All language subtitles for Law and Order S02E07 In Memory Of.DVDRip.NonHI.en.UNVSL

Narrator: In the criminal justice
system, the people are represented

by two separate yet
equally important groups...

The police who
investigate crime,

and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Look, getting permits
was hard enough.

Construction materials
behind the property line.

You got benefit tickets? How
many you want me to buy?

Reni, is he offering us a bribe?

What the hell are
you trying to do to me?

Hey, you cops. Come here!

We pushed through
this sub-partition wall,

one of the guys
freaks, sees this.

Reni: It could be an animal.

Yeah.

An animal that walks
on two legs and talks.

Huh. Call it in, Reni.

Now.

Young... eight, nine.

What happened? The
kid crawl in and fall?

Massive skull fracture.

It doesn't sound like a fall.

Yeah, more likely
hit. And not a love tap.

So, boy, girl, what?

Male. My guess...
Nine years old.

And he had a JFK for
President button on his jacket.

Kid's been inside
that wall for 31 years.

30 years?

Give or take.

Who kills a nine-year-old?

Kid's fighting.
Something happens.

Some pervert waving
his flag. Who knows?

When it's dead kids,
it's usually Mom or Pop.

Before '74 that building
was owned by a corporation...

Out of business. No rent roll.

You want to run with this?

Missing persons? Worth a shot.

Take hand lotion.

Papercuts... no
computers before '74.

All missing children,

1958 to 1964.

That's a lot of kids.

You think that's a lot? Take
any two years from the 80's...

That many and then some.

What happened to them?

I'll tell you one thing, they
didn't fly out the window

with Tinkerbell and Peter Pan.

Seven years old, June, 1962,

disappeared... PS
431, Staten Island.

Oh God.

Time to call the psychics.

Keep reading.

After six hours, I don't even
know what we're looking for.

You want a Danish or a cruller?

You know, you look at these,

you think people
misplace their kids

like they lose umbrellas.

Uh, give me a
Danish... strawberry.

Bingo!

Male, eight years old.

Reported missing
October 6, 1962.

Keegan, Thomas,

lives across the street...
596 E. 84th Street.

You got dental records?

Who were the
detectives on the case?

Sergeant Dominick McFadden,

and Detective Joe Shelby.

Terrific.

Listen, an old case of yours...

Tony DeCecco... I
saw in the papers.

His brother got whacked.

Missing child, 1962.

Keegan, eight years old,

brown hair, green eyes, 4'4",

scar over his left eye.

Fell on the concrete
steps when he was six.

You sound like
you just read the file.

You ever do a missing kid?

Yeah, my partner,
Shelby, retired to Florida.

Once, twice a year,
he used to call about it.

Couldn't let it alone.

Good detective.
Prostate cancer...

Only 68.

Case alive again?
We found the kid.

Logan: Bones in the
basement of a building.

Same block as the kid lived on.

Yeah, we figured somebody
in the neighborhood.

You got a gay
couple in the file?

My notes should
have been in there.

Two guys... 30s, 40s...

Lived on the block.

Connors, Conway,
something like that.

The other guy...

Some German name.

Couldn't make the case?

Uh, father was dead.

You find the mother?

Yeah, she was a teacher.
High school, West Side.

Teachers now, they
take early retirement.

20 years, move to the house
in Woodstock, never look back.

Keegan, Beverly.

Doris.

Okay.

Keegan, Doris, retired
last year, full pension.

Address?

718 Penrose, Fort
Lee, New Jersey.

When Tommy
disappeared, that was hard.

But you know what
was even harder?

When I gave up hope.

Every once in a while I
figure out how old he'd be.

What would he be doing? Hmm.

Married maybe?

Kids of his own...

My grandchildren.

Do you remember
who lived at 583?

It's been a long time.

About that day...?

I was getting my masters degree.

I left class. I went
to get Tommy.

He was in the schoolyard.

He said he was going
to play with his friends.

I didn't give him a kiss.

I didn't want to embarrass him.

I never saw him again.

Did anybody walk
him home that day?

Hospitals,

all the kids' parents,

the police, I called.

It took me years to move.

Well, I wanted to be there.

He might come home.

Mrs. Keegan...

the two men who
lived on that block?

The ones the police suspected?

Did they do it?

Do you remember their names?

No.

I thought I'd never forget them.

But after a while I realized

if you keep remembering,
you can't live.

Yeah, yeah, thanks.

No reverse phone
directories before '65.

If we're going to find out
who lived in that building

we're going to have to
knock on a lot of doors.

Yeah, you have an address?

Thank you.

Okay, 1962,

Con Ed had one
account in the building.

Now there's a different
address, still active.

Carl Lawler, Perry Street.

It was our first apartment.

- God, it was small.
- Barely room for a bed.

The police came that night.

We were at work. We
couldn't tell them anything.

Who else lived in the building?

Carl: Nice couple in the
duplex. They had a daughter.

You knew them, hon.

Yeah, he was in insurance.

Messimer, Catherine Messimer.
I don't remember his name.

What about the other
apartment on your floor?

Uh, Dorfman and Conover.

Not married?

Two men... a couple.

We wondered, but we thought it
was awful to suspect them at first.

Have you seen them since?

Herald House... the publisher.
That's where they worked.

Ed Conover was an editor.

They used to bring
us books sometimes.

I don't know how
you'd find them now.

They'd be, what, 70, 75?

Logan: It's like chasing ghosts.

30 years, people disappear.

Dorfman, one of the two
guys, died nine years ago.

Conover left,
publisher's got no record.

A lot of Conovers in
the book, but not our Ed.

- Yellow sheets?
- Cerreta: You were hoping
maybe for armed robbery?

- Nothing.
- Find the other couple. Maybe they know.

Messimer, no current listing.

Our friends at the phone
company, let's go see them.

Logan: Plaza 5.

Butterfield 8.

Elizabeth Taylor
and Eddie Fisher.

Numbers still had
names in those days, huh?

My parents were Lexington
2, my uncle was Chelsea 3.

Here's '67 and '68.

Thank you.

Messimer, Thad,
still lived there in '65.

Not in '67.

391 Central Park West.

Messimer's gone ages ago.

What did the Lawlers say?
He worked in insurance?

Great, there's only a couple
of thousand insurance agents.

The daughter...
She could tell you.

They gave her the
apartment. Miss Atkinson, 14A.

Atkinson is my
ex-husband's name. I kept it.

You grew up on East 84th Street?

Yes.

This little boy,

Tommy Keegan.

Do you remember him?

For years after he disappeared

I was afraid to go outside
without my parents.

Eight years old and still
holding a grown-up's hand.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Excuse me, I need
a glass of water.

The paramedic can
be here in a minute.

Honestly, no.

Just looking at the
picture I felt sick,

thinking how Tommy died.

Everybody assumed, I mean...

It was logical he was murdered.

Wasn't he?

Why are you asking
about him now?

We found his remains
in the basement

of the building you grew up in.

Oh my God.

Can you remember
anything about that day?

The police talked to
me after he disappeared.

We must have played together.

I'm sure I saw him, but...

it's very long ago.

Did you know the two men
who lived on the fourth floor?

Their names were
Dorfman and Conover.

I'm sorry.

I think they gave
Tommy some books.

Do you think your
parents might remember?

They moved out of
the city to Harrison.

They bought a house.

In the basement?

No wonder she fainted.

Catherine: Maybe
we should call her.

It was terrible.

You realized it could
be your own child.

Yes.

- The couple upstairs?
- Thad: The Lawlers.

Carl and...

what was her name, Julia, Jane?

The other couple.

Oh, in those days we
didn't call them a couple.

We wouldn't want
to speak ill of them,

the way they were, but...

Tell them, Thad.

Six months later,
the younger one...

What was his name?

Conover, Ed.

Thad: He worked
for a youth group.

Church on 93rd.

St. Lucius.

We heard...

he approached the boy.

Man: The boy who
made the accusation,

he was trouble. I felt he was...

He had heard about
the other incidents,

was wanting attention.

So you think Conover
was innocent?

In the case of the missing boy?

He was never charged...

My understanding of the
law, that makes him innocent.

Reverend, why don't you try not
to judge us, save us a little trouble?

He was a good
counselor to those kids.

But in most people's
eyes, a lot of them,

he was automatically guilty.

Are you still in touch with him?

30 years ago, suspicion
almost destroyed Conover's life.

- Do you want to put
him through that again?
- If he's guilty, yes.

- If he's innocent?
- As you said, he survived it once.

Three blocks away.
Carrington Nursing Home.

But you did know the Keegan kid?

You think I don't know
what you're thinking?

All gays molest kids.

I think you will find that cops know
most child molesters are straight.

So why don't you
just help us out here?

I don't have to tell
you one damn thing.

No, you don't, but we
could get a subpoena.

And I get a lawyer.

Let's talk about the basement.

You want the truth?

Tommy...

we took him down there,
tortured him, killed him.

Used to do one a week.

You're a laugh
riot, Mr. Conover.

You know what else isn't funny?

You. Go to hell!

70? Last time we
did one that old,

it was a Nazi for the INS.

I'd say this one'd be
about as easy to convict.

You got his name
on the ace of spades?

He had access to the basement
and he knew the Keegan kid.

I mentioned him
to Julie Atkinson,

she got a funny look on
her face. She fogged all up.

So? Are you saying she
knows he killed the kid

but she's trying to
protect him? Why?

How did Conover react?

Logan: He told us to go to hell.

Well, at least he's got a
way with words. Ideas?

Let's see what
Atkinson comes up with.

Place him at the scene.

Thanks.

I don't understand. The
case must be closed by now.

Well, there's no statute
of limitations on homicide.

But you told me you
didn't know if it was murder.

That's why we'd like
you to come down

and spend a couple of hours
going over everything that happened.

You know, a lead can
come from anywhere.

I'm sorry.

It's a busy time of year.

Okay.

Kid's been dead for 30 years.

One more abandoned case.

Nobody really cares
now except the mother.

Thanks anyway.

Me? I can't contact
her. It's improper.

We pushed her. It didn't work.

It's not only improper,
it's ineffective.

The woman has to trust me.

I'll tell you something,
if we don't get Conover,

we can bury those bones
in the case along with it.

Logan, woman asking for you.

Hey.

You said I could help.

Yeah, listen,

thanks for coming by.

There's someone
I'd like you to meet.

Miss Atkinson,
this is Dr. Olivet.

She's a police
department psychiatrist.

Hi.

Hi.

For the first hour she didn't
remember even seeing the boy.

- Logan: What about Conover?
- Nothing.

She has this recurrent image...

Red and blue.

She came back to it twice

but she doesn't
know what it means.

What was the Keegan kid wearing?

Green shirt, khakis,
black sneakers.

How screwed up is she?

I'd say severely.

And she says she
never saw a shrink?

She also says she's
basically a happy person.

What about hypnosis?

Unreliable and almost
impossible to get admitted in court.

Well, not if she doesn't
implicate herself.

If she gives us a lead and we
corroborate it, we don't need her in court.

Yeah, but we put her under,

and then we end up needing her,

we'll never get
her on the stand.

- Is she coming back?
- We opened a vein.

She might want to close it.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

My feeling... she wants to know.

Any idea what this
red and blue is?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Red and blue? You're joking.

In a murder investigation
I don't go for laughs.

Well, it could be anything.

Clothes, toys,
the American flag.

The day the boy was missing,

do you remember if anything...

unusual happened to Julie?

An ordinary night.

I had a PTA meeting.

I came home from
work, I put Julie to bed.

She had a cold.

If you could persuade
her to talk to us again...

We...

I don't know if we
could convince her.

Our psychiatrist feels that
Julie may know something,

though not consciously.

We're not telling
Julie to do something

she doesn't want to do.

Dad says I had a
cold, I'm sure he's right.

Beautiful plants, orchids.

But they need a lot of care.

Maybe you could
give us another hour?

Detective, if you could say an
eight-year-old has a boyfriend,

mine was Tommy.
But I can't help you.

Julie, the red and the
blue you mentioned.

You asked me to meet
with Dr. Olivet, I did.

Mrs. Atkinson,
a little boy died.

30 years ago.

That's right.

But what if it had
been yesterday?

Will you do us a favor?
Will you try again?

Just one more shot.

Olivet: Did you come here with
Tommy the day he disappeared?

On the way home from school.

And then you started walking?

I hid the candy...

because Daddy didn't like
me to eat them before dinner.

And Tommy had a baseball.

No, a football.

And he kept throwing it to Ed.

Conover was with you?

No. He was just
sitting on the stoop

when we got to the
house. I hated that.

What did you hate?

When he'd sit on the stoop.

I'd always have
to walk around him.

Did he say anything?

No, he just...

I don't know.

It made me feel creepy

and uncomfortable.

And then what happened?

We went into the house.

My room was right over here.

My toy chest was
always by the door.

Do you remember
having dinner that night?

My mom probably left something.

She always did when
she wasn't home.

And then you got sick

and you went to bed?

My pajamas were always
hanging on the back of the door.

I had to go to the bathroom.

I wanted to brush my teeth.

Yeah, the bathroom...

was right down here.

Oh...

no.

Oh my God.

What is it, Julie?

Oh, oh!

The blue and the red.

What's blue and red?

The sweater.

What sweater?

Daddy's sweater.

He's washing it
out here in the tub

and it's all covered

with blood.

A daughter, some bones
in a basement, and that's it?

I'll bet anything Dad's a kinko.

And no record.

The shrink believes
the daughter.

Indict him, maybe he wets
his pants and confesses.

And maybe he hits the city
with a false arrest charge,

and the Attorney General
has to settle with him.

I'm Messimer. I got
a 65-year-old wife,

a daughter who's
not talking to me,

and I'm possibly facing 25
years-to-life. What do I do?

You go to Costa Rica and you drink
piña coladas with 20-year-old bimbos.

Pick him up. Take his passport.

I want to talk with Olivet.

I'm not saying she's a
picture of mental health.

She's not committable?

From what I can tell,

this father jerked this
woman around like a yo-yo,

bartered affection,
controlled her like a robot.

But she's functional.

Building a case on her,

it's a thin tightrope, no net.

I've been wrong...
not this time.

- You want to take a pass on this?
- Not if he did it.

She's telling the truth.

And as a witness?

The jury might not believe her.

What are we talking about?

She'll fall apart on the stand?

Anything's possible.

Stone: We're just trying
to make you understand

that being a witness
won't be easy.

Being me isn't easy,
witness or otherwise.

Please, Mrs. Atkinson,

pretend you're the jury.

What do you see? A
child attacking her parents.

Robinette: How long have
you been estranged from them?

When I was 28,

I moved to Chicago.

I got married, I got divorced.

I came home, my father
said, "I told you so."

Then I moved to San Francisco.

I got married, I got
divorced, and I came home.

My father said, "When are you
going to learn to listen to me?"

Two years ago,

the last time I came home,

I stopped talking to my father.

I didn't know why then.

Now I'm beginning
to understand it all.

My concern is not only for you.

We prosecute your
father, it falls apart,

we look irresponsible.

I told you I'll testify.

You're going to be portrayed
in the media and the courtroom

as an unhappy, overwrought,
vindictive daughter.

Maybe I'm not the
happiest person in the world.

Maybe I won't be.

But I'll survive.

She imagined this, Mr. Stone.

We have an obligation
to investigate.

At the expense of
my client's reputation?

This man has led
an exemplary life.

Or he hasn't, and
nobody caught him.

You can't believe I killed
an eight-year-old child.

We do love our daughter,

but Julie's had difficulties.

Lawyer: This gets out of hand,

you're risking a suit for
malicious prosecution.

If we feel we have a case,
we have to take the risk.

What about the risk to Julie?

What's happening here

is an abuse of the system,

an abuse of your office,

and an abuse of my daughter.

And an abuse of a
child, Tommy Keegan.

Thad.

If I read about
this in the papers,

if you try to smear me...

Catherine.

Try to keep it
out of the papers.

A civil suit could be very
messy in an election year.

What have you got?

Genuine Life and Casualty.

He got fired, they
won't discuss it.

I'll have Adam talk with them.

Are you doubting
he killed the kid?

If I did, I'm
doubting a lot less.

Robinette: Vice
president back then?

You must have been pretty young.

How well did you know Messimer?

You understand
this is off the record?

Subpoena me, I won't
repeat it under oath.

I don't want to be sued.

Messimer.

Not a water cooler man.

Kept to himself.

But you fired him personally?

A couple of meetings, major
clients, you couldn't see it,

but let's just say the
mints didn't cover the smell.

He kept getting jobs.

Some men drown in booze,

some swim in it.

Who knew him well?

He had a buddy... Gil Lindon.

Fired him, too.

They never said fired.

Not to your face, no.

They called it
"mutual termination."

Tell me,

is Messimer in trouble, huh?

Was his a mutual
termination, too?

That man could sell fire
insurance to Eskimos,

even putting away
three or four at lunch.

He have any other problems?

What do they say?

Too late we grow smart.

We drank.

I took the 12 steps out
of the bar. It's history.

Grow smart now, Mr. Lindon.

Tell me something,

what did Messimer do? Kids?

You know, right before we
were "mutually terminated,"

we were coming
back from a client.

Train station, Stanford.

Thad goes into the
can, doesn't come back.

I go in after him,
there's a cop in there.

Some kid, 14, 15,

says Messimer made a pass.

That gives you motive. He
molested Tommy, then killed him.

The Connecticut
records still there?

Sealed. Get it unsealed.

Charges were dropped.

I sent up a "show cause" order.

Boy's name, Joseph Kelly.

He's an administrator
at Mercy Hospital.

Go see him.

It wasn't just him,

I must have given him the eye.

I probably wanted
him to come onto me.

The case never went to trail.

My parents suspected I was gay.

It comes out I'm hanging
around the station...

The neighbors
hear about it, well...

So they said you
wouldn't testify?

When I was in my
20s, I went to a shrink.

He said guys like
that, it's not about sex.

It's about power.

Lots of them don't even
care if it's boys or girls,

just somebody
they could control.

Mr. Kelly,

do you remember exactly
what Messimer did?

Offered me 20 bucks.

I almost said yes.

Something in his eyes,

even a kid can tell.

When I turned him down

he got real upset.

Grabbed my arm, said 50 bucks.

The more I said no,
the crazier he looked.

Yes, well, that's
all very interesting,

and useless at trial.

Messimer wasn't
convicted of anything.

- I'll bring it in somehow.
- What, pattern crime?

It's not even close.

Even if he had been convicted,

this isn't Palm Beach.

You can't use previous history.

And without it, you
can't prove motive.

They've got to open
the character issue,

then we can bring in Kelly.

Messimer's reputation as
a totally respectable citizen

is their only card.

What's the operating
principle here?

Doug Greer is a fool?
Messimer is stupid?

Guaranteed he
told Doug about this.

They're not going to bring
in any character witnesses?

Schiff: He won't defend himself.

20-to-one he never
tries to make a case.

How many times he did
it we'll never know about.

Maybe you molest
once and never again,

but twice, it's a compulsion.
We've got to nail him.

Let me have that, will you?

Thanks. Yeah?

Hmmm.

Yes.

It's Olivet.

Mother got to Julie. She
doesn't want to testify.

Oh, man.

Liz, can you bring her in?

Okay, two hours.

I know what I told
you. I made a mistake.

And what did your mother say?

My memories must be mixed up.

She says my father loves me and
can't believe I'm doing this to him.

Stone: You two may
remember each other.

Mrs. Keegan.

You look wonderful, Julie.

Mrs. Keegan, I...

I need your help.

I can't.

He killed Tommy.

Olivet: Julie, your father
can't hurt you anymore.

The only power he has over
you is the power you give him.

Please.

Docket number 45721,

the People versus
Thaddeus Messimer.

The charge is murder
in the second degree.

Is the defendant
ready to enter a plea?

Not guilty.

Judge: Mr. Robinette?

Your Honor, the defendant's
economic situation

allows for the real
possibility of flight.

The People request $500,000 bail

and that the defendant
surrender his passport.

Your Honor, the prosecutor's
information is so...

shall we say perfunctory,

the People's request
seems extreme.

Mr. Greer, your client will
surrender his passport to the clerk.

Your Honor, we have no
objection. But in that case, bail...

$300,000, half in cash,

half secured bond. Next.

This has gone too far.

The case is preposterous, Ben.

Anybody could have
broken into that house.

Wait a minute, you kill a child,

drag him to a stranger's
house, stick him in a wall?

I'm filing a motion
for dismissal.

We're presenting
to the grand jury.

I'll file to quash.

My daughter...

is a lovely, sweet woman

who is very disturbed.
Don't make her worse.

Stop manipulating her,
maybe she'll feel better.

And disturbed or not,
a jury will believe her.

Do you know what a trial
does to this man's life?

Spare him the horror.

Manslaughter one,
eight and a third-to-25.

You can't be serious.

A 30-year-old crime,

and a case that doesn't
dignify the word evidence?

Doug, there is nothing
dignified about this case.

Not the evidence, not the
crime, not the defendant.

Your key witness... I
wouldn't count on her.

You know where she took
her summer vacation last year?

Bellevue... the
psychiatric ward.

Every word, your memories,

your attitude toward
your parents...

All of it comes into question.

I'm sorry. A psychiatric
ward is embarrassing.

A trial can be embarrassing.
Not just to your father, to you.

I can handle it.

It was a transient episode.
She was there three weeks.

The jury hears
words like paranoia,

suicidal depression...

They are there to be judgmental.

My breakdown helped me.

Everything I kept inside
started to come out.

Julie, if there is anything
else he should know...

And for your sake.

My father's on trial, not me.

The credibility
of your testimony

is what is on trial.

All my secrets
are out, Mr. Stone.

And my parents', too.

The skull had a lateral unaligned
fracture 12 centimeters long.

Could that have been
caused by a fall... an accident?

No, the skull was hit
directly by a heavy object.

Thank you. Your witness.

Mr. Huston, if a boy
crawled inside a wall,

and an ordinary red brick

like the ones found near
the bones you examined...

If a brick fell
eight or 10 feet,

could it leave a fracture
like you described?

- It's possible...
- Thank you, no further questions.

Possible, but
extremely unlikely.

No further questions.

Keegan: He never really
had much of a father.

Tommy was only four
when my husband died.

Did your son have a
relationship with the defendant?

I worried about the lack

of a father figure for Tommy,

so I was happy

to see Thad befriend Tommy.

What did you personally witness

of your son's relationship
with the defendant?

Thad would... tap
him on the head

and tell him he
was big and strong,

grow up to be a football player.

He took him to a
Giants game once

with his daughter.

Tommy came home

with one of the
player's autographs.

Thank you. No further questions.

Mrs. Keegan,

did you tell the police

about Mr. Messimer's
relationship with your son?

No. Why?

It didn't seem unusual to you?

No.

What made you change your mind?

Well...

nothing made me change my mind.

Did Tommy ever complain to you
after he spent time with Mr. Messimer?

Did he seem troubled? Moody?

No.

Did you have a close
relationship with your son?

Did he confide in you?

As much as children do.

Thank you, no further questions.

No, wait!

You're trying to make
this seem as... as...

Your Honor.

The witness is excused.

But I trusted Thad.
I had no idea...

Mrs. Keegan, please, step down.

Repression is a well-understood

psychological mechanism.

Memories too painful to bear

are excluded from
conscious awareness.

Can you explain the
appearance of memories

after being repressed
for so many years?

As a person grows up

and is psychologically capable
of coping with a painful event,

the memories break through.

Thank you. No further questions.

Dr. Olivet,

don't we often think we remember
things that never happened?

Sometimes.

But repressed memories
of traumatic events

are usually accurate.

Are you familiar with the work

of a psychiatrist named
Abraham Trigonis?

Yes.

Tell the court Dr. Trigonis's
theory of childhood memories.

Dr. Trigonis believes

that many adult
memories of childhood

are to some extent an amalgam
of fantasy and wish fulfillment.

And yet you just said adult
memories of childhood are accurate.

What I said was
repressed memories

of traumatic
events are accurate,

especially when remembering
brings on a new trauma.

Repressed memories?
Adult memories?

It's certainly confusing
and abstract to me.

No further questions.

Thad: This is blackmail.

No, this is your meeting.

Spare his daughter
further suffering,

Mr. Messimer will consider
a plea with the record sealed.

I'm sure Mr. Messimer
knows all about sealed records.

Don't force this, Ben. I'll
demolish that woman on the stand.

Oh, I get it.

He cares about her,
but you'll demolish her.

Criminally negligent
homicide. He does no time.

No time for killing a child?

Who's blackmailing whom?

Manslaughter one, same offer.

I love my daughter,

but I'm not going to prison

for a crime I didn't commit.

Olivet: She'll be here, relax.

She falls apart on the stand,
she'll blow us right out of the water.

What do you think
she does to herself?

Her breakdown was
what... A year ago?

Let's just hope this doesn't
give her another one.

Are you okay?

My father was waiting for me
last night in front of my building.

He begged me
not to say anything.

He told me it would
be better for me.

Not him, me.

All those years...

and I wondered what
was wrong with me.

I'll be okay.

Stone: And why did you
seek psychiatric help?

I was depressed. I
had thoughts of suicide.

Were you ever hospitalized
for emotional problems?

About a year ago
for three weeks.

I suffered from
paranoid delusions.

Do you still suffer from them?

No.

Uh, Mrs. Atkinson,

please tell us what happened

the day Tommy
Keegan disappeared.

Tommy and I left school together

and stopped at a
corner candy store,

and then we started home.

Mom was at work

and my dad was
waiting at the front door.

And what else do you recall?

I didn't feel very well,

so I went to bed early.

My dad brought me some warm milk

and I fell asleep.

But I woke up to
go to the bathroom

and I wanted to brush my teeth,

so I went down the hall.

The bathroom door was ajar.

I heard water running...

I pushed the door open...

and I saw...

I saw...

What did you see?

My dad...

was kneeling at the tub

and he was washing
out a blue sweater.

The sweater was all bloody

and his hands were bloody.

I said, "Daddy, did
you hurt yourself?"

I... wanted him

to tell me everything
was all right.

And what did he do?

He turned to me...

Blood was smeared on his face.

And he had a look

like he was going to hit me.

He looked like a
monster in a movie

with his eyes all bulged out.

Did he say anything?

I don't remember
anything after that.

Thank you.

Your witness.

Prior to the past two
months, Mrs. Atkinson,

when did you last
see your parents?

Two years ago.

Two years! A long time.

Did your parents
treat you badly?

I didn't see them

because it was
painful to talk to them.

Oh, why?

You feel your
parents don't love you?

No, I'm sure they do.

With your testimony, are you trying
to get back at them for some reason?

Objection!

Maybe you made this
up to get their attention.

Sustained, Mr. Greer,

that's enough along those
lines, move on to something else.

Didn't you recall the
testimony you gave today

only with the help
of a psychiatrist

who works for the police
department of New York City?

I just took a walk with her.

You just took a walk...

and suddenly you remember
what happened 31 years ago?

- Did your Bellevue delusions
include images of blood?
- No.

- Or bathtubs? Or your
father trying to hurt you?
- No, you don't understand.

Oh, I understand!

I understand that you've
always resented your father

because he told you hard truths you
didn't want to hear. Isn't that the truth?

- My father and I...
- Oh, come on.

This is... come on, come on.

Didn't your father forbid you
to see a boy in high school

who subsequently
made you pregnant?

In fact, hasn't your
whole life been a disaster?

Divorces, abortions...

Your Honor!

Mr. Greer!

No more questions.

Greer: He doesn't want
her on the stand again.

My heart goes out to him.

Tomorrow, on redirect,

I'm asking Julie if he
told her not to testify.

I'll object.

He tampered with
a witness, Doug.

If he even gets
near her again...

I was tempted
to revoke his bail.

That's a stretch.

He practically asked
her to commit perjury.

Forget stretch,

that's a leap across
the Grand Canyon.

I haven't changed my mind, Doug.

Manslaughter one.

He still insists he
didn't kill the boy.

Fine.

Does he want to
let a jury decide?

Mr. Greer?

Your Honor, with the
Court's permission,

the defendant wishes to withdraw
his previously entered plea

and plead guilty to the charge of
manslaughter in the first degree.

Mr. Stone?

The People agree, Your Honor,

with a sentence of eight
and a third-to-25 years

as a condition of the plea.

Mr. Messimer, you
are pleading guilty

to manslaughter in the
death of Thomas Keegan.

Did you in fact commit the crime

with which you're charged?

Yes.

For the record,

tell the Court how you
committed the crime.

I hit him.

It was a lug wrench
next to the boiler.

I hit him on the head.

I saw that he was dead and I...

I put him inside the wall.

I'm sorry.

The plea agreement
is so entered.

He would have been convicted.

He'd have done 25.

He's 65 years old, and I didn't
want his daughter waking up

with nightmares for
the rest of her life.

And now she knows for
sure... She didn't imagine it.