"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous." "In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit." "These are their stories." "What'd she say?" "Mom won't budge." "Your arraignment's tomorrow, so if you can post bond you'll only be in the Tombs for the night." "What do you think they'll ask for?" "Probably more than you got." "What if I can't make bail?" "Then you go to Rikers till your trial." "Look, just let me talk to Mrs. Parks." "I'll try to make her understand." "It's not gonna help." "She's on fire." "She wants you to pay for what you did to her daughter." "I love Sara." "Look, she's pregnant, and I want to marry her." "She was 15 when you took her to bed." "You're 21." "In case you haven't heard, there are laws against that." "So there's nothing I can do." "Serve your time." "If you're lucky, you'll be out in 18 months." "Gentlemen, your stay here is short, but will feel like a lifetime if you make trouble." "I will not listen to pleas of innocence, police brutality, entrapment or evidence tampering." "Save it for Legal Aid." "You'll be fingerprinted, photographed, cavity searched and assigned a cell." "Chow is at 7:00, noon and 6:00." "Lights out at 9:30." "Have a nice day." "Spread them." "What's that God-awful smell?" "Jailhouse perfume, bitch." "Get used to it." "He's in my bed." "There's a free bunk right over there." "You have a problem?" "On your feet, mark." "I said move it!" "Brute." "Is that blood?" "Guard!" "Guard, help!" "Guard!" "Hey!" "Hey, you got a problem in there, baby?" "It only hurts the first time, baby." "Where's the crime scene?" "Block H." "The M.E. is with the body, and one of your detectives is interrogating the cell mates." "How many prisoners did you move?" "Ten." "We only cleared the flanking cells." "Okay, I need their names and their sheets." "Yes, ma'am." "It's starting to get to me." "The dead bodies?" "The animals rattling their cages." "Where's your partner?" "He's at a VICAP seminar, making nice with the Feds." "What's his story?" "Sodomized with a foreign object." "Bled out internally." "Probably perforated his colon." "Oh!" "Victim's name is Carlos Torres." "Tomb intake record shows he's only been here eight hours." "One visit to the infirmary." "Liver temp is 96, so that means he's only been dead four, maybe five hours, tops." "Just you and Torres in the cell, and you didn't speak to him?" "I said, "Hi. "" "I won't repeat what he said to me." "Did he hurt your feelings?" "He's Dominican." "They're animals." "You got a temper yourself, Ortega." "Three domestic disturbance calls in the last two weeks, and the last one, you knifed your lover." "He hit me first." "How's he look?" "Ortega claims Torres wanted nothing to do with him 'cause he was gay." "Given the jailhouse routine, not many people had access." "There are ways around the system if you got a fever to rack up Dominican bodies." "You thinking this is Mexicans against Dominicans?" "It's easier to get got on the inside." "Nowhere to run." "Mexicans transport the drugs, Dominicans distribute." "Everybody just wants a bigger piece." "Which is why we computerized our tracking system to keep them apart." "But it doesn't always work." "No system is foolproof." "Any Mexicans waiting for court transfer?" "Three, but they're all in different cellblocks." "Any chance they had access to our victim?" "I don't see how, since inmate movements are restricted." "Torres didn't move from his cell at all." "He went to the infirmary." "Right, after the processing." "Then he was assigned a cell and locked down." "Hold on." "I spoke too soon." "Hector Ramirez went to the infirmary complaining about a bad tooth." "Was he escorted to the nurse while Torres was there?" "Their visits overlapped." "I'm sorry." "Okay, what's Ramirez in for?" "Murder." "What else?" "I'll have a guard bring him to a holding cell." "What's up, bacon?" "Carlos Torres." "Yeah, I heard he bought it." "Should be stiff by now, right?" "You think it's funny?" "Yeah, puerca." "Laugh a minute." "Well, how's this for a punch line?" "You don't cooperate with us and I will make it my business to have the guards house you in cellblock B." "One cage is as good as the next." "B- block is Dominican deep." "I don't think they'd like what you did to their brother." "Wasn't me." "Hector, I think you forced your way into the infirmary." "I don't think there's anything wrong with your tooth." "These your teeth or mine?" "I was hurting." "We talk to the nurse, what's she gonna say?" "You give me too much credit, man." "I didn't know the mark was even gonna be in the infirmary." "Opportunity knocked." "Torres is Dominican, you're Mexican." "This is an easy close." "Yeah, if you make it up." "We didn't have to." "We checked your prison records." "Seems you get off forcing your fellow inmates to bend over." "What'd you rape him with, Hector?" "Something real handy in the infirmary, like a mop or a broom?" "I only went up there to get next to the nurse." "Got a long bid this time." "I won't be seeing ladies for a while." "What makes you think that the nurse would even talk to you?" "If she had been by herself," "I would have made her do more than just talk." "I knew he was lying right away." "He had no abscesses, no redness or swelling." "Was Hector Ramirez ever left alone with the victim?" "No." "He spent the entire time harassing me." "What was wrong with Torres?" "I had no idea he had a serious injury." "And when he came in for vomiting, I checked his vitals." "He had a slight fever." "I thought he had a flu, so I gave him some Pepto." "He said he felt better." "Who escorted him?" "An intake guard, Nathan Duarte." "And he seemed pretty steamed, too." "Not that I blame him." "What was he mad about?" "Uh, Torres was calling him some ugly names." "Uh..." "Homo, faggot, pillow." "You get the gist." "Guards got to be thick-skinned." "Except for Nathan." "Another guard just outed him not too long ago." "How long was Torres here?" "Nathan took him to the shower right after I gave him the medicine, and I could hear Torres screaming down the hallway." "He did not want Nathan to touch him." "I'm already late to post, so what gives?" "I heard you had beef with Carlos Torres." "He was hard to deal with." "No more than any other hump coming through." "I heard it got a little personal between you two." "Not at all, Detective." "I've been called a lot worse by some of my lesser evolved co-workers." "Still must have bugged you." "This isn't exactly a nurturing environment." "I learned a long time ago not to take it personally." "You escorted Torres to the showers straight from the infirmary?" "Yeah." "He puked all over himself after he left the nurse." "Was anyone else in the shower when you got there?" "No." "Why?" "Anybody come in while you were there?" "I don't believe this." "I'm a suspect because I'm gay." "No, it's because you were the last person who had access to the victim." "And since I'm the sodomy expert," "I did this to teach the homophobe a lesson." "Is that your theory?" "I didn't touch the little creep." "He took a shower, he got dressed, I took him to his assigned cell." "That's it." "What time did you sign out?" "A little after midnight, and I went straight home." "Can anyone vouch that you didn't come back here?" "His name is Chris Hartford." "He's a Legal Aid attorney." "Who is it?" "It's the police." "Let's see that again." "Which precinct?" "Manhattan SVU." "Sex crimes." "What's this about?" "We're looking for Chris Hartford." "Why are you looking for my husband, Detective?" "Is he here?" "Chris?" "Police." "How can I help you?" "Why don't we take this out of the hallway?" "Come inside." "It'd probably be best if we could speak with you privately, Mr. Hartford." "What about?" "Nathan Duarte." "Chris?" "I'll just be a minute." "It's client privilege." "It's all right." "What kind of trouble is he in?" "We just need to verify his whereabouts last night." "Uh, you have to understand, this doesn't happen all the time." "We get together when my wife's out of town." "It's not what you think." "Okay, we're not looking for an explanation, just a time frame." "I was with him from about 1:00 a. m." "To 6:00." "Okay." "You can go back to your family." "Thank you." "You almost done with the autopsy?" "Not yet." "But I can give you cause of death." "I recovered wooden splinters from his rectum." "The foreign object was introduced with such force that it put a hole in his colon." "How much time would it have taken to bleed out?" "Hours." "Blood clot at the site held for a while, until it blew." "So you're saying the attack didn't happen at the Tombs." "Doesn't seem likely." "The nurse and the guard said he was sick at the intake desk." "I found evidence of peritonitis." "An infection like that will cause nausea, vomiting and a temperature spike." "Liver temp was 96, TOD was four hours earlier, so he had a 101 degree fever." "So he arrived at the Tombs before midnight and was dead by 4:00 a. m., 5:00 at the latest." "He was bleeding internally before he got transferred." "A cop must've sodomized him inside the precinct." "Are we sure our perp is a cop?" "I mean, maybe his injuries occurred prior to his arrest." "Well, the 61 says that Carlos Torres was arrested at 8:00 p. m." "He didn't arrive at the Tombs until around midnight." "He was sick when he got there." "He went to the nurse, the showers, then to bed and never woke up." "Where was he processed?" "29." "Who were the arresting officers?" "Les Cooper and Randall Grant." "I'll have their jackets pulled." "John Royce is the commanding officer." "See him first." "I'll tell him you're on your way." "Great." "Log book for the day shows the collar was routine." "Torres was cuffed at 8:00 and transported around 11:30." "Three and a half hours your average booking time?" "It depends on the arrest." "This was pretty straightforward, though, even though he resisted and assaulted one of my men." "Who was that?" "Luke Edmunds." "He was put out on medical right after the brawl." "He'll be out the rest of the week." "Was it serious?" "Took a blow to the head." "What can you tell us about the arresting officers?" "They're pretty straight-up cops." "Grant's a rookie, so the jury's still out." "Cooper gets the job done." "Not always the way you like it." "Coop's a little free with his hands." "This precinct's right in the center of drug turf." "Sometimes you got to flex on the players to get their attention." "Not in my precinct." "Where are Cooper and Grant now?" "Sector car Charlie." "I'd like to avoid taking them out of rotation while I'm shorthanded." "Officer Grant, how you doing?" "Detective Benson, Tutuola." "Can we talk to you guys for a minute?" "Sure, what can we do for you?" "What can you tell us about Carlos Torres?" "Shocking when a drug dealing gangbanger shows up dead, huh?" "You had run-ins with him before?" "Sure." "We arrested him three, four times in the last month." "Guy was made of Teflon." "Must be pretty frustrating." "One time a judge threw out the crack we pinched him with because we found it in his mouth." "Said it was an illegal search." "So you tell me, would you be frustrated?" "Yeah, but not enough to take him out." "And just so we're clear, the arrest went by the book." "What happened that night?" "There was a street brawl outside the Club Rendezvous." "It's a trouble spot." "Four sector cars showed up to disperse the crowd." "Torres got caught in the mix." "But once he took a swing at Officer Edmunds that was it." "Threw him in the back of the blue and white, put the bracelets on him, headed to the house." "You guys make any stops?" "Well, we didn't have time to tune him up, if that's what you're thinking." "No, our call came in at 7:00, booking started at 8:00." "Took that long to control the scene." "It's a real problem, that place." "Dominicans and Mexicans ever mix it up in here?" "Not inside." "All players are welcome here." "The club's a safe haven." "As far as I heard, there's no such thing between Mexicans and Dominicans." "That's where you're wrong, Detective." "Even a gangster needs a safe place to take his woman." "You know him?" "Carlos Torres." "Yeah, he was here that night with his girl." "Inside the club?" "Yeah, they was celebrating 'cause she was pregnant." "I remember, 'cause she asked for milk, but I don't serve it." "Okay." "You see him go outside?" "Not until the uniforms came up in here and got him." "When was that?" "Right before the street fight started." "Cooper and Grant had reason to hurt him." "They'd arrested him four times, and he kept skating on the charges." "So why not just whip his ass instead of tapping it?" "'Cause I think that the tune-up went too far." "I think Cooper and Grant took a nasty turn, now they have to cover for each other." "What does the evidence support?" "Well, Cooper and Grant didn't have time to do the deed pre-arrest." "Edmunds came in to back them up." "After Torres slugged him," "Cooper and Grant cuffed him and put him in the sector car." "Corroborated?" "By the other cops on the scene." "Central was notified that Torres was in custody." "Ten-minute ride back to the house, and the log book confirms it." "That's why it had to happen inside the precinct." "And how did they pull it off without witnesses?" "We've all done our time in uniform." "Cop gets hurt by a perp, you get a free shot." "Duty log has Officer Luke Edmunds reported to the hospital 8:00 p. m., blow to the head." "So the question is, did Edmunds go home or back to the precinct to teach Torres a lesson?" "I'll sit him down." "Fin, I want you with CSU to comb the 29." "Anything you find, walk through the lab." "That's a pretty big precinct." "You want to narrow it down?" "Well, to do that kind of damage takes privacy." "Let's start with the sector car, interrogation rooms and bathrooms." "You know, Carlos Torres is dead." "If you're trying to pinch me for it, don't I need my PBA rep?" "Actually, I just need your account of what happened that night." "It's in the 61, Detective." "Is it?" "Don't play games with me." "I do this for a living, the same as you." "Then why are you giving me a hard time?" "Look, I'm still in pain." "I didn't mean to snap." "I know you got a job to do, you got to clear your case, even though the hump had it coming." "And Torres deserved it because his charges always got dropped or because he hit you?" "This kind of high-stakes game, your number comes up eventually." "Doesn't matter if it's us or the streets." "Game over." "All right." "So what do you think happened?" "Some cellmate in the Tombs cornholed him." "Well, how do you know that's how he died?" "We haven't released that information." "Cops talk." "Well, then they didn't tell you the whole story." "You see, the evidence shows that he was attacked here, not in the Tombs." "So how do you explain that?" "I can't." "I got hurt and went to the hospital." "But the hospital released you at 8:45." "Where'd you go after that?" "Home." "Home." "Really?" "'Cause the desk sergeant said that you came back here to get something out of your locker." "Yeah, then I went home." "So, can I go?" "I think you're gonna need that PBA rep now." "The trail of blood leads out of the stall." "They sodomized Torres with whatever was handy." "Over here." "Looks like we just found our murder weapon." "Till we type it, blood could've come from anybody." "Came here straight from One P.P." "I'm surprised you can still sit." "Officer Edmunds gave his confession, wants to make a deal." "Public won't go for it." "They'll want that cop's head on a stake." "That's why the brass wants it kept quick and quiet." "But what about his accomplices?" "Torres and Edmunds weren't alone in that bathroom." "He had help." "That's not the way he tells it, Detective." "He understands he cooperates, he gets leniency." "He doesn't deserve it." "We make deals with perps all the time." "Cops should be held to a higher standard." "The Chief called the play." "The D.A.'s been notified." "It's done." "Murder two, Counselor." "We've got your client cold for depraved indifference." "That's 25-to-life." "And cops don't do too well in prison." "Depraved indifference for a dead gangbanger?" "It's laughable." "The victim isn't laughing." "In fact, he's dead." "Oh, don't be naive." "His miserable life would be fodder for the jury." "But no one wants that, right?" "So let's be reasonable." "Man two, eight-to-10." "Murder two, 12-to-25." "One-time offer." "I don't call that reasonable." "Your client sodomized someone so violently that he bled to death." "There is no way I'm going to offer anything less than double digits." "Okay." "Man two, 10-to-20." "Fine." "I don't like it." "Do I look like I'm having fun?" "Your boss and my boss just want to make this go away." "'Cause they want it business as usual." "But there is no way that Edmunds acted alone." "No proof he didn't." "Our victim was a gangster and a homophobe." "What Edmunds did to him is tantamount to his worst nightmare." "He would've kicked like a mule to make it stop." "You're thinking Torres was held down." "He had to be." "And whoever helped Edmunds do it is gonna walk." "Not if you find me evidence." "Then the deal is void." "Let me know." "I got my orders." "Officially, the case is closed." "Unofficially?" "Work fast and stay under the radar." "Good timing." "I just finished." "Please tell me you have evidence supporting more than one perp." "There had to be at least two." "Victim's got deep tissue bruising on both his hands and knees consistent with the mosaic tile in the precinct bathroom." "So he was on all fours." "Figures he had to be so Edmunds could have access." "He's also got a long cylindrical bruise across the back of his shoulders, indicating he was held down by force." "Nightstick to the neck?" "That would get the job done." "But Edmunds still could've worked alone." "Torres was cuffed." "Hey, he wasn't shackled." "So why didn't he fight back?" "The bruise is deep." "So someone else had to apply pressure by using all their weight." "We dump his phones." "We'll find out who he's covering for." "Look at this." "Here's another one." "That makes 55 calls between Edmunds and Cooper in the last three days." "They're trying to get their stories straight." "Phone calls don't put Cooper in that bathroom with Edmunds." "Forensics is not gonna help us, either." "Any trace evidence found on Torres can be explained by physical contact during the arrest." "Well, if Cooper and Edmunds were together, other cops had to see them." "And if One P.P. finds out we're still digging, they'll shut us down." "So stay out of the 29." "Focus on Edmunds." "Dig in his life." "You'll find a connecting thread to Cooper." "Lots of calls went to a residence, uh, registered to Stephanie Grayson." "Girlfriend?" "As much as he's paying in cell phone bills, she better be." "Well, let's find out how close they are." "There's no marital privilege, so the pillow talk is admissible." "I know Luke's been arrested, but no one will tell me what for." "How long have you known Officer Edmunds?" "I met him at the hospital when his brother OD'd." "I'm a nurse." "He took it really hard." "Parents were dead, he practically raised the kid himself." "How often did you see him?" "Whenever he wasn't working or on his breaks." "Did you meet any of his buddies?" "A few." "Why?" "Well, he might be taking the heat for some of them." "Is that possible?" "You know, maybe we should take this down to the precinct and get a more formal statement from you." "This is about that drug dealer, isn't it?" "Edmund's came up against quite a few, so you're going to have to be more specific with me if you want to help him." "All I know is his name was Vasquez." "Luke was hot for the guy." "Said he was moving too much weight and was slipping through the system." "And he hated drug dealers." "With a passion." "He said Vasquez was too slick to get pinched, so he tailed him to catch him in the act." "So what happened?" "Luke busted him with a gram, and then Vasquez pulled out a knife." "The only thing Luke could do was shoot him." "He was really messed up about it for a while." "Till I gave him a different perspective." "What was your take on it?" "He's a bad guy, a drug dealer, for God's sake." "Luke was saving someone else's kid brother." "Okay, got it." "Thanks." "Turns out the girlfriend wasn't making it up." "A drug dealer named Javier Vasquez expired two months ago." "Only he wasn't shot, his throat was slashed." "It hardly plays like self-defense." "Where was the body found?" "Dead in the center of the 29 territory." "Homicide detective mentioned a cylindrical bruise across his throat but not across his back." "Sounds like a chokehold to me." "Yeah, but two dead drug dealers still doesn't put anyone else in that bathroom with Edmunds." "I know, but pattern will." "Look, let's see if we can connect any other dealers to Edmunds and Cooper." "A jury'll buy they work together." "Okay, I'll check with Warner and have her pull any matching morgue files." "Okay, you know what?" "I'll meet you back at the squad." "What can I do for you today, Detective?" "I'd like to have another look at that duty roster." "What for?" "Investigation's closed." "Edmunds is in custody." "Actually, I'm working on another case." "What's that?" "I'm not at liberty to discuss it." "I'd just like to see the log book from two months ago." "Get authorization, come back." "I'll be here all day." "Get it straight, Sergeant." "I don't work for you." "I got a lead on an open homicide, and I'd like to check my facts before I pass it along." "What are you looking for?" "When a drug dealer named Vasquez was killed two months ago, which sector car responded?" "Two months ago?" "Yeah, the 27th." "Edmunds and Cooper were partnered that day." "How often did they ride together?" "All the time, until Cooper made field training officer last month." "Thank you." "Officer Cooper!" "Sweet ride." "What do you want, Detective?" "Is that a 'vette in your garage?" "You must be working a hell of a lot of overtime." "Give it a rest, huh?" "IAB wants to dig, fine." "I wanted to talk to you about Luke Edmunds." "There's nothing to say." "He's guilty." "I heard he pled out." "I just want to make sure it sticks." "Is there any reason why it shouldn't?" "A 20-year prison sentence is a pretty tough sell to a cop." "He could change his mind, make trouble." "So I dug in his background." "I talked to his girlfriend." "Yeah?" "She told a very interesting story about a drug dealer named Vasquez." "What about him?" "Claims that Edmunds shot him in self-defense." "You were partnered with him then, right?" "So?" "His throat was slashed." "How do you explain that?" "Some street punk wanted revenge." "We get to the scene, and Vasquez is carved up like a turkey." "So this is just your ex-partner playing like a hero to get laid?" "I met the woman." "She's a badge bunny." "Stories like this get her juiced up, you know what I'm saying?" "I find out that you're a murdering bastard, I'm gonna nail your ass." "You know what I'm saying?" "You went to the 29." "I can see the rumor mill's working overtime." "Who says cops don't communicate?" "What the hell are you trying to prove?" "Look, I was trying to cover your ass." "I didn't want you to get a rip from the bosses for insubordination." "You'll be lucky if they settle for just a rip." "I would've backed your play." "That's why I went alone." "Well, there's a detective from Fraud waiting." "You want to bring me up to speed?" "Well, I requested a look at our cops' financials, because from what I've seen, Cooper is living way above his means." "You think Edmunds has something to do with it." "Well, if he is, protecting a bankroll is a hell of a good reason to confess and stop any more digging." "Edmunds is clean." "Lives frugally, little savings, no assets." "You sure?" "Positive." "Now, your guy Cooper's a different story." "Reasonable mortgage, well within his paycheck limit." "Wife's a homemaker, kid's in public school, nothing to red flag." "But you're not buying it?" "Nope." "All of his assets are in his wife's name, car, condo in Boca, some other scattered real estate." "How'd this slip past IAB?" "Checked his tax return." "Trick is, claim Atlantic City winnings, he pays the taxes on it, no one's the wiser." "Well, can we prove that the money's not from gambling?" "We can check with the casinos." "Anything over $2,500 is reportable to the IRS." "How long will that take?" "More time than we've got." "Edmunds' allocution is scheduled for day after tomorrow." "Cooper's on the take, Edmunds isn't." "So why's he holding out?" "Maybe Edmunds didn't know what his ex-partner's been up to." "It's a statistical improbability that Mrs. Cooper won so much so often." "You know where the money's actually coming from?" "My guess, payment for some dead bodies." "What could not wait until tomorrow morning?" "I need a wiretap." "On who?" "Luke Edmunds' former partner, Les Cooper." "Is he involved in this?" "We think that he got paid to kill Carlos Torres and another drug dealer." "He's got way too much cash for a cop." "What about Edmunds?" "Drug dealers killed his brother." "See, Edmunds is doing it for revenge, Cooper's doing it for business." "Problem is, we don't know who Cooper's working for." "That's why I need a wiretap." "If I am going to wake up a judge," "I need something more compelling than a theory." "Cooper's finances aren't enough?" "Not without solid evidence of where that money came from." "Why are you still working on this?" "You're the one who told me to come to you if I had anything new." "Well, that was before IAB got involved." "It doesn't matter how you get your evidence, as long as you get it legally." "You are on a crusade to get Cooper." "You're damned right I am." "He's a murderer." "How many bodies do you think he racked up to pay for that new Mercedes?" "That's a good question." "Turns out you've got five open homicides with corresponding signatures to your victim." "One knife wound, one beaten and kicked to death, three were gunshots to the chest." "Common denominator's the deep bruising at the throat." "And they shared the same profession, slinging drugs." "Were the bodies found in the 29 precinct?" "Where else?" "Edmunds did it for revenge, but Cooper was getting paid." "You get any inquiries from anybody other than us?" "Chief of Detectives called, notifying me that Homicide detectives from Manhattan North would be in to collect the files." "I guess the rumors of your visit to the precinct made it to the bosses." "Well, let's see what they have to say about a cop killing off drug dealers for profit." "You've got to vacate Edmunds' deal, Alex." "He's guilty of multiple homicide, but his ex-partner has been committing felony murder for pay." "Where's your evidence?" "Cooper and Edmunds went to Club Rendezvous to roust Carlos Torres." "But when they got there, they didn't expect a street brawl outside." "When the sector cars arrived, they couldn't kill him, so they had to take him in." "So they get him to the precinct, they take him to the bathroom, and they pull his pants down." "Well, if this was about business, why sodomize him with a plunger?" "Well, we're thinking that the cops were trying to plant evidence." "Torres was headed toward the Tombs." "The guards find drugs during the strip search, that's an added possession charge." "That is another 10 years at least." "But the plan backfired." "Edmunds took some licks in the scuffle with Torres, he went crazy, and the plunger was just a "screw you. "" "But you still didn't answer my question." "Where is your evidence?" "Five dead drug dealers." "All unsolved homicides, all with the same deep bruising pattern, and all on Edmunds and Cooper's turf." "Same as Carlos Torres." "Let's see if Edmunds is up for a renegotiation." "Your present deal is off the table." "You're digging a political grave, Counselor." "I'm willing to make you an offer." "But if I leave here before you give me an answer, you're not going to see me again." "What's this about?" "You recognize them?" "Killing off drug dealers wasn't gonna fill that hole in you, and it sure as hell wasn't gonna get your kid brother back." "Well, I didn't expect it to." "I just thought if I found the one who strung Bobby out, it'd be enough." "Gave a 13 year-old boy his first hit of coke." "He thought it was funny, supplying a cop's brother day after day." "Okay, so you killed him, you got what you wanted." "Why not stop there?" "They use blood money to hire the best lawyers to shaft us with our own rules." "How is that justice?" "Taking out the competition for profit isn't justice, either." "What the hell are you talking about?" "What profit?" "Somebody paid your partner to kill those drug dealers." "See, you were on a mission." "Cooper had a side business." "I don't believe you." "He wouldn't do that." "He hates them as much as I do." "Six counts." "Murder for hire." "Wait, I didn't do that." "I was cleaning up the streets, not making money." "By committing murder." "It wasn't murder." "It was a reckoning." "And we didn't kill them all." "I just wanted to put them out of business." "Well, then I suggest you tell us exactly what went down." "I can't." "Your ex-partner's a dirty cop." "You're not." "We need corroborating evidence to put Cooper behind bars." "You'll take the needle off the table?" "Yes." "What do you want?" "Let's start with a live victim, someone to support your statement." "A drug dealer named Willie Angel's doing 25 in Sing Sing." "Cooper shot him, but the bastard wouldn't die, so we had to plant a drop gun." "We testified Angel opened fire on us." "Jury didn't even blink." "If Willie Angel corroborates Edmunds' statement, call me right away." "What's the urgency?" "How about an innocent man in prison on trumped-up charges?" "There's nothing innocent about a drug dealer." "He's probably got dozens of bodies to his credit." "Leave him where he is." "I can't do that." "If his statement pans out," "I have to file for an immediate writ for his release." "I don't know one convict who wouldn't say the cops framed him." "Edmunds just admitted it." "We're supposed to uphold the law." "Your heart's bleeding all over my shoes." "You condone his behavior?" "I understand it." "It gets old watching humps walk away from prison bids on technicalities." "Dealers know how to play the loopholes." "Yeah, but you wouldn't do what they did." "You wouldn't take the law into your own hands." "It's not like I haven't thought about it, Counselor." "Same as every other cop on the job." "There's a difference between thinking about it and doing it." "What do you cops want with me?" "We want to hear your version of how you ended up here." "Police did this to me." "Cops like you with that same look in their eye." "Look, nobody believed me before, so what's changed?" "We need to hear the details." "Maybe I need a lawyer here." "I don't do well with you people one on one." "Look, Willie, we're not looking to jam you up." "Speak for yourself." "I do something to you?" "You ain't nothing but a drug dealer, so to me everything you say is suspect." "I ain't in the game no more." "Since when?" "Since I lost the use of my legs from a cop's bullet." "Since they jacked me for my freedom." "Or maybe that's not enough for you." "Willie, can you identify the cops who did this to you?" "Yeah." "They wanted me to step from my business." "And when I refused, next thing I know I got a bullet lodged in my spine, and I'm on trial for attempted murder." "So what happens now?" "We have a corroborating witness who supports your story." "And that means I'm gonna get out of here?" "Looks like it's your lucky day." "You don't know the half of it." "I'm gonna file a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the city." "And the gravy's your required testimony on my behalf." "You're gonna let that lowlife piece of garbage back on the street?" "Yeah, in a wheelchair." "Willie Angel is scum." "He still doesn't deserve what you and Cooper did to him." "Way I see it, one less dealer to worry about." "Whose idea was it to shoot Willie in the first place?" "Cooper's." "But I went along with it." "And I suppose it was Cooper's idea to kill all those dealers." "You do the dirty work, only you don't get paid." "He paid me." "How?" "A couple of years ago, we're answering a domestic." "Husband and wife are going at it." "I walk in, never saw the gun." "Coop jumps in between me and the other guy, takes the. 38 right out of his hand." "So you're paying him back by killing people for him?" "Well, Cooper did it for a couple of nice cars and a condo." "Testify against him." "No way." "He betrayed you." "You wouldn't testify against your partner." "Don't throw that blue wall crap at me." "If he did what Cooper did, you bet your ass I would." "It's not so easy." "Partner's like blood." "You think that he feels the same way about you?" "He used you." "He used your dead brother." "He doesn't give a damn about you." "When are you going to have the balls to face that?" "You deliberately disobeyed a direct order to stay out of the 29." "That's a rip." "Ten days of docked pay." "That's the only thing you can do." "I understand." "I don't think you do." "Right now, the D.A. is fielding writs from every hump ever busted by those two cops." "Guilty or not, they get a pass." "Edmunds and Cooper are dirty cops." "Did you expect me to ignore that?" "And because you kept me out of the loop, we got blindsided." "We're looking at press scrutiny, millions in civil suits, not to mention criminals walking free." "I did the right thing." "Pick up Cooper." "Let's get that bastard off the streets." "Lester Cooper." "You know, I'm starting to think you're stalking me." "You're under arrest for first-degree murder." "Turn around." "Wait a minute." "What the hell is going on here?" "Step back, rookie." "You got nothing on me." "Just six counts of murder." "Hey, I didn't do anything wrong." "I believe you." "Get a lawyer, anyway." "What are you offering?" "Life, no parole, in exchange for the man you were working for." "I can't do it." "I name names, I might as well kill myself, save them the trouble." "Ex-cops don't get housed with general pop." "That's very comforting." "Thank you." "Your cooperation is the only thing that stands between you and the needle." "So I'll take my chance with a jury." "We've got corroborating witnesses and the bodies you dropped for profit." "The jury's going to burn you." "You better have other testimony besides my client's ex-partner." "One of their victims corroborates his statement, Counselor." "Edmunds gets life, you get life, no parole." "As far as I'm concerned, you're getting off easy." "Edmunds." "Gullible fool." "Yeah, well, at least he had his reasons, unlike you, who just exploited his grief to get rich." "Oh, he thought he was on a mission." "Like we were gonna rid the streets of drug dealers?" "Only an idiot would believe that." "What's it gonna be?" "It's a real smart move, Hector." "Get rid of the competition, avoid a war by getting a cop to do your dirty work." "This business is cutthroat." "You got to know that going in." "This is one execution I think I'll attend." "Look at you, all yeasted up like some kind of hero." "Death row is just geography for me, mommy." "You're gonna be crying like a baby when you take that last walk." "You're gonna have to wait 10, 15 years." "A lot can happen between now and then." "Witnesses get amnesia." "People up and die." "You never know." "Benson." "Suicide." "He leave a note?" "Guards didn't find one." "Hasn't been dead long." "An hour, maybe two." "He just couldn't take it." "His sentence?" "Facing what he did."