle-class voters.

Not that we do anything for political reasons

but hey, politics isn't always bad.

Especially when it means we actually get to do our jobs

and do a good thing.

Miss chase, Maurice hardecker, I apologize.

I can only meet with you on the way out the door

but let's make the most of what little time we have.

What can I do for you?

The prosecutor's office is investigating

a string of real estate frauds

some of which involve one of your companies

keystone haven international.

This is about the birdseye boys?

Yes, it involves them, but..

Doing those blind appraisals?

It's a quick way of making a lot of money

but in the end, it's just lazy.

Mr. Hardecker, we have a number of people

claiming to be the victims of systematic real estate fraud

that appears to tie back to your company.

Miss chase, I do sympathize with people's difficulties.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, chase.

Are you by any chance related to, uh, to Jack chase?

He's my husband.

He's also one of the best young contractors around.

Used him often, see, I just realized..

Chase, I knew i'd heard that name before.

How about that?

Are you aware that the houses

in the genesse hollow development

were overvalued by 30%?

Miss chase, we have a saying in this business.

A house is worth whatever it sells for.

Now, listen, i, I'm more than willing

to help out with your investigation

but I am running late, so, uh..

This is my lawyer.

He'll be glad to take all your questions.

The guy had an hour's notice

I was coming to his office which he spent

digging into my personal background

so he could charm me by knowing my husband's occupation.

I take it you were not charmed.

[Scoffs] He's now officially in the crosshairs.

Yeah, well, he's very well-insulated.

He is, but that doesn't keep us from using

the little fish to bring down the big fish.

It's time to talk to the birdseyes again.

A lot of these people lost their life's savings

thanks to you.

And from what I can tell, all you gained were some

easy fees and more business.

I don't get it.

Hardecker was the one making all the money.

(Annabeth) We need you to help us prove that he told you to do this

to inflate the appraisals.

Oh, god.

(Maureen) 'If you can do that'

we are prepared to offer you a deal

of limited jail time, plus the applicable fines

for appraisal fraud.

Otherwise, I promise you

we will prosecute you on each individual count of fraud

'and speaking conservatively'

that adds upto 15 to 30 years behind bars.

Are you serious?

I think we need to talk to a lawyer.

Look, we're in way over our head here.

'This isn't fair, like you said'

'we were just trying to keep working.'

hardecker's the one cashing in.

If we help you, we'll be blacklisted.

We'll lose everything.

Look, we understand hardecker's got you scared.

That is nothing compared to how you'll feel

when we show up at your office tomorrow

with a subpoena and a truck

'and a bunch of uniformed cops'

'to box up every file and hard drive'

and put them under a microscope.

Somebody made millions of dollars here

and you need to help us follow the money.

[Explosions]

[Car alarm beeping]

My guess is, the appraisers got scared

and blew up their office and all their files.

But that doesn't make any sense.

They know all their appraisals are a matter of public record.

There are copies of every transaction

with the title companies and the realtors.

My instincts told me to have a chat

with our arson investigator.

And he said it could be an accident.

If somebody accidentally

opened a gas valve on the furnace.

If somebody shut all the windows and doors

to allow the gas to collect

and if somebody left behind a sparking device

which set the place ablaze.

The arson guys think it was activated

remotely by phone.

So, definitely not an accident.

Just supposed to look like one.

Our research on hardecker indicates

that people who cross him

have this curious habit of getting into accidents.

So he's been investigated before?

A riverboat casino project of his

was opposed by a guy who accidentally drove

his car off a bridge and into a river.

I've got other examples but no evidence

to tie it back to hardecker.

The brothers must have told hardecker that

we were serving them with a subpoena.

And he wanted to broadcast to the entire

real estate community that anyone who wanted

'to cooperate had better think again.'

it all sounds plausible, but is there any proof

tying hardecker to the explosion?

(George) 'That's gonna be hard to come by.'

the disposable cell phone

and the sparking device are available

at radio shack, besides that

there are only pieces, everything else

was destroyed in the fire.

Maybe hardecker's done us a favor.

How's that?

(Steve) 'He scared the crap out of'

the birdseye brothers.

They've got nowhere to run except to us.

'They may not be able to help us with the arson'

'but we know they can help us'

get hardecker on fraud.

If we can get this explosion to backfire on 'em

it'll be like using the accountant

to bring down al Capone.

Isn't it a little coincidental

that your office happened to blow up

the night before we were about to serve you

with a subpoena for your records?

We had nothing to do with it.

I've known these two all my life.

They would never do anything like that.

Mrs. Birdseye, you're married to whom again?

- Brad. - That would be me.

And you work for the appraisals office as well?

I'm the office manager.

She has nothing to do with anything.

So who does?

Because this fire was no accident, you know that.

Brad, was it hardecker trying to send a message?

I think he was trying to kill the messenger.

- Don't say a word. - He already tried to kill us.

- What do we have to lose? - So it was hardecker?

He called us separately last night.

He told us to meet him there about 8:00.

When the building blew up.

And I would have been there, too

but I got stuck in traffic on the interstate.

And what about you?

I was a block away when I heard the explosion.

There's only one way to make sure

this never happens again and that's

to put him behind bars.

Now, I'm willing to make a deal

if you'll agree to testify against hardecker

in our real estate fraud case.

We can't do that.

Yes, we can, Scott.

We will.

You've arrested my client.

He'll be out on bail just as soon as he's arraigned.

But that will be too late.

You will already have succeeded

in committing gross defamation.

You have two crooked appraisers

who are trying to worm out of their crimes by dragging

my client into the mud with them, it's outrageous.

Actually, we have two appraisers

who are willing to cooperate with us

in our real estate investigation fraud.

So your client attempted to intimidate

if not, eliminate them

by blowing up their business.

It's hearsay, it's-it's ridiculous.

When you're holding a-a-a pillar

of the business community hostage

smearing his valuable name

with all sorts of charges based on hearsay.

That and phone records that match their accounts.

He could have been calling them for a million different things.

They've been in business together, you know?

We know, they plan on telling the jury

all about the business they've done together.

Excuse me, I think there's some misunderstanding.

I am in the business

of putting hardworking people in their dream homes.

'And while I feel very sorry'

'for individuals like Wayne Burrows'

who signed loan papers beyond their means

I'm afraid that's their responsibility, not mine.

We all take risks, I take risks every day.

That's part of doing business.

You can't criminalize business in the land of opportunity.

No, but we can criminalize fraud.

And we intend to charge your client

separately on each individual instance of deception.

That's six months to three years for each.

So, gentlemen..

You might want to take out your calculators.

[Knock on door]

(Annabeth) Steve, what do you think about working

on getting Wayne Burrows an early parole?

I guess I'm okay with that.

The more victims faces we have in the gallery

the tougher it is for hardecker to hide.

And Wayne was hardecker's original victim.

Seems like he should be at the trial.

I'll see what I can do. I'll make a few calls.

But you'll have to put all the paperwork together.

I already have.

And can you give us the content of the phone conversation

you had with Mr. Hardecker the night of the explosion?

Sure, he-he said if we

cooperated with the investigation

that it would be bad for us.

We need his exact words

'if I'm gonna prep you both.'

o-okay, um, he-he said..

He said we'd be out of the real estate business.

In all 50 states, that's right.

How many years were you in business with Mr. Hardecker?

We did work for him for about two and a half years.

And did all those jobs involve false appraisals?

No, I-I mean, at first it wasn't so..

I need a yes or no here.

Well, y-you're making us out to be complete crooks.

Scott, you broke the law.

And if we don't bring it up to the jury first

the defense will, this way we have control.

Can I have a break?

Can i-can I get some coffee or something?

There's a pot in the kitchen.

Listen, I know you don't know us very well

and what you do know

well, it's not so good.

But we weren't always like this.

We didn't always do business this way.

We got into this because it made us feel good.

Not the money.

Putting people into houses, I mean.

The American dream.

So where did you go wrong?

A couple years ago we expanded the business

and we went into debt.

So when hardecker's development came along

we jumped at the chance, at first it was

you know, "do me a favor."

And so we overvalued one house.

But then that became a comp for another house.

And so on, and so..

After a while you forget that all the comps are bogus.

I'm gonna go see what Scott's doing.

(Scott) It was my brother's job to meet with customers

and-and speak with developers like Mr. Hardecker.

'My job was to do all the paperwork.'

did that include finding comparable home sales

in order to determine a property's value?

Yes, that's called "running comps."

Did your comps always support the appraisals you made?

- Mr. Birdseye? - No.

No, they did not.

(Annabeth) Why not?

(Scott) Because we always had to hit our number.

What does that mean, "hitting the number?"

It means that a lender needs a home to be valued

at a certain price in order for that loan to go through.

So, the seller, the developer in this case

'of the home, can make his money.'

you could say that.

What happens to appraisers

who refuse to hit the number?

'Do they get blacklisted?'

objection, your honor! She's leading the witness.

Sustained.

What happens to appraisers who refuse to hit the number?

'Are they out of a job?'

I can't do this.

I..

Brief recess, your honor.

We're in the middle of a trial.

We're actually nearing the end of our day, Mr. Schenk

so we'll reconvene in the morning.

But I expect that everyone will be ready to go at that time.

Yes, your honor.

[Indistinct chatter]

It's just too much.

If-if hardecker tried to blow us up before the trial

what's he gonna do after?

What's he doing here?

Wayne Burrows was financially ruined

by your company and by hardecker.

'He's here to see justice done.'

you are here to take

responsibility for your part

and to put an end to it.

Excuse me.

[Indistinct chatter]

How's your brother holding up?

You're a scum.

You always were, so when you get back to your mansion tonight

and you lay your head down on your pillow

you think about that, because you're gonna be

spending the rest of your days in jail

after we get done with this trial.

[Annabeth clears throat]

Not a good time to pick a fight.

Listen to me, you're going on the stand tomorrow

right after Scott.

Now if we're gonna put hardecker away

I need you both to be in good shape in the morning.

Promise me you'll make that happen.

I'll make it happen.

- What you doin'? - I'm starving.

- I forgot to eat lunch. - How's that possible?

- I live for lunch. - My main witness was a mess.

It was all I could do to keep him in the building.

Hardecker's got everyone running scared.

Ugh! You know what we need?

We need a wife, somebody has to go to the grocery store.

How was your day?

Oh... let's just say you may

have to pull a little overtime in at the office.

Why, what happened?

Well, I just got word today at the job site

that they're dropping a subcontractor..

Me and my guys.

Seriously, you got fired?

I got let go, it happens.

Not to you, it doesn't.

I've already lined up other work.

This is hardecker.

He tracked you down and got to your boss.

- Just let it go. - Honey, let it go?

- This is your job. - Seriously?

Annabeth, just let it go.

[Phone ringing]

Hello.

[Sighs]

(George) Joyce birdseye called in three hours ago

saying Brad was missing.

An hour later a couple kids found the body.

He was shot once in the chest.

And just in case we didn't get the message

his tongue was cut out.

That's got to be hardecker.

It's not hardecker's mo, he's more subtle than that.

His enemies disappear in accidents

and suffer sudden financial catastrophes.

This is unmistakable. This is skywriting.

- This is.. - My witness.

Now he's dead.

Miss chase.

I just want you to know that whatever this

looks like is not what it is.

Really? 'Cause it looks to me like your client had

Brad birdseye killed to keep him from testifying.

Think about that, why on earth would my client

do that in the middle of his trial?

Your client is staring down the barrel of 30 years for fraud.

That does things to a guy.

Maurice hardecker is not stupid.

He's not gonna kill someone to influence the outcome

of a trial that he was already going to win.

Having said that

I want you to know that I'm gonna ask the judge

in light of these recent tragic developments

to dismiss this case.

Please do, it's bound to annoy the hell out of him.

And in light of these "recent tragic developments"

I'm sure he'll be very eager to give me a continuance.

Oh, and ps, I'm gonna get your client for murder and fraud.

Okay, you got your continuance.

So how do you proceed with your case?

I wanna prove hardecker killed Brad.

He sent his lawyer up here

to throw us off, but I'm not buying it.

(Maureen) Right now hardecker's out on bail

plotting god knows what.

We should know who he's been talking to...

Who his lawyer's been talking to.

(Maureen) Well, a judge is never gonna Grant us access

to the confidential conversations he's having

with his lawyer, or wiretap his phones.

He's doing the same thing organized crime bosses do

arranging everything through their attorneys.

There's always exposure, someone in the middle.

Talk to his assistants.

Subpoena his attorney's financial records

and look for any payments from hardecker

around the time of the arson or the murder.

Meantime, George

you've got some serious witness security issues to deal with.

We've lost one of our key witnesses.

I don't want to lose both.

(Annabeth) 'I can't imagine what Joyce and Scott are going through.'

she's lost her husband

he's lost his brother.

(Scott) I can't believe this is happening.

My brother is dead.

My brother is dead!

Miss chase, I want to let you know

I will do whatever it takes.

I appreciate that, Scott.

If hardecker can kill Brad

what's to stop him from getting to Scott and me?

Mrs. Birdseye, you'll have protection

for the rest of the trial.

No one takes a threat more seriously

than the police department.

Yeah? Well, you guys didn't do such a hot job

of that last night, did you?

Scott, I understand how upset you are

but we're gonna keep you safe.

Mrs. Birdseye..

I need to know what happened after you left the courthouse.

There's not much to tell.

'Brad was exhausted from the trial.'

then we had dinner.

When we got home..

He said he was going for a walk to clear his head.

Walking was a kind of ritual for Brad.

He went out at about 7:30, and..

He never came back.

Severe trauma to the heart and left lung

skull fractured, probably knocked out before he was shot.

Bullet came from a rifle, right?

Yeah, according to this report

the bullet was flattened by something substantial

'after exiting the victim's body.'

like maybe he was in a car when they shot him?

Yeah, and that would explain

this grease under the nails.

It's the kind used to lubricate car locks.

Maybe he was in the trunk trying to get out from the inside.

Also looks like there might have been a struggle.

We found skin cells mixed in with the grease.

We're getting those cleaned up and DNA tested asap.

Good. Let me know what you find out.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, what about the business with the tongue?

Ah, it's just the tip of the tongue.

Almost like whoever did it maybe got a little squeamish.

Hey, I got some pictures, you wanna see?

Maybe next time.

Hardecker's assistants must have trained at fort Knox.

- No luck? - Like a brick wall.

(Maureen) From the subpoenaed financials

I came across a very curious transaction.

From a hardecker shell company

to his lawyer, a couple of days after the arson.

Thirty grand.

Nice round number.

And remember the guy who accidentally drove his car

into the river in evansville?

- The casino riverboat incident? - Yeah.

Same kind of financial activity around that time.

It's still hard to prove a quid pro quo.

What about around the time of Brad's murder?

Absolutely nothing.

[Phone ringing]

Mr. and Mrs. Burrows?

We went down to the courthouse this morning and heard.

We're so sorry.

- It's a bad situation. - I just wanted to..

Wayne wanted to volunteer as a witness

as one of hardecker's victims

in case you needed help keeping the case going.

Mr. Burrows, the case is just on a temporary hold.

And I'm afraid you really can't help, not with your history.

That's what I thought you'd say.

I-i-i-it's just that, I-I can't stop thinking.

I started this whole thing off by driving through that window.

- And-and now.. - Okay.

Let me make something very clear here.

You are not responsible for Brad birdseye's murder

in any way, shape or form.

Now, I appreciate how you must feel

but I don't want you to worry.

We will get hardecker for this.

The DNA looks identical, right?

If you say so.

Remember the skin cells underneath the victim's nails?

Now, at first we thought they were his own

but then we took a closer look at the code

'and found variations here and here.'

so they're not his?

Nope.

But somebody very close.

So close it has to be a male sibling.

How many birdseye brothers are there?

[Dramatic music]

[Indistinct chatter]

(George) 'Tape off the yard'

'get a perimeter around this car.'

nothing gets touched until the csis get here.

[Indistinct radio chatter]

Scott?

Scott, look at me.

You played me.

We were on the same team.

You and your brother were gonna take a stand against hardecker

and everything he represents.

Brad put his entire life on the line to make things right.

And what do you do?

You go get a gun and you shoot him in the chest

and then you cut out his tongue

to make us think hardecker did it.

And then you stand in front of your brother's widow

and accuse us of not doing enough to protect you?

What was that, 12, 14 hours after you shot your brother?

I wanna talk to a lawyer.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Well, speaking as a lawyer who knows enough about you

to write a book..

You'd better get a good one.

Why would a man kill his own brother?

Maybe it's as simple as he didn't want Brad

testifying in a fraud trial where he was implicated.

Maybe hardecker got to him

somehow convinced him to take Brad out.

Except if that's the case, why did Scott

make it look like hardecker did it?

Scott was scared.

Scared to testify, of going to prison..

So he figures he'll get sympathy for his dead brother

and that'll get him out of jail?

That backfired, I'd say.

[Phone ringing]

It's the da, he's breathing

down my neck on this.

'So where are we with hardecker's trial?'

the judge granted a two-day continuance.

But without the birdseye boys, I'm in trouble.

You spent time with these brothers. Did they get along?

Brad was definitely the protective

older brother type, and Scott seemed to need that.

That kind of relationship can breed resentment.

We've already dug up lots of dirt on these boys.

- Have we not? - A pile.

Then let's sift through it again and see if there's some

long-standing rivalry we missed.

We already know for a fact that Scott's a schemer.

Let's see if he was up to anything else.

[Keys clacking]

You have no idea what a mistake this is.

'You don't know Scott, he couldn't have done this'

he loved his brother. They were so close.

[Breathing heavily] It was hardecker.

Hardecker, he's an awful man, he's capable of anything.

He is the one who should be in jail, not Scott.

You've got to let him go.

Joyce, that's not gonna happen.

This is all wrong.

Please, you've got it wrong.

Sorry, I don't think we do.

[Sobs]

I'm telling you, Maureen, I was with the woman

the morning after her husband was killed

and she just sat there on the couch.

Not a tear, not a-a catch in her voice.

Now Scott gets put in jail

and she's frantic, bawling

pleading, anything to get him out.

Well, you know, some people are numb at first

'and the emotion comes later.'

no, I've seen that before.

But this was passionate.

Scott was in jail and her world was coming to an end.

She ran out of my office.

You think Joyce and Scott were up to something?

I think we should look specifically

at Joyce and Brad's marriage.

I think we've missed something.

(Steve) So what am I looking at?

Well, I sat down to go back over

the birdseye phone records

and this is from six months ago.

And I noticed it at the time, but it wasn't germane

to the corruption investigation.

These are..

Joyce birdseye's cell phone records.

Nine calls to alexson and redmond?

Indianapolis' finest divorce lawyers.

Six months ago it looks like she was thinking about

dumping her husband.

Earlier today she stopped by trying to get Scott out of jail.

So instead of a divorce they used the cover

of the trial to get rid of Brad

and make it look like hardecker did it?

The theory fits.

Okay, but how do we prove that?

We ask her lawyer to tell us about the divorce.

Attorney-client privilege?

Good luck with that.

No, we should tell Scott

Joyce admitted the affair

admitted plotting to kill Brad, the whole deal.

- You mean lie to him? - You got a problem with that?

Are you kidding me?

This guy's lied to me six ways from Sunday.

If we can trick him into a confession

I call that sweet justice.

So, were you aware that Joyce was looking to divorce Brad?

If she was, that was their business.

Really?

That's not what she told us.

(Ron) You questioned Joyce birdseye?

We didn't have to, the minute she heard

Scott here was in jail, she came flyin' in

tellin' us all sorts of things.

(Ron) Do you have a question?

Were you having an affair with your brother's wife?

(Scott) No.

Of course not.

What would you call it, then?

Friends with benefits?

She said she couldn't keep her hands off of you.

Do not talk about her like that.

Because that's..

Because that's my sister-in-law

and she would never say that.

Actually, Scott, the truth is, Joyce told us everything..

About the affair

about planning to kill Brad, all of it.

But you know, I know you, and..

I have a hard time believing this whole thing was your idea.

She says you hit him over the head, put him in the car

'drove him out to the country'

and you shot him

on your own without any help from her.

I don't buy that.

I also know you loved your brother.

She must have had some incredible hold over you

to get you to do something like this.

She's blaming the whole thing on me?

I-I-Is that it?

She's-she's saying that she had nothing to do with it?

(Annabeth) 'Mm-hmm.'

[dramatic music]

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

She-she had nothing to do with it

it was exactly like she said, it was all me.

I didn't want to kill Brad.

I just wanted to be with her, I just..

I loved her so much.

And you can't put her in jail.

Please don't put her in jail, I love her, okay?

There's stuff that you don't know.

There's stuff that no one knows.

We wanted to let you know that we've charged

your brother-in-law with the murder of your husband.

Now I know this is difficult to hear

but Scott has taken full responsibility for everything.

And because of the special circumstances

the careful planning, the mutilation of the body

designed to cast suspicion on someone else

we're strongly considering the death penalty.

We need you to testify against him.

What would I say?

You could tell the court the truth.

Scott has feelings for you.

He told us he loves you.

We believe those feelings drove him to kill his own brother

in the hopes of being with you.

Joyce, you haven't slept with him, have you?

- Would that make a difference? - Yes.

We need to be certain that he acted alone

in order to build a case for the death penalty.

I don't want Scott to die.

Have you slept with him?

Yes.

Tell me about that night.

Where were you? What were you doing?

I told you, Brad went for a walk.

And he didn't come home, yes, we know that.

Did Scott tell you he was gonna kill Brad?

It was just a fantasy.

I never thought he would do it.

Did you help him in any way?

All I did..

Was encourage my husband to go for a walk.

You told him to take a walk

knowing that his brother, your lover, was out there

waiting for him with a baseball bat, planning to knock him out

then kill him and cut out his tongue?

I never thought he would actually do it.

Yet you lied to the police, you covered up for your lover

and now Scott is facing the death penalty

'unless we can prove he didn't do it alone.'

[sighs]

You don't want that now.

Do you, Joyce?

No.

(Annabeth) Can you tell us about the phone conversation you had

with Mr. Hardecker the night your business was destroyed.

I told him that my brother was planning to testify against him

but that I didn't want to.

And what was his response to that?

He said we had to find a way to shut him up.

I said I agreed.

[Indistinct chatter]

(Annabeth) People would like to introduce into evidence

this microcellular recorder.

Objection, your honor, I object

to the late inclusion of this evidence.

Your honor, we shared this evidence with the defense

as soon as it came into our possession.

Which was yesterday, so, we had no time to analyze it

or even to verify that it was my client's voice on the tape.

Your honor, we have hours of routine conversations

between this witness and Mr. Hardecker on tape.

So you have to ask yourself, what kind of person

goes and records conversations behind people's backs?

'The same kind of person'

who has admitted to killing his brother

to avoid implication in this case.

Why should we believe anything from this man's mouth

recorded or otherwise?

Mr. Schenk, I will make sure that you have time to present

whatever analysis you come up with.

But right now, I want to hear that tape.

Thank you, your honor.

(Hardecker on recorder) 'If the office blew up with, uh, Brad inside'

'you know what everybody'd think?'

'well, that he was in there trying to burn'

'the place down to destroy records'

'didn't get out in time.'

(Scott on recorder) 'I-I mean, maybe, but'

'how would we even get him inside?'

I'll take care of that.

- But you need to do me a favor. - 'What's that?'

leave the backdoor unlocked.

And did you leave that door unlocked?

I did.

(Annabeth) Why?

Why did you want your own brother dead?

I was in love with his wife.

And when-when Mr. Hardecker came to me

and said he wanted my brother out of the way

I saw it as an opportunity to get rid of Brad.

'But then Brad, he-he didn't show up for the explosion.'

so then I just decided to kill him myself.

Thank you.

'The defendant will please rise.'

"the jury finds the defendant, Maurice hardecker

"on the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud... Guilty.

'"On the charge of arson for hire... Guilty.'

"on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder... Guilty.

"On the separate charge of fraud involving

"Mr. Wayne Burrows... Guilty.

'"On the second separate charge of fraud involving'

'"dawn Keller... Guilty.'

'"on the third separate charge of fraud involving'

'Mr. Ramone burger... Guilty."'

so Scott pled and is gonna do life.

What about Joyce?

Joyce is looking at 20 years for her part in the murder.

It was easier for Scott and Joyce to kill Brad

than it was for her to divorce him?

I don't think they were planning on killing him

until the investigation started.

'And then the trial, and it looked like'

they could pin it on the big, bad developer.

The ultimate crime of opportunity.

Mm... well, I guess divorcing Brad and marrying Scott

would have made for some pretty awkward family reunions.

I thought my thanksgivings were bad.

How'd your new job go today?

It was good.

You should have heard the guys

blabberin' about hardecker going to jail.

And then the look on their face when I told them

it was my wife that put him there.

What kind of look?

Well, let's just say my stock went up.

The guy didn't have a lot of friends.

Promise me..

If you ever wanna get a divorce

you'll hire an attorney, and not a hitman.

Baby, if I ever want a divorce from you

I'll hire a shrink to examine my head.

[Instrumental music]

[Theme music]