Bull (2016) s03e14 Episode Script

1 Hey, Sweet.
It's me again.
I decided to play hooky from work.
Make it a long weekend.
Drove up early from the city to surprise you.
Where are you? Looks like you finished the book.
Congratulations.
Just shoot me a call or a text when you can.
Let me know you're all right.
(DOORBELL RINGS) Evening, Mr.
Raynor.
Hi.
Um - Chris.
- Chris.
Right.
Sorry.
It's a long week.
Haven't seen you in a while.
Three months, I think.
Since the premiere of the last Springers movie.
Mm-hmm.
Is Mrs.
Raynor ready to go? I'm sorry.
Go where? FantasyCon.
In the city.
I'm here to drive her in, keep the fans at bay.
You sure you have the right date? She cleared it with her publishers last week.
Ava's not here.
What do you mean? Uh, she's been up here finishing her book.
But I don't know where she is.
Okay.
Um So when was the last time you spoke with Mrs.
Raynor? Well, uh, I left her messages.
But, uh, we haven't actually spoken in, uh a couple days.
Monday.
So You haven't heard from your wife in three days? So you know Ava Lewis Raynor? I don't know her.
My friend's married to her.
I think we've all had dinner twice in 20 years.
Eh, I read her books to my godson.
Took him to see the movies.
Said the second he reported Ava missing, it was obvious the cops thought he was a suspect.
Well, there's a reason for that.
All my years in the D.
A.
's office, every time a wife disappeared, it was almost always the husband.
How long she been gone? Four days now.
That's a long time.
You know what they say about the first 48 hours.
Yeah.
I watch cable TV.
BENNY: Mr.
Raynor, the fact that you didn't report your wife missing for three days I didn't know she was missing.
She was finishing a novel.
She was on a deadline.
She's done it before.
I didn't think much of it.
BULL: When she did it before, did she not return your calls for days at a time? No Yes.
Sometimes.
Never this long.
That's why I drove up yesterday.
Make sure she was all right.
BENNY: Yeah, but when you drove up and she wasn't here, why did you wait six hours before you called the police? (SCOFFS) Look, I married an artist.
And I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to stay married to her, that I had to respect her space, her privacy, her moods.
Sometimes she just needed some alone time.
She'd turn her phone off, she'd go to a spa or a B and B to regroup.
(SIGHS) I have to tell you, Mr.
Raynor.
Your story? To an outside observer? You have to know, it sounds very convenient, very suspicious.
I know our marriage isn't the most conventional, but it works.
For us.
Ava once told me she was like a ship and I was the dock.
And she just had to venture out sometimes alone, but she would always come back, that I could count on that.
And I do.
That's why I know we have to find her.
She's out there.
MAN: You familiar with luminol? Of course.
Luminol spray reacts when it makes contact with iron and hemoglobin.
Glows fluorescent under black light.
The killer thought he was pretty smart.
Bleached the whole floor so none of this would be visible to the naked eye.
But the chemicals don't lie.
A lot of blood was shed here.
Oh, Nate.
Oh, man.
You're very fortunate to have the meansh! To make bail on a murder charge, but you need to understand that the terms of home confinement are strict.
You can't leave your New York apartment except to go to court in Westchester or consult with us at our offices.
Thank you.
Thank you both for getting me out.
Thanks for the ride into the city.
I know the lake house is close to the court, but I just can't go back in there.
I can't believe I was just walking around where You guys know right? It's not her blood.
It can't be.
BENNY: There was so much blood revealed by the luminol, that the D.
A.
's actually willing to go to trial even though no body was found.
Did they test the blood? Is is it hers? They tested the blood.
It turns out the bleach degraded the DNA so much they can't actually make an identification, but I told you.
Sh-She's still out there.
There's more, Nate.
They dredged the lake.
They found a butcher's knife from your kitchen.
The water washed away any fingerprints, but your wife's DNA, your DNA, they found both embedded in the handle.
Okay.
It's a knife from our kitchen.
Of course our DNA is on it.
BENNY: But nobody else's was.
And there was no signs of forced entry.
And, apparently, you weren't in your office that Monday, the last day anyone heard from your wife.
I-I wasn't feeling great.
I worked from the apartment.
I'm sure that's all true.
The A.
D.
A.
is gonna say you weren't working at home, you were stabbing your wife to death in the kitchen of your lake house.
You threw the knife in the water, you dumped the body somewhere, and you drove back into the city and waited for the trail to go cold.
(SCOFFS) You don't believe that.
That's crazy.
I love my wife.
You talk to anybody while you were working at home that Monday? E-mail? Ordered some food to be delivered? Sent out some laundry? Anything that we could use to substantiate your alibi? I slept.
AVA (OVER RECORDING): Nathan? I'm done.
I can't do this anymore.
I can't stomach the idea of you doing it anymore.
Talk about wreckage.
It's kind of all that's left of this marriage, isn't it? Wreckage.
I think we need to get together and figure out an exit strategy for both of us.
The police got it off your cell phone.
You've heard it before? Your wife left it for you Sunday night.
That's motive.
How? BULL: It sounds like your wife is leaving you and that's why you killed her.
Well, it may sound that way, but that is not what But what?! What is the truth here, Nate? I'm your friend.
I want to help you.
But that message along with everything else, none of this looks good, at all! (EXHALES SHARPLY) You married? No.
You I know about.
Well Marriage is a tricky deal.
You make a promise about the future but you make it at a moment in time where you don't really have any idea of what the future is gonna bring.
I was a hungry junior investment banker.
She was writing fiction no one was reading.
Five years later, I was controlling $3 billion in assets, and she was the most read writer on the planet.
People change.
Circumstances change.
Needs change.
I spoke to my wife after she left that message.
She didn't want to be done with the marriage.
She wanted to be done with our understanding.
What understanding? She and I spent a lot of time apart.
Her up at the lake.
Me here in the city.
We both made mistakes.
At a certain point, we made a set of rules.
When we were together, it was just the two of us.
But when we were apart, it was we were not together.
Sorry.
This is not the sort of thing you share with college buddies.
The point is, the last time I spoke to her, she she said the whole thing had just gotten exhausting.
You know, emotionally.
She just wanted to end it with her friend.
She just wanted it She wanted it to be just us again.
And how'd you feel about that? I thought she was being melodramatic.
(NATHAN SNIFFLES) I didn't have the heart to do it, but tomorrow I need to ask him the names of anyone he consorted with.
And obviously her, too - anyone she was - You're really shocked, aren't you? He's my friend.
(SIGHS) It was one of those marriages.
Even when I was married to your sister when our marriage started to fall apart I held on to hope, because this friend of mine, this guy that I admired, who was married to this really accomplished woman, he was somehow making it work.
(SIGHS) Sorry.
Doesn't make sense to me.
Why bother staying married if you can't be faithful? Maybe you don't want to lose someone, so you start making compromises with yourself.
I don't understand it.
And by the way, neither will a jury.
I don't know how to sell this to a jury.
Well, then let's not sell it.
Yeah, but we have to present a case.
You heard Nate he believes his wife isn't actually dead.
So maybe our defense is: she isn't.
BENNY: Jury-wise, I'm guessing we'll be looking to get rid of any potential Ava Lewis Raynor superfans.
They're gonna be looking for someone to blame, and Nathan will be sitting right there.
I don't know, I'm still kind of hoping they'll be the most desperate to believe Ava is still with us, you know? It's like the people who think Tupac faked his own death or Elvis never left the building.
I need a jury who will go for our "no body, no death" narrative.
I need people for whom seeing is believing.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Anybody here believe in ghosts? Your Honor, we'd like to thank and excuse these three jurors.
I'm confused.
Isn't he supposed to ask them a question? Somebody said they believe in ghosts.
Well if they're willing to believe in ghosts, they might be willing to believe someone was killed without anybody being able to find a body, and those are not the kind of jurors we need.
But we also need to be wary of jurors with a propensity to blame the husband.
That is a very real and a very powerful bias.
Anyone who feels wronged or slighted by a current or former partner might be more likely to hold Nathan responsible regardless of the facts.
So we need to weed out anyone with an ax to grind.
Good morning.
Now, I couldn't help but notice your beautiful wedding ring.
How long have you been married? - Almost nine months.
- Nine months.
(CHUCKLES): Wow.
You're practically a newlywed.
Congratulations.
And how is it going so far, if I may ask? Hmm.
I keep pinching myself.
My husband's a dream.
I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
(QUIETLY): Marissa, is there a reason not to? Yeah, I know she presents well, Bull, but juror number two is on husband number three.
And she was so vindictive toward her last ex that she papered his Yelp page with bad reviews until his business closed down.
Oh, my.
We'd like to thank and excuse this juror, Your Honor.
Juror number two, you're excused.
What about you, Ms.
Nelson? Are you married? Nope.
Single as single could be.
Ah.
And how do you feel about that? Feeling good.
I like dating.
I've met lots of great guys.
I just always find a reason to break it off.
I think I'm just one of those people that doesn't want to be tied down.
I think I've found "the one.
" Free spirit.
Doesn't hold a grudge.
Please don't tell me she's a serial killer with men buried under her house.
All sunshine and rainbows on my end, Bull.
She doesn't spend a lot of time on social media, but when she does, she's usually trying to debunk her aunt's conspiracy theories.
She likes facts.
So we like her.
This juror's acceptable to the defense, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Then, ladies and gentlemen, we have our jury.
(GAVEL BANGS) DANNY: Clara? Yes.
Are you Danny? Thanks for coming down.
I have a desk at Ava's publisher's office, but this was her favorite spot in the city.
How long have you been her assistant? Seven years.
So you must really like the job.
(CHUCKLES) Well, if you love books, if you love writing, it's it's kind of like winning the lottery.
Ava let me edit her drafts.
She helped me with my own writing.
Even offered to pass along my work to her publisher.
I mean, there was the normal stuff, too: pick up her dry cleaning, run her dog to the vet.
But that notwithstanding, it was kind of like a dream job.
Well, she sounds like a very nice person to work for.
I know that these last few days have had to be difficult.
And I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.
I'm told that you were involved in almost every aspect of Ava's life.
I guess.
And we know that Ava sometimes kept company with people other than her husband.
It would be incredibly helpful for Nathan and his defense if you could provide me with some of those names.
I don't know where you're getting your information, but Ava loved her husband.
Ava adored her husband.
I don't doubt that.
And I appreciate that you're trying to protect Ava's legacy.
But we know she was seeing someone else and wanted to call it off.
We just don't know who.
Look I don't know anything for sure, but after the last Springers movie premiere, Ava left a necklace in her hotel room.
I went over the next day to get it and I also found a man's watch.
It wasn't Nathan's.
Do you know whose it was? Not for sure.
But Chris wore one just like it.
Who's Chris? Her driver.
Her bodyguard.
(GAVEL BANGING) Your Honor, in light of the ubiquitous media coverage surrounding this case, the People move to sequester the jury.
Your Honor, please.
Jury sequestration is an extraordinary and unwarranted step.
That's why it's rarely used in the state of New York.
It costs the taxpayers an exorbitant amount of money and puts an undue burden on jurors by taking them away from their homes and their families.
Furthermore, this jury was not selected based on who could bear the burden of sequestration.
There could be, uh, medical issues, - childcare considerations - Your Honor, the People realize this is an extreme ask, but if ever a case warranted it JUDGE: Though your argument is well-taken, Mr.
Colón, given the extraordinary attention this case has received, the People's motion is granted.
I order the jury sequestered.
I don't understand.
Why is a sequestered jury so bad for us? This jury's gonna be cut off from the outside world.
They will be angry and want someone to blame.
And in their minds, you're the reason they're here, so that someone will be you.
A background check on the Nbodyguard, Chris, turned up a couple of misdemeanor assault charges in his past, all domestic, all dismissed.
Which is why the security firm was able to hire him, but he's a strong guy with a quick temper and no alibi.
Claims he was home alone when the cops think Ava was murdered.
Well, that sounds promising.
- (SIGHS): Keep digging.
- CHUNK: Okay, uh, how are we gonna deal with the sequestration problem? I still don't get why it's a problem.
I mean, is it just me, or doesn't a hotel stay with someone else footing the bill sound like heaven? - Mm.
- I mean, who cares if the jury doesn't get to watch the news? They aren't supposed to anyway.
BENNY: It's not just the news.
All the computers and televisions are removed from their rooms.
Their only entertainment will be group viewings of preapproved DVDs.
They also handed over their cell phones.
Any calls with family have to be on speaker from a court officer's phone with him or her listening.
Big Brother, anyone? Hey! It's not like they're in some 4-Diamond property with a spa and day trips to the local museum.
They'll have takeout from the same three restaurants every day.
DANNY: Hmm.
Point of information.
We have takeout from the same three restaurants every day.
But we don't spend 24/7 with only each other to talk to.
A sequestered jury does, and that creates a groupthink mentality.
Okay, uh, not to pour salt on the wound, but we go second, right? We are the defense.
By the time we get to make our case, won't they just be sick of the whole thing? BULL: Yep.
Unless they aren't.
Well, the A.
D.
A.
is smart.
To Chunk's point, she'll want to slow-play her hand so that the jury is out of patience by the time it's our turn.
We can't let that happen.
We got to keep things moving.
We need to show those jurors that we're on their side we want this thing to be over with as quickly as they do.
TRUMAN: So, is it fair to say that the knife was the murder weapon? BENNY: Objection! Asked and answered.
The jury has already heard Mr.
Richards say - it was the knife.
- JUDGE: Sustained.
Isn't it true, Mr.
Richards, that DNA was discovered from both the defendant and the deceased - on the handle of the knife? - Your Honor, we just keep going over the same ground again and again.
The defense will happily stipulate to the evidence at the scene.
Anything to keep these proceedings moving.
Marissa, can you break out some numbers for me on how the jury's feeling towards the A.
D.
A.
? Wow, show's you what I know.
I wasn't sure your strategy would actually work, but the jury seems annoyed with her.
Even better, they're starting to view Benny as their champion, and some of that goodwill is starting to flow Nathan's way.
In light of this stipulation, do you have any more questions, Ms.
Truman? If not, I'm gonna turn this witness over to Mr.
Colón.
As a matter of fact, I do.
In addition to the weapon, what, if anything, do these spatter patterns tell us about the crime itself? About who might have done it and why? Well, there are two types of violent crimes: what we call instrumental crimes and expressive crimes.
An instrumental crime is likely to occur between strangers and is usually a means to an end.
How do you mean? Someone kills a guy in a convenience store to get the money in the cash register.
What you'll usually see is just enough violence to get the job done.
- But that's not what happened here? - No.
In this case, we're looking at multiple stab wounds when one or two would have been enough to end the victim's life.
That's why we call it expressive.
It usually happens when emotion runs high.
It suggests an intimate relationship between the victim and the killer.
An intimate relationship.
Like a husband and wife? Like a husband and wife.
TRUMAN: So, if I were to surmise that Nathan Raynor flew into a murderous rage at the news his wife was leaving him and stabbed her multiple times BENNY: Objection! Sustained.
You're pushing it, Ms.
Truman.
Apologies, Your Honor.
I'll withdraw.
No further questions.
Remember what I said about goodwill towards Nathan? I do.
I think I may have spoken too soon.
BENNY: Forensic Specialist Joaquin Richards.
Let's talk about expressive violence.
Violence committed by an intimate.
Now, that intimate wouldn't have to be a husband, would it? What do you mean? Well, couldn't it just as easily be a lover? (GALLERY MURMURING) I suppose.
But I'm not aware of any evidence indicating that to have been the case.
Ah, evidence.
(SIGHS) You know, I-I must be missing something, but it looks to me like all of this evidence that everyone's been discussing is very much open to interpretation.
Now, here's an example.
Can you say without a doubt how many times the victim was actually stabbed in that kitchen? - Well, the patterns suggest - It's a yes or no question, Mr.
Richards.
No.
I cannot.
Hmm, I didn't think so.
And can you remind the jury, please? Is there any non-circumstantial evidence that proves my client, Nathan Raynor, was the one who committed whatever violence occurred in that kitchen? Well, no.
But No! Of course not.
And is there any real proof, any scientific proof that the blood found in that kitchen is that of my client's wife, Ava Lewis Raynor? Mr.
Richards? No.
The bleach degraded the blood.
But we did get enough DNA in our sample to indicate a likely match to Ava Lewis Raynor.
Ah.
Likely, but not certainly? Not certainly.
BENNY: So you have neither conclusive proof that Ava is actually dead or that Nathan killed her.
Objection! Compound.
Overruled.
The witness will answer the question.
No.
I cannot prove that Ava Lewis Raynor is dead or that her husband killed her.
Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Well, that worked out quite nicely.
(ELEVATOR BELL CHIMES) BENNY: Where did Nathan say he was gonna meet us? Sooner we can round him up and head into the city, the better.
Traffic heading into town is gonna be horrible at this hour.
- I got this.
- Okay.
Nate, you coming? We really need to head back into town.
All that stuff your lawyer said in court today Neither of you guys really believe that.
Do you? I believe you're my friend.
I believe you love your wife.
And I believe it's my job to do everything I can to keep you out of prison.
That's very well said.
You're a clever man, Jason.
You always were.
(EXHALES) Attorney-client privilege apply to lifelong friends even though you're not a real attorney? I'm part of your legal team.
You can say anything you want.
- And even if I weren't - I did it.
I did this.
I didn't kill her.
But I but I caused it.
I was the one.
I cheated first.
I I broke us.
I was this wildly successful finance guy, and she was my adoring wife.
Then the first Springers book hit, and suddenly she belonged to the whole world.
Not just to me.
I couldn't handle it.
My ego couldn't handle it.
I don't know why I let her success do that to me.
Makes no sense, but then I needed Then I needed a shoulder to cry on.
So I went out and found one.
And then another.
And another.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) And then she found shoulders of her own.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) So if some angry lover killed Ava it was my fault.
I set the whole thing in motion.
I did it.
(SIGHS) (PHONE VIBRATES) I'll be right back.
Sorry to pull you away, but we have a problem.
The A.
D.
A.
just called.
A hunter and his dog just found a corpse in the forest 27 miles north of here.
They found the body.
They found Ava.
Look at these jurors.
They're all red, and they're all miserable.
They haven't even had the thrill of being in court for the last two days while they wait for the medical examiner to finish examining the body.
TAYLOR: They miss their families.
They miss their own beds.
They miss food that doesn't come out of a box.
I don't think it can get any worse.
Oh, it can.
And it will.
We chose a "seeing is believing" jury, and as soon as the forensic testing is done and court resumes, they are going to actually see that there actually is a body.
A body that was stabbed 12 times.
By a kitchen knife.
Most likely by an intimate.
Everything the A.
D.
A.
asserted.
Sounds like it's time for a plan B.
What if we put the driver/bodyguard on the stand? Chris? Ask him about the watch he left behind at the hotel.
Let the jurors pick up on the inference.
Maybe rile the guy up a bit.
Show the jurors his temper.
Let them see that he could just as easily have been Ava's killer - as Nathan.
- BENNY: Not bad.
More reasonable doubt.
I don't think you want to go there.
I've been going back over the medical examiner's report, and there's a lot of postmortem bruising on Ava's corpse.
That points to somebody really manhandling the body.
Struggling with it.
Having a hard time moving it, burying it.
Ava weighs 106 pounds.
Her bodyguard could bench-press that in his sleep.
MARISSA: Yeah, but we don't need to prove that Chris did it.
Just that he could have.
Well, I don't think he could have.
Dr.
Bull.
Oh, what do we have here? "Further investigation revealed "that the vast majority of the wounds were on the left side of the victim's body.
" And she was stabbed from the front, which means the killer was right-handed.
Chris is left-handed.
So, what's our play? BULL: The only one we have.
We put Nathan on the stand.
Let him tell the truth and hope to God the jury believes him.
Did you kill your wife, Mr.
Raynor? No.
We made mistakes.
I made mistakes.
But there wasn't a moment from the time we met that we weren't together here.
Here.
BENNY: Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
No real movement here.
Well, that's better than the alternative.
Let's brace for impact.
Mr.
Raynor, do you, by any chance, wear reading glasses? Yes.
I wear reading glasses.
Could you describe those glasses for me? Uh, well, I have quite a few.
Um, they're inexpensive.
Usually get them at the drug store.
Usually buy black.
2.
0.
Marissa, why are we talking about reading glasses? I don't know, and I don't like that I don't know.
I'm sorry, Bull.
I-I'm not seeing anything in discovery about reading glasses.
Nothing in the reports.
Are these your glasses, Mr.
Raynor? I don't know.
They look like they could be.
Your Honor, the People would like to enter into evidence this pair of reading glasses found in a forest preserve five yards from Ava Lewis Raynor's corpse and this report stating that several of Nathan Raynor's cells were found on these glasses.
I don't really have any great answers for you.
Ava would borrow my glasses sometimes.
That's all I can think of.
The problem is, our "seeing is believing" jury is now convinced that, when they're looking at you, they're looking at your wife's killer.
Are they right? I'm not a killer, Jason.
You know that.
You know me.
Yeah, well, I thought I did.
What, you mean my-my marriage? (SCOFFS) What do you want me to say? It's not something you share with friends.
It's not something I'm terribly proud of.
It does not make me a killer.
I know.
And I know this sounds ridiculous, but I thought you guys were it.
(SCOFFS) Nobody's "it.
" We're all just people, living our lives.
(ELEVATOR BELL CHIMES) (EXHALES) (KNOCKING) Yeah.
We were all thinking of getting out of here.
Do you need anything before I go? (EXHALES) I think my friend is gonna spend the rest of his life in prison.
And I think I failed him.
And I'm embarrassed to say that, at one point today, I actually made the conversation about how he might have failed me.
Bull, come on.
You haven't failed anybody.
This thing isn't over yet.
(KNOCKING) They just want to know if they can go.
It's okay! Go ahead! I'll be leaving in a minute.
Can I show you something I was just finally able to decrypt? Do you mind if I turn on the light? (EXHALES) What am I looking at? TAYLOR: Text messages.
Every number Ava texted during the last week of her life.
There are only four.
Nathan, Chris, her assistant, and her publisher.
And where do I start? "I want to spare you the soul-crushing pain of reading Clara's attempt at a book.
" And who is she texting, her publisher? Hmm.
"Her novel is excruciating.
Unpublishable.
"I'm just gonna tell her "you passed and let her down gently.
I'm just giving you a heads-up in case she asks about it.
" And this Clara? She's Ava's assistant.
She told me that she was writing a book and that Ava promised to help get it to the right people.
And that proves? (EXHALES) I mean, if this Clara was angry that her publisher rejected her, why would she go after Ava? TAYLOR: What if she saw Ava's phone, saw the text, found out Ava never even sent the manuscript? Mm.
Well, the problem is, it's just a theory, and the jury needs proof if they are going to acquit Nathan.
DANNY: What about the postmortem bruising? I mean, it makes sense that a female killer would have a much harder time moving Ava's body than some big burly guy.
A female killer.
MARISSA: We were scouring for sightings of a man.
A supposed lover, not a woman.
Let me go back through the database, see if there are any statements that mention a woman fitting Clara's description.
And I'll try and trace where she was the day Ava died.
Maybe there's traffic cameras near the lake house? I'm sorry, you were saying something about failing someone? Did I even say "come in"? Can't a man wallow in self-pity without his employees barging in and pelting him with hope? People take all the fun out of feeling bad.
(GRUNTS SOFTLY) BENNY: Good morning, Ms.
Larson.
Really appreciate you being here.
I know you must still be reeling from Mrs.
Raynor's death.
I'm not sure I'll ever stop reeling.
Ah.
Can you please explain to the jury exactly who you were to the late Ava Lewis Raynor? I was her personal assistant.
Mm.
In fact, she called you her other, - didn't she? - Mm.
(CHUCKLES) I'm sorry, I'm gonna need you to speak your answers.
Uh, yes.
- That's what she called me.
- Ah.
And just to help the jury paint a picture here, you were Ava's personal assistant for over seven years.
Isn't that correct? Yes.
Seven years-plus.
And what does being a personal assistant for a famous novelist entail? Well, in the beginning, it was mostly mundane things.
Um, pick up her cleaning, take her to doctors' appointments.
But, over the years, it got much more creative, much more intimate.
Copy edit her early drafts, discuss plot points, function as a sounding board.
Wow.
So you really had a front row seat.
I-I'm guessing you weren't just intimately involved in her creative life.
You must have been very aware of what was happening in her personal life.
Well to an extent.
Um, we were really close.
- Which, I suppose, was to be expected.
- Mm.
And how were you compensated for your work, Ms.
Larson? Compensated? You mean paid? Mm.
I got a salary.
Every week.
Anything else? Any perks? I mean, you wanted to be a writer, right? Did she offer any tips? Uh, promise to open up some doors for you or? Objection.
Where are we going? What are we doing? Relevance? BENNY: I can assure the court that the relationship between Ms.
Larson and the deceased is extremely relevant to my client's defense.
Overruled.
BENNY: Thank you.
Didn't Mrs.
Raynor offer to show your work to her publisher? Yes.
Yes, she did.
And I'd bet you'd be pretty upset if she didn't.
Huh? After all of these years of doing everything for her, if she went back on her word Objection.
Counsel is testifying.
Sustained.
Now, you mentioned dropping Mrs.
Raynor off at appointments.
You own a car, Ms.
Larson? I do.
A gray sedan? - Is that correct? - Yes.
And where were you on Monday the 28th, the night the police believe Ava Lewis Raynor was murdered? I was at home.
By myself.
Ah.
Really? That's that's interesting.
Because a young lady with blonde hair, about your height, your weight, your age was seen driving a sedan on the very night in question.
Here it comes.
Wait for it.
BENNY: A few days ago, after Ava's body was found in the forest, the owner of a nearby hardware store had reported that he'd sold a shovel to a young blonde woman on the night we now know Ava was murdered.
Yeah, he said that she was pretty anxious, even shaking a little.
And after we reviewed the in-store video, ooh, he was absolutely right.
She sure was anxious.
She was shaking.
See, that's the thing about crimes of passion.
They're very difficult to plan for.
Someone's always forgetting a shovel.
- (GALLERY MURMURING) - (GAVEL BANGING) BULL: Come on, was that worth the wait or what? You sure you weren't shovel shopping that night, Ms.
Larson? (LOUD MURMURING) JUDGE: Order! The witness will answer the question.
Ooh, that's okay.
That's all right.
She doesn't need to answer.
See, the store owner got a partial license plate, and my office handed it over to the FBI this morning.
Th-They're actually searching your car as we speak.
I'm sure their findings will make the answer abundantly clear.
(EXHALES) Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
(NATHAN EXHALES) Still can't bring myself to go inside the house.
I should probably just sell it.
But the lake the lake reminds me of Ava.
When I'm here, it's like she's still with me, you know? Nathan, I'm sorry.
I owe you an apology.
Are you kidding me? You kept me out of prison.
I owe you.
I said some things.
I made some judgments.
(SIGHS) I wasn't there.
I wasn't inside your marriage.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
You're just a guy who loved his wife the best he could.
Nothing else really matters.
I just hope Ava knew.
I'm pretty sure she did.
Her last manuscript.
Read the dedication.
"Nathan the dock to my boat, "my lighthouse in the storm, "you are my whole heart.
Always.
"