Directed by Constantine Makris
Written by IC Rapoport & Barry M Schkolnick
The body of a young woman named Karen Whatney is discovered near a traffic clogged bridge, Karen having jumped off of it. Evidence soon turns up that she wasn’t just a jumper. Witnesses saw her trying to escape from a large enraged man who tore her blouse and was threatening her. The description and car lead them to “Crazy” Mike McDugan, a local with numerous prior assault charges. Unfortunately for the DA’s office, they can’t use his previous bad acts or associates against him. Even more unfortunately, their chief witness has changed his testimony, seeming to clear McDugan of the most serious charges.
That witness, Mr. Marsh, has received late night phone calls from the apartment of a single woman, but that woman has a son by convicted arsonist Dave Randall “the Candle”, a former cellmate of Crazy Mike McDugan. As it happens Karen Whatney used to work for a shoe factory owned by Harold Dorning. That factory burned down when the company was deep underwater, in what the fire marshal dismissed at the time as arson by vandalism.
Harold Dorning’s son, Robert, seems reluctant to turn on his father, but when McCoy and Ross lean on him, he agrees to testify. Harold Dorning is arrested for both arson and the murder of Karen Whatney. To tie it together the DAs need the cooperation of either McDugan or Randall. Randall vanishes, leaving them with McDugan. Crazy Mike confesses to his own part, but can’t give them Randall, who tipped him off that the case was about to go down a couple of nights previously. That means someone tipped Randall off. Only Robert Dorning had the inside information that Randall shared with McDugan. Harold Dorning reveals that Karen had told him Robert cleaned out his office before the fire, and that he had told Robert what she told him, but that he never put it together when she died. In the end, he still pleads for leniency on behalf of his son.
This episode contains examples of:
- Antagonistic Offspring: At the very least, Robert Dorning considers framing his father for murder as an acceptable plan B. As Jack puts it, "I can remember how I felt when I found out my father was a son-of-a-bitch. I can't imagine how it feels to find out you've raised one."
- Bystander Syndrome: The people who saw Crazy Mike threatening Karen on the bridge are reluctant to even say what they saw and seem to regard the interrogation as just an inconvenience.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Crazy Mike insists that he was unwilling to take a powder like Randall did because he can't leave his crippled father.
- Internal Reveal: It's only in this episode that Briscoe finds out that Curtis cheated on his wife, and also that she's left him.
- Jury and Witness Tampering: Randall's phone calls to get Marsh to change his story.
- Turn Out Like His Father: Curtis regrets his affair among other reasons because he never wanted to be like his womanizing father.
