Original subtitles

Previously on Picket Fences. George Putnick, he's apparently missing.

I call and call and call.

He's a massage therapist on Prospect Street. These women are some of his

clients. There's been foul play, I know it.

Murder. How can you be sure?

Contusion on the back of the skull, he was whacked hard.

George Putnick cancelled an appointment with Marsha Lawson because he received a

death threat from Ed Lawson.

But my question is, did you do it?

Well, if I did do it, it wouldn't be very smart for me to share that with

would it?

Maybe I could make them think that I did it. That is so stupid. No one's ever

going to go for that.

Gee, I don't know they might.

wearing perfume?

Well, maybe. Sometimes I just throw it on.

You never just throw it on.

Sometimes I do. It's like brushing my teeth. I just... Max, you never wear

perfume to work.

And you don't always shower every morning, but day after day you've been

in here squeaky clean.

Fresh breath.

It isn't.

Hey.

Laurie, what's going on?

I just came down to check out his breath.

I heard it was minty.

I can read lips.

Why are you here?

She's here because I called her.

I have your first assignment.

Assignment?

Yes, you owe 3 ,000 hours of community service.

You can start by finding our mayor.

Mayo? Yes, Ed Lawson. He's wanted for murder.

He and his wife disappeared before we could arrest him. We think they're

somewhere in the Caribbean.

I want you to use your dancing bandit detective skills to locate them.

Excuse me.

Can I deal you for a second?

I don't appreciate it. It's going nowhere.

The guy's been missing a month, and you're not even close.

But bringing her in, I mean, it seems ridiculous. I'm willing to be

Max. I prefer that to feeling futile.

We've earned more respect than this. I'm sorry.

This woman is supposedly ingenious.

Let's take advantage of it.

Go.

Find our mayor.

We already searched the house.

And we've had it under surveillance ever since.

I want to check the closet, wardrobe.

Other than a few travel brochures, you have nothing to suggest they went to the

Caribbean. Maybe they just thought of going south.

Maybe they just left the brochures for you to find.

Maybe they went fishing in Alaska.

What about phones?

You check the machines? Why would they call their own machine?

To check messages.

You don't have the phone line tapped?

Murderers don't usually call in.

No wonder you people never catch anybody.

Can we go to the house, please?

We catch people.

Take her.

Can I wear this?

Take her.

Are you out of your mind?

Hear me out. No, Henry, I will not hear you out. You even mentioned the idea of

me being the mayor. Did I ask you to be mayor? You implied. You inferred. Look,

will you let me finish?

Obviously, nobody on the city council wants the job.

It's a death wish.

But we can't go to November without one.

So, so now what?

So let's see who does want it. Let's put an ad in the paper and the city council

can interview.

An ad in the paper?

There are lots of qualified people out there looking for work.

You've been testing the communion wines again, haven't you, Henry? Jill, we need

a mayor.

The last one escaped.

Help me stink.

I don't smell anything.

Good to know.

That was Marsha Lawson, Ed's wife.

So, they're not together.

Well, I don't understand this. It sounds like she expects him to be here.

But, I mean, that doesn't make any sense. Why would... What?

Did we check in there?

Why didn't we check in there?

Because it's a freezer, Kenny.

Again? Well, it certainly has happened before. You don't need to look at me or

talk to me like I'm crazy.

But Ed Lawson was the one who did it. I mean, what have we got, a freezer

suicide? Yeah, well, we thought he was with his wife, but the message said he

isn't. Hey,

freezers kill people in this town. This one has a lock.

Why? To protect the microwave pancakes?

I think not.

What's with the lock?

Okay. Now open it.

You open it.

You're so sure that nobody's in there. I think you should open it, Mr. Crockett.

Oh, no. It's your turn to open up the freezer since you know that nobody's in

there.

Jimmy,

he's dead. I'm quite positive.

Thank you, Carter.

Autopsy?

That would be nice.

Oh, boy.

Mac, pick up the wife when she shows up.

But he doesn't smell right.

So, I found your mare.

And I still have 2 ,999 hours left on the meter.

One, two, three.

You all right?

All right, be careful.

Watch your head.

Did you see that?

I think so.

Give me that.

He wasn't cute.

I like rosy cheeks.

Anybody

home?

What are you doing here?

I heard there was a secret stakeout to arrest Marsha Lawson.

I thought I could be ready and poised to protect her rights. How did you know we

were here?

I tracked you down by your minty breath.

What difference does it make? Look, there she is.

Not too fast. I get caustic.

Let me get my feet in.

Marshal Lawson, don't say anything!

Be quiet. What's going on?

Your husband has been found dead.

We'd like to ask you some questions.

I think he's dead?

Yes, he is.

Oh, my God.

What happened?

Hit from behind.

Freezer. Tragic.

Well, Edward's found in the freezer?

He didn't say that.

He just said freezer.

Stop trying to trick my client.

Client? We'd like to ask you a few questions.

Tragic. Are you arresting me?

No. It's too bad. It's when they arrest you that you know you're safe.

Shut up.

Hostile. Let's go, please.

Let's go. No sharp turns.

When I left, my husband was certainly alive.

Why'd you leave?

Why would I stay?

When I left, I thought that he had killed George. I thought that he was a

murderer. So you just took off for the Caribbean?

I used my maiden name.

I have nothing to hide.

I must have called home a billion times.

You got the messages.

Now, why would I call it if I thought that he was dead?

Maybe because you wanted us to ask that very question.

This is unbelievable.

I come home and I find out that my husband is dead.

And you treat me like this.

She's lying.

She's lying? That's what this graph says?

It's just as accurate as a polygraph.

And just as inadmissible.

Where did you get this from?

Crooks have all the best equipment.

They have bigger budgets.

Why would I just come home?

Why would I just waltz in the door and let myself be arrested?

Because you're smart.

All right, that's enough.

I don't like this, and the conversation is over.

We need you to identify the body. Can you do that?

I don't know.

Yeah, I guess.

I still can't believe he's gone.

I can't believe it.

And you treat me like a criminal.

Sorry, but we need a positive ID and... Well, suppose I don't identify him. If

the victim isn't established as my husband, then would that still make me a

suspect?

Oh, I think so.

All right, let's go.

Carter!

Oh, yes.

Yes, that's Ed.

He looks good.

Come on.

We're going to court.

Wait a minute.

Goodbye, Ed.

Goodbye.

May he rest in pieces.

She went back three times to this pier in St. Thomas looking to buy that one.

$60 ,000?

Records of her bank account, her financial statement.

Don't ask me how I got it. I just boot my computers and the stuff comes spewing

out. That illegal computer hacking, you promised... Which is why I come to you

with a heavy conscience.

You'll see from these records that Marsha Lawson had no means to buy that

A divorce settlement would give her nothing.

Their house is owned by the bank.

And here's this.

Oops. How did I get that?

Awful. And look, life insurance policy.

If Ed Lawson dies,

Marcia gets $75 ,000.

What a world.

Case number 5552, People v.

Marcia Lawson.

Douglas Wambo for the defendant, Your Honor.

First, let me say, let us bow our heads for a moment to mourn the death of our

mayor, Ed Lawson.

And while we're bowing... Objection. You can't call for a moment of silence and

then talk through it. I'm just trying to speed things up to preserve the judge's

time.

I want it noted that my client is on trial for no other reason than that both

the victim and the Frigidaire belong to her. Your client is on trial for murder,

for George Putnick as well as her husband.

Now, if you are so interested in saving time, why don't you just stipulate that

she did it, Mr. Helper? Then we can move right on to sentencing. I don't think

that this sarcasm is called for, Your Honor.

I ask that the district attorney be sanctioned for his remarks.

And I ask you to dismiss all charges due to his shocking behavior, which he says

simply because I'm Jewish with multiple sclerosis.

It's kitchen sink time, Judge.

I'll be pulling out all the stops.

Are you ready to go, Counsel?

I'll need two weeks to interview witnesses, and then I'll... Take three.

Trial date, April 24th. Till then, get out.

I'm nothing if not consistent.

Is this really the way to get a town mayor?

Well, actually, we'll probably get a more qualified candidate this way,

than holding it open to popular vote.

I see.

Well, I'm happy to apply, although I can't help but ask, having a minister

selecting the town mayor, isn't that mixing church and state just a little?

We sit here as members of the town council, and the selection's only

until the November election.

But since you ask, do you have a problem with church, Mr. Kent?

Do you have something against God we should know about?

She said she loved George.

And that George was in love with her.

I still maintain I could be a good mayor.

I finished a very close second in the election, so the people have nearly

on this.

Politics is a boys' club.

The fact that I used to be a man should be a plus.

Marsha had just come from seeing George, and she was upset.

She hated Ed.

Marsha loathed him.

She killed George.

And then she killed Ed. When mayors kill, that's a very bad example. And

all that's happened in Rome, Wisconsin, I have to say, poor leadership.

Very poor leadership.

Waive your residency requirement, and I can change that.

Be a...

Two counts, 12 years.

You're a character.

She committed two murders. She should be doing life.

Now we're offering a 12 -year recommendation.

That is the deal of this or any century.

Let's not raise our voices. We're all friends here.

We're not friends.

She's a murderer. I am not her friend. You got that?

I got that.

As well as that little piece of spit that shot out and hit me in the nose.

You want to be adversaries?

Fine. Let's be that way.

You were lucky to survive the arraignment. So let's skip all the

the deal to reflect your horrible case.

Let's hear it.

Two counts of disorderly conduct.

And if you want to throw in disturbing the peace, I won't scream.

The defendant goes back in lockup. Your offer is rejected.

I try to be reasonable.

Both murders revealed the same pattern.

Blow to the back of the head, rendering the victims unconscious, then death by

hypothermia in the freezer.

Anything else?

No signs of bruising or struggle, no indications of trauma.

And what did that mean?

Well, that both victims were probably surprised by someone they knew and

trusted. Neither likely knew what hit them.

You can really tell that from looking at a corpse?

Yes, I can.

Fear can leave chemical traces in the body.

Neither of these victims showed signs of being afraid.

The bruise on the back of the head.

You actually knocked Ed Lawson's head completely off while trying to remove

frozen body, didn't you?

Threw right to the floor with a big thump.

Is there a question?

When the head snapped off and went thumping the floor.

Maybe that made the bruise. No, this was a premortem trauma.

Carter.

You've ever pronounced somebody dead who turned out to be alive?

Objection. Overruled. You later sang with O 'Callie's, right?

Just two days after she supposedly died.

Objection, Your Honor.

Sustained.

Marsha Lawson was the only one who had access to the homes of both of the

victims. Both of the victims were also last seen with Marsha Lawson.

And the physical evidence?

Hair, prints, and fiber.

all belonged to the defendant, Marsha Lawson.

You were once convinced Ed Lawson murdered George Putnick.

We now believe it was Marsha Lawson.

Yeah, but you were so convinced it was Ed, you had a warrant out for his

You were looking all over for him. Where did you eventually track him down?

In his house.

Of all places.

You enlisted the help of Laurie Bay, the dancing bandit, to find him?

That is correct.

The same woman you were prosecuting for bank robbery just a few weeks ago.

She's now on your side?

It's nice when people can work out their differences.

Objection, Your Honor.

Sustained. How long did it take for Laurie Bay to find the person you've

searching out for two months?

We all found him together.

How long after she was put on the case?

Forty minutes.

Imagine how it looks to an outsider.

The sheriff's department enlists the aid of a known bank robber to help out with

its case.

They put a felon in charge.

Oh, my. I guess it's only funny to me.

I was in charge of the case, not Laurie Bay.

Kenny Locos and I were running the investigation.

Ah, Deputy Locos.

I saw the two of you in the car waiting to arrest my client.

That's right.

Do you remember what you were doing as I happened to look into your car window?

We were kissing.

French kissing, or was it Yugoslav?

Objection, Your Honor. Now, wait a minute. I'm trying to show that the two

officers in charge of this botched investigation were romantically

fact, they were tangling in uniform while conducting the investigation.

My involvement with Deputy Lakos never compromised this investigation.

The kiss.

Was it French or Yugoslav?

French.

Kissing.

Not enough you need a felon to locate the victim, but kissing on a stakeout.

French kissing.

You two do this to me on purpose. I know you do. Can I ask you a question?

Yeah, go ahead.

Why is it no matter what the case, what the crime, it's always us, the police,

on trial? Why?

Because that's what defense attorneys do, Kenny. They put the police on trial.

And with this particular police department... Watch it, John.

Watch it?

Watch it?

You've got deputies necking on a stakeout. Watch it?

All he has to do is show reasonable doubt.

Now, you knew how tough this case was going to be to begin with. Watch it?

You're telling me to watch it?

Forgive me for not showing you the respect you so...

rightfully earned.

I don't like to make predictions, but I got a permanent tingle going.

You think we'll win?

Well, they can't clear reasonable doubt. I just don't see how.

So, um, can I... Can I not testify? I'd rather not.

You can't be required to, but, Marsha, the jury would want to hear your story.

Can I be perfectly honest?

Certainly not.

I'm your lawyer. No, I want you to hear this.

I could take the stand and I could testify that I didn't kill either George

Ed. Hmm, that would be lovely.

What?

Can I win without testifying?

I think yes, but with your testimony, then we might have a better chance. I

killed Ed.

And I killed George.

I tell you this because... this is going to sound really perverse.

But I guess if you've already committed murder, that's about as low as you can

get.

But actually, it's not.

I've hired an agent.

I beg your pardon?

I can make a book deal upwards to a million dollars.

Talk shows, Montel, Ricky Lake, all that garbage.

I am highly promotable, if I tell my story.

Problem is...

If I take the stand and I say that I didn't commit murder and then tell my

after in the book and all, then they can come after me for perjury.

Now, if I can get the acquittal without testifying, then I can say and I can

publish whatever I want without risk of prosecution.

The acquittal also exempts me from Son of Sam laws, I think, although my

still waiting on an opinion on that.

You're disappointed.

Look, this is what I want you to do.

Put on no defense.

We really don't have any witnesses anyway.

Our defense is just poking holes in the prosecution, which you've already done.

But by calling no witnesses whatsoever, it'll make my not testifying less

conspicuous.

Also, by doing nothing.

I'll probably have grounds for inadequate counsel, should we lose, and

able to appeal.

But we won't lose.

They have no case.

Seems you got everything figured out, Marsha.

I really didn't plan on killing them.

There wasn't much premeditation.

It just... happened.

So now I gotta make the best of it.

When I came to this town, the biggest crime problem was jaywalking.

Now it's murder.

And this department routinely botches investigation, mishandles evidence,

and the bad guys go free!

Things are changing today.

We will begin a physical fitness regimen.

We'll have new standards.

Anyone not measuring up to those standards will be broomed out.

Anybody.

This department has done it far too...

What

are you doing here?

I do say this, sir.

Dismissed.

That man

Eyes

front

fun times over there's a new sheriff in town

And it's me.

Henry, I would like to withdraw from this case.

I can't let you do that.

It would be prejudicial to the defendant to let you out in the middle of a

trial.

You know it.

My client and I disagree as to strategy.

It can't work if I represent her.

Sorry.

I just can't do it.

I know I'm a defense lawyer.

I have a job, but, Henry, I just can't do it anymore.

You're Douglas Wombo.

Reasonable doubt for a reasonable fee.

Have a retainer? We'll travel.

You'll represent anybody.

You're a character.

You once said that the worst way to punish me was to hold up a mirror.

I think you just did.

You know, Doug, within three minutes of every case, you tell me whether your

client is guilty or not.

If he is, out come the jokes, the character, all the schtick to help

you cover how you really feel about what you're doing.

You waltzed in with Marsha Lawson, asking for moments of silence, making

about kitchen sinks.

And I knew she killed her husband.

I always know.

Because I know, contrary to popular opinion, Attorney Douglas Wambaugh

has a deep, deep conscience.

Well, uh...

That makes my behavior much more inexcusable.

No.

Because when you walk into a courtroom, you take an oath to uphold the law.

And you do that.

You never waver from your responsibility as the defense lawyer and as an officer

of the court.

And I won't let you waver from it now.

But, Henry, it can't be justice for her to walk.

And if I do my best, she will.

Your job really isn't justice.

Your job is being her advocate.

That's how we're supposed to get to justice, remember?

Oh, that's a nice theory.

I've always been able to sing myself to sleep with it.

But not tonight.

Counsel, let me make it easy for you.

I order you to give her the best defense you can.

If you don't...

I'll see you disbarred.

Now there might be justice.

She said it.

Her very own words.

I wish Ed were dead.

And you heard the defendant say this when?

About a week before Ed became dead.

Thank you, Mrs. Walker.

If you really thought Marsha was motivated to commit murder, why didn't

the police?

Because I didn't take her seriously.

I just thought, you know... She was fantasizing, like every housewife does

one point or another, about her husband dying.

Exactly.

Thank you, Sylvia. That's all.

But, Mrs. Walker, given Ed Lawson's death, did you change your position

regarding the seriousness of the defendant's words?

Yes. With what she said?

And with her obsession for George Putnick?

I now believe that she did intend to kill Ed.

Thank you.

Nothing for me.

At this time, the prosecution rests, Your Honor.

The defense rests.

No witnesses?

None. We'll adjourn till after lunch.

Then we'll hear summations.

Counsel in chambers.

What the hell are you doing?

Defense strategy.

I gave you some advice, counsel.

You better not ignore it. I told you to take me off this case. And I didn't take

you off. So we proceed on our own risks, don't we?

Do your job, counsel.

Because I promise you, I'll do mine.

One, two.

One, two. One, two. One, two. Come on, you bunch of sissies. One, two. One,

One, two. Keep them up.

One, two. One, two. Up, two. Up, two. Up, two. There.

Up.

Hey. This room looks good on you.

Oh, that's not funny.

You called me?

Yes, I did.

Kimberly, from a teenager's perspective, what do you think this town needs in a

mayor? You haven't found one yet, have you? No.

We've seen a lot of great candidates, but Rome is a very strange town, honey.

You're just discovering, then.

Who is your ideal mayor?

Um, I don't know.

Probably Howard Buss.

Howard Buss? He put his pants on backwards.

Besides which, he's dead.

I know.

And I don't know about all the administration stuff. He probably was

incompetent. But this town has gotten angry, Mom.

And I don't know if it's because of the crime or the busing or whatever. I have

no idea.

But Howard Buss, what's that expression?

Um, when you smile, the whole world smiles with you.

Mm -hmm.

Howard smiled a lot.

Yeah.

This town has just been drained of its... I don't know, its spirit.

And that's what's always made Rome a little different.

Optimism. Even joy a little.

I don't know.

You ask me. What do I know?

Yeah.

What do you know?

It's an awful thing to keep finding people in freezers.

It was just under three years ago, poor Marsha Banks was dug out of her

dishwasher.

You have to ask, what kind of a community kills with home appliances?

Today, my client, Mrs. Lawson, is accused of murdering George Putnick.

The man who would squiggle her and her husband, Ed.

The man who apparently wouldn't.

There was a reason I put on no defense, ladies and gentlemen.

The reason I offered nothing on this woman's behalf is because...

Well, it's because a defense attorney's job is to

puncture the prosecution's case.

And they put on no case.

No witnesses, no physical evidence.

They put up the coroner who drops heads and pronounces people dead while they're

still alive.

They put up deputies who give tonsillectomies to each other in squad

They used a felon to find a victim who was right in his own house the whole

time.

All I have to say is look at the evidence.

The evidence shouts, not guilty.

Not guilty.

I know that many of you would probably like to believe she did it, I'm sure.

Because then we could have some closure.

At some point, we all want closure.

But I'm afraid you can't close this case.

You have to go back there and listen to the evidence and do your job.

It's only if we do our jobs that the truth comes out.

Have to go and do our jobs.

So you go and do yours and find Marshal Lawson not

guilty.

Thank you.

Marsha Lawson was obsessed with George Putnick.

A day after he refused to see her anymore, he's found dead.

She loathed her husband. She openly admitted wanting him dead.

And he's found in her freezer while she's in the Caribbean.

Now the phone calls back to the message machine. That's very clever, but come

on.

She was last seen with both victims.

She was the only one with access to both.

She's the only one with a motive to kill both.

Life insurance policy leaves her $75 ,000.

Let's use our heads, folks.

Now, if there had been anyone else on the murder scene, we would have found

evidence. But there was nothing to indicate anyone but her.

Hair, fibers, print. It only points to Marsha Lawson.

Let's use our heads, ladies and gentlemen.

Like Mr. Wambaugh says, do your job before somebody you love ends up in a

freezer.

What's with the hat?

Looks good on you. You like it?

Laurie.

Um... My daughter said something to me.

Uh... This town is a little bankrupt at the moment when it comes to morale, and

I think more than a balanced budget.

What we need is...

life -affirming leadership.

How do I ask this?

I'll ask.

You owe 3 ,000 hours of community service. We want you to be mayor.

I signed it correctly.

You're very good at computers. You're an administrative whiz.

And as for your personality...

Rome could use a little bit of what you've got.

Hmm?

May I?

It's completely ridiculous, totally insane.

Therefore, it's appropriate.

Just say yes.

Madam Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant please rise?

What say you?

In the matter of People v.

Marsha Lawson on the charge of first -degree murder of George Putnick, we

the defendant not guilty.

On the charge of first -degree murder of Edward Lawson, we find the defendant...

Not guilty.

Members of the jury, thank you for your service.

This matter is adjourned. The defendant is free to go.

Obviously, I'm overwhelmed.

I'm very happy.

Do you have an opinion as to who committed the murder?

Oh, my God.

Well, I have a lot to say, but now is not the time. I just want to enjoy

verdict and take the time, you know, to mourn my husband's passing.

What about the movies?

Wamba! Wamba!

Any victory comments?

Well, what can I say? Wonderful.

The big break came when the head snapped off the body.

I'm very good with victims that are in two pieces. It has an advantage

emotionally, but forgive me, I have to collect my thoughts. I have so few, you

know.

I want to be alone, damn it. Tough.

Another trial.

Another victory.

Got to admit it, Henry, I'm good.

Yes?

Yes, you are.

Seventy -two years old.

My life amounts to nothing.

Unless putting killers back on the streets counts for something.

That man you eulogized last month, the child molester,

he was my son.

You want to compare failures?

I was his father.

His father.

And I couldn't bring myself to see him as anything other than a monster.

Well, we all looked at him like that.

But you, nevertheless, you judged him.

I heard.

You talked about him as if he were a human being.

Show me a man who can look into the eyes of a murderer or a child molester and

still locate humanity.

And I'll show you Douglas Wombo.

I know what they'll be saying at my funeral.

Douglas Wambo, good attorney.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd be a good man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wouldn't we all?

I won't lie to you, Doug.

I'd often rather have root canal than be in your company.

But you're a good man.

In fact, and I'll deny this if ever asked to repeat it, you're

probably the best man I know.