Previously on Bull...
I don't think that I can be
with someone who sees things so differently than I do.
- I love you. - I'm sorry.
Erik has granted you primary custody?
He'll still have Mauricio in Hawaii
for summers and holidays; we're gonna figure out
a way to make it work.
I can't believe Bull turned it over.
- What do you mean? - If it were me,
I'd have buried it so deep no one would've ever found it.
Bradley, it would have been an ethics violation.
If a tree falls in the woods.
See you tomorrow.
Shut up.
[GRUNTS]
DANNY: I'm supposed to be dead.
[GUN CLICKS]
The gun misfired.
Why are you telling me?
Dude, I don't know. You climbed Everest.
[LAUGHS]
BULL: It's the fee for the Smokestack class-action suit.
For $44.7 million.
[BEEPING LOUDLY]
ED: Wake up!
You gotta leave!
Everybody's gotta get out.
Wake up! Wake up! Everybody's gotta get out.
You gotta leave.
Can you hear me? Everybody out!
- What's going on? - It's carbon monoxide.
Fire department's on the way, but you gotta get outside.
- Take the stairs. - [SIRENS APPROACHING]
Come on, everyone, let's go!
Everybody get out! Carbon monoxide leak.
Everybody out. We gotta get out now!
Carbon monoxide leak! Everybody out!
Everybody out! We got a leak.
Come on, man, you gotta get out of here, boy.
My wife, she won't wake up.
[SIRENS WAILING]
This guy needs help! He passed out.
His wife's still in there. I can show you where she is.
- No, you can't go back in there. - I have to go back in there.
- Mister, listen! - This is my building.
I can't just leave them all to die.
Listen, listen, you need to calm down
and let us do our job.
FIREFIGHTER: All right, just stay to your right,
stay to your right. Let the firefighters through.
Just one with me. Top floor.
ED: I did everything I could.
I really did. There was just nothing more I could do.
Well, let's examine that statement, Mr. Wilson.
You are the sole owner of the apartment building, correct?
Uh, yes, I-I've owned it for years.
And as such, you're responsible for its upkeep,
for its maintenance.
Yes. That's correct.
And because you're responsible,
you'd heard from a city inspector
that the boiler in the basement was failing
and needed to be replaced, isn't that correct?
That's true, but the cost...
Yes or no, Mr. Wilson?
Yes.
Okay.
But instead of replacing the boiler, what did you do?
I told my maintenance man Nicholas to fix it.
Nicholas Borrego, right? What happened to him?
He... he died.
That's right, he died.
And five other people died.
They all went to sleep and never woke up
because the boiler in the building failed,
as you were warned would happen.
They died because you were trying to save a buck.
Can he say that? Is it gonna be like this?
No, it's gonna be worse.
The other side's gonna be way harder on you than that.
I'm not doing very well, am I?
You'll get better.
It feels to me, Ed,
like you're holding back.
But these people need to understand how you feel.
Six people died in your building.
How does that make you feel?
It feels horrible.
It's devastating.
Okay. Keep going.
I still can't believe it happened.
I knew those tenants.
Some of them had been in my building for years.
You took care of them.
I always took care of the people in my building.
Then why didn't you replace the boiler
when you learned it was failing?
I wanted to.
But with the pandemic
and all the supply chain issues a-and inflation,
it was gonna cost five times what it should've
for me to replace it.
I just didn't have that kind of money,
not after two years' rent forbearance.
Nicholas assured me he could fix it,
least until I could build up a cash reserve.
And I believed him.
I'd do anything to go back and change things.
But I can't.
The truth is
I was doing the best I could with what I had.
- BULL: See? - [PHONE VIBRATING]
Better already.
Oh, this is Ed's insurance company calling.
Keep going. I'll be right back. Hey.
Good timing. Our star witness is doing great.
Those look nice. Do they come in an open toe?
[SCOFFS] They keep your feet warm
at 30 below zero, so I doubt it.
Does it get 30 below on Kilimanjaro?
You got to be ready for anything.
I can't believe you are traveling
halfway across the world with a guy you just met.
That's so... spontaneous.
I can't believe you're climbing a freaking mountain.
Guy put a gun to my head, and you know what he gave me?
A dhi.
A barely passing grade?
In Sanskrit, it's insight or intellect.
In Hindu philosophy,
it's a gut instinct you can't ignore.
Going with Cameron, climbing Kilimanjaro,
that's my dhi.
I wish I had a dhi.
I think I might have one.
- [KNOCKING ON DOOR] - Whoa, whoa,
so that's it? You're gonna settle
without even hearing our strategy?
I know, the case has challenges, and I...
Please don't hang up. But...
[WHISPERS]: Gutless worm.
Come in!
Got a minute?
Ed Wilson's insurance company is settling
the carbon monoxide suit. We could've won that.
Yes, maybe.
Ever heard of a firm called Ellis & Clifton?
These insurance company guys, I'll tell you,
they are classic cowards.
They're afraid of any kind of fight, any conflict.
You're right, they're the worst. Answer my question,
and I will put a hit out on them for you.
Ellis & Clifton?
Chicago. Boutique firm, right?
Bigger. 300 attorneys on staff.
Wellman Hospitality is one of their clients.
Ooh, Wellman's is massive.
Revenue's, what, six billion?
- 8.3. - Hmm.
What are you thinking?
Ellis & Clifton has been freelancing
their trial analysis work.
I want to pitch them
on making TAC their exclusive provider.
It's ambitious. I mean, we're stretched pretty thin.
I don't know if we could even service them right now.
We can if we reinvest
the money from Smokestack Labs, take on more staff,
more office space.
What makes you think Ellis & Clifton would say yes?
'Cause we're gonna show them
how we can seriously improve their win rate.
Because you already have the numbers that prove we can.
Would I be sitting here if I didn't?
I like this idea.
All right. How do we get started?
We have a problem.
CHUNK: Look, I think we're being
a bit premature here.
Why don't we go talk in the office.
I'm sorry, Chester. This is happening.
What's going on?
Uh, Dr. Bull, this is Detective Orwell.
He's here to execute an arrest warrant on Mr. Wilson.
What's the charge?
Negligent homicide, six counts.
I don't understand. Homicide?
ORWELL: You have the right to remain silent.
They can't... They can't do this, can they?
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
At least let him self-surrender.
I will guarantee his appearance.
- You have my word. - ROB: I'm sorry.
I can't do that when the charges are this serious.
These charges are outrageous, and you know it.
ROB: What I know is that six people are dead.
BULL: You don't show up personally
to arrest everyone you charge.
If you have a bone to pick with me, this...
ROB: Oh, this isn't about you.
Either of you.
The guard at the front desk just texted.
Apparently there are press in the lobby downstairs.
[SIGHS] Oh, son of a bitch.
Now I get it.
This is all about the perp walk, right?
You're gonna parade Ed in front of the cameras
until you get a nice interview on the news tonight?
If the press is interested,
I will talk to them all day long.
It's what you would do.
Where are they taking me?
Don't worry, Ed. I'll be down to handle your arraignment, okay?
- [ELEVATOR DINGS] - Don't talk to anyone about anything
until Mr. Palmer gets there. And don't worry.
We've beaten this showboat
in court before. Twice.
Oh. Well, third time's the charm.
It's a good thing you're not still dating that guy,
'cause I'm gonna pulverize him.
Synced & corrected by -robtor- www.addic7ed.com
Okay, did you see the Ledgertoday?
"Justice for Sale."
They're talking about us.
- I saw. - BULL: "Landlord
"Ed Wilson has retained
"the high-priced Trial Analysis Corporation,
which has been mired in controversy since..."
"Mired"?
I was arrested once.
Scandal sells papers.
You know who's behind this, don't you?
- The A.D.A. - Rob!
He's trying to bias the jury pool
and paint us as mercenaries.
- You have to ignore the noise. - [BULL SIGHS]
But it's just so noisy.
Are we sticking with the same strategy
as the civil suit?
Yes. Ed is a good man
caught in a perfect storm of bad circumstances.
Punishing him would only pile tragedy upon tragedy.
Right.
You and I need to start talking voir dire.
It's set for Tuesday.
No, I... That is the same day
that we're having lunch with Aurora Clifton.
- Who? - Aurora Clifton of Ellis & Clifton,
the massive firm that we're pitching.
Oh, yeah.
Sorry. That was before Ed got dragged out
of here in cuffs. Let's reschedule.
I begged for this meeting, Bull.
Aurora is in town now for a wrongful death trial.
She made clear her schedule is very tight.
Oh.
Well, fine. You do lunch.
- Without you? - Sure.
We're partners.
We've got to learn to divide and conquer sometime,
especially if we're planning to expand.
No argument here.
ED: Dr. Bull. Mr. Palmer.
BULL: Oh.
Hey, Ed. How you holding up?
Good. Good.
Well, terrible, actually.
I haven't been sleeping.
Well, that's only natural, Ed.
I spent all last night researching jury selection,
and I've got some ideas.
CHUNK: Okay. Um,
well, thank you,
but we've got voir dire covered, Ed.
I know you're the experts, and I know this is annoying,
but when I'm anxious,
it helps me to focus on solving a problem.
Well, fire away. The more brains the better.
I think it's really important that we kick all the renters
off my jury
because they're predisposed to dislike landlords.
CHUNK: That's a good idea, but in this city,
70% of the people rent,
so we can't get rid of all of them.
BULL: We're gonna be weeding out people who are inclined
to blame you for this tragedy.
People who have what we call a Bad Actor Bias.
- What's that? - BULL: Well, it is the belief that when
terrible things happen, someone has to be to blame,
and that allows people to ignore
the fact that accidents can happen
and ruin our lives at any moment.
So, how do we spot these people?
It's easy.
Mr. Palmer is gonna ask them questions about blame.
Ladies and gentlemen, today I want to speak with you
about blame.
- Oh, no. - ROB: About a week ago in Boston...
- Not good. - Not good at all.
What's not good? What's happening?
The prosecutor is using our strategy.
Except he wants to keep jurors with Bad Actor Bias,
- and we want to eliminate them. - ROB: Juror number eight.
Why do you think the car swerved off the road?
I bet the roads were slick.
- We've had a lot of rain. - Ah.
Your Honor, the People would like to thank and excuse
- juror number eight. - If we stick with our strategy,
it's gonna be a war of attrition
until both sides are out of strikes.
Then we're just left with who we get.
We need to call an audible.
What do you mean?
Well, Rob's picks are gonna blame you
for the carbon monoxide poisoning,
but that doesn't mean they can't find a little forgiveness.
We're looking for compassion.
Okay, but I'm gonna need some new questions.
Like, now.
Yeah. There aren't any good questions.
You ask somebody if they're compassionate,
they're only gonna lie.
To make themselves look good.
But we have a secret weapon. Taylor?
Scouring for compassion as we speak.
Um, juror 11
has Facebook posts about donating to charity.
Well, let's ignore that. We don't know if she did it
out of the goodness of her heart or for the likes.
- Then what am I looking for? - [BULL EXHALES]
People who have survived things,
things that others judge.
Something that fosters empathy.
Maybe someone who's been fired for misconduct
or an alcoholic who's gotten sober.
Got it.
Juror number 15,
what do you think was the cause of this fire?
Someone probably left a cigarette burning.
Or maybe a candle.
People can be so reckless.
Your Honor, this juror is acceptable to the prosecution.
Of course she is. Taylor, any reason
we don't kick this woman to the curb?
Actually, she went bankrupt. Yay!
Now I feel like an ass.
STEINER: Mr. Palmer?
Uh, the defense has no objection to this juror, Your Honor.
Dr. Bull is sorry he isn't able to be here.
One of our cases just became a five-alarm fire,
and our clients always come first.
I'm sure you understand.
I'm in the middle of trial.
I don't have time to have this conversation twice.
Let's reschedule down the road when all parties can join.
2002.
You worked for Cooper Ellis & Associates
as a senior associate.
Then along came the biggest copyright case in a decade,
and Mr. Ellis asked you to second chair.
Ms. Morgan, while I admire that you've done your research...
Except halfway through trial,
your boss suffered a heart attack.
I'm guessing at that point,
the client wanted a mistrial,
and the judge surely would've granted it.
But somehow you convinced the client
that you didn't need Mr. Ellis
and went on to win that case alone.
One year later,
the firm was renamed Ellis & Clifton.
Your point?
If both partners are the best of the best,
sometimes you only need one to get it done.
Shall we order some apps?
Miss?
Okay, Taylor, what do we know about these last two candidates?
[PHONE RINGING]
Uh, hold on a second, Bull.
Mauricio's school is calling.
Hello. This is Taylor Rentzel.
Oh, my God. What happened?
Of course. I'm on my way.
Bull, I have to go.
Right now? We only have one juror left to seat.
Mauricio got hurt. He's on his way
to the emergency room. I have to go. I'm sorry.
[SIGHS] Taylor's gone.
Mr. Palmer, it's your turn.
Uh...
I need a question that gets us to compassion.
There aren't any good questions.
- Come on, Bull. - STEINER: Mr. Palmer,
- I'd like to wrap this up today. - CHUNK: Uh,
y-yes, Your Honor. Just one moment, please.
Come on, there's got to be something.
- I mean... - There is.
But you're not gonna like it.
What?
Sorry.
What? Ow. Hey!
Bull!
- Check juror 26. - What?
Juror 26. He feels
real bad for you.
Your Honor, uh,
juror 26 is acceptable to the defense.
Well-played in there.
I mean, mostly for Bull. And your client.
You may have gotten the soggy end of that stick.
You think?
Listen, you got a decent jury. That's all that matters.
This might stain.
I never liked that shirt anyway.
You said you loved this shirt.
Oh, I was lying.
This may actually be an improvement.
Shut up.
MARISSA: With every case
we try, every mirror jury we analyze,
we continue to refine
our algorithm. You and your clients
will get the benefit of the 13 years
that we have spent perfecting our predictive behavior models.
I'm impressed by TAC's track record.
You're clearly doing something right.
My next meeting is here.
You've given me a lot to think about, Marissa.
I'll be in touch.
Thank you. Looking forward to it.
- Bradley. - Marissa.
Aurora, it's so nice to meet you in person.
How do you two...?
AURORA: I called Bradley to do my due diligence.
After he raved about you,
he mentioned that he recently launched
his own trial science division.
Really? Since when?
Well, I got my algorithm up and running
shortly after you left the firm.
Actually, well,
it would be fair to say that you inspired me.
I bet I did.
Well, I decided I might as well hear from both of you
while I'm in town.
Of course. Super. Well...
May the best firm win.
Mauricio had to get eight stitches.
It was awful. He was so upset,
I thought I'd never get him to calm down.
What happened?
Some kid pushed him off the monkey bars.
Oh, my God. What a little monster.
Yeah. I don't know, maybe.
I mean, turns out Mauricio started the fight.
Oh.
I know.
He's been acting out a bit since Erik left.
That's a big transition.
I'm sure he'll settle down in time.
[EXHALES] Hope you're right.
I have a conference later with his teacher
to discuss "the incident."
Can't wait.
- So... - Mm.
How do you think Bradley Lena
got his own jury algorithm up and running so quickly?
Simple. He looked under the hood of mine
while we were working together.
Hired engineers to scrape together a cheap imitation.
So he stole it from you?
Well, legally, no.
In reality, yes.
Okay, he has an algorithm.
But does he know how to interpret the results?
I mean, you've been doing this for years.
He's just getting started.
What Bradley lacks in experience and morals
he more than makes up for in salesmanship.
He will have Aurora eating out of the palm of his hand.
So, he's a smooth talker.
But you know what they say. Actions speak louder than words.
You're right. Great idea.
What idea?
JOSH: The beeping sound woke me up.
I felt
so sick.
[VOICE BREAKING]: I knew something was really wrong.
I wanted to get Julie, my wife, out of the building,
but before I could...
...I passed out.
[CRYING]: I couldn't save her.
Josh, your wife's death is not your fault.
Okay, I know this must be incredibly difficult for you.
If you want to take a second,
- just... - I'm fine.
[SNIFFLES]
Do you know the name Nicholas Borrego?
Sure. He was the maintenance man for our apartment building.
The maintenance man that the defendant used
to repair the boiler.
Did you have any memorable interactions with Mr. Borrego?
Two months before the carbon monoxide leak,
he came to fix the garbage disposal.
I smelled alcohol on his breath.
- ROB: He was drunk? - JOSH: Yeah.
He was slurring his words, and he dropped his tools
a few times.
Uh, can you think of any reason
why the defendant would have fired
his previous maintenance company
even though they had an impeccable service record
and-and replaced them with this man
- who drank on the job? - CHUNK: Objection.
This witness cannot testify
to my client's state of mind or decision-making,
- Your Honor. - ROB: Your Honor, the witness has
direct knowledge of the subject from the deceased.
Overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
Nicholas said that he and Ed were old friends
- and that Ed owed him one. - ED: No.
- [WHISPERS]: That's wrong. - Not here, Ed.
- But it wasn't how he's making it seem. - I said not here.
And now your wife
and five other people are dead?
No further questions, Your Honor.
BULL: Why didn't you tell me you had a history
with your maintenance guy?
ED: I hired Nicholas
because he'd worked for me before
when I was a contractor.
Yeah, I owed him a solid,
but we weren't friends.
He was qualified and licensed.
No, he was drinking on the job.
That man's wife called with problems
at all hours of the night.
Wasn't he ever allowed to have a few beers?
This...
This is really bad, isn't it?
It certainly didn't help.
We're gonna lose.
- I'm gonna go to prison. - Hey, Ed.
We're not there yet.
We're gonna get an HVAC expert
to testify how qualified Nick was to do his job,
and we're gonna get experts to back him up.
In fact, we're gonna parade so many experts
through that courtroom, the jury is gonna be sick
of hearing how qualified Nicholas was.
Okay.
I know that what Mauricio did was wrong,
and believe me, I've had a long talk with him about it.
But he's been having a really hard time lately.
My ex-husband recently moved to Hawaii...
- Ms. Rentzel... - and he and Mauricio are really close.
And they speak on Zoom every night,
but it's not the same as having him here.
Ms. Rentzel, I do not believe what's going on with Mauricio
is because his father moved away.
- You don't? - No.
Although I think it's possible that his absence
is revealing some other preexisting issues.
Issues? What-what issues?
Lack of focus, trouble finishing tasks,
waiting his turn.
He's a little kid. That's only natural.
I spend all day with little kids.
What I'm talking about is outside normal.
[CHUCKLES]
What does that mean?
I think Mauricio may have ADHD.
No. He just has a lot of energy.
I know some people feel there's a stigma to ADHD,
- but there's nothing... - It's not about a stigma.
It's... I just don't think...
[CHUCKLES]: I mean, you're not a doctor.
I know.
I'm telling you this
so you can have your son evaluated by one.
This isn't something you want to ignore, Ms. Rentzel.
BRADLEY: In these situations,
live feedback from our parallel jurors
will offer insights that you and your clients
can use to adjust defense strategy on the fly.
Hi. I'm so sorry for the interruption.
Oh, Marissa, I'm not scheduled to hear from you until tomorrow.
Unfortunately, what I have to say can't wait.
I'm sure Bradley will understand.
We'll just be a few more minutes, Marissa.
It's about your wrongful death trial.
- What about it? - MARISSA: I know
that you're expecting
a verdict soon.
The jury is deliberating now.
I also know the other side
has a settlement offer on the table
for $20 million.
I am here to tell you to take that deal.
- Why would I do that? - MARISSA: Because I
spent all night running mock trials of the case.
What kind of stunt is this?
And the upshot is you are going to lose.
- We feel very good about this jury. - I'm sorry,
but you're going to lose, and the jury
is going to award much higher damages
than even your worst-case scenario.
$45 million to $50 million.
No. I prepped this case myself.
If we lose, and we won't, there's no way we lose that big.
I wish I were wrong,
but our mirror juries are exceptionally accurate.
You can still minimize your losses.
[PHONE VIBRATING]
Too late. This is the verdict.
Let's see if you're as good as you think you are.
Yes, Craig.
[CLEARS THROAT]
MARISSA: $47 million in damages.
Right on the money.
Aurora said our deal is as good as done.
She wants to come by TAC later this week
to see how the sausage is made.
[BULL CHUCKLES]
Well, congratulations.
You just single-handedly tripled TAC's business.
The look on Bradley's face was priceless.
Well, we will celebrate when this case is over,
- all right? I got to go. - MARISSA: Bye.
- Hey there. - DEAN: How you doing?
I'm Dr. Jason Bull. This is Chester Palmer.
Hey.
Are you positive that it's safe to be down here?
I mean, the tenants have been in a hotel for the last week.
Uh, city does that out of an abundance of caution.
Yeah. But don't worry.
This thing's been shut down for a while.
What are we looking at here?
When it comes to the boiler,
pretty open-and-shut.
Can see the exhaust pipe cracked
in the area that it was oxidized.
Then it was mended with furnace cement
and duct tape.
Is that a reasonable repair?
Yeah, sure. Happens all the time.
Your maintenance man did a solid job.
You know, much better than a lot of the shoddy work I see.
But there was something strange.
The second CO started leaking,
this emergency damper here, that should've shut off,
triggered the whole system. Shut it down.
The first expert we talked to said it didn't trigger
because a wire was severed.
He thought maybe rats chewed through it?
He's right about the wire, but...
Not rats.
Rats never eat just one wire.
They eat everything.
And the rest of the wiring's intact.
- Then how do you explain that? - To me,
looks like somebody snipped it
with wire cutters.
Rob's been going after the wrong guy this whole time.
Ed wasn't negligent.
Somebody murdered those people.
Sorry. Pass.
What do you mean, pass?
I'm not dropping the charges against your client.
Come on, Rob.
Ed's boiler was deliberately sabotaged.
This is a sworn affidavit by experts...
That's one person's opinion.
We will find others to back him up.
I'm sure you will.
But your original expert doesn't agree.
Otherwise, you would've come to me with this weeks ago.
CHUNK: But even if you're not convinced,
you still have an obligation to investigate this further.
This is a man's life, Rob.
You don't have the monopoly on giving a crap
about other people, Chester.
I just happen to disagree with you
- on the facts. - How are you so stubborn?
If there's nothing else I can help you boys with...
It's called confirmation bias.
You made your case in the press every chance you got,
and now you can't admit you're wrong
without getting egg all over your face.
Do I use the media to help sell my case?
You bet your ass. You want to know why?
CHUNK: Weak case?
Flexible ethics?
Because in the courtroom, you have a team of people
whispering in your ear, digging through jurors' digital lives,
their trash, psychoanalyzing every fart.
Whoa. I don't think we're that sophisticated.
Yeah. You both like to preach about ethics, but TAC is turning
the system I love into an arms race.
We're done here.
BULL: We're throwing out the old strategy.
Now that we have shown our hand,
Rob is gonna double down
with his character assassination of Ed,
and we're gonna take advantage of that.
Instead of arguing that Ed is a nice guy who made a mistake,
I'll concede to the court
that there were tenants who disliked him.
Hated him, even.
And I'm gonna convince that jury that one of those tenants
sabotaged that boiler to settle a score.
MARISSA: That will resonate with the jurors who have a Bad Actor Bias,
but only if we have specifics.
They'll want a bigger bad to replace Ed.
Danny, any of the tenants have a gripe
that could've motivated the sabotage of the boiler?
Yeah, maybe this woman, Kristi Walker.
A few tenants remembered her having a screaming match with Ed
shortly before the leak. Plus, she wasn't there
the night it happened, and she hasn't
returned any of my calls.
Kristi has a record for possession.
She's also the only tenant
that hasn't checked into the free hotel provided by the city.
Maybe she's making herself scarce for a reason.
Okay. You two
find Kristi.
If she did it, maybe we can get her to trip up, and confess.
I have no family,
so I put all my time and energy into my building.
Maybe it sounds corny,
but I think of my tenants as family.
The fact that this happened under my roof...
[VOICE BREAKING]: I'm devastated.
They're surprised by how much they like him.
- Things are looking up on our end. - CHUNK: Ed, I want to talk to you
about one tenant in particular:
Kristi Walker.
Now, shortly before the leak, the two of you had an argument.
Do you recall what that argument was about?
Sure. Uh, she was behind on her rent,
and I told her I was gonna have to start
the process of evicting her.
- And how did she take that? - Not well.
She screamed at me that she had nowhere else to go.
I felt bad, but I'd already let it slide
for months beyond what I was required to
by the rent forbearance.
She sounds like a desperate woman.
You think that that's a fair characterization
from your experience with her?
It's not nice to say, but yeah.
She had a lot of problems.
Drugs, trouble with the cops.
Hypothetically, if...
if a tenant like Kristi Walker
wanted to stop the eviction process
while continuing to live in your building
without paying rent,
is there a situation that would make that possible?
ED: Yes. In New York City,
there's a law that allows tenants to withhold rent
if they don't have adequate heat.
And what provides heat for your building?
The boiler.
The same boiler that experts testified
had been intentionally sabotaged?
That's correct.
CHUNK: So, anyone
could gain access to that boiler room
and cut that wire?
The door to the boiler room wasn't kept locked.
Anybody could have gotten inside there if they wanted to.
Including Kristi Walker,
a desperate, drug-addicted woman...
- Objection! Inflammatory... - who was about to be evicted
with nowhere else to go?
And that is definitely speculation.
Sustained. You are well out of bounds,
Mr. Palmer, and you know it.
My apologies, Your Honor. I withdraw.
No further questions.
Okay, that went well.
Any update on finding Kristi to bring this home?
I just got her phone's last known location.
- Danny's on her way now. - With a board this green,
we might not even need her.
BULL: Never hurts to put a cherry on the sundae.
[PHONE CHIMES]
Aurora Clifton is on her way up.
Excuse me.
[ELEVATOR DINGS]
Aurora, welcome to TAC. Let's start the tour
in our state-of-the-art mock courtroom.
Actually, uh, I'm gonna stop you.
- There's no need for the tour. - Why not?
You put a lot of effort into pitching me,
so I thought I owed it to you to tell you in person.
I'm hiring Bradley Lena
to handle our trial science needs.
I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Bradley told me that you left TAC to join his firm
and then abruptly went back to TAC.
I can't trust some of the most important part
of my business to someone who's flaky.
Flaky? I didn't leave Bradley because I'm flaky.
I left because I didn't want to partner
with someone as unethical as he is.
Case in point, that man stole his algorithm from me.
So? That's good business.
Question is why you'd let someone
steal your most valuable asset.
Aurora, let's sit down, talk this through. You will see
that partnering with TAC is better business.
Marissa, you're a smart woman, but you let yourself get played.
I can't have weakness on my team.
- I need killers, and Bradley's a killer. - [ELEVATOR DINGS]
[ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN]
Good luck.
DANNY: Excuse me. Kristi?
Who the hell are you?
Sorry to startle you. I'm an investigator
looking into the carbon monoxide incident
- at your apartment building. - Leave me alone.
- DANNY: I just want to talk. - I said get lost.
Or I could tell the security guard over there
to check your pockets.
Just have a few questions.
Help me out, and I'll pay for whatever's in your jacket. Deal?
What do you want?
I think you know what really happened in your apartment building.
I don't want to get involved.
I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt anyone.
What are you talking about?
You broke the boiler, didn't you?
What? No. I didn't... I didn't break that boiler.
Come on. You got in a fight with Ed.
You tried to get out of paying your rent.
Things didn't go the way you thought they would.
No. I-I yelled at Ed, but then Nicholas,
he warned me not to get on Ed's bad side,
and so I dropped it. I-I didn't break that boiler.
Wait, wait, wait. The maintenance guy
told you not to get on Ed's bad side?
Why?
Because he said he knew things about Ed. Scary things.
That's how he got his job and a place to live,
by blackmailing him. And then Nicholas warned me,
- and now he's dead. - So, you think
Ed leaked poison in his own building
just to silence Nicholas?
Yeah. Now you can arrest him, right?
Aren't you a cop?
I said I was an investigator.
Wait, who do you work for?
Oh, my God.
- You work for Ed. - Kristi, wait.
- [ALARM BLARING] - Hey, hey!
- Kristi, wait! - Hey, empty your pockets!
Damn it.
Let me get this straight. Ed isn't guilty
of negligent homicide.
He's guilty of mass murder?
I'm just telling you what Kristi said.
Even if Nicholas had dirt on Ed and Ed wanted him dead,
a carbon monoxide leak
doesn't sound like the smartest plan to me.
Nicholas's apartment was directly above the boiler room.
If anyone was gonna die, it was gonna be him.
Well, sure, but five innocent people
were killed in the process.
If Ed's okay with that, he's a monster.
Kristi Walker has a long history of drug abuse
and every reason in the world to want to deflect blame.
True, but I saw real fear in her face.
Fear of going to prison, Danny.
Maybe.
Well, Bull, did you get any sense
that Ed is capable of something like that?
No. Not at all.
I mean, guy's a nervous wreck
and seems to be showing genuine empathy for the victims.
I just don't see a sociopath. I'm sorry.
So, what do we do about Kristi's story?
Nothing. Our job is to defend Ed.
Digging any further risks damaging him.
So we rest our case.
And don't tell Chunk about this.
He's got to sell that closing argument tomorrow,
and I don't want him having any doubts about Ed.
CHUNK: Multiple experts
confirmed that someone cut that wire.
Someone deliberately sabotaged the boiler in Ed's building.
That wasn't negligence. That was a deliberate act.
And yet the prosecution chooses
to ignore this fact and persecute
an innocent man.
Ed Wilson is a kind,
responsible, hardworking man.
Ed already lost so much.
You must not allow the prosecution
to take away anything more from this man.
You must find him innocent.
Dr. Bull.
Thanks so much for everything.
If the jury breaks my way, I know you're the guy
who kept me out of prison.
Of course. You're welcome.
Do you mind if I ask you a question?
Um, you said that you owed Nicholas a favor.
What do you mean?
The other day, you said... how'd you put it?
that you owed Nicholas a solid.
And, if you don't mind,
I was just wondering, what was that?
Oh. Uh...
Well, back when I was working job-to-job as a contractor,
Nicholas hooked me up with a big kitchen renovation project.
Why?
Does this have anything
- to do with my case? - No.
I'm just a curious man.
There's a lot to do fast.
You'll have to come to Chicago and meet
Cooper Ellis, get up to speed on our current caseload.
I will get on a plane tonight if you want.
[CHUCKLES]
A bottle of Château Réserve de Loire
compliments of the lady at the bar.
- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY] - Oh.
Let me.
Marissa, how kind of you.
I didn't want you to think that there were any hard feelings.
All's fair in love and war, right?
Right.
Congratulations, by the way.
You stole my algorithm,
my job.
But I won the real prize.
What's that supposed to mean?
I met with Matthew Price,
the general counsel for Wellman Hospitality.
Showed him my mock trial results for the wrongful death case.
He was so angry that they paid double what they would have
if they'd settled, he decided right then and there
to fire Ellis & Clifton and hire TAC instead.
[CHUCKLES]: Oh, look.
Aurora must be getting the news right now.
That's fun.
- That's her biggest client. - I know.
Enjoy your new partnership.
Could I get another bottle of champagne, please? To go?
The good stuff this time.
Erik, I'm worried, too.
I'm the one who's here dealing with it.
That's not what I meant. Look, the doctor said
if we want to help Mauricio without meds,
it's gonna take a lot more time and focus.
Tutors, making sure he's getting exercise
before school in the morning.
Maybe I can cut back on my hours at work.
I don't know.
[CORK POPS]
- For the woman of the hour. - Thanks.
Hope you're ready for a boatload of work.
- [CHUCKLES] Bring it on. - [CHUCKLES]
Oh, Taylor, we're celebrating.
Have a glass of bubbly.
Um, by the way, I'm gonna need you to start vetting
- some new cyber analysts. - [DRINK POURS]
Bull and I want you to manage a team.
Manage a team?
MARISSA: It's a lot more responsibility,
but I promise you, it comes
- with a bigger paycheck, too. - CHUNK: Ka-ching.
[MARISSA AND CHUNK CHUCKLE]
KRISTI: Because he said he knew things about Ed. Scary things.
That's how he got his job
and a place to live, by blackmailing him.
And then Nicholas warned me, and now he's dead.
- [DOOR OPENS] - CHUNK: Hey, boss.
Little champagne?
Uh...
No, I'm not really in a champagne mood.
What's wrong? You worried about the verdict?
Yeah, in a way.
Something just doesn't feel right.
Dr. Bull?
Hey, Ed. What're you doing here?
Sorry for just dropping by like this,
but, uh, can we talk for a minute?
In private?
Uh, sure.
What can I do for you, Ed?
Did I ever tell you how I got my first break in real estate?
Ten years ago,
when I was still a contractor,
I was renovating a three-unit brownstone in Greenpoint.
I convinced the owner to sell it to me off-market.
Wasn't easy to get the money together,
but it was gonna be mine.
Then, last minute,
friends of the owners
decided to buy the place for their daughter
as an investment property, and they outbid me.
Yeah.
Real estate's tricky. Listen,
Ed, can we do this another time?
I worked on my hands and knees for months fixing up that place.
I knew every inch of it.
Every board, every screw.
And they were just gonna give it to that spoiled brat?
I couldn't let that happen.
You know me.
I'm a problem-solver.
So, one night,
I followed the daughter.
Jodie Comroe was her name.
I'd put a nail in her tire,
and when it went flat, I came to her rescue.
Stupid little girl
didn't even know how to change a tire.
Anyway, instead of changing it,
I bashed her head in with the tire iron.
I put her body in a barrel
and buried it in Saunders Woods
out in Pennsylvania.
Nice, quiet spot
near some old columns above the creek.
That's what Nicholas had on you.
He knew about the murder.
The cops questioned me,
but Nicholas gave me an alibi, and they moved on.
It was all ancient history
until he showed up demanding a job
and a place to stay,
and then he started asking for more and more cash.
If only he wasn't so greedy,
none of this would've had to happen.
Your tenants, Ed.
You didn't even care how many you killed.
I couldn't take the risk of him talking.
I knew I'd get sued for the leak,
but that's what insurance is for.
The one thing I didn't count on was getting arrested.
But then you came to my rescue.
Why are you telling me this now?
When you asked me about Nicholas...
...I could tell.
You knew something.
You may not have known everything yet,
but I think you would've kept digging.
You're the type who'd need to know
if you were wrong about me.
And if you figured out enough on your own,
you could bring it to the police.
But since I'm telling you myself...
It's privileged.
That's right.
Now it's our little secret.