Directed by Richard Dobbs
Written by Gerry Conway & William N Fordes
Leslie Cavanaugh, a graduate student, is found murdered. Green and Briscoe discover that she was moonlighting as a stripper at a club owned by Andy Polone, and he hired two gang members to kill her. Polone's wealth far exceeds the profits of his club, and it turns out he and his friend Wendy Alston are involved in insider trading. They are both connected to Jim Harris, an investment banker who had just given Cavanaugh a prestigious internship at his company. He underwrote several mergers and acquisitions that Polone and Alston bought stocks in before the knowledge became public. Polone, Alston, Harris, and Cavanaugh's killers are all charged with first degree murder.
Harris says that he and Alston were having an affair, and he gave her inside information that she must have shared with Polone. Cavanaugh then blackmailed Harris with her knowledge of a leak from his company and threatened to report him unless he gave her a job. Alston corroborates this story and claims it was Polone's idea to have Cavanaugh killed. But McCoy and Carmichael cannot be sure whether or not Harris knew about Polone's involvement. Without Harris, there is no motive for Polone and Alston to commit murder so the DA's office decides to offer him immunity in exchange for his testimony against them. But during the trial, Alston's lawyer lures Harris into refusing to proceed so he can protect Alston. This successfully provokes a mistrial.
Under double jeopardy laws, none of the defendants can be tried again for murder. So McCoy decides to have Harris, Alston, and Polone charged with conspiracy to murder instead. All three defendants agree to a plea deal for a minimum 10 years in jail, and Cavanaugh's killers are convicted of her murder. Harris is devastated to be publicly shamed by the judge and then have to witness Alston being sent to jail. Carmichael says that now they've got justice for Cavanaugh by punishing everyone involved, but McCoy points out that a lot of people's lives have been ruined in the process.
This episode contains examples of:
- Golddigger: It's painfully obvious, even to Harris, that Wendy only seduced Harris for his money and his stock tips.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Even as Harris finally realizes and admits to what a fool he was to fall in love with Wendy, he still declares, "I just couldn't help myself."
- Love Makes You Crazy: Harris's justification for his actions.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The parents of the victim make an appearance early in the episode.
- Parallel Porn Titles: It's shown that Alston starred in a few movies with these.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Harris is keen to use his connections to get out of any association in a murder trial involving Nazis and a strip club owner.
- Sex God: Much to his wife's embarrassment, Harris testifies that "Wendy was an incredible lover".
- Stepford Smiler: Harris's wife, who's been turning a blind eye to his adultery for years—"There are three (affairs) that I know of" and has even taken the position that it's somehow her fault—"I couldn't satisfy his needs", though it apparently never went as far as this one did.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Harris gave Alston Leslie Cavanaugh's address, having no idea that she and her cronies were planning to kill her. What's more, the subsequent investigation led to their affair being exposed, along with his insider trading, resulting in him going to prison.
