Directed by James Quinn
Written by Robert Palm
In an expensive apartment building on the Upper West Side, a tenant named Virginia Boone is found murdered. Briscoe and Green discover that she had a 30-year history of animosity with the landlady, Martha Taylor (Linda Thorson). Taylor risked losing a lucrative sale of the building because Boone, the last remaining tenant, refused to leave. Taylor is charged when it's discovered that her dressmaking scissors are the murder weapon. However, a Grand Jury refuses to indict when questions arise as to whether Taylor, who has limited mobility because of a stroke, is physically capable of the murder.
The detectives now take a closer look at Taylor's estranged brother Stefan Havel (John Schuck), who co-owns the building. He had deliberately kept his interest in the building, and the fact that he and Boone had a son together, hidden from the police. But when the question arises as to where Boone got a large sum of money she'd given to help a friend, the real killer emerges: a broker named Charles Braden. He made a deal with Boone to sell her apartment, only for her to take the down payment and then refuse to leave. Braden claims that he confronted her, but killed her in self-defence after she attacked him with the scissors. He pleads guilty to manslaughter.
This episode contains examples of:
- Disability Alibi: Taylor couldn't have murdered Boone because the nature of the wounds are beyond her physical strength.
- Disowned Sibling: Havel claims this, although it's unclear how honest he actually is at the time.Havel: Miss Taylor is my father's daughter,Southerlyn: So she's your half-sister or stepsister?Havel: No.Southerlyn: Is there some kind of bad blood between the two of you?Havel: There's no blood at all, as far as I'm concerned.
- Dysfunctional Family: Taylor and Havel's. They apparently haven't spoken in decades, despite the fact that they co-own the building and Havel serves as the handyman.
- "Friends" Rent Control: Averted. Boone was actually on rent control, but the detectives question how she could afford her luxurious apartment even with that. It turns out she was deliberately withholding rent just to annoy Taylor.
- Stalker with a Crush: Havel apparently stalked Boone for years after she broke up with him.
- Trash of the Titans: Boone's apartment was close to this trope.
