All language subtitles for Homicide.Life.on.the.Street.S07E15.Sideshow.1080p.PCOK.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-NTb_track3_[eng]

- It's a conspiracy.
- A conspiracy?

A conspiracy reaching
to the highest levels

of federal authority.

Look to the CIA.
Look to the Cubans.

Follow the money.
Check the grassy knoll.

- The grassy knoll?
- I'm speaking
in metaphor.

You're speaking in tongues.

Think about it.

A DC bureaucrat, Janine McBride,

relocates to Baltimore
and is murdered here.

She was a deputy director
with the Social Security
Administration in Baltimore.

Then her body
is hauled to New York

and made to look like a suicide.

The reason you didn't find
much blood on the ground

is that most of it's
still inside her.

- She was already dead
when she was shot.
- Suffocated.

I got an anonymous call
from a man.

He told me
that Janine was a lesbian.

Just because
I was friendly with Janine

doesn't mean there's
anything weird going on.

Diligent, conscientious,
and gifted police investigators

identify and arrest
one Chesley Purcell.

Everybody down!

Who has in her possession

a phone number
listed to the White House.

But before
our noble detectives can
question this Chesley Purcell,

she is herself shot dead...

...by the demoralized, deranged,

and totally Jack Ruby-like
ex-boyfriend of Janine McBride.

She took her from me!

Wow.

I pick up the phone, I get
a drug murder in the Projects.

He picks up the phone, he gets
one of them L.P. Everett novels.

Who's going
to play Munch in the movie?

James Woods.

And don't think
I won't be peddling movie rights

when this whole thing
shakes out.

If it shakes out.

Now that Purcell is dead,
you ain't got no case.

Even as we speak,
the best prosecutorial minds

in New York and Baltimore
are calling for answers,

demanding that
we delve deeper and deeper

into this shocking
scandal-to-be.

William Dell, the Independent
Counsel, wants to see us.

I'm told that
you're relying on a statement

and an identification by
one of Miss McBride's friends.

I'd like
a look at that statement.

Why?

It might be relevant
to my investigation.

So, the lawyers
are talking, right?

- Yeah.
- I got it.

Come on, Munch, a gunfight,

a couple car chases,
you got a movie deal,

but Ed Danvers and his pals

waving their briefcases
at each other?

Yeah, I mean,
who's going to line up

to pay theater prices for that?

That ain't a movie,
that's Court TV.

So, that McBride case turned out
to be a hell of a ride, huh?

Might not be over yet.
Danvers is still up in New York,
sifting through the pieces.

Heard you went through
a door on this one.

Looking to arrest your shooter.

- No big deal.
- No big deal.

Yeah, I don't know, uh.

Working with Munchkin there.
How'd that work out?

Munch is okay.

"Munch is okay."

That's three words
I never expected

to form their own sentence.

Actually, I've been partnered up
for most of the case

with this New York detective,
Curtis.

- Curtis, huh?
- Good-looking creature, too.

Yeah, well, and he's very, very,
very, very, very married, also.

With the look
of the dog about him,
you know what I mean?

- Oh, you a homewrecker now, huh?
- Just window shopping.

So, I guess you, uh--

guess you're not hunting
for partners now, huh?

Me? I'm fine.

Sorry.

- Had to take that phone call.
- Trouble in Baltimore?

Only if you have any regard
for American jurisprudence.

What's going on?

The Judicial
Nominating Committee

just named me
to the district court bench.

I-- I still need to be approved
by the legislature, but...

Your Honor.

I've seen you in black.
You'll carry the look.

Well, sure beats
working for a living.

So, where were we?

Oh, well, we got one killer dead
and another one in custody.

Not in our custody.
The feds are holding Ned Burks.

Even though
he's charged with a murder
in the state of New York?

Yeah, the Independent
Counsel's Office

got a US judge to issue a writ
and pull him out of Rikers.

He was transported
to DC this morning.

Why is William Dell
interested in this case?

The whole case is lumpy.

Who is this Chesley Purcell,

and why is she killing
Washington bureaucrats?

Oh, you don't think a pickup
in a lesbian bar can go wrong?

If it's a bar pickup,

why drive the body all the way
to New York and stage a suicide?

With questions like these,
it's not time to close the file.

I can get Baltimore Homicide
to work back on Chesley Purcell,

take a hard look
at her connections

in Baltimore and Washington.

And Curtis and I can run down
whatever we can find

on that White House number.

And we can certainly
have a word or two

with Mr. Dell about Ned Burks.

If our suspect is saying
anything worth hearing,

I intend for us
to be in the room.

That private White House number

turns out to be a cell phone,
one of a pool of 40

leased to the West Wing
in June of last year.

Any way to pin it
to anyone in particular?

There's no way to connect
any individual with any number.

One staffer might use
their cell phone one day,

another might use
the same phone two days later.

What about the LUDs from
that particular cell number?

- Anything to Baltimore?
- Uh, only one.

Incoming from a law firm,
Brown and Epstein.

No connection to McBride,

not to Purcell either
for that matter.

So we're still left
to wonder how the hell
this Chesley Purcell

has an unlisted White House
number in her phone book.

I knew it was a mistake,

your asking to be
this department's FBI liaison.

What?

I knew it was a mistake
to let an investigator

from another agency
into our shop.

Well, can I ask you
what this is about?

You can't serve
two masters, Michael.

And what's becoming clear to me

is that you're only answerable
to your bosses at the Bureau.

- Oh, man.
- You pimped us.

You stood right out there
in that squad room

and watched us put a case

against the murderer
of Janine McBride.

You told your bosses we were
about to arrest Chesley Purcell.

And what evidence we had?

I talked to a supervisor
from Washington informally.

Informally!

He gave everything you told him

to the Independent
Counsel's Office.

Well, how was I to know?

We could have turned
the shooter,

and found out what
this case was really about.

Instead, your ham-fisted
friends at the Bureau

snatched her up...

and then got her killed.

The guy I talked with?

He's a big suit
from National Headquarters.

He asked me
how the McBride case was going.

I told him, that's all it was.

You never thought to ask him

why he called you
in the first place?

You never thought about that?

Why he's so interested
in our little murder?

You wanted to see us?

We're finished here.

- I didn't know.
- I said we're done.

I want you to find out
everything you can

about this Chesley Purcell.

Background, associates.

Especially anything that's
connected with this Ned Burks.

You got it, Gee.

Mr. Burks waived
his right to counsel

and he'll testify
before our grand jury.

He hasn't contested extradition.

Burks is unstable, unhinged,

and generally unable
to contest anything whatsoever.

You have a hell of a nerve

dragging him 250 miles
without counsel.

Mr. Burks is being given
a grant of limited immunity.

What he says to my grand jury
will not be used against him.

At least not by this office.

What kind of railroad
are you running, Mr. Dell?

Burks talks to your grand jury

and he's still vulnerable
in state court.

You have him
bargaining away his testimony

for which he gains nothing.

He's not much
of a horse trader, I'll admit.

Access to counsel
might have helped him

to do better for himself.

Maybe.

Now, what can I do
for you two gentlemen,

seeing as how you both
come so far so quickly?

Dueling writs, Mr. Dell.

There's at least one member
of the federal appellate bench

who thinks the state of New York
has a right to be present

when a defendant agrees
to answer questions
about his crime.

You talk to Ned Burks
about the murder

of Chesley Purcell
with us present.

Or not at all.

Chesley Purcell,
34 years of age.

Well, she's gonna stay that way.

What else have we learned?

She was a part of that late '80s
DC coke and party scene

one of Marion Barry's
hangers-on.

Somewhere around '93,

her name starts popping up
on DEA wiretaps.

Intelligence reports
link her to major traffickers

in the Baltimore-Washington
corridor.

In '94, she's suspected
in the killings of two Nigerians

in, uh, Prince George's County,
execution style.

Street talk credits her
with at least nine kills,

four of them for Little
Walter Boyce's Westside crew.

Little Walter? He's locked up.

Life sentence,
federal racketeering charges,

but the word is
he's still running

his organization
from the inside.

All right,
let's talk to Little Walter.

If he's got life,
he might just be bored enough

to want to chat about
the recently departed Chesley.

Can I say something?

What was used
in that arrest warrant

was used without my knowledge.

If I get a call
from a Bureau supervisor,

I'm gonna have to talk.

So from now forward,

it's best I know nothing more
about the McBride case.

Sheppard.

Doing that warrant
the other day,

how did it make you feel?

Routine.

It was, uh...

street work.

How did it make you feel?

Police! Don't move.

Like I had no choice.

So you're saying
you shot Chesley Purcell

out of grief, and grief only.

She killed Janine.
What she did to her...

what they're saying
about Janine, it's not true.

She wasn't-- we--

She was gay,
Mr. Burks, a lesbian.

No, you don't know her.

That's what it was all about.
That's why she was killed.

You're lying about that.

Okay, then,
if it wasn't just some
bar pickup that went bad...

what was it?

Did it have to do
with the people Janine knew
in Washington?

With the administration?

Who did you talk to
in Washington, Mr. Burks?

- Who were you in contact with?
- What?

You didn't just stumble
into that precinct on your own

because some reporter
called you up for comment

and let slip where
Chesley Purcell was being held.

You were sent for.
You were used.

No, it was for Janine.

Are you gonna let them
use you that way?

Use you and throw you away?

No one used me.
Not Janine, not anyone.

- You're a fool.
- End game, Counselor?

You're more than a fool,
Mr. Burks.

You killed Chesley Purcell
to avenge the death of a woman

who wouldn't marry you not just
because she was a lesbian

but because she knew
you were an imbecile.

Chesley Purcell
was a potential federal witness.

By killing her,
you violated her civil rights.

I'm gonna see
that you die an old man

in a federal
correctional facility.

Get ready
for a federal subpoena.

What are you talking about?

Well, they laid one on us
in New York this morning

and took every bit of evidence
we had on this case.

I figure you folks are next.

You drove 200 miles south
to tell us that?

Good job, Paul Revere.

I'm on my way
to Washington anyway.

- You got a cup of coffee?
- What's going on there?

The Independent Counsel
shanghaied

Chesley Purcell's shooter,

when they found out
he had nothing to say

about any
of the president's men,

they got bored with him.

They're returning him
to our custody.

McCoy wants me
to transport him back to Rikers

and put him on suicide watch.

You're telling me that
Ned Burks killed Chesley Purcell

over a lesbian's love lost?

Yeah, and Jack Ruby
was a grieving patriot.

A cancer-ridden
grieving patriot.

Lennie,
you precious [indistinct].

Amazing how all those years
on the mean streets of New York

have had so little effect
on your sweet childlike brain.

Detective Munch.

Agent Faistrap,
assigned to the Independent
Counsel's Office.

I have a subpoena
for all the evidence
collected by your agency

in the McBride-Purcell
investigation.

And what does
the Independent Counsel

plan to do with all
this hard-earned evidence?

- Just collect the stuff.
- You guys couldn't
track a bleeding elephant

through the snow.

Welcome back, Lennie.

- Bayliss, right?
- Yeah.

So as a rule, you can
only cross the Mason-Dixon line

if you bring back a really
screwed-up case with you?

Hey, if it doesn't make sense,
it belongs in Baltimore, right?

How'd you make out
with Little Walter Boyce?

Yeah, we're working back
through Mr. Boyce's attorney.

I've been told
that he's at the Lewisburg Pen,

and on top of that,
he'll be happy to help us

in whatever way he can as long
as we write a letter to his file

indicating that
he was fully cooperative.

Who's his attorney?

Uh, Morton Epstein
of Brown and Epstein.

What did I say?

That's the law firm
with a telephonic connect

to the White House.

Coincidence or conspiracy?

Oh, why ask a sweet,
innocent rube like me?

- You already know the answer.
- Guys, I gotta go.

Come on, Lennie,
little joie de vivre.

You want to tag team
on this Little Walter interview?

Oh, no, you guys
handle this yourselves.

I'm already late
for DC to pick up Burks.

Mr. Boyce?

Oh, my.

You are a sight for any man

who's been away
from home too long.

Rene Sheppard.
This is John Munch.

We're both a Baltimore Homicide.

Call me Walter.

We want to talk to you
about Chesley Purcell.

Get some background on her.

- Chesley Purcell?
- Pretty.

Likes to run
with men and women both.

Sounds like I should know her.

- Sounds like I want to know her.
- You did know her.

She took some of your contracts.
She was a hitter.

- Now she's dead.
- Contracts, hitters?

What are you trying to say?

We need background on Purcell.

Right now, we're looking past
your part of the story.

I don't know
no Chesley, uh, whatever,

and I don't know nothing
about no contracts.

But, uh,
you're welcome to stay a spell.

We'll talk about
more pleasant things.

Your law firm, Brown
and Epstein, two weeks ago,

you called that firm
from this penitentiary.

That call lasted 46 minutes.

I can talk to my attorney
any damn time I please.

So what?

On the same date,
at the same time,

someone from that law firm
dialed a White House cell phone.

That call also
lasted 46 minutes.

Someone at Brown and Epstein
conferenced you

into that White House number,
it's all in the logs.

The same White House number
that Chesley Purcell had on her

when she was arrested
in New York.

We'll be in touch, Mr. Boyce.

You might want to take
a little more time

and think about your answers.

Conspiracy to murder
can become a death penalty case.

We shook him.

We'll let Little Walter
stew for a few days.

I want to hit him up again.

From what I hear,
you won't have to go back
to Lewisburg to do that.

From what you hear?

Talk around
the federal courthouse

that Little Walter's
being transferred

to a Baltimore detention center,

where he's being held
for reconsideration

of sentence hearing
at US District Court.

Reconsideration hearing
for Little Walter?

How does a gangster like that
rate a hearing on his petition?

Funny, that's what a friend
of mine said who called me.

Backroom deal.

Somebody owes
Little Walter a favor.

But for what?

How's Sheppard been lately?

I got a big problem there.

I'm not saying that
it wouldn't happen to me, but...

Yeah, I know,
once you pull your gun,

you've gotta be
in a position to use it.

Right, otherwise,
don't pull it at all.

What was she gonna do,
shoot the guy?

He was a witness,
for God's sake.

But still, you and I
have both been on some corner,

alone, outmanned, outsized.

You know how tempting it is
to go for your gun.

So that's it
between the two of you?

I don't know.

when it happened,
you know, you got all wired up.

"No one beats down my partner.
No one takes her gun."

And you got
her gun back for her.

Yeah, but that was adrenaline.

You know, the next morning,
I'm home alone,

I'm shaking in my shoes.

You know,
when it first happened,

I told Rene that I would have
done the same thing.

But...

You know, you-- you gotta carry
this job on attitude.

Those two mobs
come through the door at Rene,
it is her moment.

You make that moment on attitude
more than on force.

Or you don't make it at all,
and you get your ass whipped.

You got shot at
with me last year.

Junior Bunk, he blew the windows
out of that Cavalier, man.

You still work with me, right?

Yeah, but that
wasn't behind no move

me and you made on the street.

See, I ain't got no question
working with you.

What you do about Shepard?

I just want to go home at night.
Huh?

The bottom line is,
Rene lost control out there.

She got her gun took,
and all of us

are taking hard looks for it.

And you blame her for that?

A little.

Celebrating already, huh?

Governor announced it today.

I'm number two
on the nominating list,

and they're taking
the top three.

- Congrats.
- Thanks.

Now all I need to do
is not step in any brown mess

before the State Senate
approves the nomination.

We spoke with Little
Walter Boyce in Lewisburg.

Did he give you anything?

On this one, Your Honor,
you definitely better watch
where the hell you step.

I can only tell you
how it looks,

and it looks real wrong.

Little Walter Boyce
files a routine

reconsideration
of sentence motion.

The kind that gets turned back

without coming close
to a hearing.

But in this instance,

Baltimore's newest member
of the federal bench,

Magistrate Robert Prevain,
specifically requested his clerk

pull Boyce's file,
and he grants a new hearing.

Where's the quid pro quo?
What can Boyce do for Prevain?

The man's already been
appointed to the federal bench.

Accusing a US magistrate
of corruption

is not somewhere I want to go.

What, is this going to screw
your nomination to the bench?

Well, it can't help me,
that's for sure.

So what are you suggesting, Ed?

- I'm not suggesting anything.
- No.

Do you really think
I'd broker a special deal

with some sort of
narcotics trafficker?

I picked up Boyce's motion
and granted a hearing

because I thought
the legal issues had merit.

- Of course.
- So why are you here?

There's an investigation
ongoing.

A murder in New York.
Boyce may be connected to that.

Boyce is under
active investigation?

A lot of people will be watching
your reconsideration hearing.

If Boyce were to get
any kind of sentence reduction,

a lot of eyebrows get raised,
that's all I'm saying.

I thought you'd want to know.

Thanks.

And congratulations again
on your nomination.

Motion denied.

The defendant
is returned to the custody

of the Bureau of Prisons
to serve life without parole.

So your drug lord is talking?

Oh, he's singing a full aria.

- He's waiting for us
at headquarters now.
- What's his story?

Little Walter,
through his attorney,

gets a message
to call Theodore Dawkins.

He's told
not to contact Dawkins directly

but to have his lawyer route
the call to Dawkins' cell phone.

An effort
to avoid leaving a trail

on any long-distance logs.

Dawkins served eight years

on the DEA's
Baltimore field office

and records there confirm
that he was in contact with
Little Walter in several cases.

Dawkins retired
and went into business

as a private investigator,
doing defense work

in Baltimore
and Washington, mostly.

Why is this name Dawkins
even vaguely familiar to me?

He's been working
for the president's attorney

for the last four months.

His job is to dig up dirt
on Dell and his people.

Tit for tat,
a war of mudslinging.

We're actually in the White
House on a murder case.

So Dawkins contacts you
and tells you what exactly?

- He needs a hitter.
- A contract killer.

For some dyke
who lives in Baltimore.

Janine McBride.

That be the name, yeah.

Does this strike you as strange?
This Dawkins, he's ex-DEA.

Has anyone from our side
of the tracks ever come

looking for
this kind of work from you?

It's different, I know.

But Dawkins and me
go back a ways.

So, hey, I'm listening.

He wants this woman to get aced

and he wants it
to look like an accident

or like it was just
some messed-up one-night stand,
you know?

Did he tell you why
he wanted Janine McBride dead?

No. And I don't ask.

He just says she got to be got.

What do you get out of it?

Dawkins tells me how he's
working for the White House.

That he can get things done.

I mean, I'm down
for life in Lewisburg

and he's talking about
how he can get
my sentence knocked back?

Talking about
how there are federal judges

owing favors to the president,

you know,
for their jobs and all.

But you never actually talked

to anyone in the White House, correct?

You only talk to Dawkins.

Yo, who else gonna take my call?

"Yo, Oval Office,
put the president on the line.

Little Walter Boyce
wanna rap with the man."

Please.

I guess he ain't never talked
to no judge for me.

Magistrate
did grant you a hearing

for a reconsideration motion
that was pretty thin.

So maybe Dawkins
got the horse to water.

Couldn't make him drink, though.

You used Chesley Purcell
because the target was a lesbian

and her approach
would be easier,

but tell me, Mr. Boyce,

why did you have Purcell
take the body to New York?

Why not just leave it
in Baltimore?

Man, you got someone
working for the White House

telling you
they want some bitch to be aced?

The drama's gonna be thick.

I got business interests
in Baltimore.

You know that.

Figured I'd drop the body
somewhere else.

Besides, Chesley wanted to see
some show on Broadway.

Uh, some musical thing
with the lion.

Part of the contract was that
I gotta hold her some seats for.

You paid a hitter
with tickets to The Lion King?

Third row, orchestra.

Are you willing to testify

against Theodore Dawkins,
Mr. Boyce?

What I got to lose now?

Little Walter Boyce told you
I took a murder contract to him?

Why would he lie, Mr. Dawkins?

Why would he tell the truth?

Well, it's your choice, guys.

You can believe
an imprisoned heroin trafficker

with multiple convictions,

or you can believe
a twice-decorated
former federal agent.

The phone logs
and a statement by his attorney

confirm Mr. Boyce's account.

I mean, how would
Little Walter even know

this White House
cell phone number?

And how would it be
in Chesley Purcell's possession

when she was arrested
in New York?

You got me.

His word
against mine, gentlemen.

Just barely enough corroboration

to indict Theodore Dawkins,

not nearly enough
for a jury verdict.

I got a feeling
if we're crazy enough

to indict an investigator who's
working for the White House,

all kinds of fresh leads

are gonna start
coming through the door.

- Scared?
- Hell yes.

- One more surprise.
- What's up?

Your victim, Janine McBride,

she was in contact with
the Independent Counsel's Office

when she got killed.

I know because Dell requested

a background check on her
from the FBI.

She was a potential witness
in a corruption investigation.

How'd you find this out?

They used me as a source.

I used a source
or two of my own.

What goes around, comes around.

That son of a bitch Dell's been
holding out on us all along.

No wonder he's been
so interested in this case.

McBride had already gone to him
with whatever she knew.

Well, now he's our witness.

We're gonna subpoena

Independent Counsel
William Dell,

make him testify as to motive

in the murder of Janine McBride.

What did I tell you?

I got Ned Burks up here

and I specifically asked
the shift commander

to put him on suicide watch.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, at Rikers Island,

that seems to mean
they stand around

and watch you commit suicide.

His wrists. Yeah.

So no signs of foul play.

He has hesitation marks
on both wrists.

Used a sharpened edge
of a bed frame.

And we found this underneath
when we rolled him.

- Suicide note?
- Yeah.

Some usual white-boy angst.

"I gave him my heart
and trusted her with it,

but now I see
that it was all a lie."

Yada, yada, yada.

"I took Katherine Raynor
as Janine's friend,

but it's clear now
that she was more than that."

Raynor, the one
who got herself transferred

to the Chief of Staff's Office.

She said there wasn't
any affair with McBride.

A liar in the White House?
Gee, what are the chances?

So, uh,
have you seen the suicide note?

No, but Curtis read it to me.

And this Ned Burks guy,

he specifically named Katherine
Raynor as Janine's lover?

Well, then I think
you should take the lead.

She might feel
more comfortable girl on girl.

My, you're subtle.

Yeah, well,
it's part of my charm.

Miss Raynor?

Baltimore Police.
We need to talk with you.

I don't have anything to say.

Miss Raynor, Janine McBride's
boyfriend, Ned Burks,

he killed himself last night
in a New York jail cell.

He named you in this note
as Janine's lover.

You were her lover, weren't you?

Miss Raynor,
we've uncovered evidence

that Janine McBride's murder
may have been ordered

by someone at the White House.

Look, I came to Washington
to work for the president

because I believe in his goals.

All this other nonsense
is a distraction.

I don't have
any other comment than that.

Well, listen, we're not
reporters looking for a comment.

We're police officers
investigating a homicide.

What the hell is it
with this town?

We're interested in knowing

who Theodore Dawkins reports to

in the administration.

Um, who supervises him?

Mostly he serves
the president's private council

doing investigative work
to prepare his defense

against the initiatives
of the Independent Counsel.

He's not on the White House
payroll, then?

No, we're not going to fund

a private investigator
with public money.

His hours are billed to
the president's legal defense.

Does Mr. Dawkins
perform services for staffers

other than those working
for the president's lawyers?

At times, he checks in

with my boss,
the Chief of Staff,

and I know
he's worked on some projects

with the press office as well.

- What about you, Miss Bernardi?
- Me?

No, I don't see
all that much of Mr. Dawkins.

Whatever he does
goes well over the head

of a Deputy Chief of Staff,
I'm afraid.

You said this had to do with
the death of Janine McBride.

- Yes, you knew her?
- We met.

She used to be at the Council
of Economic Advisers.

Can you tell me,
is Mr. Dawkins in any way
connected to her death?

We heard it was a suicide.

Then we heard that it was a,

you know, sexual thing.

A murder, I mean.

The Baltimore grand jury

handed up the indictment of
Theodore Dawkins this morning.

The implication
that can be drawn
from this indictment

is that the administration had
something to do with the murder

of this McBride woman
in New York.

- Is that what you're implying?
- We imply nothing.

The indictment names
only Theodore Dawkins,

a private investigator
whose clients include
persons in the White House.

Beyond the overt fact
stated in the indictment,

we have no further comment.

Mr. Abrams.

What brings the Independent
Counsel to Baltimore?

We're obligated to go
where the evidence leads.

Right now, the truth leads
to Theodore Dawkins

and others yet unnamed
in this administration.

We've only indicted Mr. Dawkins.

That's all the truth we're
comfortable with right now.

It goes well beyond Mr. Dawkins.

And our office
has every intention

of getting to the whole truth

and getting there faster
and with more authority

than you two can manage
in a Baltimore courtroom.

Mr. Dell is asking you
to dismiss this indictment

and turn your evidence
over to us.

A murder took place
in Baltimore, Mr. Abrams.

I'm a Maryland prosecutor.

I'm afraid I can't help you.

Well, then I'm afraid

we can't be much help
to you either.

We're here to inform you
that the Independent Counsel's
Office will not be bound

by Maryland's offer
of immunity to Walter Boyce.

And if he testifies
in your prosecution

as to his involvement
in the contract killing

of Janine McBride,

he will be prosecuted
under the death penalty statute

for killing a federal witness.

You can't be serious.

We've already informed
Mr. Boyce's attorney

that his continued
cooperation with you

places him at grave risk.

Boyce is already serving
life without parole.

What's the point
of targeting him

instead of using him
as a witness?

The office
of the Independent Counsel

is not interested
in Walter Boyce

and Theodore Dawkins.

We're interested
in the president and his aides.

What did they know?
When did they know it?

So, Mr. Danvers,

I urge you once again
to withdraw your indictment.

Go to hell.

People with a past usually learn

to be more delicate
with the world.

What's he talking about, Ed?

What's he got?

I need your help.

Danvers?

I'm as amazed
as you are, Colonel.

But at age 14,

Ed Danvers was a junior member

of the Durham Street Raiders,

an all-white
Highlandtown street gang.

In 1972, he and six others
were charged as juveniles

in the beating of a Black man,
Roland Singletary,

on the grounds
of the Patterson Park Pool.

The incident
was racially motivated.

I spoke to Mr. Singletary.
He remembers Ed Danvers.

He also recalls

that out of the six boys
that were charged,

Ed Danvers was the only one
to come back and to apologize

and to try to make some amends.

What are you asking us,
Lieutenant?

Ed Danvers came
to me this afternoon

with the full knowledge

that someone
had gone to Central Records
to pull his juvie card.

Most likely
it was someone working

on behalf
of the Independent Counsel.

They're looking to trash him.

If Danvers would have
backed away from that case,

this wouldn't have surfaced.

He didn't back away.

I believe in Ed Danvers
for who he is,

not who he once might have been.

If we back him on this,
then he can do his job,

but if we react

to whatever dirt
they want to throw at him...

it probably means his career.

He can't function
as a prosecutor

without the support of CID.

Do we need
to put this to a vote?

No.

Thank you for standing fast

and not letting the past
get in the way of some justice.

Listen, it's one thing
to back Danvers as a prosecutor,

but there's no way in hell
he can be approved

for that judgeship
by the State Senate.

He knows that.

So you still got
something to say to me?

I need to get right
with what happened to you.

I think the entire unit
needs to get right with it.

Okay. So?

So you went
for your gun right from jump.

Ballard and me, maybe
we'd have done the same thing.

Maybe not. I don't know.

- But we're not judging you.
- Everybody judges me.

Lewis, my partner, he tosses
his brim down on my desk.

You know what he's saying?

"Bitch, you almost
got me killed."

But not to my face, though.

Nobody ever says
anything to my face, do they?

Well, I'm standing
right here in your face, Rene.

Congratulations.

I guess
this makes you a stand-up guy.

You asked to speak further
with us, Miss Bernardi.

I've read the papers.
Your indictment.

The allegations
of that drug dealer,

do you think they're true?

We don't indict people
unless we feel

the standard of evidence
has been met.

So, yes,
we believe the allegations

against Mr. Dawkins are correct.

So do I.

I think
that Mr. Dawkins arranged

to have Janine McBride killed.

I know why he did it.

And I may be partly responsible
in the matter.

I've been having an affair
with Katherine Raynor.

She's a staffer in this office.

Now, Katherine
had previously been involved

with Janine McBride.

Janine was not happy.

She started harassing Katherine,

and after a few warnings,
I took it on myself to see

that Janine received a promotion
out of Washington.

Were you ever aware

that Miss McBride had contacted
Independent Counsel Dell

and made allegations
regarding you and Miss Raynor?

She told Katherine
she might do that.

Miss Bernardi,
did you ever discuss

this problem
with Theodore Dawkins?

I asked Mr. Dawkins
to speak with Miss McBride,

to offer her the chance
at other job postings

if the work in Baltimore
displeased her,

and if need be,
to offer her money.

You asked for Mr. Dawkins

to try to buy McBride's silence?

Isn't that what it amounts to?

She threatened
to call the Independent Counsel

and tell them that Dawkins
had tried to bribe her.

How did Mr. Dawkins react?

He asked me
what the administration

could do to protect him

if the allegations
of bribery surfaced.

And what did you tell him?

That I didn't know

how any of us could be protected

from anything anymore.

This William Dell,
he's in our closets.

He's in our bedrooms.

This started as an investigation

in the President's
business affairs,

policy matters.

This thing has become
its own sick argument.

Did you ask Dawkins to arrange
for Janine McBride's murder?

If I thought for one moment

that someone would die
so I could keep this job,

the President would be reading
my letter of resignation

in the next instant.

In fact, it's on his desk now.

Subpoenaed as a witness

in our criminal trial
in Baltimore.

You'll testify to these matters?

Yes.

Will that be all?

I have to prepare
a press statement.

Thanks for your help.

You'll be talking with
Katherine Raynor, I imagine.

Of course.

Please, tell her I'm sorry.

Tell her
that she doesn't deserve

to be ruined over this.

He's been Mirandized.

Did he make
any initial statement?

Only that
he's not committed any crimes

and he's proud
of everything he's done

in service to his nation.

- He actually said that?
- As God is my witness.

Then he quoted
Nathan Hale and Patrick Henry.

So, Mr. Dawkins,

did you arrange
this strange little murder

all by your lonesome?

Mr. Dawkins is in our custody.

He's being charged federally.

And Mr. Stanton here
is representing Mr. Dawkins,

who will be negotiating
to provide

the Independent Counsel's Office
with testimony

as a government witness.

Witness?
He's a murder defendant.

We're here
with a Maryland warrant,

and that warrant
is good anywhere in the US.

It's
a lovely warrant, Detective.

But in terms of the custody
of this defendant,

an investigation by the Office
of the Independent Counsel

takes precedence.

Captain,

my office will take custody
of this prisoner.

You have five minutes.

I have a press briefing
to get to.

You son of a bitch.

You offer Dawkins immunity

to get whatever you can
on the administration.

But you refuse immunity
to Walter Boyce,

who's already
doing life in prison

just so you can
torpedo our case.

There are
larger issues at stake.

This is more than a murder here.

More than a murder?

Corruption at the highest level.

What proof do you have?

Dawkins has no corroboration.

All you've got
is innuendo and allegation.

That's all he needs.

He set it up so that this case
will never get to court.

You don't want a jury trial,

a chance to determine
who's guilty and who's not,

because let's face it,
the only case

he can make in court
stops with Theodore Dawkins.

But outside a courtroom,
at a press conference,

or in an impeachment report
to Congress,

he can allege
just about anything he wants.

And never have to prove a thing.

I remember when I was clerking
at the Supreme Court,

a justice asked me why it was
that inside the Beltway

the lawyering seemed
so worthy and dignified

while outside the Beltway
the same kind of labor

came off as savage and bitter.

I told him I didn't know.

He smiled and explained

that the lawyers
outside the Beltway

seemed so damned savage

because the stakes
were so damned small.

It's been a pleasure, gentlemen.

What did I do that was wrong?

I went to work every day.
I did my job.

I met someone. I fell in love.

What did I do
to deserve any of this?

Nothing.

I'll have to testify.

- Yes.
- In public.

I'm going to be
in all the newspapers,

on all the TV shows
for the next year.

I'll be the joke on Jay Leno.

The motive for this contract
murder appears to be an attempt

by high-ranking members
of this administration

to silence a witness

who was prepared to testify
about sexual improprieties

at the office of the White House
Chief of Staff.

$40 million
worth of misinformation.

And we helped him
dig up the dirt.

To hell with it.
I'm almost glad.

About what?

You think I had the stomach
to drag that Raynor girl

up and down
those courthouse steps

with cameras flashing?

Bernardi, Raynor, McBride.

That crazy boyfriend
up in New York?

- What's his name?
- Burks. Ned Burks.

Are there any winners here?

You want winners? Only Dell.

If the same weasel
peeps through keyholes tonight

and gets elected tomorrow,

he'll cover himself
in the same kind of scandal.

As long as the Republic stands,
it'll never change.

- What he said.
- Uh-uh. That ain't it.

- What do you mean?
- I mean it's not that simple.

You can't just say
it's on the guys

running the government, can you?

I mean, we're the ones
that set the game up, right?

We make the rules,

saying that all we want
is the truth,

but we don't
really want the truth

because the truth is a mess.

You know what?

This world could do
with a little less truth

and a little more trust.

We gotta trust that another man
or woman is entitled

to screw up every now and then
and not be destroyed for it.

We gotta trust that the people
that we work with

and work for and live with
are gonna think that we're okay

until we really give them
a reason not to think so.

And I'm not just talking
about one or two bad moments.

We gotta trust
that they're gonna judge us

on everything, all of it,

and not just some moment
we can't get back.

That's what I'd want for myself.

- Oh.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.

- I gotta go home.
- Well, you shouldn't be driving.

I'll take a cab.

What's the damage?

Hell with it.

I'm too damn sober.