Original subtitles

I'm here at Maryland State Penitentiary,

where convicted murderer Michael Bigelow

is to be executed by lethal injection

at midnight tonight.

Bigelow will be the second execution

in the state of Maryland in 34 years.

Bigelow was convicted of first degree murder

and given the death penalty in 1979.

Although the murder weapon was never recovered

and Bigelow has steadfastly maintained his innocence for 16 years,

all appeals to overturn his conviction have been denied.

I'm looking for Detective Bolander.

- He's not in right now. - [Maria] Bigelow's attorneys have taken his case

- to every level of the Maryland court system... - I'm Detective Munch.

- Can I help you? - [Maria] ...as well as the Supreme Court

- in a failed effort to obtain a stay of execution. - No, that's okay.

- [Munch] He should be back soon. - [Maria] A last-minute plea to the Governor was also denied,

and with all avenues of appeal exhausted,

Bigelow's execution will be carried out

as scheduled at midnight tonight.

[inquisitive music playing]

Can I help you?

I'm looking for the man in charge.

That's me.

[Maria] With seven hours to go before Bigelow is executed,

scores of death penalty protesters

have gathered outside the penitentiary.

We'll be here keeping you up to date

as the countdown to the execution continues.

- Where's Bolander? - [Munch] Captain Russert.

Some woman just took Barnfather hostage.

- Really? - [Russert] Yeah. She's armed.

QRT and hostage negotiations are on their way.

- Find Bolander. Now. - Call Jimmy's. I'll call his apartment.

[dramatic music playing]

[theme music playing]

[music fades]

[reporter] About an hour ago, a young woman

walked into Baltimore City Police Headquarters

and held a gun to newly appointed Colonel George Barnfather.

[suspenseful music playing]

Okay. Get ready to kill the lights.

Now.

[Giardello] You saw the gun?

She just comes in,

pulls out the gun,

and yells at me to take this message out to all of you.

"Stop the execution," she tells me.

She asked for me?

Her name is Lee Bigelow.

She says you put her father on death row

for the murder of Pete Larsen.

Bigelow's due to be executed tonight at midnight.

His last appeal has been denied.

Al, this is the hostage negotiation team.

No negotiation.

- No negotiation. - What?

She says if anyone tries to talk to her,

she'll kill Barnfather and herself.

Al, I say we try to talk to her.

I say we can't take the chance.

She wants Stan to reopen the investigation of her father.

She claims he's innocent.

Yeah, what else was she gonna say?

I'm the primary on a case,

but I'm not the judge, I'm not the jury.

I mean, how many years ago was this anyway?

- 16 years. - [Bolander] 16 years.

That doesn't change the circumstances.

This guy Bigelow, the woman's father,

he smashed Larsen's head in.

She says her mother died five years ago

from a broken heart.

She says that you murdered her mother.

Now, this is not the kind of person to negotiate with.

I believe her when she says she's got nothing to lose.

If that was my dad on death row with, what,

less than six hours to live and I thought he was innocent,

I'd take out a lot more than just me and the Colonel.

Stan, take Beau and Kay and reopen the Larsen murder case.

[suspenseful music playing]

To die like that in the bathtub,

stark-naked...

Martha would be so embarrassed.

Is this how you found the body?

I put that robe over her.

I felt it was the least I could do.

No sign of a struggle, no bruising.

Probably natural causes.

Does he have to be poking at her like that?

I'm not poking, I'm examining.

- You done here, Detective? - Yes.

Come on.

We'll go talk about this downstairs, all right?

We'll go downstairs.

[police radio chatter]

No sign of forced entry.

How did you come upon the body, Mrs. Hynde?

I came over to bring Martha some lemon bars I baked.

So, was Mrs. O'Donnell expecting you?

I called her and told her I was coming over.

She said she'd make a pot of coffee,

that it'd just be us girls.

Sam was at the poker game.

There was no answer when I rang the bell,

so I got worried.

Sam? That would be Mr. O'Donnell?

Sam doesn't know.

He must still be at his card game.

Where does Mr. O'Donnell play poker?

At the Veterans' Lodge over on McElderry Street.

[Sam] Come on, fellas. Ante up.

Hey, a pair of tens. Best cards all night.

Richard, a bullet for you.

Hank, a deuce and a trey.

Jim. Uh, nothing.

And...

[chuckling]

Excuse me. Mr. O'Donnell?

- Sam O'Donnell? - Yeah. Yeah, that's me.

What can I do for you?

I hope this isn't gonna take long,

'cause these guys are about to be fleeced.

[Bayliss] I'm Detective Bayliss

and this here is Detective Pembleton.

- [Pembleton] Hello. - Hi.

What's this all about?

- [Bayliss] It's about your wife. - Oh, what about her?

Sir, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but...

your wife is dead.

What are you talking about?

I just saw her.

I just kissed her goodbye when I left for the poker game.

She was fine.

[Bayliss] She was found in the bathtub.

We're not gonna know the exact cause of death

until the autopsy.

In the bathtub? How could she die in a bathtub?

- She loved to take baths. - [Pembleton] I'm sorry.

You know, some older people, they slip in the shower,

they break their hip and...

But in a tub you're safe.

You're sitting down.

Nothing can happen to you.

[police radio chatter]

[man] I don't want anybody here.

Stay away. There's nothing here to see.

Keep moving, please, keep moving.

[Lewis] Hey.

Lookie, lookie.

Can I get a bag here, please?

What do you say, Dr. D?

Well, the angle of the gunshot wound,

this definitely could be a suicide.

We'll check the hands for powder residue.

We'll know for sure.

Got a witness for you, Detective.

[Lewis] You got a witness or a suspect?

You see what went on here, sir?

- It depends. - [Lewis] It depends on what?

It depends on whether or not I keep these shoes.

You steal his shoes?

They were a gift from Mr. Zwick.

- You know him? - We introduced ourselves.

He's Jeffrey Zwick.

And what did you and Mr. Zwick talk about?

He told me I could keep these shoes.

Then he takes out this gun and shoots himself in the head.

- In front of you he did this? - Yeah.

I asked him if he wanted me to leave,

I thought maybe he wanted privacy.

And what did he say?

He said he didn't mind the company.

Can I keep the shoes?

Yeah, keep the shoes.

There must be a record of it.

Michael Bigelow. B-I--

This computer isn't showing anything.

How can there not be a record of this case?

Wait, wait, wait. Cross-reference it with Stan's name here.

All his cases should be on file.

It was 16 years ago.

Okay, punch in Thames Street Park.

Maybe it'll be there with the location.

I mean, how the hell can you not have a record of this thing?

There it is. "Bolander, Thames Street Park.

Victim: Larsen, Peter. Bigelow, Michael convicted.

Case disposed. Bigelow, death sentence."

I've got to have records of witness statements,

medical examiner reports, addresses.

- Nothing here. - [computer beeps]

There has to be a record somewhere.

- [computer beeps] - That's all there is.

[Felton] They store old case folders

in a warehouse on East Biddle.

Let's check it out.

[reporter] An hour ago, a young woman

walked into Baltimore City Police Headquarters

and held a gun to newly appointed Colonel George Barnfather.

The woman is demanding that her father, Michael Bigelow...

- I need a minute, Al. - Okay.

[reporter] ...scheduled to die by lethal injection

at Maryland State Penitentiary tonight,

be granted a stay of execution.

We'll be standing by to update you on the details

of this hostage situation.

From Channel 8 News, I'm Richard Gilroy.

You, uh...

you cut me off at the knees, Al.

What?

The hostage negotiation team was set.

I was following procedure.

Well, following procedure might have gotten the Colonel shot.

He still might get shot.

Well, I disagreed with your call,

but I had no intention of embarrassing you.

Well, intention or not, that's what you did.

[sighs] Don't undermine me in front of the squad, okay, Al?

Whether you like it or not, I'm your boss.

[Munch] I never knew this place existed.

It's like the graveyard for Homicide paperwork.

These are all the murder case records of Baltimore.

They go back 75 years.

[Felton] Where the hell do we start?

[suspenseful music playing]

[Bayliss] Let's see, there's no sign of forced entry,

there's no robbery, there's no trauma to the body.

She was 75 years old.

This is probably not a homicide.

Maybe no, maybe yes.

What was she doing taking a bath

when she knew she had company coming?

A lot of people take baths before company comes over.

Why don't we just wait for the autopsy results?

So, you feel bad for the husband?

I don't know, they were married for 50 years.

I can't even begin to imagine

what it's like to be married for 50 years.

My wife and I could have 50 years.

We would both be 82.

I don't know if I wanna live to be 82.

My mother's grandparents were married for 64 years.

- No kidding. - Yeah.

And my great-grandfather is lying on his deathbed

and his last words to my great-grandmother were,

"I'm sorry I married you."

What did she say?

"So am I."

[Scheiner] Autopsy's done.

Cause of death was asphyxia by drowning.

What, she drowned in two feet of water?

There's the presence of white lathery foam

in her mouth and windpipe,

and water in her lungs.

Yeah, but why did she drown?

Did she have a heart attack, did she have a stroke?

Did she get hit on the head and knock herself unconscious?

No, she was healthy as a horse. No sign of heart defect.

All major arteries were clear.

What about evidence of foul play?

Bruising, scratches, skin under her fingernails?

Nothing. And nothing.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean

that there wasn't foul play, all right?

I mean, she could've been held under the water

by a towel, pillows, something like that?

Or she could've fallen asleep. Did she drink anything?

Stomach contents show no presence of alcohol.

So are we gonna call this a homicide or not?

What do you say, Dr. Scheiner?

I can't call it one way or the other

until the toxicology report comes back.

Okay, well, listen, in the meantime,

I'm gonna make another visit to Mr. O'Donnell.

Frank, you coming?

[Pembleton] Ah, Meldrick, what brings you here?

Business or pleasure?

With Dr. D, business is always a pleasure.

What am I, chopped liver?

[Lewis] That's exactly what you are, Scheiner.

Chopped liver.

So what's up, Doc?

Well, the angle of this gunshot wound

indicates it was self-inflicted.

The way the hand gripped the gun is consistent with that.

GSR test on the left hand shows gunpowder residue.

- He fired the gun. - He fired the gun.

- It's a suicide. - [Dyer] Definitely a suicide.

Now the question is, Mr. Zwick,

why the hell did you do it?

Better go tell the wife.

How do you know he had a wife?

- They all have wives. - Huh.

Another reason to stay single.

I wonder what Barnfather's thinking right now.

Probably wishing he had a clean pair of underwear.

Barnfather's a cool one.

I bet he isn't bothered at all.

Kay, the man has a gun to his head.

You'd have to be made out of stone not to be bothered.

- I rest my case. - [Felton laughs]

You know, it's a good thing this didn't happen to Granger,

because his heart would have exploded by now.

[Howard scoffing]

Would've saved us a lot of trouble.

- No leverage with a dead hostage. - [Howard chuckling]

- [Bolander] Here we go. - You got it? [laughs]

[Bolander] Yeah, I got it, I got it.

It's Peter Larsen,

Michael Bigelow, 1979.

[Munch] Way to go, big man.

Mr. O'Donnell, what time did you actually leave the house

this evening for the poker game?

Well, we always have dinner at 4:00.

That was one of Martha's rules.

Excuse me, please.

And, uh--

So that would have us done about five o'clock.

After dinner, Joe came over and we walked to the Lodge.

- Joe? - Yeah, Joe.

Joe Santo. He was at that poker game.

So, you and Joe left the house about 5:15, 5:30?

Well, more like 5:20.

Martha was-- Martha was washing the dishes.

She always liked to get that done pretty fast

'cause she hates having a mess around.

I tell you, I used to smoke,

but one ash in the tray and she'd have it up washing it.

When you and Joe left for the poker game,

Martha was at the sink doing the dishes?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

[Bayliss] Did Joe come in to say hello?

No. No, Joe stayed out on the porch.

- Martha didn't like Joe. - Didn't like him? Why not?

[Sam] Well, he tried to borrow money once.

And Martha always said, you know,

"You lend money to a friend,

well, you lose the friend and the money."

So, Joe never actually saw Martha

before the two of you left?

No.

No, she was--

Oh, the telephone rang and she went to answer it

and then Joe and I left for the club.

[Bayliss] And that was about 5:20 or so?

Yeah, yeah, in and around there sometime.

Mr. O'Donnell, was your wife on any medication?

No, no. No. No, she wasn't.

She never needed anything, not even an aspirin.

[Bayliss] So, no drugs of any kind?

[car horns honking]

I still think that Martha O'Donnell's death was a homicide.

[Pembleton] Why?

I don't know.

Joe Santo confirmed O'Donnell's alibi.

He heard Martha answer the phone

before they went to the poker game,

which means Martha was alive when they left the house.

Yeah, but Joe Santo also has a hearing aid

and he admitted to owing Sam O'Donnell 400 bucks.

- That's reason to lie. - Okay.

Say O'Donnell did kill his wife.

What was his motive? Not money.

They didn't have an insurance policy,

they were barely subsisting on social security.

Well, there's other motives besides money.

Maybe it was a crime of passion.

- You know? - [Pembleton laughing]

Maybe Sam O'Donnell caught his wife having an affair and killed her.

- Tim, they're 75 years old! - What are you saying?

Are you saying that old people can't have passion, Frank?

No, no, I'm not saying that.

No, but that's what you're thinking.

Isn't it? Huh? Yeah.

Listen, all I'm saying is, I'm 75, right?

I'm not gonna just, you know, laze around in my easy chair,

toasting my toes by the fire. No siree Bob.

Not unless there's some cute 70-year-old

sitting right there on my lap, you know?

Oh, you're gonna be one of those dirty old men

riding around, terrorizing the nursing home, pinching their asses.

[Bayliss laughs] That's right, man. Why not?

It's better than sitting around complaining about your gallstones all day.

[laughing] That's true.

Mrs. Zwick?

I'm Detective Lewis from Homicide.

Come in.

Mrs. Zwick, I'm afraid it's my duty to inform you

that your husband's death has been ruled as suicide.

- I know. - You know?

[paper rustling]

His suicide note.

I found it in the dresser drawer.

It's also a confession.

A confession of murder.

[sighs] That's why Jeffrey killed himself.

The guilt.

You live with a person for 20 years

and it turns out you never knew them at all,

never knew what they were capable of

or how much they loved you.

Hey, big man.

What are you hollering about?

Wait till you get a load of this.

I have here a signed confession for the murder of Peter Larsen.

- [Bolander laughs] - Did I say something funny?

Well, I can't wait to read this.

- Signed confession from who? - Jeffrey Zwick.

- [Howard] The suicide? - [Lewis] Yeah.

Yeah, he must've killed himself

'cause Bigelow's gonna fry tonight.

"I apologize most of all to my wife, Lisa,

for the actions of a disparate man"?

- [Munch] "Desperate." It's misspelled. - [Bolander] Oh, yeah.

"I am responsible for the death of Peter Larsen.

I beat him to death with a golf club,

a number 3-wood."

Stan, is that true?

Well, it could be. I mean, we didn't find the murder weapon.

- But he was bludgeoned, Stan. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A 3-wood?

I'm gonna kill somebody, I'd use a driver.

"This happened on February the 16th, 1979

in Thames Street Park.

I knew my guilt, but I didn't have the courage to come forward."

"Yours sincerely, Jeffrey Alan Zwick."

But if Zwick killed Larsen, you guys,

- that means the wrong guy's been in prison for 16 years. - [Lewis] Yeah, I know.

Big man, when you ran the Larsen deal, did the name Zwick ever come up?

No, I've never heard of this guy before.

But he knows way too much.

- We gotta stop this execution. - We need evidence.

- We need the murder weapon. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I gotta get back to the house and find that golf club.

We've only got three hours.

- Who's coming? Are you coming? - I'm coming.

[suspenseful music playing]

I bought Jeffrey a set of golf clubs

right after we were married.

You still got the clubs?

I don't remember getting rid of them.

We're looking for the wood, the 3-wood.

[sighs] Detective Lewis,

the truth is that Jeffrey hated golf.

I haven't any idea where the clubs might be.

- We'll take a look anyway. - Looks like my garage.

Even if we do find the club, will it be enough to overturn the conviction?

That's up to the judge.

- Here it is. [groans] - Here, let me help you.

- Which one's a 3-wood? - This one. Yeah.

Well, for a guy who's not a regular golfer, it sure is beat up.

Rush it over to the lab, get a [indistinct] on blood residue.

Let's go, guys. We haven't got a whole lot of time.

[suspenseful music playing]

[overlapping chatter]

Chief, we got the judge's order.

Judge Mahoney gave us a stay of execution.

Lee Bigelow, this is Detective Bolander.

I have a judge's order here

to stop the execution of your father.

Miss Bigelow, I think you should open this door and see this paper.

[paper rustling]

"I don't believe you."

Miss Bigelow, there's a TV in the office.

Turn it on to the local news station.

[reporter] I'm here outside the Maryland State Penitentiary

where Channel 8 News has been covering the countdown to the...

You were right. Your father's innocent.

[reporter] ...Michael Bigelow was scheduled to be executed at midnight tonight.

I'm going to slide the judge's order underneath the door.

We can have you on the phone with your father

just as soon as you open the door.

Get the gun. Get the gun.

I got it. I got it.

[Lee] I won.

It took me 16 years and a .38, but I won!

- [Lee sobbing] - Come on.

[reporter] If this information is correct,

Michael Bigelow will not be executed.

We'll be standing by...

[groans] Easy.

[reporter] ...a remarkable story.

Wait a moment. I've just been informed...

[Munch] Meldrick, can you cover for me for five minutes?

I wanna go across the street and check on our new bartender.

- Our new bartender? - Yeah.

We don't need a new bartender, Munch.

We need new customers, we need new revenue.

That's true, but a good bartender can make or break a place.

You ever see Cocktail?

- You hired Tom Cruise? - No.

This guy, he's Irish,

he's old-school, he knows the ropes.

So you and Bayliss, you went and hired a new bartender

without consulting me?

Well, no, I hired him.

Without consulting anybody?

Yes, Meldrick, you can trust me.

Uh-huh. I love you, check's in the mail--

Stop. The guy will be fine, believe me.

Well, if he'll be so fine, why is it that you gotta go check up on him?

- [Munch sighs] - Huh.

Okay. Okay.

[exhales] This Lois Baker's gonna meet us tomorrow morning

- so we can interview her. - [Bayliss] Good.

What did you find out about the other O'Donnell neighbors?

There's a guy named Alexander Horton and he lives two doors down from them.

He knows both of them, so we can probably, what, interview him after Baker tomorrow?

This guy sounds very cranky, man.

- Yeah? - Is he elderly?

- He's 69. - Crankiness comes with age.

- The five senses die. - Right.

- The plumbing goes bad. - Yeah, that'd make anybody pissy.

Well, I'd rather burn out than fade away.

What about you?

- Burn out. - Burn out.

[Munch] This is nice. The place is empty.

Hey, McGonnigal, our customers don't look too happy,

like they're not gonna stick around or something.

- Yeah. Hey, don't do that. - What?

- Don't touch the tap to the beer and the glass. - Why not?

It contaminates the tap with wild yeast.

In 12 hours, every beer coming out of that tap

will taste like moldy rye bread.

Well, if we had some customers, maybe they'd complain about it.

Listen, what we need is an event.

Event? What do you mean?

Like ladies' nights?

I was thinking of something more original,

something bigger, more exotic.

Women aren't exotic enough?

How about we make our own beer?

Why would we wanna make our own beer?

The largest growing segment of beer-drinking population

is buying boutique beers from little bars like this one.

Raspberry Chili Porter, Black Shadow, Chinook Pale...

Okay, okay, okay. I get the idea.

- ...Bluestone Blueberry. - I understand. I get the premise.

A little investment in equipment.

- Excuse me? Investment? - Couple of hundred.

I kinda like the dollar-a-beer ladies' night idea better.

Okay.

We make our own brand of beer, we sell it for a dollar a glass

and we get some women in here for ladies' night.

We call our brew Waterfront Gold Premium.

It better be one hell of a brew.

What's happening, big man?

I'm just going over the Larsen folder.

I worked this case into the ground.

Every fact.

Everything points to Michael Bigelow as the killer.

Yeah, well, it happens.

Not to me, it don't.

This guy Larsen was a loner, he was a drunk,

he had no family, no friends.

I didn't meet anybody who even missed the guy.

So, what are you saying? Zwick killed himself for no reason?

No, I'm saying Zwick had to have some reason to kill Larsen.

That's what I wanna know. The reason.

Our job isn't to find reasons,

our job is to change names from red to black on a board,

to put cases down, and that's what you did.

A little late, true, but that's what you did.

I interviewed 30 or 40 people about Larsen.

Jeffrey Zwick's name never came up, not once.

- [Lewis sighs] - There's got to be a connection someplace.

This guy Zwick tortures himself for 16 years over this murder

until he finally turns a gun against himself?

Sixteen years is a long time

for a murder trail to go cold, big man.

What are you gonna do? Are you gonna dig up all your old interviews?

The fact of the matter is,

everybody on your list is probably either dead, moved out of town,

or can't remember who Peter Larsen is. Or was.

We'll move to the other side.

- The other side? - Yeah. Tomorrow.

I start interviewing people who knew Zwick.

If I can't connect Larsen to Zwick,

I connect Zwick to Larsen.

I don't understand why you do this to yourself, Stan.

- Why don't you just let it be? - I arrested the wrong man.

Maybe it was 'cause I asked the wrong questions.

So what I would like to do

is I'd like to learn what are the right questions.

All right. I'm coming with you.

You know what? I should do this alone.

No, hold on a second.

The Zwick thing, this is my case, all right?

I got a stake in this, too.

Besides, I like kinda like hanging out with you, big man.

You're like a father figure to me.

- Father figure? - Yeah, father figure.

If I ever hear you repeat that, I'm gonna gut you.

Okay.

[bell tolling]

Oh, I never heard Sam and Martha yelling or fighting

or anything like that, if that's what you mean.

They were old, you know?

They had an old people's marriage.

What's an old people's marriage?

You know, they almost didn't seem to be

in the same room together most of the time.

But he walked her to the grocery store every few days

and carried her bags back.

I think they loved each other.

- Sam and Martha hated each other. - [Bayliss] Why?

Martha was not what you call a friendly person.

What do you mean, a friendly person?

- She was hard of hearing. - She disapproved of me.

- She liked me. - She thought I corrupted you.

- She blamed me for everything. - And what about Sam?

She had him on a strict routine. Lunch at noon.

[both] Dinner at 4:00.

He had to account for every penny he spent.

He had to give her all his receipts.

You kinda felt sorry for the guy.

Well, they were together for 50 years.

That has to count for something.

They stayed together for 50 years.

That's what matters.

[Pembleton] So, you never knew the O'Donnells to have problems?

I didn't say that, did I?

Well, then so they did have problems?

It's not my place to gossip

about other people's love affairs.

What-- what love affairs, Mr. Horton?

It's Sam's business, it's not my business. I'm not one for idle gossip.

[Pembleton] Mr. Horton, are you aware that we're conducting

an official police investigation?

Oh, I suppose that makes things different, then.

So, Mr. O'Donnell did have an affair?

Isabella Kunkle.

Isabella Kunkle?

Some girl that Sam used to be sweet on.

Not much of a girl anymore, of course.

She called him one day right out of the blue.

Isabella Kunkle called Sam?

But being that Sam is married to Martha--

was married to Martha-- you'd think that would be the end of things, huh?

But it wasn't the end of things?

Not by a long shot.

Isabella kept dropping by,

you know, supposedly to see them both.

But she and Sam were always exchanging glances.

Meaningful glances.

Here it is. Waterfront Gold Premium.

[spitting]

Waterfront Gold Premium Swamp Water is more like it.

- That bad? - Worse.

Trust me, don't even try it.

- [gagging] - See?

- Needs work. - Needs work?

We already advertised, genius. What are we gonna do now?

Until we perfect our recipe,

we can sell Heineken for a dollar a glass

under our own Waterfront Gold Premium label.

You know that's gonna cost a fortune.

You're gonna bankrupt me.

Just think of it as a little investment in your future.

[machine humming]

I don't think Jeffrey Zwick had any kind of secrets.

I mean, what you saw was what you got.

Did he have any drinking or drug problems?

I'm talking 16 years ago,

this would be late '70s, early '80s.

Reagan-era drinking problems?

I only saw him drunk once.

The only change in Jeffrey with a few beers

was he could do that trick.

You know the one where you make the nickel

flip across your knuckles?

I mean, he'd loosen up enough for that.

Good pressman, too.

In all the years you knew him,

did he ever mention a guy named Peter Larsen?

No. Never heard of any Peter Larsen.

Did he ever drink too much and get into fights?

Anything like that?

No, Jeffrey wasn't much of a drinker.

When he did drink, it was at The Old Elegant.

The Old Elegant?

Yeah, that bar over on Eastern.

Remember? I think it burnt down.

Peter Larsen used to drink at The Old Elegant.

[music playing in bar]

[glass shattering]

Hey, hey, hey. What are you doing?

The head of a draw of good beer

is a delicate thing.

Some of these glasses will never have a good head again.

- Too greasy. - Can't you wash them?

The glasses are fluid, a very slowly-moving fluid

that marries with adhesive substances such as fatty acids.

[glass shattering]

Does that sign in the window still say "Ladies' Night"?

[McGonnigal] Big as life.

How come there's no ladies in here?

Would you walk into a room full of strange, drunken men?

I mean, if you were a woman?

You know, they don't seem to mind that there's no women here.

No doubt they're a little relieved,

but they're happy.

[Munch] You're right, you're right. I should lighten up.

Look, I got a bar here full of happy, relaxed, even cordial men

who left their tragedies and defeats at the door.

They're in here revivifying and strengthening themselves

so they can go back into the fray on the morrow.

Except now, here, they're among brothers.

Well, those two guys don't look too cordial or friendly.

[McGonnigal] If you handle the atmosphere right,

you don't get bar fights.

All you have to do to stay--

Screw you.

[clattering]

Duck!

[glass shattering]

[all grunting in effort]

[upbeat pop music playing]

Mr. Malone?

Do you remember me?

Detective Bolander.

Sorry. Should I know you?

Sixteen years ago,

you were a bartender in a spot called The Old Elegant.

You had a regular customer named Peter Larsen.

I saw it on the news.

You got the wrong guy for killing him.

- What do you want with me? - I need to ask you a few more questions.

I'm really busy. I got a bar to take care of.

Yeah, yeah. It's a nice bar, too.

You own it outright?

Yeah, lock, stock, and beer tap.

It's a real step up from The Old Elegant, huh?

Listen, there wasn't anything elegant about The Old Elegant or its patrons, okay?

They were a bunch of lousy drunks and lousy tippers.

It took me 15 years busting my hump as a bartender

to earn enough money to buy my own place.

What is that, a bread stick?

- It's a cheese twist. - Expensive?

They run a little higher than salted nuts,

but my customers love 'em.

A cheese twist, huh?

Mr. Malone, do you remember this guy from The Old Elegant?

His name was Jeffrey Zwick?

He looks familiar. I think he was in once or twice.

Yeah, well, Mr. Zwick just confessed to killing Peter Larsen.

- [Malone] No kidding? - No kidding.

Can you think of any reason why Zwick would have killed Larsen?

What difference does it make now?

None, but I'd kinda like for you to tell me anyway.

Listen, you don't make it very big in the bar business

if you open your mouth,

repeat everything people tell you.

You get your customers' confidence

and they keep coming back.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, these two customers we're talking about here,

they're both dead now.

I don't even think Zwick and Larsen

were ever in the bar at the same time.

So they didn't know each other.

- No, they knew each other. - [Bolander] How?

Larsen slept with Zwick's wife.

Sixteen years ago, I questioned you about Larsen's murder twice.

You knew that Larsen was sleeping with Zwick's wife?

Why didn't you tell me that before?

You didn't ask me.

- Hi. Isabella Kunkle? - [Isabella chuckles]

You're welcome to come in, but it won't do any good.

Excuse me?

I'm a Presbyterian, born and raised.

I'm not going to convert to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Oh, no, no. We're not Jehovah's Witnesses.

We're from the police department.

Oh, I guess you'd better come in.

- [Bayliss] Let me take these. - Thank you.

- Hmm. - Tim.

[Isabella] Before the war,

Sam and I lived around the corner from each other.

[Pembleton] This is in Baltimore?

[Isabella] In Highlandtown.

We grew up together.

Then in high school, one day Sam kissed me.

[chuckling] And that was that.

You fell in love?

I really thought that we'd spend the rest of our lives together.

Then the war broke out.

- Everything changed. - [Pembleton] What changed?

Well, Sam enlisted.

He went overseas.

That was the last I saw of him.

When did you get in contact with Sam?

After my husband died, I looked Sam up.

I found out that he was still living in Baltimore,

so I called him. [chuckles]

It was as if 50 years had never gone by.

So, this is when you decided to move back to Baltimore?

I'd lived in San Francisco most of my life,

but it never felt like home.

Here I had Sam and Martha.

Real friends.

- You and Martha were friends? - Mm-hmm.

I was sad to hear about Martha's passing.

If truth be told, I--

I was always a little sorry for Martha.

What do you mean?

She let herself get old.

And fussy. Strict about things.

But she had a good heart.

I know she loved Sam very much.

Mrs. Kunkle, what were you doing last night?

I-- I was at a birthday party at my niece's place.

When was the last time you saw Sam?

Last week.

Sam takes me ballroom dancing once a week. [chuckles]

Martha always refused to go.

We're going dancing tonight.

Sam said it would take his mind off his grief.

Mrs. Kunkle--

[clears throat]

Were you having an affair with Sam?

An affair?

Oh, goodness, no.

I care a great deal about Sam

and I'll be his friend until the day one of us dies,

but I won't marry him.

I turned him down.

You turned him down?

You mean that Mr. O'Donnell asked you to marry him?

Mm-hmm. This morning.

- [Pembleton sighing] - Hmm.

You know, I should have fired that know-it-all bartender.

Should have fired, but you didn't.

Well, you know, I was all ready to give the guy the boot, and you know what he does?

He goes and quits on me. He got a job at The Prime Rib.

- Talk about failing upwards. - I thought you liked him?

He has a big mouth, he thinks he knows everything,

and he never shut up.

Well, maybe next time, just maybe,

you'll involve your partners in the decision-making in this business.

We're not gonna have any business unless we get some customers here.

Munch, ladies' night was a bust,

and I don't even wanna talk about the beer-making fiasco.

Maybe it's time to let your partners in

on the creative aspects of this business.

Maybe it's time, Munch...

for cheese twists instead of peanuts, huh?

Cheese twists? Are you out of your mind, Meldrick?

What gimmicks haven't we tried? Huh?

Rat fishing? Wet T-shirt competitions?

Turtle races. I've always enjoyed 'em.

Now give me a drink. Bourbon.

We're sinking here, Stan, you're talking about turtle races?

Are you gonna pour me a drink

or do I have to wreck this place again?

Are you sure you can have a drink?

You've been out of the hospital for less than a month.

- One Bourbon coming up. - Make it a double.

[Lewis] Hey, hey, hey, take it easy, now.

All right, all right.

[tapping on counter]

Let destiny be your guide, big man.

[sighs] An innocent man almost went to his death...

because I didn't ask the right question.

[Lewis] There's a big difference between "almost" and "he did," big man.

Hmm.

How many times have I not asked the right question?

Isabella Kunkle's alibi checks out.

There were 20 corroborating witnesses

at that birthday party, so.

You know, what if the name of the first woman you ever loved was Isabella Kunkle?

The first woman that I ever loved

was named Deborah Dabner.

I used to say it to myself. Deborah Dabner.

It sounded great to me.

Bernadette Marie Alice Reinhardt.

What did you call her?

Bernadette Marie Alice Reinhardt.

It was a mantra. I said it over and over.

But I think that the first woman that I ever really loved

was Miss Mancini.

She was my second grade teacher.

Yeah.

You know...

I can remember her smell

and her perfume and her wool skirt.

And see, I used to pretend that I couldn't button up my jacket

so she would kind of reach up

and just jerk my shoulders back, you know?

And then she would pull me in...

and she would button my coat.

I don't think she ever really knew that I was pretending.

- She never got that. - Oh, yeah, she caught on.

How do you know?

Well, I see how you are with women now.

If you can't fool 'em for a second as a grown man,

you sure wasn't fooling anybody as a second grader.

- I'm not trying to fool any women-- - [Naomi] Bayliss.

- Bayliss. - The last time you tried to fool--

- What? - Line one.

[Pembleton] The last time you tried to pull a grown woman--

- I was there. - Hold on.

Hold on a sec, I wanna give this time, okay?

Yeah, Bayliss.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Okay. Thanks, Scheiner.

- [Pembleton] The last time you tried to pull a grown woman-- - No, that was Scheiner.

- Yeah? - The toxicology report came back.

At the time of her death, Martha O'Donnell had

five milligrams per liter of secobarbital in her system.

[slow classical music playing]

Excuse me, Mr. O'Donnell.

This way.

It's all right. It's all right. I can handle this.

You don't need to involve her, do you?

What's this about?

Sir, we're gonna need both of you to come downtown with us.

We have to ask you some questions about the death of your wife.

Isabella didn't have anything to do with it.

With what? I don't understand.

Excuse me, Mr. O'Donnell, are you confessing?

I killed my wife.

I killed Martha.

Why?

So we could be together.

No. Don't say that, please.

Isabella, I made a mistake.

I left you.

I re-enlisted in the army

and I thought I could just carry on

with those foreign girls.

But all the time what I was looking for

was right here, right where I left it.

You married Martha. She's your wife.

Sometimes when Martha would look at me,

I could swear she was thinking I was cluttering up her house,

just something that was collecting dust.

Then you came back into my life.

When I saw you, it was just like we were kids again.

You looked the same, exactly the same.

[Isabella] Don't say these things to me, Sam.

50 years is a long time to wait, Isabella.

Yesterday, I just couldn't wait any longer.

Mr. O'Donnell, why didn't you just ask your wife to give you a divorce?

I didn't wanna hurt her feelings.

I just wanted for Isabella and me to be together.

I love you, Isabella.

I always have and I always will.

Okay, come on.

Look.

Can't I have one last dance?

What do you wanna do?

All right, go ahead.

[*]

[Lewis] So, are they gonna release Michael Bigelow or what?

They'll take him to minimum security.

A stay of execution is one thing,

but overturning a conviction, that takes another hearing.

Man, 16 years and the guy's still gotta wait.

[Lewis sighing]

Is that him?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's him.

[camera shutter clicking]

[suspenseful music playing]

[theme music playing]