A double-murder case involving a corrupt private investigator threatens to unearth skeletons from Stark’s closet.
Tracy Powers is shot dead while making a 9-1-1 call to report a murder. Her body is found at a tony Malibu home. Stark and Madeleine go to the murder scene. The murdered man is Tracy’s husband, and there’s no sign of a robbery. The video files from the surveillance cameras have been erased. A black BMW was seen in the area. The home is that of notorious PI Harry Russo, who is currently under investigation by a Grand Jury. He has a reputation for intimidating witnesses, and otherwise preventing their testimonies by whatever means necessary. Stark meets with Russo; they know each other well. Russo claims he doesn’t know the victims, and was on a job at Park LaBrea when the murders took place. The security guard there can vouch for him. Stark tells him he’d better not be covering for a client. Russo implies that Stark is being a hypocrite.
The DA wants to bust Russo; if he’s involved in a double-homicide, her job just got easier. She tells Stark he — and every other lawyer who ever used Russo — should start sweating. Raina tells Casey she’s uncomfortable with the direction Stark is leading the investigation; he seems too quick to dismiss Russo as a suspect. Casey thinks she’s being paranoid. They interview Lisa, a bartender Tracy worked with at the Cypress Hotel. She says Tracy’s husband was abusive; she was thinking of leaving him; and there was a regular customer she used to flirt with a lot. When they show her a picture of Russo and ask if he was the guy, Lisa says no.
Madeleine tells Stark that Russo was renting the Malibu place off the books to dodge taxes. The neighbors never saw the Powerses staying at the house, but a lifeguard saw somebody there. Stark uses some dirt he has on Russo to extract the name of the tenant: Taylor Garrett, the movie producer. Meanwhile, Julie is studying with Eddie Linden, a boy she has a crush on. He says he’s been unhappy with his girlfriend because all they ever do is fool around. Julie pretends she’s had that kind of relationship before, and blusters that it’s “no big deal.” Eddie is slipping at school, and wants to use SlideThruSchool.com to get his term paper done. Julie won’t let him, and instead offers to help him write it himself. He accepts, and kisses her on the cheek. She’s in heaven.
Stark and Madeline question Garrett, who claims not to know Tracy. He’s a regular at the Cypress Hotel bar, and the bartender has identified him as the woman Tracy was flirting with. Madeleine asks if Garrett owns a .45 caliber handgun; Garrett’s lawyer ends the conversation. Stark and his team go over the evidence. Garrett owns a black BMW, but so do lots of people in Malibu. The cell phone the 9-1-1 call was made from was purchased near Garrett’s office; another was purchased at the same time. Garrett purchased a .45 two years ago, and told the cops he can’t find it. This is enough to issue an arrest warrant. Garrett is arrested on his boat. Two phones are found; one of them is the phone the 9-1-1 call was made from.
Casey is all dolled up in a tuxedo, a stunning blonde on his arm ready to accompany him to the DA’s fundraiser. Madeleine is jealous. At the fundraiser the DA asks Casey to keep her posted on the Powers investigation. She doesn’t trust Stark because he’s too close to Russo, and wants Casey to tell her if anything comes up that could jeopardize Russo’s Grand Jury investigation. Casey tries to refuse; he’s uncomfortable going behind Stark’s back. The DA retorts that she was uncomfortable hiring Casey, but did so because his father, the senator, asked her to.
The next day Casey finds Madeleine buried in paperwork: Garrett’s team has filed a plethora of suppression motions. Casey helps out. Madeleine says she wouldn’t do the same for him… and that the night they slept together was a one-shot deal. “Fine by me,” Casey bluffs. Stark asks Russo why he called Garrett the day of the murder, and threatens to have Russo arrested as an accessory. Stark says that what happened in Stockton won’t stop him from nailing Russo on this.
Back at Stark’s house Eddie thanks Julie for helping him with the paper, and asks her out to a concert. She hasn’t even started on her own paper yet, but she can’t resist; especially after he kisses her. Later a furious Stark tells his team that the judge threw out the phone evidence. The warrant was no good because it didn’t take into account that the boat was Garrett’s home. Casey takes the fall for Madeleine for the botched paperwork. Also, Lisa the bartender will no longer testify: she found a rat impaled on her windshield wiper.
The DA gives Russo a choice: testify against Garrett, or watch as she calls all of his clients as witnesses in the Grand Jury investigation. He chooses to testify. Stark preps Russo. Russo says Garrett thought Tracy might become a liability, but he says he wasn’t hired to intimidate her. Stark says he knows Russo likes to “freelance,” and that witnesses end up dead rather than just intimidated. Stark knows because that’s what happened in Stockton. On the stand Russo testifies that Garrett called for help after shooting the Powerses. It was Russo who erased the video files, and hid the gun. Garrett’s defense, however, produces a videotape showing Russo playing cards across town all that day. Russo’s set Stark up. By perjuring himself on the stand, the jury is now questioning the entire case. Even if Russo goes to jail for a year for perjury, his reputation for protecting his clients is now absolutely ironclad. When he gets out he’ll have more business than ever.
It’s the day after the concert, and Julie hasn’t written a word of her paper. She can’t seem to get started. She’s stressed out, and turns Eddie down for another date. Stark realizes from Garrett’s outraged expression in court that Russo never told him his strategy, and his lawyer never had a chance to fill him in. Garrett still thinks Russo tried to sell him out. Stark shows Russo through an observation window that Garrett is talking to the DA. Stark says Garret is going to be the first witness against Russo in his Grand Jury trial. Stark offers Russo a way out: give them a way to convict Garrett, and Stark will make sure Garrett never finds out where the info came from. Soon after, Garrett’s .45 is found with his fingerprints on it.
Madeleine acknowledges that Casey took a hit for her, stopping short of thanking him. They go through their increasingly commonplace dance of agreeing they’re not friends, and then setting up a date. Julie still hasn’t written a word. She contemplates the SlideThruSchool.com website. Casey meets with the DA. He refuses to help her spy on Stark, despite her offer of help with his career. Stark meets with Russo, who tells him he found out that Garrett wasn’t testifying to the Grand Jury; he was just ordering lunch. It all worked out well for everybody, because if Russo had gone before the Grand Jury he’d have probably been asked about Stockton. Russo tells Stark the Stockton death was a suicide. Stark says Russo drove her to it. Russo points out that Stark won the case. Stark leaves.
Shark Thursday 12th April at 10pm On Channel Five
