Original subtitles

The story you're about to see was inspired by actual events.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

*

It was Thursday morning, 4:00 AM.

It was warm in Los Angeles.

My partner and I were roused from our beds

for the swing shift out of robbery/homicide.

The call came in from Hollywood division.

Male, Caucasian, stabbed above the sunset strip.

The bars and clubs were closed.

The nightlife had all gone home.

Legend calls it the fabled Sunset Blvd.

Part of the fable is death.

John Belushi died here.

So did River Phoenix.

Another rising star died tonight.

My name's Friday.

I'm a cop.

Kid's going to their car found him.

They recognized him.

Actor, Eric Barton.

No kidding

Oh my God.

Yeah, that's him.

Saw a trailer for this big movie he's in.

I saw him in something on HBO.

He was good.

Fame and the famous, how fleeting.

Who said that?

Marcus Aurelius.

Any sign of a weapon?

Grid searching, haven't turned up a knife.

Well, run him through DMV.

Maybe we can get an address.

Detectives, we walked the whole neighborhood.

One witness.

Guy in that apartment heard a fight around three.

That-- that's Stowe, with an "E".

S-T-O-W-E.

Brian with an "I".

You were awake at three o'clock in the morning?

Yeah, um, studying.

Premed courses, I'm--

I'm really a writer, but I'm an actor too.

The altercation outside?

I, uh, heard some guys arguing

and I looked out the window for a sec.

I saw a guy running down the street.

Didn't really think anything of it.

Till I saw the lights.

Was he white?

Latino, black?

Didn't really notice.

I guess he was white.

Um, he was short.

Not short, small.

Notice what he was wearing?

Didn't really pay that much attention.

You hear an argument, you might think to call the cops.

This close to the strip?

If I called the cops every time a fight woke me up,

I'd be up all night.

Sad.

Dying like that.

Detective, Detective!

They were out in force.

The press.

A celebrity gets murdered the world goes crazy with curiosity.

In a way, we're like the ancient Greeks.

We need our gods to be human.

We want to know bad things happen to them too.

Just like the rest of us.

Victim's wallet in the gutter.

Credit cards, cash gone.

They left license and registration.

Lived in a bungalow up the hill.

Robbery turned bad?

- Maybe. - Why's he go for a walk?

Could've gone down to Sunset.

We'll canvas in the morning.

Found dealer's bag with a white powder under the body.

Lab, ASAP.

Why do a drug deal on the street?

He lives just up the hill.

Joe, Frank, something here.

We're wrapping him up.

I noticed bruises on his left arm, fresh.

For lividity, I think he was punched.

Then I see faint scratches on the left side of his neck.

You normally see this kind of thing in a domestic.

Seal this.

Nothing out of the coroner's ending up in the papers.

Done.

Well, that narrows it down.

Does it?

It's either A) Robbery gone bad

or B) Domestic Dispute.

Uh-huh.

Or C) Drug deal turned violent.

Pick one.

I don't like any of them.

I vote for D.

None of the above.

*

*

*

The Hollywood Hills don't look fancy.

Like most things in life, looks can be deceiving.

A little place here could run four grand a month.

We found Eric Barton's door unlocked.

They say LA's a friendly town.

It is, but not that friendly.

Either Mr. Barton left in a hurry,

or someone was here after he went out.

He was moving some stuff

either in here or out to somewhere else.

Clothes, coffee cup, books, razor, electric toothbrush.

Bed's been used recently.

Not just for sleeping.

Make sure to bag the sheets.

I wonder where she went.

That's if she's not a he.

Most probably a she.

That's right, I remember now.

That's Kate Randall, his fiancée.

And you would know that because?

It was in People.

I guess we gotta break the news.

I'm sorry.

The shock, Kate saw it on CNN.

She's in no condition.

We'd hate to make her feel worse.

Everyone who's anyone in Hollywood has a gate keeper.

Eric Barton's fiancée Kate Randall was a rising young star.

She had a manager named Deborah Larson.

With an assistant named Brad Lee in tow.

Professional hangers-on.

Miss Larson, cases like this, time is of the essence.

Who is it, Deb?

Baby, it's the police.

Oh.

Of course, um, please come in.

We had dinner in Arcadia.

It's one of our favorites.

We went back to Eric's.

And I left around 12.

I was due on the set at six today.

And would he have expected anyone later?

I don't think so.

He had a spinning class at seven this morning.

You and Mr. Barton, last night,

did you have intimate relations?

What kind of--

Why would you ask that?

Just part of the investigation, ma'am.

We didn't, no.

He was the most...

Loving, good-hearted person I have ever known.

I talked to his mom.

She had the TV on at breakfast.

She was so proud of him.

Would Mr. Barton have any reason to walk down toward the strip?

I don't know.

Sometimes he'd walk just for exercise.

If...

If I'd have been there, he wouldn't have gone out.

This wouldn't have happened.

Did your fiancée have a problem with illicit drugs?

No, not Eric.

Not everyone in Hollywood is Kurt Cobain.

If you know who that is.

He's from Seattle, not Hollywood, Mr. Lee.

Could Mr. Barton have been using drugs without your knowledge?

You already asked her that.

Deborah, stop.

What does it matter now?

*

*

Rebecca Barton had driven down from Oxnard

to see her son's lifeless body.

In situations like these, we hear the grief,

we listen for something else.

She gave us a picture of the child she knew.

Was it a picture of who he really was?

Fairly often, the truth turned out to be different.

We talked yesterday.

He was so happy.

Strange.

It was unusual?

No, no, no.

He was always happy, it was his temperament.

I was the moody one.

His father always said that...

that there was--

well, everything had to have a reason.

Some greater purpose.

Eric said that the other people around him

were so ambitious and...

always worried.

And he was so happy to have been raised on the ranch.

That it gave him a sense of...

his place in the world.

*

Anything else in the blood?

No drugs at all, thanks.

Toxicology on the victim: no drugs in the bloodstream.

Try this.

Those little bags of white powder he was buying?

Cocaine.

Now, how do you figure this?

Those little bags?

- No prints on 'em. - What?

Couple of smudges, nothing usable, like they were wiped.

No prints on the wallet, except the victim's.

How many dealers you know wipe their prints?

So, the team found no blood in the victim's house, right?

- Nothing. - They're wrong.

I'm not surprised, I almost missed it myself.

You saw this in the victim's bedroom.

You missed it too.

They were about to dust when I saw that spot.

I thought coffee, maybe chocolate.

But it's blood.

There's another drop here in the corner.

Fresh blood.

Maybe not last night, but fresh enough.

Well, maybe he cut himself.

Dripped some blood on the box.

No, I doubt it.

I ran a spectro.

Cocaine in the blood.

If you had this much coke in your blood,

you'd be dead of a heart attack.

Now, wait a minute,

the victim had no drugs in his body.

So, how long does it take cocaine

to leave the bloodstream?

Twelve to 24 hours.

How recent is this blood?

Twelve to 24 hours.

Alright, maybe I'm missing something.

Same timeframe, same blood.

Coke in one place and not the other?

Is there any explanation?

He has a twin who left some blood behind.

I'll take that to mean no.

The Chief would appreciate your paying a visit to the studio.

I'm thinking someone called the Chief.

- Was it the Mayor? - The Mayor?

We live in a Company Town.

These executives raise substantial amounts

for the Mayor's campaign.

You know how to talk to these movie people.

Yeah, you blow smoke up their asses.

This is a courtesy call.

They just want to know we're doing our best.

We're trying to find who killed this kid.

Ah, we'll do it, no problem.

What's this studio guy's name?

Carey, Peter Carey.

Try to be polite.

Polite, what does she think I'm gonna do?

Pee in his wastebasket?

I heard you did that once.

A courtesy call, come on.

It's not a courtesy call.

Why would a busy studio executive

like Peter Carey want to see us?

He wants to know what we know.

Meaning?

He's got something to hide.

I loved this kid.

I miss him already.

We were wondering if he was in any trouble.

I first met him, he was still in graduate school.

Philosophy, something useless.

I took him to dinner, and we walk in,

people can't even see him yet.

Heads turn anyway.

I don't know what that is.

You can't buy it, you can't learn it.

You either have it or you don't.

And Eric had it.

Peter, they want to know about--

I know what they want to know.

He had his head on straight.

This movie Eric was in of ours

would've made him a star.

He wasn't interested in being a star.

That puts him in a small minority.

Did he ever have any problems with drugs?

Drugs, once, a very short period of time.

He went into a rehab.

Now, I knew why we were here.

He liked the question about drugs.

It gave him what he wanted.

A topic he could handle.

That meant there was something else.

Something he didn't want us to know.

He wasn't using now.

He was clean, right?

He had the standard insurance medical exam, he passed it.

You think this is all hype, but I'm telling you the truth.

This was a good kid.

Wouldn't be very good for your movie, if he wasn't.

Do us a favor.

Don't mention drugs.

He deserves better.

The mention of rehab took us back to the victim's fiancée.

She'd said he'd had no drug problem.

I don't know if I believe in God or anything.

I just...

Try to think that Eric's up there.

I need to believe that.

Everyone needs to believe in something

higher than themselves.

Eric said it didn't matter if God existed or not.

He said, we just had to live as well as we could

in a difficult world.

Might be hard at doing your business.

You said Eric wasn't involved with drugs,

yet the studio mentioned he was once in rehab.

Have you ever lost anyone?

Don't do this to him.

Miss Randall.

Do you know anyone he might have bought drugs from?

Look, his mother will go into a store

and read about it in The Enquirer.

Eric mentioned him once.

This dealer who sold to people in the industry.

Pinky something.

Pinky Wilson?

- We've heard of him. - That's right, Wilson.

Eric said he had drug problems of his own.

He said he was a scary guy.

*

The movie people thought Pinky Wilson was a scary guy.

To us, he was just another lowlife drug dealer.

Yeah, who is it?

Mr. Wilson, LAPD.

I'll be right there.

*

Mr. Wilson?

He's flushing the dope.

*

Hey!

Hey, whoa, stop.

Police, hold it there!

Heading west down the alley.

Get him.

Get over there.

*

Don't move.

Stay down.

Never run from the cops.

*

You're a dumb son of a bitch, we just wanna talk to you.

You're under arrest for possession of narcotics.

Up yours, read me my rights.

I want a lawyer.

Yeah, you're gonna need one.

What is this crap?

Four grams of coke to start, then we'll talk about homicide.

Him?

He could no more kill anyone than I could.

- What homicide? - Eric Barton.

First of all, that drug bust is crap.

No warrants, no exigent circumstance.

He ran, that's exigent.

He had coke, that's possession.

Pinky, where were you Thursday, 1:00 AM?

I'll tell you exactly where I was.

Shut up, what do you got?

He's known to the victim.

His prints were in the victim's house.

A desk, a chair, two thumbs and an index finger.

- Oh God. - Will you shut up?

Fingerprints last for years.

You got his prints on the victim?

The murder weapon?

You got a witness?

Yeah, we got a witness.

Tell 'em where you were.

Just to get one thing straight, I ain't seen Barton in years.

Wednesday night, Thursday morning.

Wednesday night, Catalina Island.

Making a delivery.

Don't need no PHD to know what it was.

I missed the 10:15 ferry.

Last one out of Avalon by like 30 seconds, and made a stink.

The idiot Dock Master ought to remember.

Seeing I can't swim Catalina Bay, I stayed the night.

Where'd you stay?

We're gonna hold that one.

He's looking at murder one.

I said, we're gonna hold it.

Is he our guy?

I don't know, maybe.

Your witness is here.

Alright, let's go through it again.

Take your time.

Then, look carefully.

*

In the lineup, it's not about the people behind the glass,

it's about the witness.

How does he react?

What I saw was strange.

His eyes went to number five,

then moved across the others.

Maybe number four?

Then straight back to number five again.

Our witness wasn't deciding if he recognized Pinky Wilson.

He recognized him.

He was deciding whether to tell us.

Maybe number five.

Number Five, step forward.

*

Yeah, it-- it could be him.

I can't be sure.

Step back.

Thank you for your help.

An officer will drive you home.

*

Did you see what I saw?

He recognized Pinky, didn't want to ID him.

Could anyone have gotten to your witness?

Could anyone even know you had one?

No, we said witness and shook him up.

Good news and bad news.

The good news, Dock Master can't remember Pinky,

so his alibi sucks.

Bad news, canvas on the strip?

They hit gas stations, anything open at two in the morning.

No one saw Eric Barton.

I'd better let the DA know, we're nowhere.

Don't forget the Mayor.

That's not funny.

Time of death, approximately 2:33.

Young man led a healthy life

which has come to quite a bad end.

Knife penetrated seven inches.

A sharp single-edged blade.

Not a hunting knife?

My guess, kitchen carver.

You think he was stabbed standing on the street?

- Yes. - Maybe.

Maybe?

What about the blood on the pants and shoes?

Yeah, saw that.

That's a problem.

He gets stabbed here.

He falls.

The victim's on the sidewalk,

his head is higher than his feet.

When the heart stops, the blood flows to the lowest point.

The blood should pool here quickly.

And it didn't?

No.

The abdomen.

Which tells me the victim was sitting when he got stabbed

and then a half hour or so later, he was moved.

So he was sitting on the curb?

Or in a car.

Your best professional opinion, Sanjay, make it stick.

Who am I saying this to?

Pretend you're in court.

It's likely the body was moved.

Thanks.

Play it back from the beginning.

- From the body? - From the witness.

He heard a loud argument on the street.

How many apartments in that building face the street?

Mm, six or eight.

But it was three in the morning, they were all asleep.

Yeah, well, I read the division report

there were two who were not asleep and they heard nothing.

But our guy heard a loud fight, now.

His windows, when we walked in, open or closed?

Closed.

Dammit.

I was younger, my timing was better.

When you get old, all your timing gets bad.

*

Alright, his window's were closed.

But it was open when he heard the argument, right?

Goes to the window, sees a guy running by.

He closes it, why?

Argument's over.

This you, John?

Yeah.

Alright, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

I was waiting for this one.

Our victim's credit card, never used.

Robbery, cards are gone, no one used them.

That doesn't make any sense.

Suppose there was no robbery.

There was no argument, no dope deal.

The witness recognized the guy.

You getting this?

It's a setup.

I don't like it.

You're asking me to approve warrants

based on filing false police report.

A little hard evidence would help.

You got a bunch of theories here and not very good ones.

Can we absolutely prove it, no.

Could a DA run with it, maybe.

Let's be honest.

You don't want a DA to try this witness.

You want to arrest him to scare him.

You recall the Mitchell case?

Lousy probable cause.

We broke a homicide.

Gimme.

Arrest, search.

Thank you.

*

Detectives, what are you guys doing here?

You lied to us Brian.

You didn't hear a fight that night.

No.

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

You tell us now or it gets worse.

You're under arrest for filing a false police report

and obstruction of justice.

Don't move around too much.

Those cuffs will cut into your wrists.

You want to scare him?

He's scared.

*

What do you want me to say?

You seem like a good guy, Brian.

Telling the truth would be a good place to start.

Let me read you something.

"I was studying.

I looked out, he ran down the hill."

That's what you said just after we got to your apartment.

"If I called every time a fight woke me up,

I'd never get any sleep."

You said that just before we left.

So, which is it?

You were studying or the fight woke you up?

Who told you to lie?

How did they get you to do it?

You said I had the right to a phone call.

I'd like to make it now.

Who is this kid?

His lawyer's Jack Schneider.

You don't pick him out of a phone book.

Obstruction charges will never stick.

I know.

Kid'll be getting out in a few hours.

In the meantime, let him sit in his cell for awhile,

think about going to prison.

This isn't like you.

Brian Stowe's clean, no record.

He lies in a homicide investigation,

someone's using him.

Ruth, Detective.

A false police report, obstruction,

you're not backing this.

There's a colorable charge.

Fancy counsel for this kid.

Where'd your client find you?

None of your business.

You support perjury, it's my business.

You threaten me Detective,

you'd better be prepared to back it up.

If your client tells us you advised him to lie,

I'll be at your disbarment hearing.

Worse than my Doberman, get him a leash.

Joe.

Lab's got a surprise.

Now you tell us.

Do I look like an X-RAY machine to you?

I cannot read DNA with my bare eyes.

Well, you could've checked the sheets yesterday.

We do work a few cases other than yours.

Sheet's two, pillowcases four,

we typed the semen assuming that it would all be the same.

Him, DNA match, your victim.

Another him.

Two guys.

Anything indicate a woman was also in the bed?

Nope, woman would've left vaginal secretions behind.

Barton was gay?

I guess you can't tell by looking.

My mom thought Rock Hudson was the sexiest man in the world.

Do gay guys leave Playboy lying around?

We could ask the fiancée.

You want to pop this question?

Yeah, I do.

They keep telling me I should work.

It would distract me.

Hard to work at a time like this.

Eric said we work no matter what.

Show must go on, that's what we live by.

You said Eric and you had not had sex that night.

If you had, we'd ask if anyone was with you.

I don't understand.

It appears he was in bed with another man.

Is it possible he was gay?

No, that's not possible.

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.

Well, the forensics evidence--

Well, I loved this man.

I spent my days and my nights with him.

A woman knows these things, alright?

It might help us find who killed him.

Well-- I suppose, he might've.

The way men looked at him, but it wasn't his looks.

I mean, he was handsome, but...

It was something else, it was something inside.

If you could think of anyone he might have slept with.

Thank you, I don't believe it.

And I don't want to hear it.

Boy, that wasn't fun.

I wouldn't take it personally.

Friday.

When'd this happen?

Okay, we'll handle it.

Deborah Larson was so concerned about her client,

the second we asked if Eric Barton was gay...

She went for the phone.

Guess who she called.

We're in the fantasy business, Detective.

The girls have to want to go to bed with the star.

Which is why gay stars get married.

Like Eric Barton was about to do.

You're Detectives, you see things.

Maybe you've noticed.

I play for the other team.

You're Canadian.

No one cares what I do in bed.

Stars?

Is Redford gay?

Clint Eastwood, no.

But imagine at 25 or 30,

one of them were to come out of the closet.

All those movies they made?

They would have never happened.

You have a movie coming out.

A $35 million dollar romance

with Eric Barton making love to his fiancée on screen.

I think we've made our point.

And here's our point.

This is a murder investigation.

And I don't think you're telling us everything you know.

Now, maybe a grand jury subpoena

will clear your thoughts.

He said you were hostile and rude.

Hostile, maybe, not rude.

This isn't 1950, what do you think?

Studio executives are covering up murders.

Thirty five million dollar movie,

two stars most of us have never heard of,

it goes down, he goes down.

I'm dancing here, what do you want me to do?

Don't dance us onto the front page.

We don't need publicity.

She have a problem?

She wants to enroll us in charm school.

Eyewitness Brian Stowe.

Charges dropped at arraignment.

Check this, SID is searching his apartment.

There's a knock at the door.

A delivery guy.

Brownish hair, about 25.

The return address on the envelope?

Larson Management.

Deborah Larson.

Delivery boy's her assistant.

Awesome, huh?

We arrest this guy and while he's sitting in his cell,

he gets a package from someone he shouldn't even know.

I'll talk to the manager, you talk to Stowe.

Well, hold it, he's lawyer-ed up.

Last I checked, Supreme Court says I can't ask him anything.

Who said ask?

Idle chit-chat, the weather, I don't care.

Find a way to run into him, be nice, he'll talk to you.

*

Hey.

Brian.

Detective Smith.

Sorry about this morning.

It's my job, you know.

What are you doing here?

Are you following me?

No.

I just got off duty, I live in the neighborhood.

*

Man, it's gotta be rough, huh?

If I was you, I wouldn't want to be involved.

And they put my name in the papers, no.

Why would that happen?

Eventually, we'll find who the killer is.

Case'll go to trial.

You're our witness.

What if my testimony wouldn't matter?

What if Eric's murder had nothing to do

with that fight on the street?

Well, then you wouldn't be a witness.

You know it's funny.

You said Eric's murder.

Almost like you sorta knew him.

*

Excuse me.

I got class.

Eric's murder has taken its toll on all of us.

We were very close.

You know, I'd represented him for years.

Deborah Larson and her assistant both knew why I was here.

She was composed.

He looked like he'd been caught in the headlights.

Larson was doing her best,

working overtime with her sadness

about Eric Barton's death.

Anything to avoid the question she knew was coming.

How you deal with their ups and downs.

It's like clients are like family, you know.

You love them like your own children.

Please, sit down.

I only need a minute.

Do you have a working relationship with a Brian Stowe?

With an E?

Well, we do business with a lot of people,

I can't say that I know them all.

Could you check?

Sure.

You had to admire her.

She didn't blink.

She hadn't missed a beat.

But her assistant heard every word.

He was scared.

She wasn't.

She'd play this for all it was worth.

Well, we have a small film company

and apparently we've offered him a role

in one of the films we're casting.

Mr. Stowe is a witness in this case.

That's an odd coincidence.

*

The assistant was the answer.

We staked out his boss' office at the end of the day

and waited for him to leave.

He would break, I was sure of it.

He wouldn't cover for his boss

if he knew how much trouble he was in.

We just had to hit him fast and hard.

Here we go.

*

Mr. Lee, Brad.

I don't have anything to say to you, alright?

You delivered a package to Brian Stowe's apartment?

Your boss said your company hired him,

but you know what we think?

We think you tampered with a witness

in a homicide investigation.

Now it gets messy.

That kind of thing you can go to prison.

*

I don't want a lawyer.

Alright, I just want to get out of this.

So what was in the envelope?

Contract.

It was around noon.

Deborah took her call.

Right away, she calls the studio.

Carey, she's got a deal with him.

They send a contract.

It was supposed to be for a role

in some movie Deborah's producing.

She stuck it in an envelope

and told me to deliver it right away.

I don't know anything else.

You are not gonna arrest Brian Stowe again.

They sent a contract for a job over

the minute we picked him up.

That's not enough.

The kid practically admitted to Frank

he knew Eric Barton.

Practically admitted.

Walk backwards, indulge me.

Drugs on the crime scene, convenient.

The fiancée named the dealer who also knew the victim.

Also convenient and it almost worked.

They wanted us to find the dealer

and hoped it would stop there.

You skipped a beat, who's they?

Brian Stowe can tell us.

DA's willing to charge Stowe again

and deal down for a misdemeanor.

You already talked to the DA?

We thought you might back us up.

Bring him in.

We're not interested in the deal.

Wake up, Counselor.

You got a client got offered a job.

What do you think it looks like?

What led you to that information?

An envelope.

What got you that envelope?

A bogus search warrant.

Fruit of the poisonous tree, none of it's admissible.

You violated his right to counsel.

You're whistling through your ass.

Non-custodial setting, I didn't ask him a single question.

Brian, you don't want it to go--

He's not talking, leave him alone.

No, you leave me alone.

- Brian. - I don't want a lawyer,

and I sure don't want you.

Voluntary dismissal of counsel.

Brian, you're making a mistake.

The only mistake I made was doing any of this

in the first place.

I didn't know, they'd offered me that part.

I auditioned for it months ago.

What happened?

*

They said they had pictures of us.

Me and Eric.

Naked.

I moved in down the street.

We couldn't live together.

They said Eric had to get married, you know,

that if he came out, he--

His career would be over.

You were lovers.

She said that, uh...

If I didn't do what they wanted,

she'd give the pictures to the tabloids.

*

I wasn't thinking.

If they would really do it, she said they would.

Who?

Deborah.

She woke me up and said that...

I had to tell the cops that I heard an argument.

And then...

I saw that guy.

At the lineup.

I knew who he was.

Everyone did.

*

Eric-- Eric hated it.

He hated all the lies

and the straight guy magazines around for the reporters.

He said it wasn't worth it to be a star.

*

Oh my God.

I loved him.

*

So, who killed him?

*

She always knew.

*

Kate.

*

He started...

bringing stuff over from her house, and...

*

She'd told him that if he came out,

he'd ruin everything.

He told me she said that she'd kill him.

*

If he tried to destroy everything she'd worked for.

*

How could they do that?

*

Who do they think they were?

*

It's all hearsay, you know.

We'll never get her with this.

I know.

*

That was the physical evidence we needed.

Well, it's not there.

Where else could it be?

I don't understand.

The victim was stabbed.

Wherever that happened, there'd be blood everywhere.

Well, we found the valet ticket from Arcadia.

Eric Barton and Kate Randall had dinner there that night

and they both left in her Camry.

She let us check her car, not a trace of blood.

And none in the house.

I can't explain it.

How did she respond to the search?

She served coffee and doughnuts.

She was so polite the SID team was apologizing.

If she's guilty, that means she knows

you were looking in the wrong place.

She's guilty.

Wait, what about the girl's manager?

No blood in her house.

No blood in her car.

The manager came over and did the dirty work.

If you're telling me that there's no case,

you're telling me for a reason.

Call the Chief.

We got to bust the Mayor's friend.

Excuse me?

That studio guy Carey.

He sent a contract for a job.

That's witness tampering, we can use him.

Use him how?

You want me to get her on tape?

He wears a wire on Kate Randall.

Cooperate, no prosecution.

Stonewall, multiple charges.

On top of witness tampering, there's accessory.

Obstruction.

This is my life.

I'd never work in this business again.

As you said, your industry forgives a lot.

I can't do this.

Peter, here's my advice.

You'll do it or you'll spend time in prison.

Be honest, do you think you can handle jail?

*

Here he comes.

*

He's going to the door.

*

How are you, sweetheart?

- Holding up? - I'm alright.

Well, do you want something, a drink?

- He's good. - Good sound quality.

Yeah, a glass of wine will be fine, what do you have?

Just opened a Cabernet, it's in the kitchen.

Perfect.

Kate, I-- I must tell you.

I had a terrible morning.

I got a call from the cops.

You, why you?

Take it slow, don't scare her.

They-- they think I'm involved.

Involved in what?

You know.

Covering up what happened to Eric.

I don't believe this.

Come on, Kate, don't play games with me.

What the hell are you talking about?

Katie, it was fairly simple to figure out.

You had the same argument you always had.

You lost control, I mean,

it's not like I wouldn't understand

if it was my career.

What the hell are you suggesting?

That I killed Eric?

Have you lost your mind?

Katie, this is me you're talking to, not some PR quack.

You have some nerve, get out of my house.

Get out of here right now.

- Come on, Kate. - Goodbye, Peter.

*

What the hell are you suggesting?

That I killed Eric?

Have you lost your mind?

Katie, this is me you're talking to, not some PR quack.

You have some nerve, get out of my house.

Get out of here right now.

- Come on, Kate. - Goodbye, Peter.

Play it again.

Well, do you want something, a drink?

Deborah's been bringing food by.

Yeah, a glass of wine will be fine.

What do you have?

Just opened a cabernet, it's in the kitchen.

Terrific.

Kate, I-- I must tell--

Stop.

Before that silence.

Footsteps to the kitchen.

Drop the footsteps, I want to hear what's underneath.

Loud.

Pencil.

Son of a bitch tipped her off.

Wrote her a note.

Warned her.

Call the DA, tell them to pick him up.

I couldn't let myself believe it was over.

You play it all back.

You look for what you missed.

Did we have anything that didn't fit?

They can still take her to trial.

They'll lose.

No blood in the car.

I called the restaurant again.

Same old story.

Valet says she drove off with Barton in her Camry.

*

Give me a loop.

Give me a loop, one of those photographer things.

Come on, I know somebody's got one.

*

Driver's door, inside panel.

*

Same day as the murder.

*

She wasn't driving the car.

It was in the shop.

Maintenance.

Came in Wednesday, picked up Friday.

Is she in some kind of trouble?

What'd she leave in?

Loaner.

Not really a loner, we charge for them now.

Well, where's the loaner now?

The loaner, I'd have to look.

*

Service order, loaner.

B6392.

It's out back in the lot.

What kind of car is it?

- Uh, Camry. - Camry.

Last chance.

Don't get your hopes up.

Give me some good news.

Well, it's been washed,

but you can't get it all out.

Vinyl and carpets, soaked in blood.

*

At the end, we were in a familiar place.

We knew what a good lawyer could do.

Blood evidence didn't convict OJ.

But a car sitting in a parking lot for days?

Definition of reasonable doubt.

You have one last hope.

Show them another way.

Give them a way out.

I told my partner this should be one on one.

It only worked when it was personal.

I hoped I was right.

You don't think it'll be solved?

Well, no, we have a suspect, the only question is,

where's it gonna go from here?

I-- I don't understand.

You think you know who did it?

Yeah, I think we do.

I think you do too.

Coriolanus.

That's a violent play.

Most tragedies are.

You go to the theater?

I, uh, I would've thought you liked movies.

A kid in my parochial school used to take us.

Classics.

Arthur Miller, stuff like that.

Those years, I remember three acts.

Two intermissions.

I got candy twice.

Sometimes in life,

like a play,

last act,

you see things coming.

This one could go two ways.

Yours, ours.

And what's my way?

You tell me.

No.

You tell me.

You had an argument.

Driving back from the restaurant.

You were losing him.

That maybe your career

that you thought maybe he would help you with.

*

You weren't thinking clearly.

You were scared.

There was a box.

He was moving things from your house.

You found a kitchen knife.

You didn't mean to use it.

But you did.

Why don't you tell it to the DA?

He'll figure something out.

I doubt they would be

as sympathetic as you are.

Well.

We're not talking about sympathy.

*

When you looked up in the sky?

You know you'd hope that he'd be up there?

You were very convincing.

Was I?

If you weren't telling the truth, you--

You're some actress.

I was telling the truth.

*

You think I'm a great actress?

I am.

*

Kate Randall asked for time to change her clothes,

fix her hair.

We said fine.

She wanted to come in without handcuffs.

We said no.

I thought about the choices people make,

how every step in life can take an unexpected turn.

Eric Barton made a choice.

It ended in his death.

Kate Randall, she was good at what she did.

At her trial, I figured

she'd give the performance of her life.

*

Peter Carey testified for the state of California.

He entered a plea of obstruction in the second degree,

and is serving nine months at the State Men's Facility

at San Luis Obispo.

Deborah Larson testified for the state of California.

She entered a plea of accessory to manslaughter

and is serving four years

at the State Women's Institution in Frontera.

Katherine Randall was tried for involuntary manslaughter.

She testified her fiancée had attacked her

and she had accidentally killed him.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict.

She is currently free on bail

while the district attorney prepares for a new trial.

*

*

*

*

*