The Ledger

1.13 A Death in the Family

In this early episode (1.13), Greevey and Logan investigate the shooting death of a police officer killed in the line of duty. The structure of the episode -- I guess because it was made so early -- is very unusual.

The episode begins with Greevey and Logan driving around, bantering in about the consequences of the computer age and how it relates to police work. They are talking about how because of a computer error, they were sent to the apartment of Bruno Walker instead of Brutus Walker, and now they must correct that mistake. Just as they arrive at Brutus's apartment building, a body comes flying down from above and lands on a squad car. They rush up to Brutus's apartment, where a woman tells them that Brutus just grabbed the guy buy his neck and threw him out the window. Brutus has since fled to the roof, where two officers pursue him. As they get this information from the woman, shots are heard above. Greevey and Logan rush to the roof, where they find one of the officers shot dead, and his female partner standing there is dumb shock. Logan shouts at her, but she is non-responsive.

Kragen arrives at the scene, and he and Greevey mention that 13 cops have been killed so far this year. They mention an old New York newspaper called "The Telegram" as an indication of the nostalgia they feel for simpler days. Back at the precinct, Det. Profaci indicates he would seek vengeance against the killer if given the opportunity, but Greevey is more philosophical. They begin their investigation by talking to the superintendent of the building who is viciously callous. His reaction to the death of the officer is, "So?" They learn from him that one of the possible witnesses to the crime left behind a red jacket. They ask around and learn that the red jacket belongs to a kid who runs a breakdancing troupe that performs on the street. The dets find the kid, and we're treated to a fairly extended (and unusual for the show) breakdancing performance. They talk to the kid, the owner of the red jacket, and he says he gave it to his (now ex-)girlfriend. They visit her at her high school, and as they're talking to her in the hallway, Greevey touches her shoulder gently and she flips out, pulling a gun on him and pointing at him, yelling angrily, "Don't touch me." Greevey talks her down, and they recover the gun, which matches the murder weapon. Forensics reports that the gun has been marred from landing on the pavement, perhaps after being dropped from the roof. It's also been wiped clean of fingerprints.

They track the gun to the shop where it was sold. The proprietor of the shop is a former officer, now in a wheelchair. It turns out that he wasn't injured in the line of duty: he fell on an icy step years earlier, ending his career. He doesn't have much helpful information for the detectives, though he does have a list of serial numbers of the weapons he's sold. It seems like the serial number might match a gun sold to the Harlem Wig Company, but this is not made explicit.

The dets head over to the Harlem Wig Company where they re-interview Cassie, the woman who was with Brutus when he threw the guy out the window. This leads them to Brutus' sister who is unhelpful, but her husband takes the detectives outside and is a little more helpful.

Meanwhile, there has been a bit of tension brewing between Logan and Officer Sandoval, the female partner of the dead cop. They confront each other at the precinct in front of other officers and have a heated argument. Logan seems to feel she should have done more to protect him and that she is grieving enough. During this exchange, it is revealed that Greevey once had a partner who was shot dead after a traffic stop went awry.

Brutus lawyers up, even though no one knows where he is, and his lawyer says he wants a peaceful surrender. This gesture is not needed, however, as the detectives find his car and arrest him peacefully (30 mins).

Nonetheless, they don't have any direct evidence that Brutus committed the crime. This makes Schiff nervous, and he says that if Brutus walks, he'll be "deboned, butterflied, and flambayed." Robinette and Stone discuss the case (during an unusual handheld "walk-and-talk" shot that follows them down a long hallway). Ballistics show some discrepancies with the gun shop owners records -- he claimed a certain number of guns were stolen, but only 7 were found when the perpetrators were found. Stone visits the perpetrator in prison who wants to cut a deal in exchange for the information. Stone says no dice, but can't shake the feeling that there is something fishy about the case, especially when he learns that the dead officer was in on the bust that let to the recovery of the stolen guns.

They talk to the dead officer's widow at her home, where they notice she has a nice projection TV. Stone begins to get the idea that the dead officer was corrupt. Robinette broaches this idea with Sandoval who initially says she won't say anything without her PBA attorney, but who then snaps at him.

Further investigation yields the fact that the dead officer kept a mistress named Heidi, for whome he bought a Corvette. The mistress is a real early-1990s sex bomb, as is emphasized by a pan-up from her lefts over her whole body. She revelas that she would routinely hold extra cash for the dead officer, cash that was the illegal proceeds from drug seizures and so on. This leads Stone to suspect that the corrupt officer killed a drug dealer named Ricky, and that Brutus was somehow connected to it.

An elderly neighbor of Ricky's confirms that she heard the officer's voice confronting Ricky the night of R's death, and that she heard the voice later when that same officer came to investigate Ricky's death. She says she is sure that this officer shot Ricky.

Further interrogation of Brutus reveals more information, and they become convinced that Sandoval knows more about the death of her partner than she is letting on. Finally, Sandoval reveals that her partner was indeed dirty, and that he tried to involve her in his corruption. She has an audio tape to prove her assertions. She reveals that on the night of his death, he pointed his weapon at her in the dark, and that she shot him with the .32, the stolen gun that was never recovered. Early in her career, she says, her partner gave her that gun to use as a backup. She kept it on her ankle until it became necessary to use it.

Although Stone must present the case to a grand jury as a homicide, he takes the unusual step of telling the jury that the homicide was justifiable, and that it should not return an indictment. This is what happens.

The episode is notable because of its unusual structure and style. The opening with the detectives talking to one another as they head to a crime scene is extremely unusual, and many of the shots are composed in an unusual manner, and one that is at odds with the style of the show's later episodes. Watching these older episodes is a refreshing change, because you can see its creators trying to find a voice and a tone for the series.

Casting note: the girl who pulls the gun on Greevey is played by Karina Arroyave, who went on to appear in another episode, but is perhaps best known as Jamey Farrell, the traitorous computer technician from the first season of 24. I did not recognize her during the scene, and so I deleted the episode from my Tivo before preserving her image. When the show re-airs, I will take a screen shot and post it. She looks nothing like she does today.

Posted by adm at May 9, 2004 02:11 PM

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