Photo by allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com
Law & Order wrapped up its record tying 20th season and, at least for now, the episode “Rubber Room” - a place some fans have already gone after hearing the series had been canceled - looks to be their last. With the finale being such an excellent episode, it makes the series’ end even sadder. We can only hope that someone with more sense than NBC will pick up this show and continue on.
“Rubber Room” not only provided and interesting case that for a change was not a murder, it provided a wonderful close for a beloved character, Lt. Anita Van Buren, played by the wonderful S. Epatha Merkerson. I am so thrilled that not only does it appear that she has been given a clean bill of health, but she is now engaged to Frank, who stood by her during the worst times of her illness. Anita deserves to be happy, and since this is also Epatha’s last appearance with the series, we should also wish her much happiness as well. (Thank you Epatha for entertaining us all these years!)
It was about time that we saw Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) completely blow his top, but even more wonderful was at the end when he praises the whole team and they all enjoy the moment - and Anita’s announcement - at the fundraising party. It was a very nice end for the season, and if this does prove to be the end of the series, it will also serves as a nice close to 20 years of wonderful cases, wonderful characters, a great cast, and good producing, writing, directing, etc.
All episode photos from NBC
Here is the recap:
Parents, upset at their daughter posting a topless photo of herself on the internet, find a blogger, “Fighter Boy”, who is posted a video of their daughter and other young girls. When they take the information to Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), she sees something that disturbs her and she takes it to Detective Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto). Van Buren tells Lupo to log on to a website for “Fighter Boy” that depicts lots of weapons and bombs. They watch a video which shows a bomb being detonated, and then sees a trunk of a car with propane tanks in it. Lupo comments it could take out a whole city block, but Van Buren comments not just any block, and asks him to check out the license plate of the car – it’s from New York State. Detective Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) suspects it is a New York City block. At home, while “Fighter Boy” - real name John Nolte -is in bed ignoring his wake up alarm, the detectives break in and Bernard and Lupo yell for those inside not to move. They yell to confirm the guy laying in bed is Fighter Boy and he says yeah. They ask where the weapons are and he doesn’t know what they are talking about. They take him down to the 2-7. At the 2-7 in interrogation, he says the only weapons he has are video game weapons. They show him a photo of the propane tanks in the car trunk that was on the video on his blog, but he says he just found that video and thought he’d put it on his blog. Bernard tells him the sex cops want to talk to him about his videos of underage girls. Lupo tells him no more pretend, he’s going to do some real time now.
Lt. Van Buren tells the detectives that the photos and bomb video were downloaded from another source on the net that they can’t trace. The detectives say the apartment was searched and they found nothing so they think “Fighter Boy” is a watcher not a doer. There are too many of the make and model of the car in the video to track it down. Lupo says it is like fishing for a needle in the ocean – an old Chinese saying. Van Buren says “Just do it. Old American saying.” She wants to stop something from happening.
Later, at the Imaging Center, a doctor talks about Van Buren's last MRI. He asks her to lie on the scan table and tells her the doctor will compare the pictures they take today with the ones taken three months ago to see if there has been any change. He tells her how the scan will work and then gives her the call button in case she has a problem. She looks apprehensive. He begins the scan.
Later, the bomb video is being analyzed and the technician helps the detective locate where the bomb video was taken, on Staten Island. Later, with NYPD people on the scene of the video, a fragment of threaded pipe is located. The police captain tells them they found a pipe bomb a few weeks ago in a gas station rest room a few miles from there, and it was rusted and was a dud so they thought it was a prank.
Back at the 2-7, the detectives tell Van Buren what they discovered, and that they found prints on that pipe bomb, plus also eczema cream. They are tracking every silver Civic from Staten Island. Van Buren gets a phone call, and tells the detectives to go back to the gas station and check out the “prank.” Her phone call is about applying for a line of credit because of her medical bills and Lupo overhears.
At the Richmond Gas & Snak, a guy who works there tells them they don’t need a key from the restroom but remembers kids on BMX bicycles and that they hang out at the park. Later, the detectives, in casual clothes, play hoops at that park and Lupo floats the idea of a fundraiser for Van Buren and Bernard thinks Van Buren will not go for it because she is a very private person. The kid come up on their bikes and when the detectives try to ask them a question they try to take off but Lupo grabs one of them and they see what looks like eczema on his hand.
Later, at the 2-7 with the kid and his father, they tell him they tied his son to the bomb by the eczema cream. The kid says he found the bomb in the field, he saw the video online of the explosion and they recognized the place and they went there and found a piece of the pipe but later ditched it at the gas station. He wanted a piece of history, saying it is going to be epic. He shows them the web site where he saw the video, called “Moot’s Countdown.” It is the same video on Fighter Boy’s blog. The text of the video talks about taking down a whole school.
Later, in Van Buren's office with the Chief there, Bernard comments that Moots has been running his blog through a server in Romania and there is no way to identify him or trace him. The Chief asks if this is a credible threat as the blog doesn’t mention the school or borough or even a specific time frame. Another guy from Counter Terror there says that he has a high point 9mm carbine with 20 ten round mags, a glock 21 with 5 boxes of hollow points, 15 pipe bombs, and a body harness to carry it all, plus 3 propane tanks wired to go. He says this is as credible as any threat he has seen in 8 years of counter terror. The Chief says that is what he will tell the PC, and tells Van Buren he will have the Chief of School Safety to her directly. As they leave, she thanks them. She tells the detectives that this boy has had this blog for three months and is talking about blowing up a school, and asks how many people read it. Bernard tells her it had 2,300 hits, and she wonders why no one thought to report him. Lupo thinks nobody likes a snitch, even on the net. She tells them to bring in some help and see if they can profile the boy from his writings and start working on an email and maybe they can smoke him out.
Later, Dr. Emil Skoda (J.K. Simmons) is watching Lupo put a message on the message board to Moot, faking setting up a coinciding event in LA that will be “epic.” He makes a reference to Columbine, saying the kids think those guys were heroes instead of what they were – a grandiose psychopath and a suicidal depressive. Skoda thinks Moot is more of a depressive, but that Moot has given out no personal details they can work with. Bernard comes in and says the lab got a serial number off the high point carbine and the gun was stolen from a gun store heist in Massachusetts and thinks Moot bought the gun from him. The thief was caught and is sitting in Otisville awaiting trial.
The detectives speak with Duane Phillips and tell him they can’t offer him anything, and when they try to convince him to help them stop the terror attack, he tells them they’d better go talk to the Feds.
The Fed guy Schlicter tells EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache), ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza), Lupo, and Bernard that Duane Phillips is a potential witness against a gunrunning network that extends all the way up into Canada. He’s not wasting Federal leverage on a nothing state investigation. This infuriates Cutter, who disagrees, saying they are talking about a credible threat against a high school full of children and teachers. But Schlicter is skeptical since it comes from a blog, and he tells Cutter to get real. Rubirosa angrily reminds him of the very real video of a real pipe bomb explosion. He sarcastically asks if she’s checked the internet lately, it’s filled with videos of dumb kids blowing up crap with pipe bombs. He walks away and the door shuts in their faces. Later, they find Schlicter’s boss won’t see them either. Bernard realizes ATF gave them the dumps off Phillip’s cell phone and he made a few calls upstate to Ghent NY which coincides with a line used to access Moot’s blog.
Back at the 2-7, Van Buren gets a call from Dr. Knight and she needs her to come back in, telling her there were problems with her MRI and the data was corrupted and they need to re-do it. She agrees but is clearly rattled over it.
At the home of Morgan Jones in Ghent, her mother tells her to tell the detectives what she knows. She met Duane at a skating rink and she found Moot’s blog by accident and she wrote him and he wrote her back. She says Moot told her he was looking for a rifle and Duane said he could get a rifle like that and she took $100 out of her savings and bought it for Moot. Her friend Lee though Moot may be a freak so he gave him a rifle and he took it to Moot. They ask to speak with her friend Lee – and we then see the detectives standing at Lee’s grave. He drove through a red light and an 18 wheeler struck and killed him.
Back at the 2-7, Bernard tells Van Buren there was nothing in the emails from Moot to the girl. Lupo says Moot’s blog says he found that the police are reading his blog and now that someone is paying attention he will have to be more careful and the plan goes on, the end has been written. Later, they find that Morgan emailed Moot about their visit. Van Buren, Bernard, Lupo, Cutter, and Rubirosa discuss this with Skoda, who thinks the kid is very smart and that teachers seem to be his favorite subject. There is one teacher he wrote about – a science teacher who was a religious zealot who burned crosses on the arms of his students.
At the department of education, Lupo, Bernard and Rubirosa speak with Mr. Fontova who says the teacher involved was the subject of a proceeding but it got resolved prior to arbitration and he refuses to discuss it. Rubirosa comments about the bomb threat but he says union lawyers are more serious than a bomb threat.
Later, speaking with a union guy, he tells them the file was sealed. Rubirosa assured him the unnamed teacher is not the target of their investigation but he may have important information. He tells her he has a collective bargaining agreement to enforce, and comments to the detectives that as members of a union he is sure they can appreciate that. An assistant (Lindsey Vonn) is watching and gives a look to the detectives, and Lupo asks if she wanted to talk to them and asks if she knows how they can find the teacher. She tells them the teachers have a web site where they bitch about their job and she gives him the information on how he can log in. She suggests if they leave a message there maybe someone there can help them find that teacher.
Meanwhile, Van Buren is back in the MRI room and very testy. Frank tries to calm her but she doesn’t like being shoved into the machine “like a pot roast.” When the tech guy tells her he is ready and reminds her not to move, he almost rips him one but Frank tells her to bite her tongue.
Reading a “high school horrorshow’ web site, Lupo talks with Rubirosa and she tells him she was a kindergarten teacher for a year. Bernard tells Lupes not to go there. Lupo gets an answer to his message, which says the teacher he was talking about sounded like Ron Koslowski, a science teacher in Suffolk County.
They speak with Kozlowski, who says he didn’t brand anybody. He shows them a Tesla coil and did a demonstration with it that left an electrical mark on the kids. He admits being religious, and they ask if he can identify the student that wrote on his blog but it doesn’t ring a bell. He says more than one student who filed a complaint and the department of ed would not tell him. He says he is sorry they had to drive out there and Bernard says he is sorry he ended up out here. He says after 4 months suspension he quit New York and took a job here – half the salary and trice the commute but at least he is teaching.
In Cutter’s office, Rubirosa, with the detectives in tow, tells Cutter that the department of education won’t release the names of the students. The detectives add that not even in the student in Kozlowski’s class, and Moot could be a kid in another class who just happened to hear about Kozlowski, and they really need the names of all the kids in that school. Rubirosa says the department of education is standing on principle protecting the privacy of minors. Cutter thinks they are not taking this seriously. He tells Rubirosa to book the grand jury, they need to move for an indictment and start issuing subpoenas.
In the Grand Jury, Bernard testifies about what they know. Cutter concludes and asks them grand jury to authorize the subpoenas on the department of education on all records for John Locke high school and wants to seize all computers on the premises. When they find out they want to search the records of 2,872 students, they balk. Cutter reads back a blog post from Moot, but a juror comments those are just words on a computer. They are clearly not buying what Cutter is selling.
Later, in her office, Van Buren gets the call that Cutter was shut down by the grand jury. When she goes in to the squad room she sees something on a computer and asks the guy what he was looking at and asks her to open it back up. It is about a fundraiser for her. Van Buren then tells the detectives that the DA crapped out with the grand jury so stopping the kid will come down to police work. She plunks down a flier on a table which is for a fundraiser in her honor, and tells them they are not going to have any time for a fundraiser, so cancel it. Lupo comments that was supposed to be a surprise, and she looks at both of them and says if they respect her, respect her privacy, and she walks out of the room. Bernard says, “Told you.” Lupo responds, “Screw that, I’m not gonna cancel it.” Bernard notices a new posting on the blog, where the blogger says people are closing in, and the only power he has left is when he chooses to end this, adding he can’t wait any more and by the end of next week they will all know his name. Bernard comments that it is on and the doomsday clock just moved up three minutes.
Later, Cutter gets on Skoda's case because Skoda had said that Moot was slow, deliberate and not impulsive, and Skoda reminds him he also said the kid was suicidal and could go off any minute. Van Buren says they can settle this later; she wants to know how to catch him. Bernard thinks if they cross reference the teachers Moot has a beef with to a class schedule they can point him, and Lupo says they went on the teachers’ web site if they can identify him. They got replies with names. Most of the teachers responding were from Queens in a temporary reassignment center.
They go to the temporary reassignment center, which is called the “Rubber Room” where teachers who are accused of incompetence of misconduct are assigned pending a hearing. They are not teaching. They report there daily and do nothing but keep themselves busy, and some teachers have been waiting for two years for their hearing. If they don’t show up they don’t get paid their full salary. They later speak with a teacher who said he swatted a kid's hair but they said it was assault. They get the names of the kids in his class. Another teacher says he called a kid a little bastard because the kid punched her and tried to take her eye out with scissors. She gives them his name and those of his friends.
Later, Lupo finds none of the students cross reference with the list. Bernard wonders if Moot is a teacher who heard all those stories from other teachers. Bernard thinks Moot wanted them to hear all the stories of teachers who got screwed by the system. Rubirosa thinks all the teachers Moot mentions he could have met in rubber rooms except one, Maura Scott, who was never reassigned there and has been at the same school for the past 5 years and they think Moot works with her.
They call Van Buren at home and she tells them to put a radio car outside Scott’s building and wait for her to come home. She tells Frank they have a good lead and will go in to work for a while. Frank comments that getting a loan would be a lot easier if she could show two incomes, but she says she only has one. She asks what he is saying and he says they will talk about it when she gets back. She doesn’t want him feeling sorry for her, and he brings up the fundraiser, telling her to be glad people want to help her. But she doesn’t want a pity party, and says they may need to do this for her and she is not the only one who feels helpless against the disease.
Maura Scott arrives to meet with Cutter and Rubirosa and the detectives and she has a lawyer, Mr. Kralick (Paul Schultz), who says the union rep contacted him to come. She denies calling a student stupid and said she did not say that. They ask her if any teacher at her school that would have known her situation spent any time in a rubber room. When they mention the car, she seems to know who it is but the union rep stops her from talking, saying they need a subpoena, and they leave. Lupo gets pissed, but DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) who has heard all this, races after her and says they need her to talk to them. Kralick says that he knows McCoy knows what a subpoena is. McCoy snaps, asking “Just how far up your ass is your head?” He argues with Kralick who argues back of all the problems teachers have, and McCoy acknowledges those issues, but says. “but if your obstruction allows a massacre to happen I will crucify you Mr. Kralick. I will charge you with negligent homicide and after I convict you, I will resign my job and represent the families of the victims in a wrongful death suit against you and the union. By the time I’m done, you will be finished, so my advice to you is GET OUTTA MY WAY!” McCoy asks Scott to talk, and she does later explain the man – Rick - was good teacher but having problems with classroom management. One student asked to go to the bathroom but being in the hallway alone was not allowed and recess was coming up in 10 minutes so Rick told the kid to wait, but the kid went up to the front of the class and peed in the trashcan. Rick tried to stop him and the kid accused him of molesting him and the department started proceeding he spend months in the rubber room, but the complaint was later dismissed. Rick was told he would never get tenure. His girlfriend left him, his name was Rick Benson and lives with his parent’s in Brooklyn.
They go to his parent’s house and Rick is not there. They see his computer with the web site up and empty boxes of ammo and black powder. The parents say he is a substitute teacher for a school in Queens but does not know the name. They find the name of the school and race to it, the school being evacuated. Security saw Rick going into the school with a backpack. The detectives raced to the cafeteria and they find one bomb. As everyone clears out the detectives hear gunfire. They approach the area with guns drawn and a window of a classroom is shot out. Kids race to escape, and Lupo and Bernard, along with a math teacher, enter the room as see a wounded kid. The math teacher tries to calm other kids. Meanwhile, they hear Rick on the phone talking with a woman and he is angry with her. When Lupo calls out, Rick shoots at him. Rick says he has nothing and he is a dead man. Lupo says he talked with Moira and knows he got screwed. As Rick tries to reload his gun, he is distracted and Bernard comes up behind him and restrains him, with the math teacher helping. They get the pipe bomb out of his hand.
Later, at Reade Street Bar at the party for Van Buren, Lupo tells McCoy, Cutter and Rubirosa what happened and that they were lucky. McCoy says luck was only a part of it, and said they all did good. Van Buren arrives with Frank and they all applaud her. The Chief provides a few checks for the collection jar. She introduces Frank Gibson as her boyfriend, and then says as of this afternoon, Frank is her fiancé. They are all thrilled for her. Van Buren’s phone rings with a message, and she steps away to make a call. It is her doctor, and we hear her sigh. She says she understands, and they says goodnight. She begins to cry and then composes herself, saying thank you thank you thank you. She whispers into Frank's ear and he is happy and they embrace and as we pull back into the crowd, we fade to black.
All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted
Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.
All photos from NBC 
Here is the recap:
A reality show picks a “fashion victim” for their show and for a makeover, Marielle DiNapoli (Anna Gunn); they find the door to the home open and her husband David’s body in a dog cage, dead. Later, Detectives Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) are the scene, DiNapoli appears to have been stabbed through the bars of the cage and is hooked to the cage with pink handcuffs. They speak with the TV crew outside who saw nothing except Marielle’s awful clothes. When Marielle arrives and is told they are there because of her husband, she races into the house. She is shocked to see him dead and notice his comic book collection is gone.
At the 2-7, Marielle is waiting in another room while the detectives discuss the situation with Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). Marielle said she was away at a college reunion in Connecticut and they verified it. Her husband was killed around 1:00 AM. Marielle’s name was sent in to the reality show crew by a friend of hers, Amy Felner. They will check comic book dealers and auction houses for his comics.
They speak to a person who runs a comic book store and he says the ones that were stolen are not unique, but notices one person called and wanted to know the value of some of the comics on the list.
Later, the detectives are at the home of Marty Ashcroft (Michael Bunin) who knew David socially and said those comics were partly his and he invested with David. David thought the obscure books would be worth more. He called the dealer to see what they were worth, he paid a bundle but were supposed to go up and did not and he lost his shirt. He says he was at home with this wife at the time of the murder.
Back at the 2-7 while Bernard talks about a valuable comics, Lupo moans he had a lot of comics but his mother threw them away. Lupo said Ashcroft was being sued and that he misrepresented the value of closed end mutual funds. The guy suing Ashcroft is Joshua Felner. Amy Felner is the person who put Marielle’s name in for the reality show.
At the apartment of Joshua and Amy Felner, Amy says it was her idea to put Marielle up for the show and Josh knew nothing about it. She thought she may be single again soon and she’d want to look her best, her husband said David was planning a divorce.
The detectives speak again with Marielle, and she is talking about David's funeral service. She says he is going to be cremated like her first husband, and shows them a ring made by Memory Gem with the gemstone made from Larry’s cremains. She is going to make David into a pendant.(Eewww!) They question her on possible marital troubles but she says they were soul mates. Afterwards, they wonder what Marielle was up to the days before the murder.
Back at the 2-7 they review video tapes of Marielle from the reality show crew, and Van Buren is horrified at the bad fashion. They see Marielle getting into a cab. The detectives trace back where the cab dropped her off near an Army/Navy store where they find she bought a set of pink handcuffs. She also bought a huge sword.
Back at the 2-7, They question Marielle about her purchases and she said she was embarrassed to tell them about it and did not kill him. She said someone broke into the house and saw him in the cage, and then admits she is embarrassed by that too and asks if there is someone else she can talk to.
From outside the room, the detectives watch Van Buren question Marielle, and Van Buren then tells them it was about sex games and that “he needed to be punished” and the sword is used to be held against sensitive body parts. Marielle said it was for fun and has done it before and has a witness, Van Buren handing Bernard the phone and saying “Westhampton Police Department.”
Later, at the Westhampton Police Department, the detectives find that Marielle’s story may be true, she and her husband were both thought to be nuts, the police had been called out there but it was a sex thing.
Back at the 2-7, the detectives tell Van Buren about all the DiNapoli sex games over the years and she was playing with the guy when she was still married to he first husband. Husband #1 was killed in an accidental fall from a brownstone. Van Buren wants them to get a court order to exhume his body, and when Lupo tells her there may be a slight problem with that, she tells them to do what they can.
At home, Van Buren is telling Frank (Ernie Hudson) about the case and they laugh about it.
Meanwhile, in the morgue, the detectives hand ME Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix) the ring made from Larry’s cremains, and she said, “Awww, if you’re proposing to me Lupo, the answer is no.” They explain that is made from his cremains, and she says the deceased was a man made of many facets. (Pause to groan at joke.) It is carbon and they will have to go back to the place where it was made to get any leftover cremains and there is a new technique that may find something. She indicates there are likely leftovers in case the wife wants matching earrings.
At the NYPD Forensic Lab, the technician puts it thought the test and finds thallium in the remains. It is a heavy metal that should not be in human remains, and they suspect he was poisoned.
The detectives again question Marielle in interrogation about this new news, and she says her second husband used to overreact to her games. They confront her with her relationship with David while she was still married and she says they are not going to let up on this. She says David also had reason to murder Larry. As part of his business he had access to thallium and that David did it alone and he told her about it afterwards. She did not go to the police because they were soul mates. She asks if she is under arrest and they indicate no, so she leaves to go back to the funeral.
At ADA Connie Rubirosa’s (Alana De La Garza) desk, EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) discusses the case so far with the detectives. Lupo thinks Marielle killed both of them, and Bernard suggests they just charge her with the killing of husband #2. Lupo reminds them that Amy Felner say her husband Joshua said David was going to divorce Marielle.
Cutter and Rubirosa at the apartment of Joshua (Reg Rogers) and Amy Felner, and Joshua says he didn’t say they were getting a divorce. But Amy said he did. She tries to refresh his memory and it comes out that David bought a share of one of Joshua’s projects but never mentioned a divorce. After they leave, Cutter and Rubirosa think it is odd David would buy into one of Felner’s projects and that Felner was investing with Ashcroft and Ashcroft was investing with DiNapoli – a perfect circle. Rubirosa reminds him that Felner was suing Ashcroft and that Ashcroft told the cops he lost a fortune with DiNapoli – and Cutter says, “round and round it goes.”
Back in his office, Cutter outlines the “daisy chain” to McCoy (Sam Waterston) and how they were all losing money but how they were all friendly. McCoy guesses that they are all married, and Cutter says that David’s divorce was supposed to be kept quiet. Rubirosa says it is asset stripping, you don’t file for divorce until after you’ve hidden the money. McCoy says they should remind Felner and Ashcroft that they have committed a felony.
Cutter and Rubirosa have Felner and Ashcroft in the conference room, they both press them about their investments and their losses, saying the losses were just for show for their wives. Cutter says they made as many bogus investments as they could before the divorce and the money would appear afterwards. Ashcroft says they haven’t lied about it in a divorce proceeding. Cutter asks if they are sure the wives don’t know, and Felner says Marielle knew and she called him and was crazed about it.
Afterwards, Rubirosa comments that these two would rather let a murderer go free before they let their wives have a fair share of their assets, and Cutter responds that it makes him appreciate being single. Cutter thinks they should charge Marielle and shake her up and maybe they will get a plea.
In arraignment court, Marielle pleads “not possible” and says she can’t murder he own heart and soul. The judge tells her to stick around and she’ll see.
In the prison conference area, Marielle says this is a mistake. She says she never knew about the divorce and says the investment scheme was not bogus, they wanted to get their money back so they could buy a house they always wanted in Westhampton – the house she had with Larry. The bank took it and it came back on the market a few months ago and they were going to buy it. Her lawyer (Katy Selverstone) asks if there is a plea offer because of emotional disturbance but Marielle gets upset, saying they were happy and everything was perfect. Her lawyer says she guesses that is a no – that everything was perfect. Cutter mutters – except for the dead guy in the dog cage.
In McCoy’s office, Rubirosa tells McCoy that Marielle won’t take a plea and says Marielle says she has no motive. She thinks they should check it out and McCoy tells her that maybe they will find another dead husband in the bushes.
At Real Estate Property in Westhampton, they speak to the realtor about the DiNapolis' wanting to buy the place. They were about to make an offer and added his business manager, Joshua Felner, even called to check up on it. Cutter and Rubirosa know Felner was not his business manager and wonder if he was checking on DiNapoli to find up what he was up to and that maybe DiNapoli wanted out of the arrangement, giving Felner and Ashcroft motive. When Rubirosa said this was all done to screw their wives, Cutter wonders if the wives want to return the favor.
With Amy Felner and Suzanne Ashcroft in the conference room, Suzanne gets a little pissy with Rubirosa. Cutter wants the two women to compare notes. When Cutter presses Suzanne, Amy tells her she believes it and she threw Josh out yesterday and she has a divorce lawyer AND a forensic accountant, and she has no idea where Joshua was that night. Suzanne says maybe Joshua murdered David, and Amy tells her that Josh has been telling her how Ashcroft has run around on Suzanne for years and even wanted to get into Marielle’s pants. Suzanne storms out in disgust and Amy thanks them “so much” for having them. When Amy leave, Rubirosa says the wives don’t know anything different and their only hope is to squeeze something out of one of the husbands. Cutter thinks that they just found out who might be able to help them.
Back in the prison conference room, Cutter tells Marielle’s attorney that they have a case against Marielle but if she is willing to help them with Marty Ashcroft – they just want her to talk to him, and she is willing.
Later, Marielle is in a restaurant, dressed provocatively, with Ashcroft, and Lupo and Bernard are listening to the conversation outside in their car. She says they dropped the charges and said she was seen in Connecticut when David was killed. She strokes his leg at his offer to help her, and she says she feels alone. She also said she needs money, and asks for some of the comic books but knows they were stolen. Ashcroft says not all of them, David gave her a few to evaluate. She puts her hand on a knife and asks if he has some of David’s comic books, and he smiles, and then Lupo and Bernard hear Marielle calling him a son of a bitch and Ashcroft saying “Ow!” Lupo and Bernard race out’ Marielle has already cut Ashcroft’s leg and continues to call him a SOB and a bastard as she raises the knife at him. Bernard disables her and Ashcroft says she did not kill David.
With Ashcroft in interrogation, they tell him they got a search warrant and found all of the comic books, with blood on them as well. He denies killing David. His lawyer tells him to tell the detective what he knows, and Ashcroft says that they were trying to hide money from their wives and David changed his mind and wanted his money back. Josh told him, but didn’t have the money. David said if he didn’t get the money he would blow the whistle on all of them, and Josh told Ashcroft he would take care of it. He got the comic books the night after the murder, from Josh. Later, Lupo confers with Cutter who says if it checks out they will charge Felner for murder, and Rubirosa says the case against Marielle will be dismissed. When Bernard asks if that will make her one of their witnesses, Rubirosa and Cutter nod and Bernard says, “Good Luck.”
In Supreme Court with Josh Felner on trial, Marielle is on the stand and identifies one of David’s comic books. She last saw it the afternoon before he was murdered and it was missing after his body was discovered. But the defense attorney (Joanna P. Adler) says that Ashcroft told her a different story and Marielle says she believes Josh gave it to him. She also implies that she is saying this because Cutter gave her a way out, and they argue about whether her husband wanted a divorce, and the attorney brings up the dog cage, and calls Marielle a freak. Marielle gets enraged and takes the judges gavel and makes a swing at the defense attorney and has to be restrained. The defense attorney says she was lucky there weren’t any swords handy. Cutter looks like he has a mess now.
With Josh on the stand, he testifies that David wanted the comics out of the house so they would be safe, and he did not kill him and tries to blame David’s wife. Cutter cross examines him, and Josh admits to an asset hiding scheme. He admit he is now getting divorced and that he does not think it is fair, and comments about all the money his wife spends. He complains the whole system is designed to reward women, but then says what's done is done and he is moving on. He says DiNapoli was sick of his wife and it was too much - the cage, the sword - and said David told him about those things so he would understand why he wanted out and would never go back. Cutter asked if he mentioned the handcuffs, and Josh says yeah, pink handcuffs. Cutter shoots a look at Rubirosa, who looks at her file while Josh says he mentioned them a few days before his wife killed him. Rubirosa shakes her head and Cutter tells Josh that is funny because they didn’t have the pink handcuffs then, that a store receipt shows that Marielle bought them the day of the murder. Josh said he must have read they were pink in the newspaper, and Cutter tells him they never released that information. Josh says David’s psycho wife knew they were there, and Cutter counters that so did his killer, accusing Josh.
Later, the jury reads the verdict of guilty. As they lead Josh off, Marielle approaches Cutter and Rubirosa and says she knows what people think of her, and she knows what they may think of her. She said she never lied to them, and she loved her husband. Rubirosa said he believes her, and Marielle thanks her and grasps her hand. She thanks them for everything.
Back in McCoy’s office, McCoy tells Cutter he gathers that things weren’t looking so good when their star witness tried to murder the defense attorney, and Cutter said they recovered when he let the jury see how much Felner hated his wife and he fell into the old pink handcuff trap. McCoy comments, “Just like Mr. DiNapoli used to, I imagine.“ Rubirosa enters and said the widow sent her a thank you gift for helping to convict her husband’s killer – diamond studs. (Eewww again!) Rubirosa comments it is her husband. McCoy and Cutter are speechless and look at each other. McCoy sighs in disgust and walks out, with Cutter following him as we fade to black.
All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted
Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.
All photos from NBC
At Cornell Beverage in the Queens, they are told Jerome’s hours were cut and he wasn’t at work that day.
