Original subtitles

The story you are about to see

was inspired by actual events.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

*

It was Tuesday, cool in Los Angeles.

My partner and I were working the day shift

on a robbery/homicide

when a call came in at 8:10 a.m.

A woman found dead in a downtown loft.

On the west side of the L.A. River

just over the Sixth Street Bridge

is the Warehouse District.

By day it's all shipping and receiving.

By night these lofts are used for after-hours parties.

This isn't New York.

Clubs aren't open all night.

In L.A., the in-crowd comes to places like this,

and they're not easy to find.

There are no signs, no advertising.

You have to know someone.

Once inside, people can lose themselves.

Their worries, their inhibitions.

Sometimes they lose a lot more.

My name's Friday.

I'm a cop.

Must've been some party.

Sorry you missed out.

I'll live.

Jane Doe's downstairs.

Who found the body?

Cleaning crew about an hour ago.

Printed invites, 25 bucks at the door.

What about the owner?

Neighbors say he lives out of state,

just rents this place out for events.

Art shows, cocktail parties, other, uh, adult functions.

We get the picture.

Who was renting last night?

Cleaning crew says they were hired

by a guy named Adrian Sherr.

Sherrfire Productions.

Yeah, we tracked him down at home,

sent out a unit for him.

It's this way.

*

Always wondered what went on in the VIP room.

So many cigarette butts upstairs,

must've been a hundred people here last night.

Someone might've stumbled into seeing this.

Maybe not.

Basement door was locked,

the cleaning crew entered with a master key.

Locked the door on the way out.

Bought himself some time.

Could've been our hero left a print.

Nobody touches that knob.

Look at this.

Scars, on both of her wrists.

ID?

What you see is what you get.

Saw a sign outside, "No overnight parking."

Check the impound lots, see who got towed last night.

Guys,

your party host, Adrian Sherr.

Party promoter, my friend.

There's power in syllables.

You'd be surpri--

Dude.

Come on, what is this?

We were hoping you could tell us.

You're the cops.

It's your party.

I don't know everything that goes on in my parties.

You know her?

*

I might've seen her around, I can't be sure.

*

I need some air.

*

I left at 5:00, I thought everyone was gone.

Late party.

Bars close at 2:00, people need a place to go.

Get a lot of music industry types,

they go late.

What do they get for the cover charge?

They pay for the atmosphere.

You can do better than that.

It's a party.

There's a DJ, full bar.

Guys, girls.

Pros?

Party girls.

You know how it is.

People meet.

They vibe, hook up...

Die.

Funny.

How does someone get one of these?

I send 'em out.

I got a list.

You have a copy of last night's list?

We'll need it.

Coroner's here.

Gunshot, medium caliber.

T.O.D. around 3:00, 3:30.

Talk about a burning sensation.

One in the back.

How's it look for rape?

That's what I'm trying to tell you.

There's trauma to the genitals, but I don't think she was raped.

Not in a traditional sense, anyway.

- What does that mean? - Now wait a minute.

This isn't an entrance wound.

It's an exit wound.

So where'd the bullet go in?

*

Ouch.

*

*

*

We pulled a .38 slug from the left corner pocket.

Ballistics is trying for a make and model.

Is this a guest list?

That's right, 91 names,

so start checking records.

Red flag any gun charges,

sex crimes, violent behavior.

Most of these people were plus-one.

Start with what we know.

We know a lot more now.

Four cars got towed last night,

all the owners picked up their vehicles except one.

I pulled license and registration,

boom, Jane Doe has a name.

Charlene Pagni.

Check out the court papers.

Restraining order from last year.

So maybe she had a stalker.

No, the order wasn't filed for, it was filed against her.

Michael Jamelski.

We went out for a few months,

then I met someone else and tried to break things off.

Charlene didn't take it real well.

Must've been really bad if you had to file a restraining order.

Started with messages on my machine.

She'd scream until the tape ran out.

Then she almost got me fired.

And you don't make assistant manager overnight.

You got that right.

It doesn't look real good when your ex comes in

and chucks a snare drum at your head.

So you filed the papers, that back her off?

No, I came home a couple weeks after that,

found her on my kitchen floor.

She'd gotten some razors.

She slit her wrists?

I think she wanted me to find her like that.

Where were you last night, Mr. Jamelski?

We played the last set at the Sinkhole.

Scorpions tribute band.

Charlene always loved the Scorps.

*

Charlene wasn't the only one trying to stand out.

This is a hungry city.

Thousands of performers

competing for a handful of roles.

It takes a gambler's mentality.

Quitting isn't an option,

like leaving a blackjack table when you're down.

What if the next hand turns it all around?

Until that happens, people like Charlene

do what they can.

Waiting tables is a high end;

a low end you wouldn't believe.

Whatever it takes to break in.

And if they can't be in the business,

they'll be around it.

Charlene's big break never came,

but it wasn't for lack of passion.

She dreamt about it her whole life.

People sacrifice a lot trying to make their dreams come true.

What had Charlene sacrificed?

And who had she left behind?

You ready, Ms. Pagni?

Oh, Price.

My last name is--is Price,

I changed it when I re-married.

Okay, I'm ready.

*

But her--her--

her face is--the--

No, her nose is all wrong and her--

her hair was--it was-- it was much darker than that.

We verified her identity

through driver's license and fingerprints.

It's your daughter.

That--how could--she--

That's not her, that-- that can't be her.

That's not my baby.

*

Hi, I'm Charlene Pagni,

I'm 27.

I've been dancing in one way or another

since I was four years old.

I didn't know she was trying out for a television show.

We hadn't--we hadn't talked for a couple of months.

Is that unusual?

No, not really.

I don't give up that easy.

I love it here.

I finally feel like I belong.

You have to understand,

she blamed me for a lot of things.

Charlene's dad died when she was nine,

and her stepfather...

they never really got along.

Did you ever talk to your husband about that?

Paul would never do the things that Charlene said he did.

Her address book wasn't a lot of help, Mrs. Price.

If there's anything at all you can remember.

Well, uh, there was someone

she--she stayed with when she first got here.

God, what was her name?

Oh, it was, uh, Melissa.

Melissa, Melissa Edgar.

No, I haven't talked to her in a while.

Um, not really, anyway.

I loaned her some money a few months ago.

Nice, huh?

Tell me Charlene's dead

and I start talking about finances.

Her dancing wasn't paying the bills?

Not really, I mean,

she booked a couple music videos,

an awards show, but that stuff really doesn't pay.

It seemed to me like she always had somebody taking care of her.

Boyfriends?

No boys.

Charlene liked older guys.

Like Michael Jamelski?

Ugh, yeah.

Oh, she loved musicians,

the whole long-haired Sunset Strip thing,

but, I mean, that guy like, worked at Guitar Center.

Uh, anyone current?

I really wouldn't know.

Do you know anything about the party on Thursday night?

Mm-mm.

We used to go out all the time, I had to slow down.

But Charlene was amazing.

Girl never slept.

The guy who threw the party says he didn't know her.

Means someone else got her on the list.

Yeah, we knew a guy.

He always kept us in the loop.

Kind of a fixture, he knows all the parties.

Kevin Grimes.

*

If you're drinking Cristal in a hot tub

at 1:00 in the afternoon,

chances are you're in the music business.

It's a lot of bubbles and a lot of booze,

and you never know what's going on beneath the surface.

Studio B, make sure it's fully stocked.

I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting.

Can I get you anything?

Cappuccino, horchata, Orange Bang?

Just a couple of questions about Charlene Pagni

and we'll be on our way.

Were you and Charlene friends?

Uh, I wouldn't say we were friends,

more like acquaintances.

Did you tell her about Adrian Sherr's

on Thursday night?

Sure, I got a bunch of people on the guest list.

You see her there?

Uh, for a minute maybe, yeah,

but I don't think we even talked.

Did you see who she was with at the party?

*

Look, the truth is, I was hammered.

I don't remember a whole lot.

Sounds like you got a problem.

I've got the gene.

No, I mean, coming up with an alibi,

should you need one.

Were you and Charlene ever intimate?

No, honestly.

I barely knew her.

When's that stop a guy?

No.

We weren't intimate.

We weren't anything.

These girls come out here

thinking they're gonna be the next Jennifer Lopez,

then reality sets in, they can't hack it,

and they do anything to stay in the game.

You sound like you think she was asking for it.

I'm just saying--

Oh, come on, you saw what happened to her.

Nobody asked for that.

Ballistics came back on the .38 slug.

Best guess: Colt Python.

Revolver, makes sense.

Run a list of all the party guests

for a registered Colt Python.

We're on it.

On the Charlene side of things,

we found this convenience store receipt

when we were looking through her personal items

from the apartment.

Note the circled item.

EPT home test.

Charlene had no health insurance,

so I scoured all the free clinics in the area,

found a Dr. Navarro, saw her a week ago.

Confirmed it.

She was pregnant?

Three weeks.

*

I know you're new and everything,

but how do you miss a pregnant corpse?

New, huh?

I was in the San Bernardino County Coroner's

for nine years.

Presumably the same amount of time you were in high school.

The fact is a fetus is practically imperceptible

in the first month.

Is there enough fetal tissue for a genetic print?

Anything we can match to the father's DNA?

Uterine trauma was extensive.

Maybe, it would take at least a week to generate.

Did she have money?

I don't think so, why?

She had some work done.

Teardrop implants, subpectoral placement,

incision hidden in the umbilicus.

That's an $8,000 surgery.

And a $5 manicure.

She didn't pay for those.

Makes you wonder who did.

Where are you at with the boyfriend?

It's a tough one.

Girl didn't have many friends.

Come on, Charlene's a pretty girl,

she ought to be dating someone.

Found a facialist in West Hollywood.

Said she came in once a month, always wearing headphones.

Took her music seriously.

Well, she's a dancer, right, what about an agent?

Had a manager worked out of a strip mall in Tarzana.

He said he couldn't book her, let her go last year.

All right, then let's work the evidence.

What do you have on partygoers?

The notables.

Robert Radden, possession of a firearm.

Bill Bryant, possession of a firearm, lewd conduct.

And Victor Hellman, two CCWs,

unlawful discharge of a firearm.

Victor Hellman?

Yeah, he was a big-time music producer, early '90s.

Created all that lo-fi garage sound

that wiped out the hair bands.

I like him already.

Sounds like money.

Yeah, everyone wanted to work with him,

then he just disappeared and became a recluse.

Well, maybe he came out of hiding.

Why don't you guys check out the first two

and we'll check out Hellman.

*

In show business, there are stars behind the stars,

people who pull the strings.

Idolmakers.

The general public doesn't know their names,

but they've seen their work,

or heard it.

If Charlene needed help getting her big break,

Victor Hellman would've been a good person to know.

But people who live behind the curtain are hard to know.

You have to be careful when you pull that curtain back.

You never know what you're going to find.

*

See, what'd I say?

This guy was huge in his day.

Kurt Cobain.

Layne Staley.

Stone Gossard.

You know those guys?

They're signed.

Weren't we just there?

Tryscophonics.

It's an anagram.

Any guesses?

I give up.

Psychotronics.

It's a form of remote mind control,

not unlike music, a trigger.

People act in ways they wouldn't without the stimuli.

The music's the switch.

We'd like to ask you about your whereabouts

at a party Thursday night on Sixth Street downtown.

Sixth Street?

Doorman was checking names off a list.

Yours was one.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

God, I-I'm sorry,

I barely leave the house anymore.

It's hard to conceive of the... the world outside.

Right.

What time did you arrive?

Uh, let's see.

I had, um,

late supper, tripe.

Yeah, do you like tripe, Detective?

I mean, they say organs are unhealthy,

but there is something immortal about the...

about digesting the digestive system

of another creature.

I guess I got there around 1:00.

And you left...

Oh, not long after, maybe, maybe 2:30, yeah.

Didn't stay long?

Oh, I...

never stay out long.

I'm kind of agoraphobic.

I mean, not clinically,

but more like a rendering than the actual disorder.

You recognize this woman?

*

No, I'm--I'm afraid I don't.

Charlene Pagni, she was killed at the party.

Huh.

What a tragedy.

Do you own a gun, Mr. Hellman?

A gun?

It's quite a collection.

Our murder weapon was a .38 Colt.

Hellman might've owned one, but we couldn't press him on it.

If he was our guy, we didn't want to tip him off

and risk him dumping the gun.

Then again, he might've dumped it already.

...you know, in "Touch of Evil," a Mexican, and Jimmy Stewart,

Jimmy Stewart played an Indian once.

Guns don't kill people, Detective.

You know what kills people?

Advertising.

People kill because what they've been promised by the world.

So the growth hormone won't be in till Tuesday,

but I got enough Tiger done to last at least...

six months.

*

Are you guys following me?

No, just following up.

We didn't know you and Mr. Hellman had a relationship.

Oh, yeah, Victor and I go way back.

I work for him at the studio.

He lives in the guesthouse.

So you guys went to the party together?

Not together, no.

I mean, we saw each other,

but, uh, Victor left early.

Turns into a pumpkin at 2:30.

2:30, so he told us.

Well, if you could just sign this waiver

and give us a DNA swab,

we'll cross your name off our list.

Uh, I don't want to step on any toes here,

but maybe Victor should call his lawyer,

just so everything goes through the proper channels.

You know, I think you got a point.

Yeah, I mean, Bernie should be in on this.

And I get in trouble for signing things, you know?

You guys don't mind, do you?

*

Figured Hellman paid the mortgage on his house

with publishing points from his songs,

but that was just the beginning.

Guy's got himself a little empire.

Record label, recording studios,

net worth around 70 mil.

Half of which he apparently spends on firearms.

And among those firearms, a registered .38 Colt Python.

Our best-guess murder weapon, good work.

What about his personal life?

Wife divorced him seven years ago and moved to London

citing mental abuse and fearing for her sanity and her life.

They don't talk.

He's got a daughter, Claudia, 27,

sits on the board of his company,

splits her time between here and New York.

Left a message for her.

Anything on current relationships?

Not current, but a guy at the Globe

gave me a short list of women he's been known to frequent.

Charlene make the list?

No, but it's not up to date.

Someone else on there you might recognize though.

My sex life is none of your business.

Victor Hellman's our business,

and the fact that you had a thing with him last year.

We were hoping you could give us some help with some information.

Like what his relationship was with Charlene.

He killed her, didn't he?

Now, why do you think that?

Was he involved with Charlene?

For the past couple months.

You didn't mention that earlier.

I didn't want to say anything.

I was afraid.

Of Hellman?

*

Look, the guy's a freak.

You don't know the things that he did.

Was he abusive?

Not so much physical as...

things had to be twisted for him to get off.

Sexually, I mean.

He likes guns, he always had one.

He threaten you?

*

I gotta make a phone call.

Yeah.

*

You can talk to me, Melissa.

Sometimes, in the bedroom,

he'd use one, a gun.

What do you mean, use it?

You know,

use it.

*

Unpleasant as that sounds, it's still circumstantial.

Come on.

This ex-girlfriend isn't a credible witness

by virtue of the fact that she was dumped, correct?

Do you want to get this guy or not?

Hellman has resources, and he'll have a dream team

when it comes time to lawyer up.

They'll attack any flaws in your warrant

and use them to get the case tossed.

I don't want to be put in that position.

You need us to put Hellman

with Charlene.

*

You usually work this late?

I'm kind of at the mercy of the talent.

They work late, I work late.

What are you gonna do?

I'm sure Hellman pays you well.

He takes care of me.

You take care of him, clean up his little messes.

You know, I've been nothing but cordial with you guys.

I really don't appreciate that attitude.

If "cordial" means lying like a little bitch,

then yeah, you've been great.

Hey, I don't have to talk to you, you know that?

Take it easy, take it easy.

A good cop/bad cop approach needs to be tailored to fit

an individual's character.

Kevin Grimes was loyal to Hellman on the surface,

but the surface was thin,

and with a little warming,

easily cracked.

I'm sorry about that, he gets emotional.

I tell him, "Keep objective,"

but, you know, some people,

it's not natural to turn off their feelings.

Yeah, I guess I can understand that.

Well, I think you can, because it's your emotions

not letting you say bad things about Victor.

- He's a friend. - He's a good friend.

But if you were able to be objective,

I think that you would see that he could be getting you

in real trouble here.

Seriously?

If Victor is involved

with Charlene's murder and you're covering for him,

that makes you an accessory after the fact.

Now that's real jail time.

Now, I know Victor's been good to you, Kevin,

but has he been that good?

Sometimes Victor isn't real skilled at meeting people,

so I'll, you know, make introductions.

You introduced him to Charlene?

And they were sleeping together?

Exclusively?

No, Victor doesn't know the meaning of the word,

but Charlene, yeah.

She was really into him.

And you saw them together at the party?

*

Need your fingerprints and a DNA sample.

It's in the warrant.

Bolo, Xanax.

Scrape the inside of your cheek.

You have a registered Colt Python revolver

on the record, it's not here.

I guess I don't know where it is.

He's got a lot of guns--

You lied to us about knowing Charlene.

I'm assuming you're lying now.

Do the rest of the house.

The results from Charlene's tox screen came back.

All sorts of sedatives in her system.

All right, we'll be in the living room.

Don't bother us unless it's something substantive.

I was wondering how you got her in that position,

but it makes sense, you drugged her, right?

I didn't drug anyone.

Probably wasn't even conscious when you did it to her, right?

They were ludes, okay?

Kevin got me some ludes.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get ludes these days?

Did you know Charlene was pregnant?

*

He didn't know.

I had assumed that Charlene told Hellman about the baby

and that it had something to do with her death,

but it was clear from Hellman's face.

She hadn't told him at all.

...just don't open your mouth.

Now that we've got your DNA,

we can go ahead and confirm paternity.

*

It was an accident.

Victor.

I'm already going to hell, Bernie, it's simple physics.

Maybe I'll descend a little slower

without the weight of this on my shoulder.

By law, I have to remind you of your rights at this time.

*

It was just a game.

We--we'd played it before.

This time she even-- she even asked for it.

I don't know how it happened.

The gun, the gun,

it wasn't supposed to be loaded.

Come on, you forgot the gun was loaded?

I never load my guns.

You can ask anybody.

That night when I left to go to the party,

I swear, that gun wasn't loaded, I mean, it couldn't have been.

It just couldn't have been.

*

It was just a game.

*

So, by Hellman's account, he shoots Charlene by accident,

leaves the party, dumps the gun,

goes home and plays possum.

The actions of an innocent man.

Yeah, and a gun that magically loads itself.

I hope he was right about where he dumped the piece.

I don't know how much longer I can dig

in Frank Fong's leftovers.

Looks like Mr. Fong serves his Peking Duck

without the head.

*

Looks like he was telling the truth about one thing.

Oh.

I'm looking for the lead detective

on the Charlene Pagni case.

I can help you with that.

If you're not the lead detective,

then no, you can't.

Who should I say is calling?

Claudia Hellman.

I'm Victor Hellman's daughter.

Thank you, I could use this.

I caught a plane out of JFK as soon as I got your messages.

This must be very difficult.

We're gonna try to get you a meeting with your father

as soon as we can.

Oh, that won't be necessary.

My father needs this time to himself.

He needs to ask himself who he's gonna be

under these circumstances.

Who he's going to be?

People need to discover their own abilities

to generate and create possibilities

in challenging situations.

I take it the two of you aren't real close.

My father is an emotionally incomplete person.

He doesn't connect in meaningful ways.

I had the same problems.

The form showed me how to redesign my relationships.

You meet these types in L.A.,

hooked on motivational seminars,

ideologies for sale.

Some call it brainwashing.

All I know is once they start talking

about how it changed their lives,

pull up a chair, you're gonna be there a while.

So, what brings you here, Miss Hellman?

I just wanted you to know

that I won't be standing in the way of your investigation.

In a way, I think this could be a healthy process for my father.

I'm in town for five days.

If you need anything, I'm staying at the Montclair.

Thank you.

*

She tell you how misunderstood her father is?

Not even close.

*

I swabbed the inside of the barrel of your .38.

I found trace amounts of blood and tissue.

Inside the barrel?

Mm, the blowback.

Happens when a gun is fired closed to, or in this case,

inside the target.

Have you tagged the blood?

Yup, matches your victim.

The only thing in the cylinder was a single spent shell casing.

I sent it over to Prints with the gun.

Okay, Victor Hellman's thumbprint matched

the lock on the door at the crime scene.

We also matched him to the latents on the pistol grip.

- What about the shell casing? - No, I only got a partial.

Can't tell you who it belongs to,

but I can tell you it's not Victor Hellman.

Gotta be kidding.

- Are you sure? - I checked it three times.

That's somebody else's print on the casing.

What's this I'm hearing about new evidence?

The print on the casing is not his.

Oh, come on, someone else loaded his gun?

Somebody at the party, maybe.

Without his knowledge?

Said he was high on pills his house boy gave him,

doesn't remember who else handled the gun.

Don't you think we should run this print down

before you formally charge him?

I don't see the need, we've got a good case.

What happened to all this concern

about Hellman's dream team?

We've got a celebrity defendant

with a confession, material evidence, great wits--

A defendant they've already convicted in the media,

and now you're rushing to catch up.

Defense is gonna get this on discovery.

Don't you want to know who it belongs to

before you walk in that courtroom?

I'll stall, but keep me apprised.

Theories.

To set Hellman up, someone would have to have known

about his little fetish.

Nobody keeps secrets in this town.

He's right.

Need I remind you of a certain actor

and his pet gerbil?

All right, let's stay with the facts.

We got somebody else's prints on the casing.

Now, assuming for the moment, this is a set-up scenario,

we're looking for somebody with opportunity.

That brings us back to the guest list.

Who on that list would have motive

to ruin Victor Hellman's life?

It could've been any one of 'em.

They all despised me equally.

Let's narrow it down to the people

you actually saw at the party.

Do you have a pen?

Ungrateful bastard.

Sociopath.

Oppressed homosexual.

Canadian.

I mean, you having me generate suspects like this,

you sure you can trust me?

We double-check everything.

Oh, well, that's good, because what an opportunity.

I spoke to your daughter today.

That's strain, detective.

That's okay, Bernie.

Did she convert you with, um, platitudes

about personal responsibility and emotional completion?

She mentioned something.

She didn't want to see me though, did she?

*

It's okay, I mean,

if there were anyone else I could blame, I would,

but it's--it's only me.

I turned my daughter into an automaton.

At least it beats the alternative.

What's that?

Turning her into me.

*

That should keep you busy.

*

He killed one of the most promising young guitarists

I've ever known.

That kid had talent on loan from God.

And Hellman killed him?

Well, he didn't actually put the heroin in his veins,

but he might as well have.

Hellman's a monster in the studio.

Worked the kid half to death.

Then smack took care of the other half.

I saw him at the party,

but trust me, you know,

I stayed away from him.

Let's take some prints.

Just in case.

I didn't see him.

Had I known he was at the party,

I probably would've left.

Sounds like you guys were tight.

Hellman got it in his head one day

he wanted an acoustic track with no finger drags,

which is basically impossible.

After the 42nd take, he comes screaming

out of the booth, puts a pistol to my head,

tells me to leave the state.

I wanted to sue the guy, but no one would take the case.

He fired me.

People change managers all the time, it happens.

Fact is I'm elated not to be working with the guy anymore.

I can see how he might be difficult.

Victor wasn't the problem.

You allow for a certain level of insanity

when you're dealing with an innovator.

He was worth those headaches.

The real problem was his daughter.

Claudia, right?

Very ambitious lady.

Not that it's done her much good.

She's on the board, but Victor makes

all the real decisions.

I wouldn't trust that guy to decide on lunch.

There was this industrial band

called Fury 66.

Claudia was desperate to sign them,

swore they were the future.

She brought the demo in for Victor,

and he passed,

30 seconds into the first track.

So they signed with Epic.

Wow, their album was huge.

Triple platinum.

Claudia was livid.

If you ask me,

that's what prompted her play for the company.

What play was that?

She tried to have Victor declared mentally incompetent,

pull the company out from under him.

Didn't work, but still,

you have to admire her moxie.

Pulled court documents on Claudia's power grab,

they threw out the case after Hellman submitted

to a psych evaluation and was deemed competent.

Zero print matches from Hellman's hate list.

The daughter's worth a look.

Well, we know she didn't put the bullet in the gun

'cause she was in New York and we confirmed it.

She couldn't have loaded it herself,

but someone could've loaded for her.

It's a stretch,

but if any of you want to trek over to the Montclair,

check it out, be my guest.

*

Friday's right, you know.

It's kind of a stretch.

You haven't met this girl, she's like ice.

Even so, it means we're looking for an accomplice

who was at the party,

who got close to Hellman, handled his gun,

was also close to Claudia, someone she trusts.

All right, it's a stretch.

*

And again.

Is that my crab?

*

Crab's gonna have to wait.

*

How long have you and Claudia been seeing each other?

Almost a year.

Did Hellman know about it?

No.

That was Claudia's call.

Did you really bring me here to talk about my love life?

Hellman said the gun was empty

when he left the house to go to the party.

So?

Means it got itself loaded after he left.

It was probably loaded the whole time.

Victor has a tendency to forget things.

Especially when he's been drugged, right?

Drugged?

He said you gave him pills at the party.

I got him some party favors, what does that--

You--you think that I loaded his gun?

Is that why you took my fingerprints?

With Hellman out of the way, Claudia assumes control,

you get what?

An A&R gig, a piece of the company?

Oh, you can't be serious.

Victor's my hero, I idolize the guy.

Why would I want to do something like that?

Maybe it's not a question of what you wanted.

You tried to get control of the company

with the competency hearing.

The company was the one thing standing between my father

and his realization of what he'd become.

He needed to confront that.

You're saying challenging his sanity was an intervention?

Sure it was, but the court ruled in his favor,

so she needed a new plan.

- Plan? - Frame him for murder,

he goes to prison, the company goes to you.

You think I'm somehow responsible?

After what he put me through,

you think I put him in this position?

Kevin was a perfect choice, wasn't he?

Not only could he get close to your dad,

but look what he represented.

You weren't only stealing the company,

you were slumming with the help.

Love is a function of communication.

Kevin and I have something my father will never know.

Claudia didn't manipulate me.

So you were a willing participant?

We have no interest in toppling Victor's empire.

- We love each other. - That's nice.

I'm serious.

I have a ring and everything.

I was gonna... surprise Claudia in New York.

This whole thing with Charlene hap--

*

Don't get me wrong...

I feel horrible about what happened to her.

If I hadn't invited her to the party...

I was just trying to help.

Help?

I thought that maybe Victor and Charlene

could get back together, work things out.

She made him happy.

Why'd they break up in the first place?

Victor has what he calls the five keys to life:

food, drink, shelter,

tail, and strange tail.

*

Another woman?

There's always another woman.

My publicist sends me everything with my name on it.

I got less coverage when I won the Grammy.

Oh, that's terrible.

Joke all you want, Detective.

I certainly wouldn't want to find out all those press leaks

were coming out of your office.

Tomorrow morning, your client's getting charged with murder.

It's in his best interest to cooperate now.

You cheated on Charlene, she found out.

It happened.

We were fighting, Charlene wanted more from me

than I could give her, it was all a big mistake.

Do you think I'd get electrocuted

if I went in the water with this?

Who was she?

She's just some girl I used to know,

but she couldn't have had anything to do with it though.

She wasn't even at the party.

Mr. Hellman, who is she?

Melissa.

Melissa Edgar.

Seven years, I never once used this pool.

What do you want from me?

When we talked to you before,

you were ready to burn Hellman at the stake.

Now we find out you slept with him two weeks ago

behind Charlene's back.

Does that make sense to you?

Tell us what happened.

Two weeks ago, Victor came into the club

when we were closing.

He only goes to public places

when no one else is around.

I guess that him and Charlene were having problems.

What kind of problems?

He didn't say and I didn't ask.

We had a few drinks,

and then I don't know if maybe I felt sorry for him.

You went home with him?

Yeah.

I should've known that something was gonna happen.

I didn't put it together till after we talked.

Put what together?

On the day of the party I got a message from her.

It was weird, she was all calm.

She said that she didn't blame me

and that it was Victor's fault

and he would have to face the consequences.

What else did she say on the tape?

She was rambling, it didn't make a lot of sense.

She said that she was gonna make him understand

what it was to feel pain that never went away.

She said that she was gonna make him suffer.

Make him suffer?

*

Somebody get the coroner's protocol on Charlene.

Right here.

Just had it pulled from S.I.D.

They confirmed paternity.

Hellman was the father of Charlene's baby.

I know.

Are you gonna tell us what you're looking for?

This.

Her fingerprints.

*

Do you want me to point out the matching characteristics?

No, I see it.

Unbelievable.

Charlene.

It was vengeance.

I'll call the DA.

Who knows how many times Charlene had tried to die.

We knew she'd slit her wrists in her ex-boyfriend's kitchen.

We knew she'd loaded the bullet in Hellman's gun.

Maybe it was just a matter of time.

It might be hard to understand

how someone could choose to die in such a horrible way,

but it was this horror that achieved her purpose:

To plant a nightmare in Victor Hellman's mind

that would last forever,

damning him to relive her death

and the death of their unborn child at his own hands.

Was she avenging his infidelity

or avenging the failures of her own life?

Those are the questions that haunt you.

Did Charlene give up on the world

or did the world give up on her?

*

Victor Hellman was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

In an effort to avoid trial,

Hellman agreed to a plea bargain of ten months

to be served at the Los Angeles County Men's Jail.

*

*

*

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