Stark believes the killing of an 8-year-old girl is tied to another child-murder case he was involved with 15 years ago.
Stark is beginning a date with a stunning blonde when he is paged to work. The body of missing 8-year-old Emily Forrester has been found. Stark meets Raina at the crime scene. He examines the body, and finds something instantly familiar. He then meets Jessica at her home, and shows her that the markings around Emily’s mouth match those that were found on Tanya Blake: another girl murdered 15 years ago. Stark had defended Charlie Blake of Tanya’s murder and lost… to Jessica. It was a case that helped make her career. Jessica says there’s no connection, and not to make this personal. Stark says it already is. The next day — as the team prepares to investigate — Stark pulls Raina aside, and asks her to look into the Tanya Blake case… and not to tell the others. He then goes to visit Charlie Blake in prison, and shows him a collection of photos of people; had he seen any of them in Echo Park the day of Tanya’s death? Charlie recognizes one: it’s the guy he saw talking to Tanya, definitely.
Stark and Poe interview the man, Sam Bemis, a landscape architect. Stark asks if he spent any time in Palisades Park on Sunday; he says yes, he’s been in a softball league there for years. Bemis says he didn’t see anything. Stark throws a picture of Tanya Blake in front of him, and Bemis reacts, obviously startled. Stark claims he got the wrong photo, and tells Bemis they’ll be in touch. He then has Raina tell the LAPD to put Bemis under 24-hour surveillance… and find out if he ever worked at a pizza place. Casey says there’s a suspect: Kevin Olmstead, a man who was in the park that day who has a record of child abuse. Stark dismisses him, telling him to start preparing a search warrant for Sam Bemis.
At home Julie tells Stark that she got a weird call that day from somebody named Natterson. Stark recognizes the name, but pretends not to. Natterson wanted her mother’s phone number in New York. Stark says to forget it.
Jessica is angry that Stark’s not going after Olmstead. As she yells at him, Casey and Poe approach. Poe says that Olmstead’s got an alibi for the time of the abduction. Casey says the markings around Emily’s mouth were caused by a pesticide. Landscapers use pesticide; this is all Stark needs to get his search warrant. Gallons of the pesticide are found at Bemis’ home, and hairs that match Emily’s hair color are found in the back of his van. Bemis is arrested.
The team finds out that Raina’s been working the Tanya Blake angle behind their backs. Raina says it was on Stark’s orders. Stark brings them all in on the history. Charlie Davis had some priors, so he was the suspect. The prosecutor — the late and legendary Rudy Hill — offered Stark a plea that would have had Charlie out in two years, but Stark rejected it. Charlie’s defense was that he saw a pizza guy talking to Tanya, and leading her away from the park. Charlie now says that was Bemis, although it seems Bemis never delivered pizza. Stark’s been working this angle quietly because Charlie was destroyed on the stand by Rudy Hill’s second chair: Jessica Devlin. With Tanya’s parents’ blessing, Stark arranges an exhumation of Tanya Blake to look for traces of the pesticide in her body. Jessica is angry; she thinks this is all about Stark having lost to her. Stark says she’s just terrified that if he’s proven right, the press will nail her for sending an innocent man to prison. Her career will be over.
Julie meets up with Scott Natterson. His dad passed away three months ago, and he found his letters… which include love letters from Julie’s mother. He thinks his dad and Julie’s mom had an affair.
Raina discovers in the Tanya Blake files that a man named Beau Dawkins saw a man with red hair, just like Bemis, in the park that day. Raina and Stark wonder why Stark wasn’t told about this exculpatory witness back in ‘91. Poe enters, and reports that the same pesticide was indeed found in Tanya’s body; however, the blonde hair found in Bemis’ van has no follicular DNA: they can’t prove a match. Larry Davis, Charlie’s father, arrives to talk to Stark. Shockingly, he begs Stark to stop pursuing this. Charlie’s been through enough; don’t give him hope. Stark counters that Larry wasn’t there the day Charlie was on the stand; maybe he lost faith in his son’s innocence for a moment. Larry storms out.
That night Julie confronts Stark with the love letters. Stark tries to get Julie to drop the subject, but she’s insistent. Julie’s seeing it all very simply: Why did they both let her believe that Stark was the problem in the marriage when it was her mother who had an affair? Stark tries to tell her that it’s a complex situation, but she’s angry at her mother. Raina and Poe meet with Beau Dawkins, and confirm that he did speak to Jessica. Stark confronts Jessica, enraged that she suppressed a witness. Jessica tries to defend it, and then says it was Rudy Hill’s call. Stark’s not buying it. He warns Jessica that nothing stays buried forever.
Casey reports that Dawkins has been busted for marijuana possession in the past; he’s not a credible witness. They need to put Charlie on the stand to have a sympathetic victim to present to the jury. Stark preps Charlie, but Charlie is not sure he can handle it. Jessica arrives at Stark’s place, and admits that Dawkins’ statement should not have been suppressed. She noticed that Rudy Hill had left him off the list, and simply chose not to say anything. She was 25, and wanted Rudy to help her career; and she was sure Charlie was guilty. Now, to help, she tells Stark that the anonymous call that tipped them off to Charlie Davis came from a pay phone that she now knows is across the street from where Sam Bemis used to work. At the time there was no connection, because Bemis wasn’t a suspect.
In court Stark motions to add the charge of first-degree murder of Tanya Blake. The judge says to pick one murder charge or the other. Stark picks the Blake case. Carla Sussman, the defense attorney, motions that Stark be recused from the case because of his involvement in the earlier trial. The judge agrees, and removes Stark from the case. Stark convinces Jessica to take the case, as a chance to make things right. She agrees, and Stark promises to prep Dawkins so that the fact that his testimony was suppressed in ‘91 won’t come up and ruin Jessica’s career.
In court Dawkins testifies. As expected his testimony is quickly negated by Carla bringing up Dawkins’ recreational drug use. Jessica, in a bind and willing to finally do the right thing, brings up the suppressed testimony… and is surprised to find that Stark has prepped Dawkins to say that he had been interviewed by Rudy Hill, not Jessica. Stark says they’ve got to put Charlie on the stand. The jury’s not going to believe Bemis is guilty unless they also believe Charlie’s innocent. Jessica and Stark meet with Charlie in prison to prep him. Charlie is unhappy to see Jessica again, but they convince him they’re both there to help him.
Julie meets with Scott Natterson again, and gives him back the letters. He apologizes if she’s been upset, but she says she guesses it’s better to know the truth. She asks what he’s going to ask her mom. He says that he never really knew his dad too well. When he read the letters, it was like there was a whole other person he never knew existed. He just wants to know his dad better. He obviously loved Julie’s mother; she seemed like she might have been the only person who really understood him.
On the stand Charlie identifies Bemis. Carla points out that he can go free if he can convince the jury somebody else is guilty, making him look selfish. Then she asks him why he tried to commit suicide twice in the early years of his confinement. Charlie starts to become unglued, taken back to the emotion of those first terrible years locked up for a heinous crime he didn’t commit. Then sees that his father is there this time to support him. He regains control. Carla brings up the pizza man, implying that Charlie is changing his testimony. Jessica cross-examines him; she has a photo that’s only just come into her possession. It’s a picture of a softball team, all wearing uniforms with the logo of a local pizza place. Charlie recognizes that uniform as the pizza jersey he saw. Bemis is in the photo; this is Bemis’ softball team. Bemis is found guilty, and Charlie is freed. Stark tells Carla he’ll take the death penalty off the table if Bemis will also plead guilty to Emily’s murder. Emily’s parents deserve that consolation. Carla agrees to talk to the judge.
At home Julie and Stark finally reach a rapprochement on the subject of her mother. Stark reassures her that they really did love each other at one point, and the day Julie was born was the best day. Julie asks Stark to tell her about it. They talk into the night.
3rd May 10pm On Five
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