- An investigation into a horse swindling scheme escalates into a murder investigation when one of the accused's possible victims--his ex fiancée--disappears.
- Detectives Briscoe and Curtis are called to what they're told is a murder only to get there and find the victim is an expensive show horse. Curtis thinks it's a waste of time but Lt. Van Buren insists they investigate the possibility of insurance fraud. The horse was owned by Richard Brandson and the investigation leads him to his associate Lyle Christopher who has a history of being sued by former clients. When they try to locate one those dissatisfied customers, Ruth Thomas, they learn she was supposed to be on a three month cruise. She never made it to the cruise ship and the police and the ADAs are convinced Christopher he killed her. Without a body and a generally weak case, Executive ADA McCoy is going to have to play with an ace up his sleeve.—garykmcd
- Corpus Delecti
After target practice at an indoor range, Lennie and Curtis are called to a crime scene at a stable, only to find the victim is a horse, not a human. Curtis is ready to walk away, but Lennie takes an interest. The trainer explains that Mr. Wickets was young, healthy, and expensive and someone must have killed him. She says she saw a man with a green jacket leave the area.
At the station, despite Curtis's chafing, Lieutenant Van Buren tells them to work the case, as perhaps the owner killed the horse for the insurance money.
For background, the detectives go to a horse association and learn that the owner, Mr. Branson, paid half a million dollars for the horse, who was supposed to launch his daughter to great success in competitive horse jumping. It turned out that Mister Wickets had a problem while jumping and was probably worth a fraction of what Branson paid.
They interview Branson at his executive office; he says the Mr. Wickets died of natural causes. Branson's secretary mentions that he has a board meeting the next day. When asked, Branson reports that the horse was insured by Hudson Casualty.
At the insurance company, the agent says tells the detectives they will be investigating the death of Mr. Wickets, starting with an autopsy to determine cause of death.
The detectives meet with Branson's daughter in the library of her school. She is heartbroken and says that Mr. Wickets had been fine the previous day. Without knowing it, she provides her father's alibi, as she was talking to him on his home landline phone when Mr. Wickets died. The detectives also learn that before Mr. Wickets died, the plan had been for her to travel with the horse and her father to a competition the next day. After she leaves, Lennie points out to Curtis how they have caught Branson in a lie: he must have known the horse wouldn't be at the competition, because he had not canceled his board meeting. At this point, because of the girl's grief, Curtis becomes more invested in the case.
They return to Branson's office and confront him with the discrepancy. He dismisses them, saying he has withdrawn his claim to the insurance company.
At the station house, the detectives meet with Van Buren and share the research they've done. Since the claim was canceled, there will be no autopsy. Lennie points out that they can still investigate Branson on conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, as long as they can find the accomplice who liked killed the horse. Lennie and Curtis have looked into recent claims at multiple insurance companies and have found several horses who reportedly died of colic, four of them associated with a Mr. Lyle Christopher. Mr. Wickets had come from Christopher's farm.
They interview Christopher at a horse farm; he says the horses who died had medical issues or sloppy owners. When asked for an alibi the night Mr. Wickets died, Christopher says he was in the bar at the Hampton Hotel.
The bartender confirms Christopher was at the bar that night, first with a woman, then, after she left, with a man in "field and stream" clothes including a green jacket.
At the station, reviewing phone records, the detectives explain what they think is the conspiracy: on the night of Mr. Wickets death, Branson called Christopher, who in turn called another man who was likely the hit man. Van Buren pulled Christopher's records to find that he had multiple indictments for fraud in other states. She says that Christopher is their target, not Branson, since Christopher is related to multiple horse deaths and has a problematic history. She tells the detectives to find some of the victims Christopher defrauded and interview them.
They interview a Mrs. Fairfield in her yard; she says that Christopher tricked her into spending her money on two horses, while wooing her romantically. When her money was gone, he broke up with her to be with someone wealthier, Ruth Thomas.
At Mrs. Thomas's house, the housekeeper says that Mrs. Thomas is on a worldwide cruise that left two months ago. At the station, they try to reach her, only to find she never stepped foot on the ship.
At Mrs. Thomas's house, Lennie and Curtis talk to her housekeeper again. She reports that the last time she saw Mrs. Thomas was the morning she left on her cruise; a driver came by to take her the cruise ship.
They interview the driver who drove Mrs. Thomas to the passenger ship terminal the morning she was last seen. He remembers dropping her off but didn't see whether she boarded or not.
They visit Mrs. Thomas's lawyer, who says he can't break attorney-private privilege about her legal issues, but he does direct them to Judith Grayson, Mrs. Thomas's best friend.
At an art gallery, Ms. Grayson tells the detectives that Mrs. Thomas had figured out Christopher was a con man and was going to go to sue him and go to the police if he didn't return all of her money.
The detectives update Van Buren at the station, then return to re-interview Christopher on the horse farm. They ask him where he was on the day Mrs. Thomas disappeared. He said he was on his boat.
At the boatyard, the harbormaster confirms that Christopher was there, but parked closer to his boat than usual and carried heavy gear on board. The weather was poor that day, not a good one for a sail.
The detectives bring evidence to the ADAs Jack McCoy and Claire Kincaid. They have motive but nothing else for a murder charge. There's enough to arrest him for a scheme to defraud.
At his arraignment, Christopher pleads not guilty and is released on $25K bond. At the DA's office, DA Adam Schiff doesn't think they have much of a case, but McCoy says they are trying to buy time with the minor felony charge while they look for more evidence of Mrs. Thomas's disappearance. The arrest on the felony gives them access to Christopher's assets and records.
Kincaid meets McCoy at a coffee shop to report that blood matching Mrs. Thomas's type was found on Christopher's boat and in his car. He also bought romantic gifts for a Mrs. Merriman since before Mrs. Thomas disappeared.
Claire interviews Mrs. Merriman at her apartment, who is romantically and financially involved with Christopher. She insists Christopher is an honest person.
At the DA's office, Kincaid reports to McCoy that she searched hotel reservations the night Mr. Wickets was killed. She has the name of the horse hit man, Tibor Nichols.
Kincaid and McCoy meet with Branson at their office. They want Branson to reach out to Nichols and wear a wire so they can arrest Nichols for fraud. Branson doesn't want to, but McCoy points out that he will reveal the information about Branson's involvement in killing horses, which will ruin his and his daughter's reputations. He agrees. The sting happens in the bar at the Hampton Hotel.
Nichols is brought to an interview room by Lennie and Curtis. McCoy is there and offers Nichols immunity on the scheme to defraud if he Nichols against Christopher and what he knows about Mrs. Thomas. Nichols said he has been killing horses for Christopher for years, but when Christopher asked him to get rid of Thomas, Nichols refused.
Van Buren tells the detectives that the DNA tests show it was Mrs. Wilson's blood on Christopher's boat and in his car. Lennie and Curtis arrest Christopher at Mrs. Merriman's house for the murder of Ruth Thomas. In his office, DA Schiff is not pleased with the case, saying that McCoy does not have enough evidence to convict Christopher of murder.
In court, McCoy is not allowed to talk about Christopher's previous crimes, including his history of hiring Nichols to kill horses. When questioning Christopher on the stand, he uses the word "swindle" and is admonished by the judge. He uses the word again. The defense moves for a mistrial over McCoy talking about alleged previous bad acts. The mistrial is granted. The prosecution can bring different charges against Christopher later if more evidence turns up, but for now the trial is over.
Later, in the DA's office, McCoy learns Mrs. Wilson's body was found in the Long Island sound. Schiff tells McCoy that the opposition is going to argue that McCoy deliberately provoked a mistrial. McCoy says he just got carried away.
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