10x05 - Trophy Wine

[bunniefuu]

In new York city's w*r on crime,

the worst criminal offenders
are pursued

by the detectives
of the Major Case Squad.

These are their stories.

- Doucement, doucement.
Gentle, damn it.

Loy, these have to get
to the cellar right away.

I wish you could join us.
- I wish you could join me.

- I may go out afterwards.

- Oh.
- Mm.

- Okay.

Oh...

Happy anniversary.

- It's a week away.
- Well, there's more to come.

You've been working so hard.

Open it after
your sh**t tonight.

You... are so sweet.

- Yeah, I like that one
in blue.

- Aren't you beautiful?

- Mr. bing.

Should I put the others
in the walk-in, sir?

- Not yet, loy.
Our guests are almost here.

- You've been gone an hour.
Where did you go?

- Can you give me a lift home?

- Oh!

Ugh!
Oh!

Help me!

Help!

Help!
Help!

wine Porter,
bing Cullman 56.

Probable coronary.

Butler found him 9:00 am
in the wine cooler.

- And they need
major case because...?

- Mr. Cullman advised the mayor
on his wine acquisitions.

The wife, Avery,
is an advertising executive.

We kept her upstairs.

- Nice cellar.
Someone cleaned.

- The Butler did it.
Last night.

Says he left at 11:00 p.M.,

Mr. bing was having a cigar
in the back garden.

- Got a bilateral
crease on his earlobe.

That's consistent
with cardiovascular disease.

- Wine spatter.

He dropped his glass
when he fell.

And he's
got a safe up there.

Open...

And empty.

- I smell cigars...
Wine, sweat.

See these scrapes
on his pinky knuckles?

Both sides.
And nail marks in his palms.

Clenching his fists
like he...

You know, was
banging against the door.

- He panicked?

Still, it seems to easily
open from the inside.

Unless...

It was locked
from the outside.

- Bing gave a wine tasting,

and I had a photo sh**t
in Chelsea.

- Last night,
what time did you come home?

- Around 11:00.

Right after the wrap.

I assumed that
he was in the cellar,

and I went to bed.

And then this morning,
when I woke up,

he wasn't there.

And then loy found him.

- Did he have
any health problems?

- I mean, the usual
for men of his age.

High blood pressure,
gout...

- Heart trouble?
- Yeah.

- We'll need
a list of his meds.

- You said that
you went right to bed.

Is that your
usual schedule?

- We were in
a long term marriage.

And we loved each other.

Was it perfect?

It was better than most.

- Okay.

Thanks for your candor.

- I went in and
saw him on the ground.

- Loy...

Last night, you said
it was a special tasting?

One of the vintages
was so rare,

Mr. ng had it delivered
by armored car.

- How many ces?

- Just six bottles.

- Did you
know all the guests?

- Mr. ev.

Dilahunt.

And two other guests.

I don't remember
their names, I'm sorry.

Mr. bing sells his wine

through Mr. Dilahunt's
auction house.

- 1775, chateau de tour.

Brilliant color,
almost no oxidation.

It was acolossuscollossus,
my God.

- How do you get
a hold of wines like that?

- Only bing
finds wine like that.

This time he unearthed

a sub-basement in
new Jersey, of all places.

A stash of
George Washington's wine

as he lead his army
against the redcoats.

His initials are engraved
on each of the three bottles.

- Three bottles?
We heard there were six.

- Did loy tell you that?

He's dim.

He must've meant
that we tasted six wines.

A '45, a '21.
An 1899.

Bing wanted us to put
the chateau de tour in context.

- Must've hardo
contextualize,

after drinking
half a case of wine.

- Not at this level.

Our sommelier
gave it a perfect score.

I bought the remaining pair
for 350,000 Euros.

They'll fetch
half a million at auction.

- What time did you leave?

- Just after 11:00.

Why would you-

you said bing d*ed of
a heart att*ck.

- A millionaire's death
is never simple.

We'll need the names
of your guests.

- Ms. balon,
our sommelier, was there.

But lang/malreaux can't
give out the name of a client.

That's confidential.

- This is
a police investigation.

We'll just get a subpoena.

- You make it
sound chilling, detective.

Send the D.A. My best.

- So how's
the investigation going

into the heart att*ck
of the mayor's wine advisor?

- Tox screen says he had
a blood alcohol level of 1.9.

Blood pressure meds,
nitrates for angina.

- None of those will
k*ll you.

- Well,
those with Viagra can.

- Viagra?
Whoa.

Whoa, now is
this even a homicide?

- Lab scanned a shard of
glass from the wine cellar.

It tested
positive for Viagra.

- Nitrates and Viagra
dissolved in wine,

could've
triggered a heart att*ck.

The k*ller locked bing
inside his walk-in,

and left him to die.

- The spouse would have
access to the medicine cabinet.

What about Avery?

- She's from Nebraska.

No priors.
Tough childhood, though.

Her mom had a sheet.
dr*gs and prostitution.

Avery came to new York
after college.

She's a senior vp at
Wellman media.

- She wasn't
the only one there, though.

He had a wine tasting
at his place that night,

with three other guests.

And the t.O.D.
Was between 1:00 and 3:00 A.M.

- He could've d*ed anytime
between thirty minutes

and three hours
after his wine was dosed.

- So everyone
had means and opportunity.

But who had motive?

- Your wine expert's here.

Hm, maybe she
can tell us who had one.

- I'm sorry.

I was told not to discuss
who was at the tasting.

- By who?
- Mr. Dilahunt.

He insists on
client confidentiality.

- Well,
I can understand that.

Lang/malreaux must
respect you enormously,

to have brought you
to a bing tasting.

- I was honored.

It was my first time
at that level.

- It's terrible that he...
- Your first time,

how longe have
you been with him?

Two and a half year in
ny office before that, London.

And... your company
helped you with your e h-1b visa?

- You have to
get that renewed, right?

How often do you?

- Every three years.

You must be about
to apply for an extension.

- Oh, geez.

- So...Who was the client?

- Bing's death,
eh, it's a tragedy.

A terrible loss.

- Were you close?

- No.

No, I found him
a bit, uh, pushy.

That's 17th century
savoyard.

Please don't touch it.

- But, you know,
having the chance

to taste
a 1775 chateau de tour.

There's two bottles
like that left the world.

I'm surprised that
you let Dilahunt take both.

- Bing had an arrangement
with Dilahunt.

Dilahunt showed up
with a briefcase

full of Euros,
and left with the wine.

- So you're going to bid
on the de tour at auction?

- Well, the tasting was
ev's version of marketing.

And it worked.

So yeah,
I'll be bidding.

And you buy
mostly from auction?

- Yeah.
Bordeaux futures subscriptions.

I've got 5,000 bottles here,
and 2,000 in palm beach.

- Oh.
Could we see your cellar?

- Sadly no.

I need to limit the vibration
and movement down there,

I'm sure you understand.
- Mm.

- Carl will show you out.

- A man with
something to hide?

- I think
it's my size 13 vibe.

- Thanks.

My doctor told me
I should drink more water.

And he wants me to
take better care of myself.

Um, I thought a lot
about last week.

- Oh, you did?

- About what I said,
that everybody lies.

It's childish.

You're right.
The truth is

is that there
are people that I trust.

- Anyone in particular
come to mind?

- Yeah, my partner.

Yeah,
she always has my back.

- Tell me
a little bit about her.

- Well, she's a good cop.

You know, she's
more practical than I am.

She's smart...
You know, works hard,

commands respect-
- okay, I know what she does.

What's she like?

- She grew up here.

Her father was a cop,
her husband.

- Oh, she's married?
- No.

He d*ed in the line of
duty before we met.

- And she never remarried?

How long have you
been together?

- Um...

You know, there have been...

Breaks.

Uh, I guess,
like, 11 or 12 years?

- Hm.
How do you feel about her?

- I told you,
I respect her, I admire her.

She puts up with
my crap, you know?

And as you're learning,
that's not easy.

- Do you love her?

- What?

I- she's...My partner!

A profess-I mean,
the last thing she would need

is for me to hit on her-
- no, I didn't ask you

what she needs.
- Yeah.

- She's a major
relationship in your life.

Do you have any
romantic feelings for her?

- No.

She's like a sister to me.

- Do you have a sister?
- I have a brother.

- That woman...

Is that your wife?

- That's...
That's my partner.

- So what
are you waiting for?

- It's not that kind of
partner, it's...

Now he's gone too.

- So she's like a sister?

It's important to you

that I know that there aren't
any romantic possibilities

between the two of you,
isn't it?

- You know, I don't get it.
I mean, what...?

You know,
when a man can't have

a working friendship
with his partner?

I mean,
it has to be more than that?

- This is not my point.

I'm wondering if
you think romantic feelings

for someone you admire
and respect are at odds.

- Are there any women
in your life?

- The last few years I've
been dealing with a lot of loss.

- Mm-hmm, more than
your fair share.

And before that?

- I've had...Relationships.

It's just that in
my work...

You know, the hours
aren't conducive.

You know,
a man of my age...

Single
a long time, you know?

All of my problems,
it's too late.

I mean, that's
what you're thinking.

- What else am I thinking?

Look, between your work
and your affect,

um...

You've created
an emotional drawbridge

that's protected you
in many ways.

It's a good thing.

Do you ever feel lonely?

- Ev Dilahunt told us

he gave your husband
350,000 dollars in Euros.

But the safe was empty.

- There's
a safe down there?

The only one that he
let in the cellar was loy.

- We need to talk to loy.

- Loy's home.

He asked
to take a few days off.

I told you,
I took care of Mr. bing.

I cook for him.
I gave him his pills.

When I saw him that morning,
on the floor, I cried.

- Before or after
you took his money?

- My sister
called me on Friday.

She said our mother
needs dialysis.

I prayed to God all night

for the money
to take care of her.

Then, I came in and saw
Mr. bing on the floor,

and the money in the safe.

- God's will?

Or yours?

- Mine?

Of course not.
He had a heart att*ck.

- No.
See, he didn't.

So someone gave him a glass of we
laced with Viagra.

- Oh my God.

- Then from the cooler
was locked from outside.

- It was unlocked
when I saw him.

I swear.

He was fine when I left.

Ask Mr. ev.

- Mr. Dilahunt was
still there when you left?

- Mr. bing was very angry
that the nose wasn't there.

He said that
if he was going down,

they were all going down.

- The nose?

- Hutton mays?

He's one of the world's
foremost wine critics.

He writes descriptions
of the wine

for the auction house
catalog.

And if he gives it
a perfect score,

well, then the price of it
could skyrocket.

- He comes to
all the tastings.

Except this last one.

- My nose was congested.
Couldn't smell.

- But here you are!

Antibiotics?

- Zinc.

- You must've been upset.

Missing an opportunity
of a lifetime like that one.

- Bing held opportunity
of a lifetime tastings

every six months.

- May I?
- Oh.

- A brunello.

Di montalcino?

- And?

- It's nice.

It's a bit thin
for my taste.

I'm more like a barbaresco
kind of guy.

You know,
a little more umph.

- Well, let's just say
you don't have a cop's palate.

- Well,
it's nothing like yours.

Did you know his nose was
insured for $5 million?

I mean, someone of
your talent, and ego...

Why would you let
a novice rate that wine?

- I told you,
I was stopped up.

- When you didn't show,

bing told ev Dilahunt he would
take you all down with him.

Any idea what he meant?

- Bing had
this uncanny knack

for unearthing
lost collections of the czars,

wines hidden in monasteries
from the Nazis...

- So you thought
the wines were fake.

- Not by taste.

He may have given me
the real ones,

then passed
the fake ones off.

But I felt
that he and Dilahunt

may have been using
my name to promote fraud.

- Carbon-dating measures

the radioactive isotopes
in the grapes.

Now radiation levels
changed in the '50s.

- After the b*mb.
- Yes.

Now, judging from the sediment,
is this wine pre-Hiroshima?

It's no question.

Was it produced before
the declaration of independence?

You'd have to
ask George Washington.

Now that said...

This wine is counterfeit.

See?
Washington's initials?

There, see?
Machine-tooled.

A bottle from 1775
would've been hand-engraved.

- If it's that obvious,

how come no one else
caught it?

- Obvious?

It's an impeccable forgery.

- The nose knew.

- Why do you
think I caught a cold?

- You ungrateful
little prick!

- Oh, you mean nose.

- I'll pull them from
the auction.

- How about the rest
of the sale?

You're selling
hundreds of lots

imported
by Arnold binder.

- Who?

Bing Cullman's prints
belong to one Arnold binder

who was
dishonorably discharged

from the British army in
1975 at age 20.

- A 30-year-old rap sheet
in england, isn't he?

- We had no clue-
- come on, ev.

Come on.
I have a question.

How do you
know that all the wines

he sold you weren't fake?

Like the '47 la tonne?

- The proof is in
the tasting.

Hutton gave it a 3.95.

- The wine
I tasted was genuine.

- You told us you thought

some of bing's wines
might be counterfeit.

- Hutton's an artist,
but he's also a drama queen.

- And you, ev, are a poseur.
You can't tell the difference

between
a burgundy and a Bordeaux.

- Easy, boys.
- No, no, let them go.

Let them go, look what
they've told us already.

So we have fraud...

Grand theft,
counterfeiting,

criminal conspiracy...

- We got into it.

Bing said
he'd bring everybody down.

- Now, you made
that lying drunk millions,

and he threatened to ruin

the reputation
of your auction house.

So what'd you do?

Did you drop a little blue pill
in his glass?

- Absolutely not!

Bing was alive
when I left.

He was plastered.
But he was upright.

Ask his wife.

Avery and
a very handsome young man

had just come home
as I was leaving.

Mrs. Cullman, we were
just coming up to talk to you.

You didn't tell us you
brought a man home with you.

- Oh, Shane Berlin.
He's one of our models.

I got a little tipsy,
and he gave me a lift home.

- He came inside
with you?

- Yeah.
Yeah, for a couple minutes.

- Do you usually
bring models home with you?

- I don't sleep around,
if that's what you're saying.

We had a glass of wine.

- George Washington's?

- No, bing was drinking
a bottle with his friends,

and selling
the other five.

- Six bottles.
We thought three.

- No, I saw the receipt
for the armored car delivery.

It was six.

Okay, now if you'll excuse me,
I have to meet a client.

- Drank one,
two sold for auction...

Someone
has the other three.

- Could be the dilettante,
the drama queen,

or some
other alcoholic snob.

- Coming.

Wow.

Uh, you're here.

Bing's dead.
It's time.

Well,
isn't the new York finest.

- We just had
to see the cellar.

- Come on in.

- Guess what we found.

- Will you look at that?

George Washington's initials
right on the bottle.

- Bing Cullman was
a greedy son of a bitch.

He knew enough about me
to know

I'd want
George Washington's wine.

Well, he rang me
a few hours before the tasting.

Said if I got there
early enough,

he'd put
three bottles aside.

He'd give them to me
and cut out the middleman.

- Ev Dilahunt.
- Mm-hmm.

So I got there early,

and I bought
the chateau de tour.

- And?

- I didn't want him dead.

I wanted him in jail.

I taped the whole meeting.

It's all there, detective.

Wine investigators,
chemists, lawyers...

I had detectives
tracking him

when he unearthed
kaiser's lost cellars.

Bing Cullman was

the Bernie madoff
of the wine world.

- You had him under
surveillance in new York?

- Oh, yeah.

For months at a time,
he was careless.

- What's this?

- That turned out to
be a dead end.

I thought I'd finally discovered
his counterfeit wine lab.

Turns out to be his...

...His f-pad.

He sublet it from
a fella named Arnold binder.

- Good to see
bing's the sentimental type.

- I know.

Condoms, lubes...

No Viagra.

- Oh... when it
comes to escorts,

he knows what he likes.

- Farmer's daughter
escort service.

- Last e-mail...

"Send Emily."

- It is nor hand,
nor foot, nor arm,

nor any other
part belonging to man...

Oh, be some other name!

What's in a name?

That which we call a rose
by any other name

would smell as sweet...

Very, very nice.

- Are you here
for the showcase?

- When did you last see bing?

- Um...

Thursday.
Late dinner.

He was like
an uncle.

- An uncle?
Really?

What did you two do
at his loft?

- It's not-

we were friends, really.

- You mean...What?

You provided a...
A girlfriend experience.

That's what your agency
calls it, right?

He was super supportive.

Taught me about wines.

- Do you know if he took Viagra
Thursday or Friday night?

- Not with me.
He couldn't.

He already
had his Nitroglycerin.

- And he was careful
about that?

- Oh, God, so was I.

I don't feel guilty.

He had an open marriage.

- An open marriage?

Hardly.

- He had a playpen for
his call girls.

- What are you guys,
the sex police?

We had been married
for a long time.

- Understood.

And you were still married
with the stresses.

- Yes.
We fixed things.

- You fixed things.

This was the picture we
found on the wall

of an apartment
where he met prostitutes.

- Not so fixed...

I saw this photo
in your house.

Your husband had it
blown up to poster size

and then desecrated it.

He had it
hung in the same room

where he had
sex with call girls.

When I came home
with Shane...

I heard noises from
the cellar.

He had a girl down there.

One of his whores.
- Avery-

- no. No.
- Please.

I waited for her to leave.

I knew that if he'd
been with a girl,

he would've taken Viagra.

I poured a glass,
I put in the nitrates,

and I locked
the cellar door.

I am glad he's dead.

I am really, really
happy about that.

- You know, Avery,

we have
to take you into custody.

In holding.

Nice job.
You got your confession.

She drugged
her husband's wine,

and then locked him
in the cellar.

- But she's lying.

- Excuse me?

- She told us that
she put his heart medicine

in his wine glass.

But we tested
the glass shard,

it had Viagra,
no nitrates.

- Why would she lie?

- She's covering for someone.

- Thanks.
Might know who.

Turns out Avery's
been paying rent

on a Murray hill
one bedroom.

Started two months ago.

- His and her love nests.

- I brought you
something to drink.

- Thanks.

- You have
your own apartment.

Who do you bring there?
Just Shane, or...?

- No, we work together,
that's all.

- We'll put the two of you
together, you know that.

You really want to
carry his water?

- I did it.

So with bing
out of the way,

he would have you and
all bing's money to himself.

What happened
that Friday night?

- I came home with Shane,

we heard bing in
the basement with his girl,

and I sent Shane home.

- You overheard your husband
with a hooker,

you then you
waited for her to leave.

You poisoned him.

And that's your story?

- Yes.

- Shane Berlin?

- Yeah?

- Do you mind if we
come in?

Thank you.

You live here alone?

- No,
with my girlfriend.

- Your girlfriend
Avery Cullman?

- What?
- Avery Cullman.

- Juliet...
And her Romeo.

- What are you doing here?

- We were just
talking about Avery.

- You mind
if I take a look around?

- No, go ahead.

- So...You two
meet in acting class?

- Emily, listen,

this is not
off-Broadway theatre.

Okay?

You're looking
at felony m*rder.

- That's crazy.
We didn't do anything.

- Maybe you didn't,

but we're thinking
that Shane did.

That he poisoned bing,
and he left him to die.

- You think
Shane was jealous?

'Cause he wasn't.

He knew all about
me and bing,

he was cool with it.

- Of course he was.

- So how did it play out?

You help Shane get
bing out of the picture,

so that Shane
could hook up with Avery...

And the two of you
could bleed her dry?

- I didn't want bing
out of the way.

I told you, I liked him.

- Like an uncle.

- And bing
really, really liked me.

He said I gave him
his smile back.

- Really, really?

- He was leaving his wife,
you know.

- He told you that?

- I heard him talking
to his lawyer about it.

He said it was days away.

- Okay.
The wife, I get.

She confesses to keep her
lover out of jail.

Then she'll hire the best
defense attorney money can buy.

And the D.A. Won't file
charges based on her confession.

Shane gives her
reasonable doubt.

We've got nothing.

- You know, when Avery
saw the wedding photo,

I mean, she looked hurt,
but she didn't look surprised.

I'm gonna get a hold
of her personal belongings.

We need a search warrant.

Here's the man
you confessed for.

He played you.

- No.
Why would I k*ll him?

- Avery says you
were in love with her.

You can't be serious.

Look at me.

- So maybe you were
in love with her townhouse.

You were there the night
bing was k*lled.

- She left for awhile,

then came back
and asked me for a lift home.

- She left the sh**t?
Where'd she go?

- I don't know.
- You don't know?

Really?
You two were close, right?

She gave you modeling jobs,
an apartment...

You've got it all wrong.

I was working for him.

- Bing was paying you?
Can you prove it?

- He paid in cash.

Bing told Emily
he needed a dude

to hook up
with some cougar.

- He hired you
to service his wife?

- Yep.

But she had
no interest in hooking up.

- We spoke
to bing's lawyer,

and his filing says
you planned on testifying

that you and Avery
were having an affair.

- I told bing
I did her anyway.

I wanted the bonus
that he promised me

if I scored
before the end of the week.

- So you never had sex
with Avery Cullman?

- Ew. No.

Too old and too weird
for me.

Then a couple days
after bing d*ed,

she came by my place
and came on to me.

Hard.

Then she went into the bedroom
and must have freaked out,

'cause she left
before anything could happen.

- Shane says
that bing offered him

a big bonus
at end of the week.

Just before
your tenth anniversary.

Ten years of that
that lying, cheating...

It was a fraud.

I mean, he didn't even
tell you his real name!

I don't know how you stuck
with him for all those years.

- I took a vow.
And I loved him.

- You must have
to sign this prenup.

Did you even have a lawyer?

- I wasn't marrying him
for his money.

- According to this...

The prenup disappears
after ten years.

You become equal partners.

- That's irrelevant.

- D you know...

That you have
a fidelity clause,

but he didn't?

Did you just
find that out last Friday?

The day of your
photo sh**t?

He was serve you
the divorce papers.

Pardon me for going
through your bag here.

This key...

This is to bing's love nest,
right?

Apartment six,
Arnold binder.

See, Shane...

He said that
you left the photo sh**t.

Now I'm thinking
you went to apartment six.

And you saw
the wedding photo

and what he had done to it.

Did he leave
the divorce papers there?

Were they on
the bed?

Because we had
to subpoena bing's lawyer

to get a hold of this.

"The claimant files on
the grounds of infidelity.

"Included is a deposition
from Shane Berlin,

"who testifies to
a two month sexual relationship

with Mrs. Avery Cullman."

- Yes!

- No.

See, bing...
He thought he had you

because Shane lied to him
about you being unfaithful.

And he was going to serve you
the divorce papers

three days before
your tenth anniversary.

- Shane is lying.

We loved each other.

And I confessed to
protect him.

- You confessed
to make it look like

you were protecting him.

You deliberately gave us
a flawed confession,

knowing that we would
catch you in a lie.

- So confess to something
that I actually did?

Okay, I would have
to be crazy.

- Yeah, crazy like a fox.

You knew that eventually
we would stumble

onto the divorce papers
and Shane.

You needed to
create reasonable doubt

in case
we ever charged you.

So what did you do?

You took Shane to
the townhouse

and placed him at the scene.

You took bing's Viagra

and planted it when you
went to Shane's apartment.

- I didn't
want bing's money.

I have no reason
to k*ll him.

- No, it's not
about the money. Right.

Not at all.

Nebraska?

Your mother?

She had a hard life.
dr*gs. Prostitution.

- I am not my mother.
- No.

No, you got out of
Nebraska.

You moved to the big city,
you married a millionaire.

He tried to make you cheat,
and you didn't.

- I told you...

- I know,
you're not your mother.

But you told bing
all about her.

And he used that
to hurt you.

To make you feel
like you were her.

He's a monster.
A psychopath.

He was-
he was sadistic!

- My prenup was $1 million
over ten years.

That comes out to
$300 a night.

"Just enough for
a whore like you," he said.

- But you're not a whore.

He did all that to ruin
the last ten years of your life.

To erase it.

To make
your life irrelevant.

- So, I said
"let's have a toast...

To the good years."

He went to the John,

and I put Viagra
in his wine.

- And you heard him
go into the walk-in.

- I knew
that he'd go there.

He couldn't resist
one more bottle.

So I went downstairs...

I slammed the door...

Locked it...

And went to bed.

- The irony is,
is that he d*ed before

the divorce papers
could be officially filed.

You would have
inherited everything.

- It was
never about the money.

I am not a whore.

- No.

No, you're not.

You're a m*rder*r.