George Demas

Virginia Boone looks like a bag lady but lives in a penthouse with a spectacular view on the Upper East Side. She is found stabbed to death inside her apartment building, but robbery is not the motive. Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) talk to a tenant in her building, Stefan Havel (Conrad John Schuck), but he doesn't provide much information. They also talk to Martha Taylor (Linda Thorson), who owns the pricey custom dress shop on the ground floor. Taylor, it turns out, not only lives in the building but owns it as well. Virginia worked as a school cafeteria worker and had very little money. Her rent, $362 a month, was unheard of, even though it was rent controlled because she had lived there since 1969. Rents for an apartment like hers in that area run between $6,000 and $8,000 a month. Now the Detectives suspect someone killed her to get her out of the apartment.

When Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) are called to investigate an assault on a retired divorce attorney, they find themselves investigating a sticky divorce that points them in the direction of a possible homicide. Assistant District Attorney Carmichael (Angie Harmon) is determined to bring this complicated case to court to prove that no one is above the law. Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson and Steven Hill also star.

Martina represents a successful nightclub owner accused of murdering his friend and business partner, while Darlene causes friction at Stark & Rowan when she reveals a big secret to Riley.