25x05 - Bend the Knee

[bunniefuu]

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.

Everybody in this room
has made a lot of money.

Tom wouldn't shut up last week

about the '82 Ducru-Beaucaillou
he drank over dinner.

[LAUGHTER]

Camilla, I've been
to your Hamptons house.

Or should I say estate?

For the record,
we bought it pre-pandemic.

[LAUGHTER]

I know asking lawyers to give away money

is a difficult proposition.

So I suggest we all consider it

a pro-bono opportunity for our souls.

[LAUGHTER]

Now, I'd like to close

with something to think about.

America's civic institutions,

our schools and universities

that shape our kids into citizens,

our hospitals that take us in

no matter how broken
or broke we might be.

And, yes, our courts,
which safeguard our rights

and resolve our disputes peacefully.

These institutions are the bedrock

of our national conscience.

And today, they face a cynical
and coordinated attack.

Look, I've been kicking around this firm
for a long time.

I'm no bleeding heart. You all know it.

But enough is enough.

So when do wesay "enough"?

I say now, tonight.

Because if we allow
these institutions to falter,

if we let them fail,

it's not just lawyers and politicians
who will pay the price.

It's everyone.

It's America.

Patriotism is not obedience.

Patriotism is courage.

For God sakes, Wallace.

What you call courage
is going to be the end of this firm.

We've been here for 140 years, Roger.

We'll lose, what, 30%,



OK, everybody, take a breath.

We're in a jam here.

We're all looking
for the right solution.

Hear him out.

Some things are more important
than source credit and billable hours.

And everyone in this room believes that

because way back when,

every single one of us
woke up one day and decided

that the American system of
jurisprudence was pretty neat.

I know I speak for every single person

in this room when I say

that it is an amazing thing
to be a part of.

And it is an institution worth
defending to the bitter end.

What I'm saying is
we must hold the line.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

Roger Wallace.

Let me guess. Attorney?

Senior partner at Blackwell & Kett.

See there's no ring.
Does anyone else live here?

He was engaged.
We just spoke with his fiancée.

She was on the road for work.

On her way back to the city now.

All right, well, let me know as
soon as she gets in, all right?

- Mm-hmm.
- Time of death?

Body temp and rigor says
he died sometime last night.



Perp came and went
through there, looks like.

No forced entry.

Phone and wallet on the desk.
Cash in the wallet.

OK, so there's some kind of altercation.

He falls on the table.

More likely, he's pushed.

Yeah, MLI said the guy's
got a bunch of cuts

on his back from the glass,
but they're pretty superficial.

He's hurt, but he's alive.

He rolls over, tries to get up,

gets to his feet, and that's when...

somebody hits him in the head.

There's no weapon in evidence.

Bet it used to live right there, though.

Who found the body?

Guy named Kevin Bradley,

managing partner
of the victim's law firm.

He's out back.

Wallace and I worked together
for... I don't even know.



I poached him from Caldwell, Warren.

I don't always get it right,
but I sure did that day.

Hell of a lawyer.

Good man.

And why'd you come over this morning?
It's Saturday.

We hit a bucket of ba*ls
most every week.

We go to the range at Chelsea Piers.

Kind of the Saturday routine.

b*tch about our swings so we can stop

bitching about work for a minute.

Can I show you something inside?

Did he have any enemies?

Take your pick.
He was a bare-knuckle M&A guy.

Made a lot of money,
stepped on a lot of toes.

Wore it like a badge of honor.

Don't step in.

But do you know what might
have been on the shelf over there

where the dust is?

Sure, I got one in my office.

- It was a deal toy.
- A what?

A deal toy. It's like a trophy, sort of.

When we close a big deal,

the firm makes a couple of them
to commemorate it.

A scalp.

I don't think we say that
anymore, Detective.

We like "deal toy."

This one should have come
with a warning label.

[TENSE DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

No cameras behind Wallace's house,

but we scrubbed the vicinity
around the time of death

and we got a hit.

Pretty sure this is our k*ller.

Male, looks like,
but they're silhouetted,

so it's hard to make out the features.

This alley accesses the
garden behind Wallace's house

and the door to his home office
where he was k*lled.

And the m*rder weapon could be in there.

Mm-hmm. And watch what happens next.

Whoa.

This guy got a good look at our k*ller.

Exactly.

The facial rec's no good
because the video is not clear enough,

but our witness has on
this vintage jacket from 2009,

the last time we won the series.

Who's we? I'm a Mets girl.

And here I thought
we were getting to be friends.

Anyway, the jacket is distinctive,

so we're able to track
our witness via street cam.

Five blocks after
he bumps into the k*ller,

our witness enters an apartment building
and that's where we lose him.

All right. [INHALES DEEPLY]

Well, let's go find him.

You coming with?

You're stuck with me until
we can get you a new partner.

Sure, I remember.

Dude was booking it. Dropped his phone.

Do you remember what he looked like?

Pretty good. I mean, it was dark.

It was fast, but yeah.

He was tall, slim,

ethnic-looking, maybe Hispanic.

Anything else? Any detail helps.

He had blood on his shirt.

And his face.

Well, that detail certainly helps.

Would you recognize him
if you saw him again?

For sure.

All right, thank you.

We will be in touch, Mr. Chilton.

So we're in the game.

Hey, Lieu.

Finally got access to
Wallace's calendar and email.

So far, just standard
big firm lawyer stuff.

Partner meeting at 5:00,

dinner with an
alternative credit banker.

Nothing too sexy.

I think the sexy stuff happened earlier.

What do you mean?

I talked to the vic's assistant,

and apparently,
he and some guy named Lopez

got into a heated argument
yesterday in the late morning.

Lopez. Let me check the calendar.

Yeah, here it is. 11:00 a.m.

Wallace met with newspaper
publisher, Eddie Lopez.

Do you mind?

Not at all.

Maybe it pops up in the email.

[KEYBOARD CLICKING]

Eddie Lopez, you bad boy.

Bingo.

Eddie Lopez?

- NYPD.
- I see that.

What's this about?

Roger Wallace.

- What about him?
- He's dead.

[TENSE MUSIC]

World's a better place.

That's interesting.

'Cause four hours before he was k*lled,

you sent him this email.

"I hope you die."

Boy can dream, can't he?

♪ ♪

Let's take a ride, Eddie.

- "I hope you die"?
- Subtle, right?

Yeah, really is.

For what it's worth,
you match the description

of the k*ller that we got
from an eyewitness.

I did send that to Wallace,

and I meant it.

That prick was
playing all kinds of games

trying to take something
that's important for me.

These are tough times to be running

a little neighborhood newspaper,

so we turned to this holding company,

We borrowed some cash,

and Wallace puts
all these tricks in the deal,

forces us into foreclosure
so that they can buy the paper.

I swear, Wallace knew exactly

what he was doing the whole time.

It's what he did for a living.

Well, guess he was pretty
great at it, wasn't he?

Ruining people's lives.

Please, he's a lawyer, not an assassin.

Maybe you should have known
who you were getting in bed with, huh?

He screwed us, and I'm not over it.

I can see that.

Look.

What we do, it matters.

We're not running a business.

I mean, this is an institution.
It's public trust.

And what do you think happens to a place

that no longer gets any news coverage?

Politicians got their hand
in the cookie jar,

nobody's left to catch 'em.

OK.

Where were you last night?

[SIGHS]

Eddie Lopez's alibi seems pretty solid.

Yeah, he didn't feel right for it.

My dad retired to that section
in Queens.

He reads that paper every morning.
The dead tree edition.

- That right?
- Mm.

And last year, this builder

started dumping toxic trash
near where my dad lives.

And he's got all this respiratory stuff

from working down at Ground Zero.

And the only way we found out about it

and stopped it was 'cause of that paper.

I mean, these things, they do matter.

[NOTIFICATION CHIMES]

Wallace's fiancée just landed at JFK.

She'll be home in 30.

Shotgun.

We just put in a bid
on a house in Nantucket.

The next chapter of life was
going to be really great.

Ms. Chimenti, we need to
figure out how this happened,

who did this.

We could use your help.

Now, I know Mr. Wallace

ruffled some feathers.

Did he ever mention something at work,

maybe someone on the other side
of a contested deal?

[CHUCKLING] Oh, please.

[SCOFFS]

Roger could handle that stuff

with half his brain
tied behind his back.

Hell, it's what got him
out of bed in the morning.

It was his own law firm
he had to worry about.

What does that mean?

All I know is that
in the last couple of weeks,

the knives were out.

Roger was convinced
he was going to get stabbed

in the back,
and the guy leading the charge

was Kevin Bradley.

The managing partner?

Thought they were tight.

Golfing buddies.

They were.

But what's that saying?

Keep your friends close
and your enemies closer?

In any event, something changed.

Roger started calling him Brutus.

Brutus?

A little over the top, no?

You tell us.

It is not untrue that it has
been a very tense two weeks.

Our firm does work,
takes on clients that

you might consider right and
left and everything in between.

The engine is profit, not ideology.

OK.

Don't know if you've noticed,
but the political environment

in this country has gotten
a little heated lately.

Little bit.

Two weeks ago, we got word
certain people in Washington

were not happy with some of the
clients we chose to represent.

The administration threatened to ban us

from doing business
with the federal government,

a huge chunk of our revenue.

Unless?

Unless we coughed up $80 million worth

of pro bono work that was
friendly to the administration.

A bribe?

One man's bribe
is another man's donation.

It was like an ax came down,
split our firm in two.

Some partners like me
wanted to make the deal.

Some, like Wallace,
wanted to hold the line.

I liked him and I respected him.

He had a lot of guts.

Wasn't afraid of the repercussions.

But the truth is if Roger had his way,

it would cost the firm
about 200 million per year

in lost revenue.

What about you?

How much would youlose?

About 5 million.

Well, that's not nothing.

I get it, but I've been
a partner for a long time.

I've made a lot of money.

So a 5 million dollar hit
doesn't move the needle?

Correct.

Must be nice.

All the same, why don't you tell us

where you were last night?

If that guy's telling the truth...

Then Roger Wallace was a hero

who actually had the courage
to say "enough is enough."

Imagine that, a lawyer with principles.

Might have gotten him k*lled too.

Well, that's the problem
with principles.

Run it down.

Maybe we'll prove ourselves wrong.

Hey, got a warrant for the cell towers.

Database of every phone
that pinged in the area

of Wallace's townhome
the night of the m*rder.

I ran it for Kevin Bradley.

No dice there.
Plus, his alibi looks pretty good.

OK.

Back to square one.

Well, not quite,

because I also ran it against
every partner at the law firm

to see if anyone was around
that night, and I got a hit.

Turns out, not Latino
like our witness thought.

Guy's from the United Arab Emirates,

but he's lived in the U.S.
most of his life.

OK.

Well, cell phone data alone
isn't enough to make an arrest,

but show that picture
to our witness, Chilton.

See if he recognizes him.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Detective Riley, I told you
I had nothing to do with this.

I'm not here for you, Mr. Bradley.
Step aside.

♪ ♪

Nasser Al Hallaq, NYPD.

You're under arrest for
the m*rder of Roger Wallace.

This is outrageous.

Mr. Al Hallaq is one
of the most prominent attorneys

in Manhattan.

Well, turns out he's also a m*rder*r.

♪ ♪

That's you running from a m*rder scene.

Imagine the weapon's in the bag.

You drop your phone.

This nice gentleman
hands it back to you.

And he sees your face.

He gave us a positive ID.

He also said
there was blood on your face.

Also, your phone puts you in the area

around the estimated time of death.

OK, this is how I think it went down.

Wallace was a very influential
voice at the firm,

so when the partners got together
to figure out what to do,

he convinced most of them
to hold the line,

to reject Washington's demands.

And that was real bad for you

because most of your practice

revolves around federal contracts.

Are you done?

Can I leave?

Sadly, no.

I think you went over to
Wallace's that night to talk.

Things got heated.

He came after you, maybe. I don't know.

But he ended up on that table
cut and bleeding

and you panicked,

grabbed the nearest heavy object,
and bashed his head in.

You're wasting your breath, Lieutenant.

Is that so?

I have diplomatic immunity.

Release me.

Now.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Put him in the holding cell.

- [CLAMORING]
- Step aside.

- Who's in charge here?
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.

- Hey, hey, hey.
- What's going on?

- What is this?
- Mr. Al Hallaq is my client,

and I demand his immediate release.

It doesn't work that way, pal.
We're charging him with m*rder.

You're charging him with nothing.

- He has diplomatic immunity.
- Hey, whoa, whoa, no.

- Nasser! Nasser!
- It's OK, Amir.

- Tell Father I'm fine.
- Hey, step outside.

All of you, step outside.

Mr. Al Hallaq's father
is the UAE Chief Envoy.

My father was a construction
foreman... what's your point?

You have no right to detain him.

Actually, we have every right
to detain him.

If you want to speak to your
client, you can do so

using the proper channels,
but you're not doing this here.

Not now, not ever.

The alternative is, we can arrest you,

and you can find your own lawyer.

What do you think?

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

So this guy Al Hallaq thinks
he can get away with m*rder

because his father's
a diplomat in the UAE?

In certain circumstances,

the children of diplomats have
diplomatic immunity as well.

Al Hallaq is 40 years old.

I know.

He's citing a loophole
in which the adult children of diplomats

can continue
carrying the shield of immunity

if they are financially
dependent on their parents.

Which is absurd.

I agree.

But based on the law,
he's got a decent claim.

Well, I suggest you do some research

and find a way to make
this claim a lot less decent.

Mr. Price, you've been sworn in
as special assistant U.S. attorney

for today's proceedings?

I have, Your Honor. Thank you.

Let's hear from the plaintiff first.

Mr. Ferguson?

Thank you, Your Honor.

Nasser Al Hallaq
is immune from prosecution

by the state of New York
because his father,

His Excellency
Omar bin Rashid Al Hallaq,

is a federally registered diplomat

from the United Arab Emirates.

The courts have traditionally
used visa rules

in guidance on these matters.

Those rules provide
diplomatic visas to dependents

regardless of age.

But don't take my word for it.

May I, Your Honor?

This is a U.S. State Department
declaration

asserting my client's
diplomatic immunity.

Mr. Price, historically,

this declaration carries weight
in this courtroom.

Are we done here?

Respectfully, Y-Your Honor, no.

Sometimes, the State Department
gets it wrong.

Mr. Al Hallaq has made
an extraordinary claim

about the nature of dependence,

which demands an examination
of his lifestyle.

Why so extraordinary?

Let's start with his home,

which his family owns free and clear.

Condominium on 7th Avenue
valued at $16 million.

Exactly. Mr. Al Hallaq's
family owns that home.

It's our position

that he relies financially on his family

and is therefore dependent
and immune from prosecution.

In fact, Your Honor,

if Mr. Price insists
on going down this road,

my client is actually in debt.

Thank you for raising that.
He is right, Your Honor.

Mr. Al Hallaq is in quite a bit of debt.

It's all family debt,

promissory notes obligating him
to pay back his father.

And the reason for that debt

is he is an overly indulgent playboy.

He makes roughly $5 million a year

and he lives a lifestyle
of someone who makes 50.

But don't take my word for it.

Here's Mr. Al Hallaq two weeks ago

in the platinum suite he rented
at the Monaco Grand Prix.

There are numerous other escapades.

Your Honor.

Mr. Al Hallaq is only in debt

and therefore dependent because
he lives like a rock star

- and burns through his money.
- Your Honor.

Mr. Al Hallaq's reliance on his parents

is not due to incapacity or an
inability to support himself,

as the law requires.

It's self-inflicted hardship. [SCOFFS]

To... to a degree that
it's a hardship at all.

Hey.

Good work.

Good news is
we can put this guy on trial.

The bad news is
the case isn't very strong.

No m*rder weapon. The motive is opaque.

I assume there's a "but" here.

But we have a strong witness

who can ID him and tie him
to the video we have

of the suspect fleeing the crime scene.

OK, good. Go get him.

- Hey, guys.
- Hey, Nick.

- Hi.
- How's it going?

Come on in.

Permit just landed
for your campaign kickoff.

We got the Hamilton Custom House.

Gonna be great.
It's a perfect venue for us.

All we have to do now

is fill it with 400 of your
closest and richest friends.

Can't believe we're doing this already.

The election's not for two Novembers.

Well, like it or not,
campaigning is now a full-time job.

Good news is we just
got our first poll back.

You've got a solid approval rating.

Solid? That doesn't sound great.

No, it's good.

Not great. Better than bad.

I'll take it, I guess.

- [KNOCK AT DOOR]
- Sorry to interrupt.

Sir, I have the senior counsel
for judicial strategy.

From Washington.

Jack Drell?

He just showed up.

Said he can wait, but...

All good.

Talk soon?

Send him in.

Diplomatic immunity exists
for a reason, Nick.

Been around for thousands of years.

The original "don't k*ll the messenger."

Diplomats, emissaries,

these people should be free
to operate and negotiate

without being subject to local laws.

That's how this crazy world
keeps spinning on its axis.

What are we really
talking about here, Jack?

Nasser Al Hallaq's family is important.

His great uncle literally
helped unite the Emirates



He's on, like,
Mount Rushmore of the UAE.

So?

[SCOFFS SOFTLY]

You really need
to try this guy for m*rder?

- I'm... [SIGHS]
- He k*lled a good man.

Bashed his head in, in his own home.

[INHALES DEEPLY]

My bosses in Washington are concerned.

They want you to drop the case.

Excuse me?

If you prosecute this guy,

the UAE will cancel
a $100 billion arms deal

with the United States.

What the hell are you talking about?

Missiles, radar systems,

C-130s built by
a dozen American companies,

all that goes away.

Tens of thousands of jobs

in places where
the economy is suffering.

Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia.

But you know what really gets hurt?

The defense capability
of our most vital partner

in the most dangerous part of the world.

We cannot risk that.

Nick, I can't express

how important this is.

Respectfully, Jack...

Go to hell.

Nick...

You work for very
important people, I get it.

You're doing your job.

But I work for a dead man.

And I cannot ethically or legally

abandon that man's cause.

Certainly not to protect an arms deal.

That's not the way this works.
You know that.

And if your deal
with the UAE is so fragile

that my prosecution
of a m*rder*r for m*rder

threatens the whole thing?

Maybe you shouldn't be
in business with these people.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[SCOFFS]

You're making a mistake.

♪ ♪

Showing you what has
been marked as Exhibit 11A.

Can you identify this object?

It's a trophy of sorts.

Blackwell & Kett,
Mr. Wallace's law firm,

ex*cuted an $8 billion merger

between two luxury boat companies.

That's why there's a sailboat on there.

And the firm made
a small number of these

to commemorate the deal.

And this one was given
to the firm's managing partner,

Kevin Bradley.

Did Mr. Wallace work on that deal?

He did. Yes, he was
the architect of the deal.

Can you explain for the jury
what we are seeing here?

This is a space left in the dust

on Mr. Wallace's shelf
after his copy was removed.

And you believe it was removed?

By the k*ller.

Used to m*rder him,
to bludgeon him to death.

The object weighs 6.2 pounds,

which is consistent with
the victim's head injuries,

which were his cause of death.

We were also able
to recover traces of paint

in the victim's head wound

that matched the paint used
to make the object.

Detective, you were also
able to obtain the number

of every cell phone
that pinged off of towers

near Mr. Wallace's home
on the night of the m*rder.

- Is that correct?
- Yes.

We determined that Mr. Wallace died

sometime between 9:15 and 11:00 p.m.

And one of the numbers
that was in the vicinity

at the time of death
belonged to the defendant.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Your witness, Mr. Ferguson.

Detective Riley,

did you recover what you claim

is the actual m*rder weapon

as opposed to this copy?

No.

And you have no idea of knowing

when Mr. Wallace's copy went missing?

We have strong reason
to believe that it was taken...

It's equally possible
that Mr. Wallace could have gotten

tired of looking at it
days earlier and tossed it.

Isn't that true?

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

I suppose.

In fact, all of this talk

about this
being the actual m*rder weapon

is purely conjecture, isn't it?

It's a theory.

How many people were in the
vicinity of Mr. Wallace's home

between 9:15 and 11:00 p.m.
the night he died,

according to your cell phone data?

Approximately 1,800.



And you interviewed
exactly none of these people

other than my client, correct?

That is correct.

But surely you searched
each of their homes

in an attempt to find
the alleged m*rder weapon.

No, we didn't,
because we felt that we had

already found the k*ller, Mr. Al Hallaq.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

♪ ♪

Mr. Bradley, who could see
this Slack channel

and participate in it?

Our partners and senior attorneys.

Could you read for the jury a
message posted by the defendant

at 3:14 p.m. on the day of the m*rder?

"Roger Wallace is an existential threat

to this firm."

Strong words.

The stakes were real.

Mr. Wallace wanted to stand firm

against these unusual requests,

but that would have come
at a cost, correct?

Yes. If we had refused
to reach an agreement,

our firm would have been
banned from doing business

with the federal government.

And isn't it true
that no partner at your firm

stood to lose more in that
scenario than Mr. Al Hallaq?

Yes.

Is it fair to say that
his entire book of business

would have evaporated overnight?

Yes.

And in the end, after Mr. Wallace,

the most influential voice
at your firm calling on you

to hold the line,

after that voice was silenced,
what did you do?

We made a deal.

You caved.

We agreed to donate $80
million worth of pro bono work.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Mr. Ferguson.

You read the jury a message
my client posted on Slack.

Could you read this one, too?

"If Wallace gets his way, it's over.

We'll all be out on the street."

Also written by Mr. Al Hallaq?

No, it was not.

Well, who wrote thosewords, then?

Camilla Lamm, a partner
in our litigation department.

What about this one?

"Wallace is a great lawyer
and a political dinosaur.

Not going to happen on my watch."

That was written by a corporate
partner, George Oakley.

So let's say for argument's sake

that this internal dispute was in fact

the motivation for the tragic
m*rder of Roger Wallace.

Of course,
we've seen no evidence of that.

- Objection.
- Sustained.

Watch it, Mr. Ferguson.

If we buy that claim, in theory,

there are any numbers of partners

other than Mr. Al Hallaq who were upset

with Mr. Wallace's point
of view, who were emotional.

Yes, that's correct.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Mr. Price, call your next witness.

[SIGHS] The People call Robert Chilton.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Mr. Price?

Your Honor, it appears that our witness,

Robert Chilton, is not here.

♪ ♪

So what is this?

I was trying to tell your friend here...

You... you've been trying to
tell Lieutenant Brady what?

I've just been doing some thinking,

and I don't think what
I told you was right.

You know, I've been hitting
the sauce a good amount

- the first time...
- That's not true.

We didn't smell any alcohol on you.

There was no evidence
that you'd been drinking.

You were completely lucid.

All I can tell you is there's
no way I saw blood on that guy.

It was too dark for that.

Come on, Robbie.

You picked him out of a six-pack.

Then I got lucky.

There were six photos,
so I had a one in six chance.

Detective Riley said
you didn't hesitate.

You picked out Al Hallaq right away.

I don't know what to tell you.

How about the damn truth, Mr. Chilton?

This is a m*rder trial.
An innocent man is dead.

You can send his m*rder*r to prison.

You don't get to just change your mind.

♪ ♪

Well, here we are.

♪ ♪

So that's it? That's his new position?

If we put Mr. Chilton on the stand,

this is what he will tell the jury.

Obviously, someone got to him.

I have a pretty good idea who.

We have no proof, of course.

So now what?

There are no good options.

If we force Chilton to
take the stand and he lies,

we have to impeach
using his prior statements.

Then we have a mess
on our hands at best.

Or we don't put Chilton on the stand.

That's not ideal either.
He was our key witness.

♪ ♪

So we tackle this another way.

What do you mean?

We fight back.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Any closer to figuring out
who got to this guy?

Maybe. Check this out.

I've been trying
to track Chilton's movements

using street cam and ARGUS and all that.

Here he is last night at 11:30 p.m.

OK, so he hopped on a train.

You got to figure out
where he hopped off.

That's the thing.
He didn't hop on a train.

He goes down into the station
for 14 minutes.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

And he comes right back up
to 18th Street.

That station has that
abandoned platform down there,

which is technically closed off,

but I mean, it's really easy to get to.

No lights, no cameras, no cell service.

I mean, if I had to pick a place

- for a clandestine meeting...
- That's where I'd go.

Yeah, but with who?

♪ ♪

Any luck with the geofence data?

Maybe.

Check out this guy I just texted you.
Louis Trammell.

- Two M's, two L's?
- Yeah.

Looks like he lives out in Bayside.

He's a lawyer.

Former lawyer.

Was disbarred for
drinking during a trial.

Mm, there's a keeper.

Maybe he got stage fright,
needed a little liquid courage.

Look at this.

Your boy, Louis Trammell,

used to work at the
Office of Judicial Strategy

under Jack Drell.

Nick Baxter's old pal.

What does the geofence data
tell us about this guy?

Uh...

looks like he entered
the 18th Street Station...

Five minutes before our witness.

He was waiting for him.

Yeah.

- Sir.
- Yeah.

Uh, the Manhattan
District Attorney's here.

Nick Baxter's here?

Hey, Jack.

Can we talk?

I won't take much of your time.

Yeah. Uh, find us some privacy.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

So I want to show you something.

Do you know who that is?

What am I saying? Of course you do.

You've known Louis Trammell
for 25 years.

Hell, you gave him an award
for antitrust enforcement.

That was before he got disbarred.

- What the hell are you...
- This is really interesting.

There's Trammell walking into
the 18th Street Train Station.

Five minutes later,
our star witness, Robbie Chilton,

who saw Al Hallaq
outside the dead guy's home,

walks into the same station.

Neither man catches a train,

which is a weird thing to do
at a train station.

Instead, they both walk back up

to the street level


Sure feels like a payoff to me.

I'm just following orders.

Was Al Hallaq's lawyer involved, too?

Nick.

Yes or no?

This can go one of two ways.

The easy way,
where you tell me everything

and I do what I need to do,

or the hard way, where
I turn over this evidence.

Yes.

He was involved.

So we'd like to offer a plea.

- A plea?
- Yeah.

Nasser Al Hallaq
pleads guilty to Man One,

and we'll agree to 12 years in prison.

Why would I possibly accept a plea?

You just told me
your star witness went poof.

My client's going to walk.

Because if you don't take the plea...

then I'm going to come after
you for witness tampering.

What the hell are you talking about?

I have photos of the 18th
Street subway station meeting.

[TENSE MUSIC]

I have video.

I have proof.

♪ ♪

So we make a deal that
makes sense for everybody,

including your client.

Or I will go to the end of the Earth

to put this witness on the stand

and force him to tell the truth.

♪ ♪

About the payoff.

♪ ♪

[CLICKS TONGUE]

[INHALES DEEPLY]

OK, I get it.

I'll talk to my client.

♪ ♪

- We're making a deal?
- Man One, 12 years.

Nick, you said we were going to fight.

Doesn't sound like fighting.
It sounds more like folding.

It's more complicated than that.

[SCOFFING] OK, well,
then help me out here.

E-explain, because...

I can't.

Right, right. Perfect.

Make the deal, Nolan.

[DISTANT SIREN WAILING]

It's done.

I'm not going to pretend
justice was served,

but Al Hallaq's on his way to prison.

[SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE]

[DRELL TAKES DEEP BREATH]

We've known each other
a long time now, Nick.

Mm.

Yes, we have.

We did some good things
together for this crazy world.

I'd like to think so.

But on this one...

I failed you.

You failed yourself, Jack.

Look, man.

I know you were trying
to be a good soldier, but

I don't know what you were thinking.

How did you think this was going to end?

No.

No, that's not what I meant.

I failed to help you understand

the gravity of the environment
we're in now.

When I came to you,
asked you to drop this case,

that wasn't some friendly
request from an old pal.

I see.

This is how things work now.
People get in line.

People need to bend the knee,

or else there are repercussions.

And I think it's something
for you to really think about,

like, ponder, you know?

Where your allegiances really
are at the end of the day,

whether it's really worth
being your own guy

in this day and age.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

I think I'm good.

♪ ♪

And if I'm being honest,
I don't know how to do it any other way.

♪ ♪

And things have worked out
pretty good so far.

♪ ♪

Time will tell.

♪ ♪

[INHALES DEEPLY]

Thanks for the pretzel.

♪ ♪

You made a deal?



[SIGHS] Truth is,
if he is well-behaved in there,

he will probably be out in seven.

He m*rder*d my fiancé.

I... I know this is not what you wanted.

We did the best we could.

[SIGHS]

I-I'm sorry.

I know you're upset.

No... [SIGHS] You're damn right, I am.

We could have won this thing.

Or at the least
exposed these corrupt b*stards.

They bought off a material witness!

And you just want to
pretend it didn't happen?

[SIGHS]

You should have talked to me, Nick.

You didn't even ask for my damn opinion.

I couldn't.

That's not true.

I didn't want to.

I did what I thought was best
for everyone,

all things considered.

And I didn't want
to drag you through the mud.

Or expose you to any legal
or political risk.

I was trying to protect you, Nolan.

[TENSE SOMBER MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Good luck with the, uh,
campaign event tonight.

Yeah, about that.

Turns out several of my
key donors just pulled out.

And the U.S. Park Service
revoked our permit for tonight.

So...

All dressed up, nowhere to go.

♪ ♪

How about you and me get some dinner?

Maybe a few c*ck?

♪ ♪

I feel a bit underdressed. But, uh...

♪ ♪

Yeah, let's do it.

♪ ♪