In the process of investigating the death of rare coin and antiques dealer Steven Campbell, Briscoe and Curtis find that some of his coins were stolen but more valuable ones were left. The initial suspect is Richard Peterson, whose coins are missing, and who was a friend of Campbell's. As they follow the clues, they end up arresting Judith Sandler (Karen Allen), the traumatized daughter of Holocaust survivors, who claims the coins were her father's property and that he put them into storage before being captured.
Tropes present in this episode
- All for Nothing: Sandler learns after the fact that her father's coins had already been sold and she killed Campbell for nothing.
- Bludgeoned to Death: How the victim died.
- Claustrophobia: Sandler suffers from this condition. Her boss gave her a ground level work station so she wouldn't have to use the elevator; and she used this to invalidate the permission she gave to search her home on the grounds that it wasn't given freely.
- Downer Ending: Sandler does hard time on a manslaughter charge that she's just found out she committed for nothing while Peterson gets off with five years in a cushy federal prison, and the Swiss bankers who originally stole the coins and started the whole mess in the first place can't be charged. Despite the convictions, it's clear none of the prosecutors are overly happy with the outcome.
- Hitler Ate Sugar: When Sandler is pressured by the detectives and Ross into submitting to a "consensual" apartment search, McCoy has to deal with the fact that Sandler is calling prejudice and then comparing the NYPD to the Nazi secret police amidst her lawyer trying to get all the apartment evidence thrown out. At one point, when McCoy points out that Sandler did consent to the search and that "there's rules, there's laws" over it, Sandler snipes back with, "Nazi Germany had laws, too." Cue Jack and the Judge exchanging bemused glances.
- It's All About Me: Peterson covered up the fact that he didn't have the coins anymore, and intentionally misled the investigation, so that he wouldn't be tried for fraud by lying about it publicly for the sake of business reputation; while he didn't directly commit the murder of Campbell, his selfishness set it into motion and threw his supposed friend into the fire. Once the truth comes out, Sandler herself sets into motion her own guilty verdict as well as a testimony to ensure that Peterson gets brought before a U.S. Attorney in kind.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Sandler attempted to do everything she could to justify murdering Campbell, but didn't have the best of heart for a convincing argument. Then when she's presented with the revelation that Peterson never had the set of coins that Campbell was killed over in the first place, Sandler utterly breaks down realizing how badly she messed up, and readily pleads guilty as a sobbing, horrified mess so long as Peterson gets his own due.
- Prone to Tears: Judith Sandler.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Peterson's lie about having the coins Sandler was looking for indirectly led to Campbell's murder.
