Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010) s01e05 Episode Script
Pasadena
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.
(SPANISH SONG PLAYING) (INAUDIBLE) (ALL CHEERING IN SPANISH) Rebecca, ven aquí.
Drink with us.
I can't.
I'm so tired.
Come on.
(SPEAKING SPANISH) If you can make it through the dinner rush without breaking a plate, I'll bust out the good stuff.
(ALL EXCLAIMING) Hey! Okay, you're all fired.
(BOTH SPEAKING SPANISH) (ALL EXCLAIMING) (CAR ENGINE STARTING) COOPER: EMT said she had multiple fractures, internal bleeding.
TJ: A lot of external bleeding, too.
Yeah, they're giving her 50-50 odds.
We know where she came from? Yeah, the restaurant said she works there.
Name's Rebecca Townley.
We got her purse here, car keys there, cell phone smashed to bits.
What about a witness? Santa Claus.
He says he saw it go down.
(SIGHS) How you doing, sir? Hey, you, uh, saw what happened to that girl? Santa needs his cookies and milk first.
I'm sorry.
I can't do that, sir.
I always figured Santa to be a good citizen.
(SIGHS) That car, he came at her like a bat out of hell.
It hit her, then stopped, then rolled back over her again.
You see a driver, or a license? No, no, no.
But the car, it could have been gray or black.
That's all.
Okay.
Thank you.
Here.
Take Santa down the street to Tommy's, get him a chili dog.
And don't let him out of your sight.
OFFICER: All right.
Car took two runs at the girl.
Makes it attempted murder.
Could make it a homicide.
Rebecca Townley was Rebecca's been with me for two years.
She's my best manager.
She's a very upbeat person.
Is she going to make it? We don't know.
Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt her? No.
Uh, she and her husband split up last summer, but I think all that was cool.
How about a boyfriend? I don't think she was seeing anyone.
But somehow she managed to get pregnant.
She's pregnant? She was.
About four months.
She didn't say anything.
We are practically like family here.
You notice any change in her habits? Anything unusual? Well, yeah.
Last month she said she was quitting.
She was working in my Santa Monica restaurant.
I told her I couldn't afford to lose her.
She agreed to stay on for a little while, but only if she could work here, Downtown.
Rebecca, actually, hasn't been inside her home in at least a month.
You keep tabs? I notice.
The window in my kitchen faces her front door.
The lights haven't really been on.
There's been no music, no TV.
The only time I actually have seen her is twice, late at night, when she was picking up her mail.
I just figured that she'd met some guy and was spending the night over at his place.
You catch that guy.
Rebecca's a nice girl.
The closet's empty.
She took her clothes with her.
Yep.
About a month.
That's the age of the mold on this loaf of bread.
Anybody been here looking for Rebecca? Or maybe you notice someone outside watching the building? You mean, like, a stalker? Oh, that's interesting.
No, I haven't seen anybody like that.
Okay.
Thanks.
And tell Rebecca that Kern is praying for her.
Looks like she was trying to shake somebody.
I'm going with the ex-husband.
Maybe things weren't so cool after all.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) Robert Forester? Yes? You been away? On business.
In Twentynine Palms.
What's this about? Your ex-wife, Rebecca Townley, was in an accident.
Is she all right? She's in a coma.
Oh, my God.
Please come inside.
What happened? Hit-and-run in the alley behind her restaurant last night.
(SIGHS) When's the last time you saw her? Maybe four months ago.
We had some financial BS to sort out.
REX: New girlfriend? Yeah.
I moved on.
TJ: Financial BS.
Alimony? No.
There was no alimony.
We have good jobs, no kids.
There was a settlement.
A clean break.
Everybody behaved, under the circumstances.
What circumstances? (SIGHS) You cheated or her? Her.
Same guy who got her pregnant? Pregnant? I had no idea.
Is she I'm afraid not.
She lost it.
Any chance the baby was yours? No.
And she never told me who the other guy was.
Believe it or not, I didn't care to know, I just wanted out.
If you had to take a guess.
Probably someone she met at the restaurant, some A-hole with a big expense account.
Becky always had big aspirations.
Just for drill, Mr.
Forester, we'll need documentation about your trip to Twentynine Palms.
Boarding pass, hotel bill, that kind of thing.
Sure.
No problem.
Everything's in my briefcase.
Bitter much? Forester's alibi checks out.
Hotel's got him in his room all night, surfing the net on his computer.
That leads us to suspect number two.
The baby daddy.
Rebecca's? The meter maid found it two blocks from the crime scene.
We got a car club card, proof of insurance.
Unpaid parking ticket.
That reminds me, I think I got one of those.
Don't let it go to warrant, or I'll be kicking in your door.
A corporate gas card.
Yarborough Media Strategies.
I don't remember seeing that Rebecca's ever worked there.
Maybe her baby daddy does.
I'm Adam Yarborough.
I hear you're asking about Rebecca Townley.
Yes.
Does she work here? She's not one of our regular employees, no.
Why do you ask? We found your company gas card in her car.
Yeah, she's an outside consultant.
Why were you searching her car? She was run down two nights ago.
She's in a coma.
Oh, my God.
Aren't you going to ask about the baby? I think I need to speak with my attorney.
Go ahead and leave your card with the receptionist.
Thank you.
One more thing, Mr.
Yarborough, you don't happen to know where Miss Townley's been living the last month, do you? Just leave it with the receptionist.
Yarborough's company has offices here and in DC, but his only residence of record is a house in Maryland he owns with his wife.
Yarborough's got to lay his head someplace when he's in LA.
He and Rebecca have probably been laying it in the same place, a shag palace, as it were, that he keeps off the grid so his wife can't find it.
He's got his girlfriend pregnant, he's worried his wife will find out.
What kind of car does he drive? Leases a white Beemer, but it doesn't match the description or the tire tracks at the scene.
Rebecca charged two visits to an OBIGYN in Pasadena.
She has a place in West Hollywood and she works Downtown, but she goes all the way to Pasadena for an obstetrician? Maybe because it's near Yarborough's shag palace.
She just found out she was having a boy.
She was over the moon about it.
I bet.
I've got three kids myself.
Listen, Doctor, we need to get in touch with the baby's father.
We think Rebecca might have been staying with him.
Well, Rebecca never identified the father.
I told her we needed to run blood tests on him.
This is the address we have on file for her.
Pasadena? DR.
WEINSTEIN: And this is the contact she gave in case of emergency.
Adam Yarborough.
Same address.
My office sent prenatal vitamins to Rebecca at that address last week.
I think we have a shag palace.
Afternoon, ma'am.
LAPD.
We have a search warrant for the house.
May I have your name, please? A search warrant? Why? TJ: Could you please identify yourself? Carolyn Yarborough.
Are you related to Adam Yarborough? He's my husband.
And you live here? Yes.
Of course.
What is this about? REX: Rebecca Townley gave this address as her residence.
I don't know who that is.
Sorry, but we're going to have to search the house anyway.
Gentlemen.
Wife and mistress under the same roof? Yarborough knows how to live it up.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) This is a misunderstanding.
Rebecca Townley doesn't live here.
So you do know her? No.
REX: Not even as a friend of your husband's? CAROLYN: No.
What about someone he worked with? I said no.
Why are you asking these questions? REX: So, to be clear, you don't know Rebecca? Never heard of Rebecca? Rebecca's never been in your house? Nope.
Then how do you explain this? Prenatal vitamins for Rebecca Townley in the medicine cabinet in the guest room upstairs.
(DOOR OPENING) CAROLYN: Adam.
Carolyn, don't say another word.
TJ: We're just having a conversation.
I don't want to talk anymore.
Fine.
We'll continue at our offices.
No.
She's not going anywhere.
Mr.
Yarborough, your wife has been lying to us from the moment she opened the door.
If you want us to arrest her for obstruction, we can do that.
Your friends and family can enjoy her mug shot tomorrow morning, along with their Wheaties.
Or we can skip the arrest and you can all come down to our little slice of heaven for a friendly chat.
Carolyn can't have children.
Okay, Rebecca was our surrogate.
That's why she was living with us.
You impregnated her with your sperm? A fertility doctor did that.
The name of the doctor? That's privileged.
I know it's privileged, but why do you want to muddy your own alibi? REX: You still claim you don't know Rebecca? Adam had a brief affair with Rebecca.
She got pregnant.
Adam and I aren't able to have children, so we decided to raise the baby as our own.
That doesn't explain why she was living in your house.
I agreed to care for Rebecca until she had the baby.
Adam and I are deeply committed to making this work.
Hmm.
Must be tough.
Putting on a brave face.
Adam made one mistake.
I wasn't about to let it destroy everything that we've worked for.
TERRY: As for the night of the hit-and-run, my client was at her book club until just after 12:30.
We can give you the names of the people who saw her there.
You're an extraordinary woman, Mrs.
Yarborough.
Give me a minute.
ELLERBEE: It may not be to your liking, Detective, but my client isn't going to let you pry into his medical history just to satisfy your curiosity.
Mr.
Yarborough is saying that Rebecca was a surrogate for him and his wife.
That she was impregnated at a fertility clinic.
That's your story? Because your wife just told me you impregnated Rebecca when you had a fling with her.
Don't respond to that.
You went to a lot of trouble to hide the fact that Rebecca was living with you.
You ditched her clothes, her personal things, all you missed was the pill bottle.
So what are you really hiding, Mr.
Yarborough? ELLERBEE: Adam, we're leaving.
Last question, your alibi the night she was run down.
I was at a political fundraiser in Bel Air.
My husband and I are supporting candidates for state assembly.
Adam's firm helped me with my fundraiser.
What time did he leave? Uh, about 10:30.
That's when my husband kicked everybody out.
He goes to bed early.
He's training for an iron man.
How well do you know Mr.
Yarborough? Oh, well enough.
We've been relying on him for five or six years now.
We raise funds for charities, cultural affairs.
Uh, could you just get that grapefruit for me? It was the worst idea my husband ever had, putting a fruit tree uphill of the pool.
Those darn things are constantly rolling in.
Is Adam in trouble? Probably not.
Did he ever mention the name Rebecca Townley? Oh, oh, I see.
Well, for what it's worth, I've never seen Adam so much as look at another woman.
REX: Hmm.
How was he the night of the fundraiser? Was he worried? Preoccupied? He's always preoccupied.
That's what makes him so good.
Did you notice if he left with anyone? Congressman Nelson from Riverside.
Chairman of Defense Appropriations.
It was Adam who convinced him to attend.
They go back to the 2000 campaign.
Oh, it's all yours.
Hit-and-run? Is Adam a suspect? After the fundraiser, Adam and I went back to my hotel for drinks.
Until when? Until the bar closed.
I spent the night in Westwood because I had an early meeting in Century City.
How serious was this accident? TJ: The victim's in a coma.
She was pregnant and she lost the baby.
Oh, that's terrible.
You and Mr.
Yarborough, you good friends? He started out as a staffer, ended up running two of my campaigns.
Do you know of any problems in his marriage? Not directly.
When you campaign with someone, you hear things.
What kind of things? Gossip.
Adam had a bit of a wandering eye.
Mmm.
The name, Rebecca Townley ever come up? No.
Was she the young woman who was injured? Look, whatever you hear about Adam, I want you to know he is one of the most loyal, trustworthy men I have ever worked with.
Excuse me one sec.
First he says Yarborough cheated on his wife, then he calls him loyal? He's a politician, he's always playing both sides.
BARTENDER: Yeah, I remember.
Four Scotches.
Left me a $100 gratuity.
Nice tip.
He flirted.
I let him.
My husband and I are saving for a house.
Was he alone? Uh, there was another guy with him.
Him? Right.
Bourbon.
You remember what time this guy left? He only had the one Bourbon, so it had to be early.
REX: Could you possibly pull his tab for us? Scotch charged the drinks to his room, so it should just take a sec.
If Nelson was Yarborough's client, why didn't Yarborough pick up the tab? Maybe Yarborough was long gone by closing time.
Didn't you talk to Congressman Nelson? Didn't he tell you I was with him? He was hard to pin down.
I guess that's how he keeps on getting reelected.
Hey, look, I went straight home from the bar.
I didn't hurt Rebecca.
My wife and I wanted that baby.
See, we'd be a lot more likely to believe you if you and your wife were on the same page about this pregnancy.
Okay.
I had an affair with Rebecca.
I met her last summer at a fundraiser, Casa Antonio, Downtown.
She was working there.
Downtown.
We were told she used to work at the restaurant in Santa Monica, right? Right.
Santa Monica.
That's where we met.
Must have been a big shock to you when she told you she was pregnant.
Yeah.
It was.
Your blood tests for genetic diseases, Dr.
Weinstein in Pasadena did those? Yes.
Yeah? It says here Rebecca is Rh negative, so you must be Rh negative, too.
Is that what Dr.
Weinstein told you? Yes.
Rh negative.
Mmm.
Will you excuse us? He's lying.
Weinstein never ran any tests on the father.
One way to know for sure.
Book him for obstruction.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) He'll get swabbed for DNA, we can get a paternity test.
Even if Yarborough's not the dad, he still could have run Rebecca down.
You should ask her.
Rebecca Townley just came out of her coma.
The doctor said her mind and her memory are all fine.
She's still my Becky.
If it's all right, we'd like to speak with her alone.
Anything she can remember will help our investigation.
I'll be right outside.
Hi.
Can you tell us what you remember? I don't remember much.
The last thing was I took my keys out of my purse.
Did you find my purse? Yes, we found it.
And there a picture of my baby.
It was so tiny.
What? What's wrong? Is it my baby? We're very sorry.
(SOBBING) No.
No.
No.
What happened? Tom did this! Tom Nelson killed our baby.
That bastard killed our baby.
(SOBBING HYSTERICALLY) Congressman Nelson? Sounds like he took pressing the flesh to a whole new level.
REBECCA: (CRYING) Oh, my God.
She was sedated.
We haven't been able to talk to her since.
What were her words exactly? "Tom did this.
Tom Nelson killed our baby.
"That bastard killed our baby.
" Our baby.
Hers and Nelson's.
Yeah, or hers and the pizza boy.
Where was Nelson when she was run over? At a hotel bar in Westwood.
He's a congressman.
He has a knack for having other people do his scut work for him.
If he has a dog in this fight.
First step is proving he's the baby's father.
We can't force him to be tested without corroboration.
So find some.
Becky didn't tell me who the father was.
She said he needed to keep it a secret.
(CHUCKLES) What kind of a father conceals his identity? A married one.
I was looking forward to having a baby around.
I was hoping Becky would change her mind and move back to Delaware.
Change her mind from staying in Los Angeles? This is no place for a single mother.
I told her she needed me, but she said she didn't need my help, that she'd be moving up in the world.
That she'd make me proud.
Hi.
What did you find out? Rebecca told her mom she was, quote, "Moving up in the world.
" So she thought she hit the baby daddy jackpot.
A five-term congressman seems more like the grand prize than Yarborough.
Assuming Nelson's the dad, he got Yarborough to take the rap for knocking up his mistress? Talk about loyalty.
Assumptions aren't corroboration.
We need someone to confirm it.
Well, if anyone's going to crack, it's Yarborough's wife.
She was shaky in the interrogation.
You should be the one to talk to her.
I told the police my husband had an affair.
I told them that I agreed to raise his illegitimate child.
How much more do I need to humiliate myself? Mrs.
Yarborough, we know your husband didn't father that child.
And for your information, Rebecca Townley has accused Congressman Nelson of trying to kill her.
Now your husband's a good little soldier in the Congressman's army, but the time to stand by your man is over.
One more lie and you're going from obstruction to murder conspiracy.
Nelson convinced my husband into going along with this ridiculous cover up.
An illegitimate child would have ruined his plans to run for governor.
My husband believes in Nelson.
He thought for the greater good, he Whose good are you in it for? Nelson agreed to appoint me lead counsel to the Defense Appropriations committee.
I have ambitions, too.
Nice.
What do you know about this attempt on Miss Townley's life? Nothing.
Rebecca gave the impression that Nelson was happy to have a child, that he was happy to be with Rebecca.
And she seemed mostly happy to go along with his charade.
Mostly happy? He sent a car to take her to a doctor and she refused to go.
This was to Dr.
Weinstein? No.
It was an Asian name.
Taketa.
I heard Rebecca and Nelson arguing about it on the phone later.
It was a big argument.
NURSE: Sign in.
I'm not a patient.
I need to speak with Dr.
Taketa.
He is with a patient.
It will be about 20 minutes.
Nelson tried to send Rebecca to an abortion clinic.
He wanted her to get rid of the baby.
He settled for a back alley vehicular abortion instead.
All right.
First duck in the row, a subpoena to get proof of Nelson's paternity.
Second duck, tie Nelson to the driver of the car, whoever that may be.
THOMAS: I won't submit to a DNA test.
HARRISON: They have a warrant.
Call a judge.
File an injunction.
Everything's in order.
There's nothing we can do.
We'll be leaving soon, Mrs.
Nelson.
My husband is happy to clear up this whole matter.
I read your book.
I thought it was brave to talk about your ovarian cancer so openly.
Well, when I wrote it, remission seemed like a long shot, but here I am.
I'm sure your family is happy about that.
I'm sorry about what happened to that girl.
Losing someone you love is hard enough, but when it's a child MAN: We're done.
Thank you so much, Ma'am.
Sorry for the bother.
We need to get ahead of this before those cable crackpots turn it into something it's not.
One of us has to tell Matthew before he reads about it on the Internet.
Fine.
I'll call him.
Paternity test positive.
That's one duck.
Here's another duck.
Rebecca's ex-husband, Robert Forester, works for AQG Industries, which happens to be one of Yarborough's PR clients.
AQG landed a hundred million in military contracts, all thanks to earmark legislation sponsored by Congressman Nelson.
That's a lot of coincidences.
So when did the ex-husband start working for AQG? Right after he and Rebecca separated.
So, Nelson steals Forester's wife, pays him off with a fancy job.
We should all be so lucky.
Maybe we found the driver.
He has an airtight alibi in Twentynine Palms.
Only one reason he didn't tell the police about his connection with Nelson.
He's hiding something.
I don't know how Robert got his job.
We haven't really talked since the divorce.
He knew you had an affair with the congressman? Yeah.
He was devastated.
Our marriage had problems, but that ended things.
How did he react to your pregnancy? I didn't tell him.
It would have destroyed him.
Why are you asking about Robert? You think he's the one? He's definitely a suspect.
Well, I didn't see who was driving.
I just I remember this car and it was so loud, and there was a silver crown sticking up on the hood, and a metal antennae.
Did your ex-husband ever meet Congressman Nelson or Adam Yarborough? No.
I don't think so.
Why? You told the police Nelson killed your baby.
No.
No.
I didn't mean that.
I was on painkillers and I was in shock.
Tom loved the baby.
We know he arranged for you to see an abortion doctor.
Well, he panicked.
But, you know, we talked, and then he found out we were having a son.
Tom would never hurt me.
Never.
She's changed her tune.
No.
Nelson got to her.
Now, this car, the ex-husband would have rented it.
You know how many vehicles have radio antennas and hood ornaments? Most are from and they all have one thing in common.
They're not fuel efficient.
It's 300 mile roundtrip, Twentynine Palms to LA.
He would have had to stop for gas.
Yeah, I don't know how many gas stations there are between here and Twentynine Palms, but see if the police can get a picture of Robert Forester to each one of them.
And ask nicely.
HAL: No, I didn't see the man.
I close at 11:00.
But like I told the officer here, when I got to the station about 6:00 a.
m.
that morning, I come to find somebody busted the lock on the water hose.
Huge puddle of water.
Looked like they washed their car.
Can you show us where? Yeah, they broke the lock.
Anything other than a puddle? Shirt.
Looked like it was used to clean the car.
So the shirt, long gone now? No.
I still have it.
A good cotton shirt.
Makes a good rag.
Can't have too many rags in a gas station.
Rebecca's blood was on the shirt.
And it gets better.
Latent found Robert Forester's thumb print on the wall by the busted hose.
Mmm.
I love making his day.
Thanks.
(REPORTER CHATTERING) (REPORTER CLAMORING) All right, all right, leave him alone.
(CLAMORING) That's one down.
Now let's go bag ourselves a real live congressman.
Now that LAPD has a suspect in custody, I hope the focus will shift to the one responsible for this heinous crime and away from the wild speculation that has engulfed my family.
Our nation faces perilous times.
I will not be distracted from my duties.
(EXHALES) They always play the victim card.
Like it's our fault that he knocked up his mistress.
I'd like to move forward with charges against Nelson.
(CHUCKLES) For what? Failing to keep it in his pants? We think he reached out to the ex-husband through Adam Yarborough, and convinced him to run down Rebecca.
If we can get the ex to flip "lf" and "We think" are not words that fill me with confidence.
You want to bring charges against a US congressman, bring me videos of him buckling the ex into his seatbelt.
That job was no gift.
I was hired because of my qualifications.
Explain exactly how running a mailbox store qualified you to do corporate communications for a military contractor? All hail the American dream, Miss Price.
And American free enterprise.
We'll be talking to Adam Yarborough.
First one to squawk gets the deal.
Still using that ploy? Still working for me.
I did not try to kill Rebecca.
I was in my hotel room.
You can check my computer.
I did work.
I sent emails.
I bought stuff.
It's all time stamped.
But somehow, your thumbprint and a man's shirt with Rebecca's blood were found at a gas station near Twentynine Palms.
My client takes business trips to the marine base twice a month.
When he drives, that station is a convenient stopping place.
As for the shirt, anyone could have planted it.
All this so-called evidence only highlights the big hole in the middle of your case, the murder weapon.
You don't have the car.
No car, no case.
Wrong.
That's what I like about you, Ricardo, you cover your doubt with confidence.
STACEY: I can tell you definitively that Mr.
Forester's computer was hooked up to the Wi-Fi in the hotel that night.
But, I can also tell you that someone else accessed it from a remote location.
Used it to surf the Net, write e-mails, and work on file documents.
Forester wasn't using the computer? Forester didn't even have to be in the room.
Somebody just tried to make it look like he was? By creating all this activity on his computer.
The person who accessed his computer, where were they? They could be anywhere in the world, but I can backtrack the computer's IP address to a server at a specific location.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They're looking for a computer from this office.
We have evidence it was used to create an alibi for Robert Forester.
Someone from my office? That's ridiculous.
Knock yourself out, Mr.
Morales.
Open every drawer, every cabinet.
I have my district's business to attend to.
RICARDO: Anything? No.
We checked every machine.
Our computer's not here.
He probably got rid of it.
Charge Nelson as Forester's co-conspirator.
When the screws tighten, we'll see who flips.
We move to dismiss this case for insufficient evidence, Your Honor.
Mr.
Morales doesn't have the car, nor this phantom computer, that could somehow magically negate my client's alibi.
Nor does he have one shred of evidence of any agreement or overt action implicating my client in a murder conspiracy.
Your Honor, the evidence established that Mr.
Forester's computer was operated remotely at the time that he claimed to be in his hotel room.
As Your Honor knows, a murder weapon is not essential to prove guilt.
As to Congressman Nelson, the People can prove that he was part of an ongoing conspiracy to disguise the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock.
A conspiracy that included having another man claim paternity.
It included buying Mr.
Forester's silence with a high-paying job.
It included pressuring the victim, Rebecca Townley, to have an abortion.
And finally, a conspiracy that included using a computer in Congressman Nelson's congressional office to remotely operate Mr.
Forester's computer to help him create an alibi, while he was out murdering Rebecca's unborn child.
In the name of that child, that unfulfilled promise, the People ask that you let a jury hear this case.
Well put, Mr.
Morales.
The court hereby rules there's sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Defendant Thomas Nelson will remain free on bond, defendant Robert Forester will be held on remand.
We are adjourned.
(GAVEL POUNDING) Fifty bucks says Nelson's lawyer wants a chat.
Do I look like a sucker? If you say someone in my office used that computer, I believe you.
I can only imagine they thought they were doing me a favor.
But I swear to you, I had nothing to do with hurting Rebecca.
You were ready to get her an abortion.
In a moment of panic, yes, I was.
But I love Rebecca.
And she made me see I was making a mistake.
I wanted that baby, I had plans to do the right thing.
We're supposed to take his word he had noble intentions? HARRISON: He's been paying for Miss Townley's medical bills, he's arranged to pay for her mother's stay here.
Did he arrange for a gift basket, too? Fine.
Make fun of him.
But at the end of the day, you'll be on the business end of a lawsuit for defamation and wrongful prosecution.
Come on, Tom.
EVELYN: Nelson's all about Nelson.
Yeah.
But I believe him about doing the right thing.
What's the narcissist version of doing the right thing? Divorce your wife because you've grown apart, then marry your mistress.
But first you hide the assets.
I never thought I'd say this about a politician, but Nelson's books seem to be on the up and up.
What do you make of this? Ten years ago, Nelson set up a family trust, then last month he paid a bill to the same lawyer who set up the trust.
No reason he'd go back to that same lawyer 10 years later.
Unless he was setting up another trust for Rebecca and the baby.
Mmm-hmm.
His lawyer won't tell us.
Someone else might.
Tom was adding me and the baby to the family trust and it would have taken effect after the baby was born.
You're sure it was his family trust? I signed the papers at a lawyer's office.
Tom said, the baby would never have to worry about anything.
Sounds like he made it clear, you had a future together.
We were going to be a family.
Did his wife know? He hadn't told her yet.
He said we had to wait for the right time.
I have to go back inside.
Sometimes I still feel the baby inside me.
Nurse says it's normal.
There's no way Nelson could have legally added Rebecca to the family trust without his wife's permission.
So, either Rebecca lied to us or Nelson lied to her.
If Nelson's wife wasn't going to be around, I mean, like, really not around, her consent to add Rebecca to the trust would be immaterial.
You mean, "not around" as in "dead"? She had cancer four years ago.
Say the cancer came back.
Nelson starts planning his future as a widower and makes arrangements to add Rebecca to the family trust.
If his wife found out She'd be very pissed.
My husband may be a philanderer, but I can hardly believe he's a murderer.
He's harmless.
I'm sorry you have to suffer through all of this, especially, given your condition.
What about my condition? During our investigation, we found out you've flown to New York five times in the last three months.
On my husband's business.
We also discovered a number of calls to Dr.
Berkal at Sloan-Kettering.
He's the same oncologist who treated you the first time you had ovarian cancer, isn't he? Cancer came back six months ago.
What's the prognosis? I'm hoping to see my son graduate from college in the spring, but I'm not sure.
RICARDO: Who else knows? Just my husband.
We thought it was better that way.
It must have come as a great shock when you discovered your husband was planning a new life.
New life, new family.
I doubt a woman like you, who has faced down cancer would stand still for what your husband was planning to do, to obliterate your memory, your life together, the life you gave up for his career.
To obliterate all of that with a readymade family the minute you succumb to your disease.
Are you accusing me of murder? Mrs.
Nelson, at this very moment, the police on their way to Palm Springs, to a vacation home owned by your aunt and uncle.
They keep a car there, don't they? 1986 tan Cadillac DeVille? A car matching the description of the one that ran over Rebecca Townley.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) The police are outside the house now.
You have one chance, Mrs.
Nelson.
Agree to testify against your co-conspirators, and I'll keep you out of prison.
You can die with dignity at home.
But once the police pry open that garage and find the car, all bets are off.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) EVELYN: They're getting the door open.
Mrs.
Nelson, your time is running out.
All right, yes.
I found out about Tom and that girl.
That he could do this to me, to our son.
I told Forester that I would get him fired if he didn't help me.
At first he refused, but when I told him that his ex-wife was pregnant, that did it.
I told him about my uncle's car, I gave him a key to the garage.
I went to the congressional office and I used a computer to forge Forester's alibi.
Did anyone else help you? No.
Just Forester.
It just simply could not happen.
He couldn't just erase me.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) Who else knew your uncle kept a car in Palm Springs? Just Tom.
Why? The garage was empty.
No car.
That's not possible.
I gave Forester specific instructions to put the car back in the garage.
He wouldn't have gotten rid of it.
I'm sure he didn't.
But I'm thinking your husband did.
He knew what you'd done.
He tried to protect you.
(SIGHS) Oh, Tom.
JUDGE FORD: Does either side care to be heard before sentencing? Your Honor, my client testified in the successful prosecution of Robert Forester.
She did her part.
Probation is the appropriate sentence.
As long as I wear this robe, no one murders a baby and walks.
Your Honor, Patricia Nelson only has a few months to live.
Cancer is her sentence.
And she'll be serving it at Century Regional Detention Center.
With respect to the amended count of solicitation to commit murder, the Court hereby sentences Patricia Nelson to 365 days in the county jail.
Your Honor.
JUDGE FORD: We are adjourned, Mr.
Morales.
(GAVEL POUNDS) This way, ma'am.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Time to go.
I do love her.
I just couldn't stand the thought of losing her.
I just couldn't be alone.
Please.
He cheated on his dying wife just so he'd have someone to tuck him in at night? You're young.
You'll find out.
It's the one thing we men fear the most, being alone.
These are their stories.
(SPANISH SONG PLAYING) (INAUDIBLE) (ALL CHEERING IN SPANISH) Rebecca, ven aquí.
Drink with us.
I can't.
I'm so tired.
Come on.
(SPEAKING SPANISH) If you can make it through the dinner rush without breaking a plate, I'll bust out the good stuff.
(ALL EXCLAIMING) Hey! Okay, you're all fired.
(BOTH SPEAKING SPANISH) (ALL EXCLAIMING) (CAR ENGINE STARTING) COOPER: EMT said she had multiple fractures, internal bleeding.
TJ: A lot of external bleeding, too.
Yeah, they're giving her 50-50 odds.
We know where she came from? Yeah, the restaurant said she works there.
Name's Rebecca Townley.
We got her purse here, car keys there, cell phone smashed to bits.
What about a witness? Santa Claus.
He says he saw it go down.
(SIGHS) How you doing, sir? Hey, you, uh, saw what happened to that girl? Santa needs his cookies and milk first.
I'm sorry.
I can't do that, sir.
I always figured Santa to be a good citizen.
(SIGHS) That car, he came at her like a bat out of hell.
It hit her, then stopped, then rolled back over her again.
You see a driver, or a license? No, no, no.
But the car, it could have been gray or black.
That's all.
Okay.
Thank you.
Here.
Take Santa down the street to Tommy's, get him a chili dog.
And don't let him out of your sight.
OFFICER: All right.
Car took two runs at the girl.
Makes it attempted murder.
Could make it a homicide.
Rebecca Townley was Rebecca's been with me for two years.
She's my best manager.
She's a very upbeat person.
Is she going to make it? We don't know.
Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt her? No.
Uh, she and her husband split up last summer, but I think all that was cool.
How about a boyfriend? I don't think she was seeing anyone.
But somehow she managed to get pregnant.
She's pregnant? She was.
About four months.
She didn't say anything.
We are practically like family here.
You notice any change in her habits? Anything unusual? Well, yeah.
Last month she said she was quitting.
She was working in my Santa Monica restaurant.
I told her I couldn't afford to lose her.
She agreed to stay on for a little while, but only if she could work here, Downtown.
Rebecca, actually, hasn't been inside her home in at least a month.
You keep tabs? I notice.
The window in my kitchen faces her front door.
The lights haven't really been on.
There's been no music, no TV.
The only time I actually have seen her is twice, late at night, when she was picking up her mail.
I just figured that she'd met some guy and was spending the night over at his place.
You catch that guy.
Rebecca's a nice girl.
The closet's empty.
She took her clothes with her.
Yep.
About a month.
That's the age of the mold on this loaf of bread.
Anybody been here looking for Rebecca? Or maybe you notice someone outside watching the building? You mean, like, a stalker? Oh, that's interesting.
No, I haven't seen anybody like that.
Okay.
Thanks.
And tell Rebecca that Kern is praying for her.
Looks like she was trying to shake somebody.
I'm going with the ex-husband.
Maybe things weren't so cool after all.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) Robert Forester? Yes? You been away? On business.
In Twentynine Palms.
What's this about? Your ex-wife, Rebecca Townley, was in an accident.
Is she all right? She's in a coma.
Oh, my God.
Please come inside.
What happened? Hit-and-run in the alley behind her restaurant last night.
(SIGHS) When's the last time you saw her? Maybe four months ago.
We had some financial BS to sort out.
REX: New girlfriend? Yeah.
I moved on.
TJ: Financial BS.
Alimony? No.
There was no alimony.
We have good jobs, no kids.
There was a settlement.
A clean break.
Everybody behaved, under the circumstances.
What circumstances? (SIGHS) You cheated or her? Her.
Same guy who got her pregnant? Pregnant? I had no idea.
Is she I'm afraid not.
She lost it.
Any chance the baby was yours? No.
And she never told me who the other guy was.
Believe it or not, I didn't care to know, I just wanted out.
If you had to take a guess.
Probably someone she met at the restaurant, some A-hole with a big expense account.
Becky always had big aspirations.
Just for drill, Mr.
Forester, we'll need documentation about your trip to Twentynine Palms.
Boarding pass, hotel bill, that kind of thing.
Sure.
No problem.
Everything's in my briefcase.
Bitter much? Forester's alibi checks out.
Hotel's got him in his room all night, surfing the net on his computer.
That leads us to suspect number two.
The baby daddy.
Rebecca's? The meter maid found it two blocks from the crime scene.
We got a car club card, proof of insurance.
Unpaid parking ticket.
That reminds me, I think I got one of those.
Don't let it go to warrant, or I'll be kicking in your door.
A corporate gas card.
Yarborough Media Strategies.
I don't remember seeing that Rebecca's ever worked there.
Maybe her baby daddy does.
I'm Adam Yarborough.
I hear you're asking about Rebecca Townley.
Yes.
Does she work here? She's not one of our regular employees, no.
Why do you ask? We found your company gas card in her car.
Yeah, she's an outside consultant.
Why were you searching her car? She was run down two nights ago.
She's in a coma.
Oh, my God.
Aren't you going to ask about the baby? I think I need to speak with my attorney.
Go ahead and leave your card with the receptionist.
Thank you.
One more thing, Mr.
Yarborough, you don't happen to know where Miss Townley's been living the last month, do you? Just leave it with the receptionist.
Yarborough's company has offices here and in DC, but his only residence of record is a house in Maryland he owns with his wife.
Yarborough's got to lay his head someplace when he's in LA.
He and Rebecca have probably been laying it in the same place, a shag palace, as it were, that he keeps off the grid so his wife can't find it.
He's got his girlfriend pregnant, he's worried his wife will find out.
What kind of car does he drive? Leases a white Beemer, but it doesn't match the description or the tire tracks at the scene.
Rebecca charged two visits to an OBIGYN in Pasadena.
She has a place in West Hollywood and she works Downtown, but she goes all the way to Pasadena for an obstetrician? Maybe because it's near Yarborough's shag palace.
She just found out she was having a boy.
She was over the moon about it.
I bet.
I've got three kids myself.
Listen, Doctor, we need to get in touch with the baby's father.
We think Rebecca might have been staying with him.
Well, Rebecca never identified the father.
I told her we needed to run blood tests on him.
This is the address we have on file for her.
Pasadena? DR.
WEINSTEIN: And this is the contact she gave in case of emergency.
Adam Yarborough.
Same address.
My office sent prenatal vitamins to Rebecca at that address last week.
I think we have a shag palace.
Afternoon, ma'am.
LAPD.
We have a search warrant for the house.
May I have your name, please? A search warrant? Why? TJ: Could you please identify yourself? Carolyn Yarborough.
Are you related to Adam Yarborough? He's my husband.
And you live here? Yes.
Of course.
What is this about? REX: Rebecca Townley gave this address as her residence.
I don't know who that is.
Sorry, but we're going to have to search the house anyway.
Gentlemen.
Wife and mistress under the same roof? Yarborough knows how to live it up.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO) This is a misunderstanding.
Rebecca Townley doesn't live here.
So you do know her? No.
REX: Not even as a friend of your husband's? CAROLYN: No.
What about someone he worked with? I said no.
Why are you asking these questions? REX: So, to be clear, you don't know Rebecca? Never heard of Rebecca? Rebecca's never been in your house? Nope.
Then how do you explain this? Prenatal vitamins for Rebecca Townley in the medicine cabinet in the guest room upstairs.
(DOOR OPENING) CAROLYN: Adam.
Carolyn, don't say another word.
TJ: We're just having a conversation.
I don't want to talk anymore.
Fine.
We'll continue at our offices.
No.
She's not going anywhere.
Mr.
Yarborough, your wife has been lying to us from the moment she opened the door.
If you want us to arrest her for obstruction, we can do that.
Your friends and family can enjoy her mug shot tomorrow morning, along with their Wheaties.
Or we can skip the arrest and you can all come down to our little slice of heaven for a friendly chat.
Carolyn can't have children.
Okay, Rebecca was our surrogate.
That's why she was living with us.
You impregnated her with your sperm? A fertility doctor did that.
The name of the doctor? That's privileged.
I know it's privileged, but why do you want to muddy your own alibi? REX: You still claim you don't know Rebecca? Adam had a brief affair with Rebecca.
She got pregnant.
Adam and I aren't able to have children, so we decided to raise the baby as our own.
That doesn't explain why she was living in your house.
I agreed to care for Rebecca until she had the baby.
Adam and I are deeply committed to making this work.
Hmm.
Must be tough.
Putting on a brave face.
Adam made one mistake.
I wasn't about to let it destroy everything that we've worked for.
TERRY: As for the night of the hit-and-run, my client was at her book club until just after 12:30.
We can give you the names of the people who saw her there.
You're an extraordinary woman, Mrs.
Yarborough.
Give me a minute.
ELLERBEE: It may not be to your liking, Detective, but my client isn't going to let you pry into his medical history just to satisfy your curiosity.
Mr.
Yarborough is saying that Rebecca was a surrogate for him and his wife.
That she was impregnated at a fertility clinic.
That's your story? Because your wife just told me you impregnated Rebecca when you had a fling with her.
Don't respond to that.
You went to a lot of trouble to hide the fact that Rebecca was living with you.
You ditched her clothes, her personal things, all you missed was the pill bottle.
So what are you really hiding, Mr.
Yarborough? ELLERBEE: Adam, we're leaving.
Last question, your alibi the night she was run down.
I was at a political fundraiser in Bel Air.
My husband and I are supporting candidates for state assembly.
Adam's firm helped me with my fundraiser.
What time did he leave? Uh, about 10:30.
That's when my husband kicked everybody out.
He goes to bed early.
He's training for an iron man.
How well do you know Mr.
Yarborough? Oh, well enough.
We've been relying on him for five or six years now.
We raise funds for charities, cultural affairs.
Uh, could you just get that grapefruit for me? It was the worst idea my husband ever had, putting a fruit tree uphill of the pool.
Those darn things are constantly rolling in.
Is Adam in trouble? Probably not.
Did he ever mention the name Rebecca Townley? Oh, oh, I see.
Well, for what it's worth, I've never seen Adam so much as look at another woman.
REX: Hmm.
How was he the night of the fundraiser? Was he worried? Preoccupied? He's always preoccupied.
That's what makes him so good.
Did you notice if he left with anyone? Congressman Nelson from Riverside.
Chairman of Defense Appropriations.
It was Adam who convinced him to attend.
They go back to the 2000 campaign.
Oh, it's all yours.
Hit-and-run? Is Adam a suspect? After the fundraiser, Adam and I went back to my hotel for drinks.
Until when? Until the bar closed.
I spent the night in Westwood because I had an early meeting in Century City.
How serious was this accident? TJ: The victim's in a coma.
She was pregnant and she lost the baby.
Oh, that's terrible.
You and Mr.
Yarborough, you good friends? He started out as a staffer, ended up running two of my campaigns.
Do you know of any problems in his marriage? Not directly.
When you campaign with someone, you hear things.
What kind of things? Gossip.
Adam had a bit of a wandering eye.
Mmm.
The name, Rebecca Townley ever come up? No.
Was she the young woman who was injured? Look, whatever you hear about Adam, I want you to know he is one of the most loyal, trustworthy men I have ever worked with.
Excuse me one sec.
First he says Yarborough cheated on his wife, then he calls him loyal? He's a politician, he's always playing both sides.
BARTENDER: Yeah, I remember.
Four Scotches.
Left me a $100 gratuity.
Nice tip.
He flirted.
I let him.
My husband and I are saving for a house.
Was he alone? Uh, there was another guy with him.
Him? Right.
Bourbon.
You remember what time this guy left? He only had the one Bourbon, so it had to be early.
REX: Could you possibly pull his tab for us? Scotch charged the drinks to his room, so it should just take a sec.
If Nelson was Yarborough's client, why didn't Yarborough pick up the tab? Maybe Yarborough was long gone by closing time.
Didn't you talk to Congressman Nelson? Didn't he tell you I was with him? He was hard to pin down.
I guess that's how he keeps on getting reelected.
Hey, look, I went straight home from the bar.
I didn't hurt Rebecca.
My wife and I wanted that baby.
See, we'd be a lot more likely to believe you if you and your wife were on the same page about this pregnancy.
Okay.
I had an affair with Rebecca.
I met her last summer at a fundraiser, Casa Antonio, Downtown.
She was working there.
Downtown.
We were told she used to work at the restaurant in Santa Monica, right? Right.
Santa Monica.
That's where we met.
Must have been a big shock to you when she told you she was pregnant.
Yeah.
It was.
Your blood tests for genetic diseases, Dr.
Weinstein in Pasadena did those? Yes.
Yeah? It says here Rebecca is Rh negative, so you must be Rh negative, too.
Is that what Dr.
Weinstein told you? Yes.
Rh negative.
Mmm.
Will you excuse us? He's lying.
Weinstein never ran any tests on the father.
One way to know for sure.
Book him for obstruction.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) He'll get swabbed for DNA, we can get a paternity test.
Even if Yarborough's not the dad, he still could have run Rebecca down.
You should ask her.
Rebecca Townley just came out of her coma.
The doctor said her mind and her memory are all fine.
She's still my Becky.
If it's all right, we'd like to speak with her alone.
Anything she can remember will help our investigation.
I'll be right outside.
Hi.
Can you tell us what you remember? I don't remember much.
The last thing was I took my keys out of my purse.
Did you find my purse? Yes, we found it.
And there a picture of my baby.
It was so tiny.
What? What's wrong? Is it my baby? We're very sorry.
(SOBBING) No.
No.
No.
What happened? Tom did this! Tom Nelson killed our baby.
That bastard killed our baby.
(SOBBING HYSTERICALLY) Congressman Nelson? Sounds like he took pressing the flesh to a whole new level.
REBECCA: (CRYING) Oh, my God.
She was sedated.
We haven't been able to talk to her since.
What were her words exactly? "Tom did this.
Tom Nelson killed our baby.
"That bastard killed our baby.
" Our baby.
Hers and Nelson's.
Yeah, or hers and the pizza boy.
Where was Nelson when she was run over? At a hotel bar in Westwood.
He's a congressman.
He has a knack for having other people do his scut work for him.
If he has a dog in this fight.
First step is proving he's the baby's father.
We can't force him to be tested without corroboration.
So find some.
Becky didn't tell me who the father was.
She said he needed to keep it a secret.
(CHUCKLES) What kind of a father conceals his identity? A married one.
I was looking forward to having a baby around.
I was hoping Becky would change her mind and move back to Delaware.
Change her mind from staying in Los Angeles? This is no place for a single mother.
I told her she needed me, but she said she didn't need my help, that she'd be moving up in the world.
That she'd make me proud.
Hi.
What did you find out? Rebecca told her mom she was, quote, "Moving up in the world.
" So she thought she hit the baby daddy jackpot.
A five-term congressman seems more like the grand prize than Yarborough.
Assuming Nelson's the dad, he got Yarborough to take the rap for knocking up his mistress? Talk about loyalty.
Assumptions aren't corroboration.
We need someone to confirm it.
Well, if anyone's going to crack, it's Yarborough's wife.
She was shaky in the interrogation.
You should be the one to talk to her.
I told the police my husband had an affair.
I told them that I agreed to raise his illegitimate child.
How much more do I need to humiliate myself? Mrs.
Yarborough, we know your husband didn't father that child.
And for your information, Rebecca Townley has accused Congressman Nelson of trying to kill her.
Now your husband's a good little soldier in the Congressman's army, but the time to stand by your man is over.
One more lie and you're going from obstruction to murder conspiracy.
Nelson convinced my husband into going along with this ridiculous cover up.
An illegitimate child would have ruined his plans to run for governor.
My husband believes in Nelson.
He thought for the greater good, he Whose good are you in it for? Nelson agreed to appoint me lead counsel to the Defense Appropriations committee.
I have ambitions, too.
Nice.
What do you know about this attempt on Miss Townley's life? Nothing.
Rebecca gave the impression that Nelson was happy to have a child, that he was happy to be with Rebecca.
And she seemed mostly happy to go along with his charade.
Mostly happy? He sent a car to take her to a doctor and she refused to go.
This was to Dr.
Weinstein? No.
It was an Asian name.
Taketa.
I heard Rebecca and Nelson arguing about it on the phone later.
It was a big argument.
NURSE: Sign in.
I'm not a patient.
I need to speak with Dr.
Taketa.
He is with a patient.
It will be about 20 minutes.
Nelson tried to send Rebecca to an abortion clinic.
He wanted her to get rid of the baby.
He settled for a back alley vehicular abortion instead.
All right.
First duck in the row, a subpoena to get proof of Nelson's paternity.
Second duck, tie Nelson to the driver of the car, whoever that may be.
THOMAS: I won't submit to a DNA test.
HARRISON: They have a warrant.
Call a judge.
File an injunction.
Everything's in order.
There's nothing we can do.
We'll be leaving soon, Mrs.
Nelson.
My husband is happy to clear up this whole matter.
I read your book.
I thought it was brave to talk about your ovarian cancer so openly.
Well, when I wrote it, remission seemed like a long shot, but here I am.
I'm sure your family is happy about that.
I'm sorry about what happened to that girl.
Losing someone you love is hard enough, but when it's a child MAN: We're done.
Thank you so much, Ma'am.
Sorry for the bother.
We need to get ahead of this before those cable crackpots turn it into something it's not.
One of us has to tell Matthew before he reads about it on the Internet.
Fine.
I'll call him.
Paternity test positive.
That's one duck.
Here's another duck.
Rebecca's ex-husband, Robert Forester, works for AQG Industries, which happens to be one of Yarborough's PR clients.
AQG landed a hundred million in military contracts, all thanks to earmark legislation sponsored by Congressman Nelson.
That's a lot of coincidences.
So when did the ex-husband start working for AQG? Right after he and Rebecca separated.
So, Nelson steals Forester's wife, pays him off with a fancy job.
We should all be so lucky.
Maybe we found the driver.
He has an airtight alibi in Twentynine Palms.
Only one reason he didn't tell the police about his connection with Nelson.
He's hiding something.
I don't know how Robert got his job.
We haven't really talked since the divorce.
He knew you had an affair with the congressman? Yeah.
He was devastated.
Our marriage had problems, but that ended things.
How did he react to your pregnancy? I didn't tell him.
It would have destroyed him.
Why are you asking about Robert? You think he's the one? He's definitely a suspect.
Well, I didn't see who was driving.
I just I remember this car and it was so loud, and there was a silver crown sticking up on the hood, and a metal antennae.
Did your ex-husband ever meet Congressman Nelson or Adam Yarborough? No.
I don't think so.
Why? You told the police Nelson killed your baby.
No.
No.
I didn't mean that.
I was on painkillers and I was in shock.
Tom loved the baby.
We know he arranged for you to see an abortion doctor.
Well, he panicked.
But, you know, we talked, and then he found out we were having a son.
Tom would never hurt me.
Never.
She's changed her tune.
No.
Nelson got to her.
Now, this car, the ex-husband would have rented it.
You know how many vehicles have radio antennas and hood ornaments? Most are from and they all have one thing in common.
They're not fuel efficient.
It's 300 mile roundtrip, Twentynine Palms to LA.
He would have had to stop for gas.
Yeah, I don't know how many gas stations there are between here and Twentynine Palms, but see if the police can get a picture of Robert Forester to each one of them.
And ask nicely.
HAL: No, I didn't see the man.
I close at 11:00.
But like I told the officer here, when I got to the station about 6:00 a.
m.
that morning, I come to find somebody busted the lock on the water hose.
Huge puddle of water.
Looked like they washed their car.
Can you show us where? Yeah, they broke the lock.
Anything other than a puddle? Shirt.
Looked like it was used to clean the car.
So the shirt, long gone now? No.
I still have it.
A good cotton shirt.
Makes a good rag.
Can't have too many rags in a gas station.
Rebecca's blood was on the shirt.
And it gets better.
Latent found Robert Forester's thumb print on the wall by the busted hose.
Mmm.
I love making his day.
Thanks.
(REPORTER CHATTERING) (REPORTER CLAMORING) All right, all right, leave him alone.
(CLAMORING) That's one down.
Now let's go bag ourselves a real live congressman.
Now that LAPD has a suspect in custody, I hope the focus will shift to the one responsible for this heinous crime and away from the wild speculation that has engulfed my family.
Our nation faces perilous times.
I will not be distracted from my duties.
(EXHALES) They always play the victim card.
Like it's our fault that he knocked up his mistress.
I'd like to move forward with charges against Nelson.
(CHUCKLES) For what? Failing to keep it in his pants? We think he reached out to the ex-husband through Adam Yarborough, and convinced him to run down Rebecca.
If we can get the ex to flip "lf" and "We think" are not words that fill me with confidence.
You want to bring charges against a US congressman, bring me videos of him buckling the ex into his seatbelt.
That job was no gift.
I was hired because of my qualifications.
Explain exactly how running a mailbox store qualified you to do corporate communications for a military contractor? All hail the American dream, Miss Price.
And American free enterprise.
We'll be talking to Adam Yarborough.
First one to squawk gets the deal.
Still using that ploy? Still working for me.
I did not try to kill Rebecca.
I was in my hotel room.
You can check my computer.
I did work.
I sent emails.
I bought stuff.
It's all time stamped.
But somehow, your thumbprint and a man's shirt with Rebecca's blood were found at a gas station near Twentynine Palms.
My client takes business trips to the marine base twice a month.
When he drives, that station is a convenient stopping place.
As for the shirt, anyone could have planted it.
All this so-called evidence only highlights the big hole in the middle of your case, the murder weapon.
You don't have the car.
No car, no case.
Wrong.
That's what I like about you, Ricardo, you cover your doubt with confidence.
STACEY: I can tell you definitively that Mr.
Forester's computer was hooked up to the Wi-Fi in the hotel that night.
But, I can also tell you that someone else accessed it from a remote location.
Used it to surf the Net, write e-mails, and work on file documents.
Forester wasn't using the computer? Forester didn't even have to be in the room.
Somebody just tried to make it look like he was? By creating all this activity on his computer.
The person who accessed his computer, where were they? They could be anywhere in the world, but I can backtrack the computer's IP address to a server at a specific location.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They're looking for a computer from this office.
We have evidence it was used to create an alibi for Robert Forester.
Someone from my office? That's ridiculous.
Knock yourself out, Mr.
Morales.
Open every drawer, every cabinet.
I have my district's business to attend to.
RICARDO: Anything? No.
We checked every machine.
Our computer's not here.
He probably got rid of it.
Charge Nelson as Forester's co-conspirator.
When the screws tighten, we'll see who flips.
We move to dismiss this case for insufficient evidence, Your Honor.
Mr.
Morales doesn't have the car, nor this phantom computer, that could somehow magically negate my client's alibi.
Nor does he have one shred of evidence of any agreement or overt action implicating my client in a murder conspiracy.
Your Honor, the evidence established that Mr.
Forester's computer was operated remotely at the time that he claimed to be in his hotel room.
As Your Honor knows, a murder weapon is not essential to prove guilt.
As to Congressman Nelson, the People can prove that he was part of an ongoing conspiracy to disguise the fact that he fathered a child out of wedlock.
A conspiracy that included having another man claim paternity.
It included buying Mr.
Forester's silence with a high-paying job.
It included pressuring the victim, Rebecca Townley, to have an abortion.
And finally, a conspiracy that included using a computer in Congressman Nelson's congressional office to remotely operate Mr.
Forester's computer to help him create an alibi, while he was out murdering Rebecca's unborn child.
In the name of that child, that unfulfilled promise, the People ask that you let a jury hear this case.
Well put, Mr.
Morales.
The court hereby rules there's sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Defendant Thomas Nelson will remain free on bond, defendant Robert Forester will be held on remand.
We are adjourned.
(GAVEL POUNDING) Fifty bucks says Nelson's lawyer wants a chat.
Do I look like a sucker? If you say someone in my office used that computer, I believe you.
I can only imagine they thought they were doing me a favor.
But I swear to you, I had nothing to do with hurting Rebecca.
You were ready to get her an abortion.
In a moment of panic, yes, I was.
But I love Rebecca.
And she made me see I was making a mistake.
I wanted that baby, I had plans to do the right thing.
We're supposed to take his word he had noble intentions? HARRISON: He's been paying for Miss Townley's medical bills, he's arranged to pay for her mother's stay here.
Did he arrange for a gift basket, too? Fine.
Make fun of him.
But at the end of the day, you'll be on the business end of a lawsuit for defamation and wrongful prosecution.
Come on, Tom.
EVELYN: Nelson's all about Nelson.
Yeah.
But I believe him about doing the right thing.
What's the narcissist version of doing the right thing? Divorce your wife because you've grown apart, then marry your mistress.
But first you hide the assets.
I never thought I'd say this about a politician, but Nelson's books seem to be on the up and up.
What do you make of this? Ten years ago, Nelson set up a family trust, then last month he paid a bill to the same lawyer who set up the trust.
No reason he'd go back to that same lawyer 10 years later.
Unless he was setting up another trust for Rebecca and the baby.
Mmm-hmm.
His lawyer won't tell us.
Someone else might.
Tom was adding me and the baby to the family trust and it would have taken effect after the baby was born.
You're sure it was his family trust? I signed the papers at a lawyer's office.
Tom said, the baby would never have to worry about anything.
Sounds like he made it clear, you had a future together.
We were going to be a family.
Did his wife know? He hadn't told her yet.
He said we had to wait for the right time.
I have to go back inside.
Sometimes I still feel the baby inside me.
Nurse says it's normal.
There's no way Nelson could have legally added Rebecca to the family trust without his wife's permission.
So, either Rebecca lied to us or Nelson lied to her.
If Nelson's wife wasn't going to be around, I mean, like, really not around, her consent to add Rebecca to the trust would be immaterial.
You mean, "not around" as in "dead"? She had cancer four years ago.
Say the cancer came back.
Nelson starts planning his future as a widower and makes arrangements to add Rebecca to the family trust.
If his wife found out She'd be very pissed.
My husband may be a philanderer, but I can hardly believe he's a murderer.
He's harmless.
I'm sorry you have to suffer through all of this, especially, given your condition.
What about my condition? During our investigation, we found out you've flown to New York five times in the last three months.
On my husband's business.
We also discovered a number of calls to Dr.
Berkal at Sloan-Kettering.
He's the same oncologist who treated you the first time you had ovarian cancer, isn't he? Cancer came back six months ago.
What's the prognosis? I'm hoping to see my son graduate from college in the spring, but I'm not sure.
RICARDO: Who else knows? Just my husband.
We thought it was better that way.
It must have come as a great shock when you discovered your husband was planning a new life.
New life, new family.
I doubt a woman like you, who has faced down cancer would stand still for what your husband was planning to do, to obliterate your memory, your life together, the life you gave up for his career.
To obliterate all of that with a readymade family the minute you succumb to your disease.
Are you accusing me of murder? Mrs.
Nelson, at this very moment, the police on their way to Palm Springs, to a vacation home owned by your aunt and uncle.
They keep a car there, don't they? 1986 tan Cadillac DeVille? A car matching the description of the one that ran over Rebecca Townley.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) The police are outside the house now.
You have one chance, Mrs.
Nelson.
Agree to testify against your co-conspirators, and I'll keep you out of prison.
You can die with dignity at home.
But once the police pry open that garage and find the car, all bets are off.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) EVELYN: They're getting the door open.
Mrs.
Nelson, your time is running out.
All right, yes.
I found out about Tom and that girl.
That he could do this to me, to our son.
I told Forester that I would get him fired if he didn't help me.
At first he refused, but when I told him that his ex-wife was pregnant, that did it.
I told him about my uncle's car, I gave him a key to the garage.
I went to the congressional office and I used a computer to forge Forester's alibi.
Did anyone else help you? No.
Just Forester.
It just simply could not happen.
He couldn't just erase me.
(CELL PHONE BEEPS) Who else knew your uncle kept a car in Palm Springs? Just Tom.
Why? The garage was empty.
No car.
That's not possible.
I gave Forester specific instructions to put the car back in the garage.
He wouldn't have gotten rid of it.
I'm sure he didn't.
But I'm thinking your husband did.
He knew what you'd done.
He tried to protect you.
(SIGHS) Oh, Tom.
JUDGE FORD: Does either side care to be heard before sentencing? Your Honor, my client testified in the successful prosecution of Robert Forester.
She did her part.
Probation is the appropriate sentence.
As long as I wear this robe, no one murders a baby and walks.
Your Honor, Patricia Nelson only has a few months to live.
Cancer is her sentence.
And she'll be serving it at Century Regional Detention Center.
With respect to the amended count of solicitation to commit murder, the Court hereby sentences Patricia Nelson to 365 days in the county jail.
Your Honor.
JUDGE FORD: We are adjourned, Mr.
Morales.
(GAVEL POUNDS) This way, ma'am.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Time to go.
I do love her.
I just couldn't stand the thought of losing her.
I just couldn't be alone.
Please.
He cheated on his dying wife just so he'd have someone to tuck him in at night? You're young.
You'll find out.
It's the one thing we men fear the most, being alone.