19x06 - Sweetie

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: In the
criminal justice system

the people are represented by two
separate yet equally important groups,

the police who investigate crime

and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

SWEETIE: (READING) "The
way my mother told it was,

"she just looked up one
day and saw how pretty I am.

"It was the light, she said, the
way it came through the blinds.

"She saw that pretty boy sitting
across from her coloring on a placemat

"and saw a way to
boost her income,

"to buy that double-wide in
Abilene she had her eye on.

"That was the beginning
of my life in hell.

"No hope, no future.

"Just the next cheap
trick in a filthy truck

stop bathroom, and
then the one after that.

"But I survived, and I escaped."

And it's all in this book.

Buy a copy, save a slut.

(ALL LAUGHING)

(AUDIENCE CHATTERING)

They loved you. We just
got invited out to Orchid.

Wanna go? We have
that book signing tomorrow.

I don't know... Kate.

You don't even like
girls, remember?

I like Orchid.

You know how hard
it is to get in there?

Come on, you never
let me have any fun.

Fine. (LAUGHS)
(LAUGHS) Oh, girls! I am in.

(ALL LAUGHING)

LUPO: Cut lip. Bloody nose.

Two gashes in the belly,
with matching slits in the shirt.

Smacked around, then stabbed?

You find a Kn*fe?
My guys are looking.

Hey, cute Mr. Policeman,
you looking for a date?

(ALL LAUGH)

You want to move that
line back a little? Thanks.

Unsafe Sex Central.

Pants are buttoned up, shirt's
tucked in, so he didn't get very far.

No wallet, no ID.
Cell phone's dead.

Detectives.

This young lady says
she recognizes the body.

That's Sweetie Ness. I saw
him after Delilah called 911.

Is he a regular down here?
That how you know him?

You're kidding me, right?

Don't you watch
Oprah? He's a writer.

Okay.

Thank you.

Sweetie Ness, horrible
life as a child prost*tute,

wrote a memoir about
how he left it all behind.

Or not.

KATE: That's him.

That's Sweetie.

We called his publisher.
They gave us your name.

We don't usually get referred
to a victim's agent, Ms. Tenny.

Does he have a family?

You're kidding.

Did you read his book? No.

His mother was a prost*tute.

She started selling him
for sex when he was 10.

She was k*lled by a
John when he was 14.

He got out and
turned himself around.

That's what the book
was about, right?

Ten years later.

LUPO: Then why was
he at the piers last night?

(SIGHS) I don't know.

I thought he stopped all that.

BERNARD: Having sex?

On piers, yes.

Do you have his
address? He drifted.

When he was in New
York, he stayed with me.

Did you see him last night?

He had a reading
at AK-Forty-Eight.

Then we went to Orchid
with some of his fans.

I left at 1:00.

He was still partying.

Here.

(EXHALES)

You should know
where he came from.

Little Whore.

BERNARD: (READING) "One thing
about my mother, she had a sense of humor.

"One night she got drunk and
starting putting cigarettes out on my ass.

""Butts to butt, ' she said."

Hilarious.

I'm the manager. You were
asking about that writer?

BERNARD: Sweetie Ness.
He was here last night?

Flavor of the month.
Drew quite a crowd.

Like who? Like everybody.

Madonna came by with her
entourage around midnight.

Mr. Ness was hanging
with some of them.

Madonna? The singer?

No, the mother of our Lord.

You know, I didn't know she
traveled with an entourage.

(STAMMERS) Who was
he hanging with, exactly?

I can't believe this.
It is just so shocking.

BERNARD: We understand that you were
with Mr. Ness last night, Ms. Claiborne.

Lauren, please.

I met him at Orchid.
He seemed so sweet.

The paparazzi were crazy,
so Madonna didn't stay.

Um, I asked Sweetie to
take me to Blaine's Tavern.

It's a total dive,
near the piers.

I wanted to experience
what it was like

in the world that
Sweetie Ness came from.

That would be children
getting r*ped for $50.

(GASPS) What a
horrible thing to say.

What happened at
Blaine's, Ms. Claiborne?

Well, we had a few drinks,

and then I lost track of him.

I met a guy who
said he was bisexual,

and he actually was.

The last I saw Sweetie,

he was being hassled
by some fat girl.

He tried to get rid of her,
but she wouldn't leave.

Just kept asking him

about the poems she sent him

"I feel your pain.
I cry your tears.

"I breathe you with
each heavy breath.

"I know you know I have no
fear of meeting you in death."

That's a candidate.
Signed, Harold Studinsky.

Do I want to know?

Mmm-mmm. LUPO:
Poem's to Sweetie Ness

from his agent's stalker file.

Half the writers
want to save him.

The other half want
to have his baby.

And some would
be moved to k*ll him

if they knew he didn't
share their emotion.

Or want an autographed
photocopy of his ass.

Hey, another poem. Janice
Dunlap. Boyden, Iowa.

She gives her number. (SCOFFS)

"I've held you in dreams
of death and dying,

"As Juliet her Romeo While
barren earth was crying."

Hi, is Janice there?

This girl needs to cheer up.

(LAUGHS) LUPO: Do you
know the name of her hotel?

Okay. She's on
vacation in New York.

JANICE: I would never
hurt Sweetie. I loved him.

Yeah, we read your poem.

But when you went
up to him at Blaine's,

he didn't exactly
love you back, did he?

He just didn't understand
what I was trying to say.

He brushed you
off. He rejected you.

He just couldn't hear me.

It was so crowded.
I took out my phone

to try and take his picture and
it got knocked out of my hand.

I never even found it.

I went outside and waited,
so I could get him alone.

Did you see him come out? Yeah.

And before I could get to
him someone else came and...

Oh God, that guy.

What guy?

They wouldn't let me into
Orchid, so I waited on the street.

And this guy was there, too.
He was following Sweetie, too.

And he followed
Sweetie out of Blaine's?

Yes, and Sweetie
tried to get away,

but the guy grabbed his
arm and they were arguing.

What did this guy
look like, Janice?

He had blond hair.
Dyed blond and...

He was wearing, uh, a jacket
that said Royal or something.

And he was at Orchid?

Hey, Lauren Claiborne. She said the
paparazzi was out in force over there.

All right. LUPO:
Don't leave town.

BERNARD: Did you get
any pictures of Sweetie Ness?

No, not on purpose. The
Advocate isn't a big market for me.

You mind if we look
through what you got?

Um, do you mind
if I see a warrant?

We could get one.

We may have to shut you
down for a couple of days

while we take a real
careful look around.

Here. I'll be right over there.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

Let's see what we got here.

Am I just ignorant, or are
these not really celebrities?

Oh, just ignorant.

BERNARD: There... There's
Sweetie Ness and Lauren Claiborne.

Check behind them.
Yeah, there's Janice.

And the blond guy. Mmm-hmm.

Regal Towing... Jim.

Is that your jacket?

Yeah. I lost that on the subway.

Why don't we take
a walk over here?

All right, you want to tell
us what's going on, Jim?

Or we can show the photo to your
friends, see if they know something.

I lost it in a pool game, okay?

Hmm, a pool game where?

The Mine Shaft.

The mine what? The Mine Shaft.

Mine Shaft, the gay bar.

Yeah. I was just having a beer.

Is that the guy you lost it to?

Yeah, that's him. The
writer, Sweetie Ness.

No, not him, the blond
haired guy wearing your jacket.

Yeah. Him. That's Sweetie Ness.

BARTENDER: Yeah. He's been in.

What did he call himself?

BERNARD: Sweetie Ness?

People call themselves a
lot of things around here.

You just missed d*ck Cheney.

Trust me, I don't
miss d*ck Cheney.

Now, what about this guy?

Yeah. He said he was Sweetie
Ness, the great big celebrity.

That's why he couldn't
afford to buy his own drinks.

So who did?

He did. The guy
at the pool table.

Hey, sweetheart!

They're asking about your
friend, Ernest Hemingway.

You, uh, strike up an
acquaintanceship with this guy here?

Yeah. Guess he didn't
exactly level with me.

About who he was, I mean.

Well, when did
you figure that out?

When I saw a picture
of Sweetie Ness

in the Post and it wasn't him...

Pretty damn convincing, though.

Knew everything there was to
know about the guy. (LAUGHS)

Even had the cigarette
burns on his butt,

just like it says in the book.

You know this how? You two
get naked right here in the bar?

We, uh, went to his hotel.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

BERNARD: Housekeeping!

WOMAN: He checked in a week ago.

And he hasn't checked out?

Still his room.

Hey, let's go get
a warrant. Hold on.

You spent the night
here, Mr. Dewey?

Uh, yeah.

That makes you a co-occupant.

Do we have your permission
to go in and look around?

Sure. Great. Please?

(SHOUTING) NYPD!

You two wait here, all right?

Guess those law
classes are paying off.

For this I get extra credit.

Hey.

Yeah? It's your favorite book.

(LAUGHS) It's annotated.

He studied this to
get his story straight.

Lupes.

Looks like blood.

The blood on the shirt's a
type match for the victim.

DNA comparison's
going to take a while.

The blond guy hasn't
gone back to the hotel yet,

might be on the run.

Meanwhile, our prime suspect
in the k*lling of Sweetie Ness

is still Sweetie Ness.

Or somebody who wants
people to think he is Sweetie Ness.

Puffs himself up
by playing the part.

He was getting into
the role pretty good.

These are phone records
from his hotel room.

He made three calls to Kate
Tenny, the real Sweetie's agent.

KATE: Who is he?

You don't know? He
called you three times.

You saw the pile of
letters that I gave to you.

We also got a lot of
calls about Sweetie.

People wanting interviews, sex.

God knows what. I
pretended to listen.

Yeah, well, this guy
thinks he is Sweetie Ness,

or puts on a pretty good show.

So he's crazy. He's
not the only one.

He committed to the part.
Gave himself cigarette burns

to match the ones
Mama gave Sweetie.

Oh, God. He may have gone
further than he needed to there.

BERNARD: What do you mean?

I don't exactly want
the world to know,

but in his book,
Sweetie may have

exaggerated a few
of the gory details.

Poetic license?

He liked to give people
what they wanted.

(MOBILE PHONE
RINGING) Excuse me.

Yes?

Did she just tell us Sweetie didn't
really have those cigarette burns?

No, she said he might not.

Why would she make
her star writer a liar?

Let's go look at some skin.

Smooth as a baby's bottom.

And there's something else about
his posterior you might find interesting.

He's supposed to
be a male prost*tute?

I'm not sure he was
supposed to be, but he was.

Well, he's the strangest
prost*tute I ever saw.

I checked for evidence of
sex before he was k*lled.

There's no indication.

There's also no indication of
fibrotic changes to his sphincter.

No scars, no warts, no STDs.

He's an a**l virgin.

So he lied about the cigarette
burns, the r*pes, the arrests.

It's one of those fake memoirs.

Or a stolen one.

We ran the prints from
the blond guy's hotel room.

Guess who is a male
prost*tute? Cody Larson, 24.

Busts for drug possession, loitering,
soliciting, mostly in truck stops.

So Cody Larson really
was Sweetie Ness?

Mm-hmm. He even had the burns.

So, you're thinking
he read that book

and figured someone
had stolen his life?

And motored up to
New York to get it back.

What about the
agent, Kate Tenny?

Was she conned by
a fake Sweetie Ness,

or was she in on the gag?

Well, she didn't
have many clients.

Came out of nowhere a
couple of years ago as an agent.

Now, her bio only says
she used to be a journalist.

BERNARD: "Pretty Boys: The
Tragic Lives of Child Prostitutes."

Yeah, Kate had a
way with those kids.

Really got them to open up.

It's like she spoke
their language.

Yeah, she interviewed
a bunch of them.

Trailer parks, truck
stops, dr*gs, r*pes.

His mother was a monster.

She sold him to her Johns

and laughed about putting
out cigarettes on his buttocks.

That was Cody Larson. Right?

You met him 10 years ago
when you wrote that article.

I don't know. They
used made-up names.

Yeah, then you ripped him off

and wrote your book
based on his life story.

He must've been plenty
pissed when he found out.

He came to New
York. He called you.

I told you. I get a
lot of crazy calls.

You want to hear crazy, lady?

That body that we
have in the morgue.

We ran it through Missing
Persons and it came back

an actor from Louisville
named Dale Marks.

His mother said he
came to New York

for some kind of job
and never came home.

You hired him to play
Sweetie Ness, didn't you?

Based on the
book that you wrote,

based on the life story that
you stole from Cody Larson.

Oh God.

Look, I thought the world should know
what was happening to these children.

No one was speaking
up for them, no one.

So you stepped up.

Cody wasn't going
to write a book.

I didn't even know
he could read.

And I didn't think that it
would get anyone k*lled.

Yeah, and while
you've been lying to us

to protect your phony book,

the k*ller's been getting away.

You have any ideas where
we can find him? Right now.

He called me. He was angry.

He wanted the world to know
that he was Sweetie Ness,

and he wanted some money,

so I sent him a little, twice,

just so that I could keep him
quiet while I figured things out.

How'd you send the money?

The first wire transfer was picked
up at a store in the West Village.

She sent the second one
the day before the m*rder.

It was picked up last night at
the Cross Bronx Truck Plaza.

Either he hopped on
a truck and he's gone...

Or he's back to his old tricks,

working the truck stops.

Home sweet home.

You know, I know that place
from when I worked Vice.

There are 30 ways in and out,

and truckers and hustlers
can smell cops a mile away.

So what should we smell like?

How's my audio?

VAN BUREN: We can
hear your gears grinding.

Yeah, well, next time get
me a longer driving lesson.

All right, turn off
your headlights,

and leave the parking
and roof lights on.

Done.

Now you're going to
have to look for a date,

so go inside, get the mouthwash.

Make sure people see it.

I don't mind telling you this,

but that kind of
weirds me out a little.

That's a big 10-4, buddy.

Anything else?

That'll be it, thanks.

You looking for a
party, handsome?

I, uh, might be. Not you though.

I like a man who's all man.

Honey. (CHUCKLES)

I'm more man than
you can handle.

A little whiter,
too, and younger.

No offense. None taken, honey.

The customer's always right.

You know? I got a friend now.

Just be sure to give him
an extra big tip for me, okay?

LUPO: It's been half an hour.

You think he's got
appointments backed up, or what?

Same old story.
White boy gets the job.

(LAUGHS)

Someone's coming your way.

I hear you're looking
for some company.

Come on in.

It's 30 for oral, 50 gets
you anything you want.

I got 50.

Then I got anything you want.

You read that book?

Pretty good.

That's me. I'm Sweetie Ness.

I don't think so. This guy got
himself k*lled the other night.

You can't believe everything
you read in the papers.

Then who got himself k*lled?

You don't know anything.
This guy was famous.

You're just some
truck-stop twink.

So what do you want
to do here exactly?

Hold on, hold on.

Cody, I'm a cop.
You're under arrest.

Oh, God. Hold still!

And I'm going to need
that 50 bucks back.

Docket number 41678,
People v. Cody Larson.

m*rder in the Second Degree.

I didn't k*ll that faker.

JUDGE: Okay, so we'll
make that a Not Guilty.

He was the crook.
He stole my life.

Mr. Haig, you might suggest to
your client that he put a sock in it.

He has a legitimate
grievance, Your Honor.

So does the dead guy.

Bail, Ms. Rubirosa?

No fixed address,
long criminal record...

Nothing more serious than
prostitution and petty theft.

Good news! Free room
and board. Remand.

I understand we
can thank your client

for broadcasting his
motive at the arraignment.

It doesn't mean
he k*lled anyone.

But Dale Marks did steal
your life, didn't he, Mr. Larson?

Or you thought he did.

You ought to call me
Sweetie. I'm taking the name.

He just keeps on
giving, doesn't he?

His persona was appropriated
by Mr. Marks and Ms. Tenny.

We're filing suit to claim
a share of the royalties

from the book they published.

Little Whore.

I assume you're looking forward

to your share of that
settlement, Dave.

I don't usually see you
representing indigents.

Well, I do what I can.

A motion to exclude
the bloody shirt

the police found
in the hotel room.

I might have cut his lip or
something, but I didn't k*ll him.

They had no warrant, and
Mr. Larson didn't consent to the search.

He didn't need to. The room's
other occupant consented.

Mr. Dewey? He wasn't
living there. He was renting.

Which would make him a
resident, with a right of privacy,

and the standing
to waive that privacy.

The room isn't
what he was renting.

HAIG: This affidavit
from Mr. Dewey attests

that he paid Mr. Larson for
his time and sexual favors.

That's not what
he told the police.

Because he was embarrassed.

They like to kid
themselves, you know?

So you make 'em
think you like 'em.

Like you wouldn't take the
money from just anybody.

But you would.

Thank you, Mr. Larson.

Clearly, Mr. Dewey was a
customer, and not a roommate.

CUTTER: Overnight guests
have an expectation of privacy.

The police couldn't
have searched

Mr. Dewey's things
without a warrant.

Conversely, he had standing
to give them permission to enter.

The Supreme Court decided
this in Minnesota v. Olson.

HAIG: That doesn't apply
to commercial visitors.

If I'm shopping at Macy's and fall asleep
on a couch, it doesn't mean I live there.

CUTTER: The police didn't
know the circumstances.

They had reason to believe Mr. Larson
and Mr. Dewey had a personal relationship.

How long have they been
cops? Eleven minutes?

They should have
gotten a warrant.

The motion to
suppress is granted.

He's wrong on the
law. It's a gray area.

So I have to listen
to a m*rder*r tell me

how to pick up Johns at the
Mine Shaft, and then let him walk?

(LAUGHS) We still
have Larson's motive.

Dale Marks stole his
life and Larson knew it.

We have a photo
of him stalking Marks

and the witness who saw him
accost Marks right before the m*rder.

One witness. Nail her down.

I don't know. It was
really dark outside.

You told the police
you saw Cody Larson

follow Dale Marks
outside of Blaine's Tavern.

They argued and when
Mr. Marks walked away,

Mr. Larson followed.

I'm not sure.

You're not sure about what?

Maybe they were just talking.

I was just so focused
on the one that got k*lled.

I thought he was Sweetie.

Ms. Dunlap, I'm assuming
that you didn't lie to the police.

I was very emotional.

I thought Sweetie
had just been k*lled.

Maybe I was looking
for somebody to blame,

on the subconscious
level, you know?

Maybe that influenced
my perceiving.

Her subconscious mind might
have influenced her perceptions?

Who's she been hanging
out with? Sigmund Freud?

Worse. Check out the
visitors' log from Rikers.

She's been visiting
Cody Larson in jail.

Or, as he now prefers
to be called, Sweetie.

She's obsessed
with Sweetie Ness,

and now she knows Dale
Marks was an imposter,

she's changing her story
to protect the real Sweetie.

Yeah, but is he
the real Sweetie?

I understand he has some
cigarette burns on his ass

that make a pretty good case.

I was reading Little Whore

and Cody Larson's
probation record.

He was raised by his aunt

who put him in Catholic
school until he ran away.

Well, there's no aunt in
the book, no Catholic school.

And, the book says that he spent
three months in a work camp in Michigan.

Michigan Corrections has
no record of a Cody Larson.

Kate Tenny interviewed a
dozen kids for her article, right?

Sweetie Ness is a composite.

KATE: My publisher called me in.

They're talking about
pulping the book.

Well, maybe if it
wasn't a total fraud.

Look, I may have screwed up,

but this book is
about real victims,

about a situation that
needs to be stopped.

We need to find some of the
other hustlers you interviewed.

That's not going to be
easy. They've all grown up.

I don't even know if I
have my notes anymore.

We can get a warrant and go
through your office looking for them.

Yeah, maybe even
your publisher's, too.

I'll send you what I have.

No question about it.
That's my stuff in there.

You're buying me
lunch, right? Yeah, sure.

Is there any particular reason

why this office is flying gay
prostitutes in from all over the country?

It's the Cody Larson trial.

He's entitled to a
jury of his peers.

That's fellow citizens,
not fellow hustlers.

It's not for the jury, Jack.

We have a witness problem.

And these men are the solution?

Hey, she's here.

Stay. Watch. Learn.

Rooted to the spot.

Uh, Ms. Dunlap, this is Jack
McCoy, our District Attorney.

Uh-huh.

Who are they? Out
there. Oh, you noticed.

What do you
want? I told that lady

that I don't remember
anything from that night.

Because you don't want to
testify against Sweetie Ness.

Because I couldn't see good.

Now, you came here from Iowa

because you admire Sweetie Ness,

and you don't want to be the
one to send him to prison, right?

Ms. Dunlap, say hello to Mr. Dean,
Mr. Ramirez, and Mr. Stocker.

Oh, and by the way,
they're all Sweetie Ness.

What?

They were all interviewed by Kate
Tenny when she was a journalist.

Here. "I told him no
and started to run.

"He said, come back here, boy,

"or I'll let the dog loose."

Damn bitch bit me right here.

Still got the scar.

You know where
Uncle Louie got me.

And here. "My mother
was drunk and roaring.

"She tossed the b*rned
chicken at me, plate and all."

Plate hit me here. Had
to get my uppers replaced.

I still can't chew right.

Stop it.

Kate Tenny used all
their stories in this book.

Cody Larson is no more Sweetie
Ness than any one of them is.

I don't know.

A man was m*rder*d, Ms. Dunlap.

His real name was Dale Marks

and he was really
m*rder*d by Cody Larson.

And you need to tell the
truth about what you saw,

about what you know.

Just a minute. I'll
need to see those.

Lady, I got three subpoenas,

and none of them is for you.

He's a process server,
from Cody Larson's attorney.

He'd like our visitors
to testify for the defense.

How'd he know they were here?

Cody and me, we keep in touch.

I'll take those.
Consider them served.

You just gave the defense three
alternate theories of the crime.

If they're all Sweetie Ness, they
all had motive to k*ll Mr. Marks.

Oh, I stayed. I watched.

What is it I was
supposed to learn?

Cody called me a
couple of months ago

and asked me if
I'd seen that book.

This was the first I'd heard.

And how did Mr. Larson
like that book? He didn't.

Um, said it was full of stories,

his stories, that he'd
been ripped off royal.

Did he indicate what he
was going to do about that?

Come up to New York
and set things straight.

I see. Thank you.

You were already in
New York, weren't you?

Yeah, I'd been
living here a while.

Some of your stories
were in that book, too.

Yeah. I went out and found
a copy after I talked to Cody.

It had the thing about
my teeth, bunch of stuff.

So you'd been
ripped off royal, too.

STOCKER: You could say.
So you had the same reason

to be angry at Mr. Marks
that the defendant did,

the same motive to k*ll him.

He'd stolen your life, too.

Except I didn't care.

Really? You didn't
care about the money?

Didn't care about the fame?

I'm all set, thanks.

Got married a few months
ago to a very nice man.

Very generous.

I do not need to rock that boat.

I got a lot of calls
about Sweetie.

He attracted all
kinds of people.

But did anyone other
than Cody Larson

ever complain to you that the
book had stolen their stories?

No. No one ever did.

That wouldn't have
made sense anyway,

since the stories were Cody's.

You mean, some of the stories

in the book came from things
you'd heard from Cody Larson.

No. I may have helped him out

with a few other things I'd
picked up, that was my job.

But Cody Larson is the
author of Little Whore.

He is Sweetie Ness.

Ms. Tenny.

Didn't you tell
me before this trial

that you wrote that book, drawing
on the lives of a dozen young men?

I told you what
you wanted to hear.

You threatened me.

She threatened me.

She said she was going to
search my publisher's office.

They would have dropped me.

I couldn't let that happen.

Sweetie... Cody. He has
another book coming out.

CUTTER: If Cody is Sweetie Ness,

then why did you
stand next to Dale Marks

and tell the whole world
he was Sweetie Ness?

We hired Dale. Cody
wanted to protect his privacy.

Look, Cody was in no
shape to face the public.

The types of demands
fans placed on Dale

when they thought
he was Sweetie...

It got pretty crazy.

It may have gotten him k*lled.

She's lying. She's been
saying she faked that book

to save abused children
but it's making a fortune,

and this puts her
back in business.

Larson's lawyer probably
brokered the deal.

Maybe. But she just
sh*t your motive to hell.

Sweetie Ness had no
reason to k*ll someone

he'd hired to
impersonate himself.

Cody Larson isn't Sweetie Ness.

JACK: He drops
his pants to the jury

and shows them
the burns on his butt,

they might believe he is.

Are you enjoying this?

Enjoying watching my
prosecutors lose control

of their witnesses,
and their case?

That's not the word
that leaps to mind.

CONNIE: Okay, so what
if it's true? What she said.

Oh, please. She said
the fans got crazy.

We know one crazy fan who
was next to the fake Sweetie

right before he got k*lled.

Your star witness, right?

I just got this. Sweetie's
book from Paris, in French.

No one else in America
has one of these yet.

And look, autographed.

Love to a very special fan.

And he said that he read my
poems, him and Miss Tenny.

He said that they were going
to put them in his next book.

Janice, you met those other men.

You know that Cody isn't
really Sweetie Ness, right?

You lied to me. Cody told me
things that no one else could know.

Like here.

Where he talks about the
great love of his life. Chris.

That's a girl, not a guy.

Sweetie wasn't even really gay.

He just went with men for money.

And Chris lived in Little
Rock, but then she d*ed.

Janice, if you don't testify
truthfully about what you saw,

we're going to charge
you with perjury.

You're not going
to drop the charges?

Cody Larson k*lled a man.

We're not going to let it
go because he gave you

a phony story and an autograph.

You know if he wasn't
really gay, Janice,

that means there's a
possibility that you and he...

Is that what you were thinking?

Okay. I did it.

Did what?

I k*lled the fake Sweetie.

She didn't k*ll anybody.

CONNIE: The water's
pretty muddy, Mike.

All the defense has to
do is put her on the stand.

Well, that won't
be necessary. I will.

And call the authorities
in Boyden, Iowa,

or wherever the
hell she came from.

JANICE: I went up to
Dale outside the bar.

I thought he was Sweetie,
and he told me to get lost,

and I told him I
just wanted to talk.

And he said I was bothering him.

And he said terrible
things. It was awful.

The real Sweetie
would understand.

So, I followed him and got next to
him again and he shoved me hard.

And I had a Kn*fe I carry for
protection, and I took it out,

I don't know why.

And I didn't mean to
s*ab him. I'm so sorry.

How many times? What?

How many times did you s*ab
him without even knowing why?

(SIGHS) I don't know. It was
like a dream. Like a nightmare.

You don't know
because you didn't do it.

Isn't that right? No.

You told the police the
last time you saw the victim

he was with Cody Larson.

That was before, when
Dale came out of the bar.

He was making a phone
call. It was noisy inside,

then Sweetie came after him.

You mean Cody.

Cody is Sweetie.

They talked.

And then Sweetie... I mean Cody,

left, and then that's when I
came up to Dale and it happened.

Janice, do you
love Sweetie Ness?

Um, I guess, in a way.

Kind of.

(GIGGLING)

Do you think he loves you?

He's never said
anything like that,

but he did write some really
nice notes about my poetry.

But, he never wrote to you
about your poems before, did he?

When you mailed them to him?

No.

Of course, that was before he
needed you to falsely confess

to a m*rder so he could go free.

That was before
we knew each other.

And now he
confides in you, right?

He tells you things he
wouldn't tell anyone else.

Like about a person named
Chris, his one true love?

Yes. Chris was... "Not exactly
what I made him out to be.

"The main thing being, Chris
wasn't a him at all, Chris was a she."

Two months ago, taken from an
interview given by Dale Marks as Sweetie.

They're giving you
old news, Janice.

You're selling yourself cheap.

I'm not selling anything.

The fake Sweetie blew
you off that night, right?

Because he was hanging
out with the beautiful people.

That wasn't the real Sweetie.

If Cody Larson gets acquitted,
he'll be running in the same circles.

You can't compete with them.

All you can do for
Cody is go to jail for him.

That's not what I'm doing.

Do you have any friends? Sure.

A boyfriend?

Not right now. I had one.

Was his name
Chuck? A truck driver?

Yes.

That would be Charles R. Thomas?

Who was so enamored
of you that he went to court

to get a restraining order to
keep you from bothering him.

This restraining order?

(IN A CHOKED VOICE)
That was a mistake.

Janice, haven't people
been pushing you away

and telling you to get
lost your entire life?

They know that, Janice.
These people are using you.

And you know it.

Now, let's just get the truth
out, and say it how it really is.

Did you k*ll Dale Marks?

No.

The last time I saw him,
he was with Sweetie.

I mean Cody. I
mean... I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, Sweetie. I'm sorry.

(SOBBING)

CUTTER: I understand
it wasn't pretty.

It saved her from going to jail
for a crime she didn't commit.

Here.

Trial's over, Connie. We're
just waiting for the jury.

No, Janice said that Dale Marks

was using a phone when
he left the bar. JACK: So?

The police checked
his cell records.

He didn't make
any calls that night.

His battery was dead. So,
how was he using a phone?

Janice said that she lost
hers. Maybe he picked it up.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Jury's back.

JUDGE: Members of the jury,

on the charge of m*rder
in the second degree

against Cody Larson,
how do you find?

JUROR: We find
the defendant guilty.

(JUDGE POUNDS GAVEL)

(INAUDIBLE)

Pull Janice Dunlap's
cell phone records.

There were two calls. One at
3:00 a.m. to a limo company,

that was cut off short.

Must have been the call
that Dale Marks was making

when he left the bar, and
was interrupted by Cody.

The second call
was 30 minutes later.

I thought Dale Marks
was dead 30 minutes later.

Cody's story is that
he fought with Marks,

gave him a bloody
lip, but left him alive.

So, whom did Marks
call with his bloody lip?

Kate Tenny. The agent?

We lifted her prints off a
book she gave the detectives.

Put them in the
system, this came back.

You did just convict
somebody else of your m*rder.

I know.

Let's go see Ms. Tenny.

Running late. Marketing
meeting at the publisher.

I hear they're doing
Sweetie's second book.

Mmm, 200,000 first printing,

first serial in Vanity
Fair. Hollywood is calling.

Even though the
author's locked up?

Oh, that does kind of
mess up the book tour.

But, there is some kind of
romance in a jailhouse writer.

Maybe you could do the tour.

Me? (SCOFFING) I don't think
I'd pass for a gay male hooker.

No. But you were a hooker.

CONNIE: We have your record.

You were arrested at 16
and at 18 for prostitution.

CUTTER: And there were sealed
arrests when you were 12 and 13.

A child.

That's why the book is
so convincing, isn't it?

Why it feels so real.

You're Sweetie Ness.

That's ridiculous.

What would happen if we tracked
down your mother, what would we find?

What kind of monster?

My mother is dead,
God rest her soul.

CUTTER: What happened, Kate?

Did Dale Marks call you after
Cody Larson knocked him around?

Say he'd had enough?
He wanted out?

So, you had to go down
there and keep him quiet,

and things got a
little out of hand?

Mr. Cutter, what a wonderful
imagination you have.

Maybe you should write a book.

Or...

(IN HUSKY VOICE) If
you ever wanna party

with somebody nice
and tight, sugar daddy,

you just give me a call.

(NORMAL VOICE) Now, if you'll
excuse me, I'm late for my meeting.

The police searched Kate
Tenny's home and office.

There was no sign
of a m*rder w*apon.

They canvassed every
hooker south of 14th Street.

Nobody saw her the night
Dale Marks was m*rder*d.

So, there's no actual evidence.

I'm filing to vacate the
conviction of Cody Larson.

You can't prove she did it.

Something may turn up.

And if it doesn't?

She wins. We lose.