.
- In the criminal justice system,
the people are represented
by two separate, yet equally important groups:
the police, who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
- Must have had a thousand coffees
while we were waiting to testify.
- Maybe we can actually levitate after this one.
- My mom used to drag me to this stuff when I was a kid.
- Oh, yeah?
Ash Wednesday? - Mm-hmm.
I'm a proud lapsed Catholic at this point.
All I really remember is grumpy nuns
and old men wearing pointy little elf shoes.
And they all smelled like soup.
- I'm pretty sure that ash symbolizes God's mercy,
the promise of a new life.
- Is that all?
- Look, I get it. It's not for me.
[people screaming]
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey.
What's going on? What's going on?
- Somebody's shooting!
[tense music]
- 2-7 Squad, we've got reports of a 10-10
in the Atlas Museum of Art.
Plainclothes detectives responding.
- NYPD. Where's the shooter?
- Up at the crown display. - Where?
Where? - The crown!
The crown! Upstairs, second floor!
- Second floor, second floor.
- Oh, my God.
Hey.
- Central, 2-7. 10-10 confirmed, second floor.
- Hey, hey, hey, come here.
I got you.
Let me see.
- Central, 2-7. We have two GSWs.
This man needs help.
Get us an ambulance, all available units.
- Listen to me. Help is on the way.
Can you tell me who did this to you?
- Yes, two--two guys.
They took the crown.
- Okay, we got two casings, 9 millimeters.
- They went that way.
- Okay.
All right, that's great. Hey, hey, hey.
No, no, no, no, no. Listen to me.
Stay with me. Stay with me.
Hey! We're NYPD!
Come here! - Oh, my God.
Hey, Cecil. - Listen to me.
EMS is on its way. It's gonna be here any second.
I need you to keep him up, keep him alert,
and keep pressure on that wound.
You got it? Okay. Come on, let's go.
- Hold on, Cecil.
♪ ♪
- Hey, we're NYPD. Did you see anything?
- Two guys with guns, they went that way.
- All right. Go to the left.
Get downstairs!
NYPD! Don't move!
[gunshots]
- 10-13, shots fired at the police.
[screaming]
[gunshots]
- Go, go, go!
[gunshots]
- Go!
♪ ♪
- Hey! Police! Stop!
[gunshot] [person screams]
Cover me.
Hey! NYPD!
Stop!
[gunshots]
Back entrance. Back entrance.
- Get out of here!
- Go left! - 2-7 Squad to Central.
I'm on foot pursuit with the other perp,
headed to the back parking lot!
- Central, 2-7. I'm pursuing on foot!
Perp is on a bike!
He's heading eastbound, exiting the parking lot.
Damn it.
- NYPD! Stop!
Hold it!
[sirens wailing]
[tires screeching] - Stop right there!
- Drop your weapon right now!
Drop your weapon and get on the ground.
Drop your weapon now!
- Drop that weapon! - Put it down!
- Drop it!
- Everybody, take a breath!
Hey!
Come on, man, it's not worth it.
Don't do this.
[gunshots]
- Suspect down.
- 2-7 Squad to Central, get us a bus now.
Multiple gunshots, but the police are not injured.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- How's the wounded security guard?
- Didn't make it.
What happened here?
- Guy drew down a patrol officer.
It was a good shoot.
.40-cal Smith & Wesson,
but the cases up in the Crown Room were 9-millimeter.
- So that's not the murder weapon.
That's kind of a funky tattoo.
Let's see if it's in the database.
[camera shutter clicks] Anything on the body?
- No cell and no wallet.
But he was wearing an official-looking art museum ID,
and he had a legit security guard uniform.
You think these guys really worked here,
or was it an inside job?
- We'll see.
We got units looking for your guy--
BOLO, grid search, choke points, all of it.
So far, nothing.
- The victim's name is Cecil Carbo.
Apparently he's a bit of an institution around here.
Been here forever. Everybody loved him.
Eyewitnesses who fled the scene said that the thieves
gained access to this room by clearing it out,
saying that there was some sort of event that was gonna happen
in this part of the museum.
- So basically, the thieves didn't have
to lift a finger to clear this place out
until Mr. Carbo stepped in and stopped them?
- Looks that way.
At least there's a lot of cameras here, though.
Should be helpful. - And what is this?
What was this?
- Crown of Popayán?
I don't know.
16th century or something? - Oh, my God!
Cecil! Cecil! - Ma'am. Ma'am!
- How'd they get in here?
- He's my husband!
- That's how they got in here.
- He's my husband!
- Cardinal Keane.
- This is Mr. Carbo's wife, Valentina,
and their daughter, Luna.
- I'm Lieutenant Brady.
This is Detective Riley.
- Very sorry for your loss.
- I saw them downstairs, and I thought they should have
an opportunity to say goodbye.
- Respectfully, this is an active crime scene.
- Mr. Carbo was a man of deep faith,
a son of the church.
- He requested to guard the crown.
He said it was a privilege.
- It is Ash Wednesday, and I'd like to administer
the prayer for the deceased.
- Your Eminence, this is a crime scene--
my crime scene.
- Which means we need to preserve it exactly as it is.
That's the only way we're gonna catch these guys.
- This man just died in service of the church.
And to deny him the prayer for the deceased
would be a crime unto itself.
- Well, I'm afraid that's beyond our jurisdiction.
[solemn music]
♪ ♪
- It seems this room is sacred ground to all of us,
just for different reasons.
I'm not asking you to do this for me.
Do it for them.
♪ ♪
- Don't touch anything.
[both crying]
♪ ♪
- [sighs deeply]
You have loved the church here on Earth.
Now, rejoice in her glory in heaven.
Into your hands, merciful Father,
we commend your servant.
Acknowledge him as one of your own.
May the angels lead you to paradise.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
♪ ♪
.
- So we found this on one of the thieves.
Is that real?
Did he work here?
- I don't recognize the face.
And there's no employee here named James Sullivan.
But yes, that's a real ID.
It was swiped to enter the facility at 10:43 this morning.
- Six minutes before the shooting.
Okay, obviously we gotta go through
all of your CCTV footage.
- There isn't any.
- How is that possible?
- Our system was rebooting during the robbery.
The feeds went offline for 12 minutes.
- Well, that's convenient.
- We'll look into it right away, obviously.
- Okay.
what can you tell us about the crown?
Why would someone wanna steal that
and not take anything else?
- Well, that's nearly 5 pounds of the purest gold I know,
450 emeralds.
This one, the Illapu, is worth $15 million, give or take.
- Yowza.
- That's not the only reason.
Indigenous Colombians believe
that the crown belongs to them, not the Catholic Church.
- So they think the Catholics stole the crown from them.
- Yeah.
In the 16th century,
2 million people in South America died of smallpox.
But the little village of Popayán was spared.
- So the Colombians think there was some sort
of divine intervention?
- Precisely.
They've been trying to reclaim it for years in court,
but the lawsuits never went anywhere.
- And how did it end up here?
- We got the crown a couple of months ago
on loan from the Vatican.
It's been a wildly popular exhibit for us.
There was this Colombian, this rabble rouser
named Amaru Yupanqui.
He filed a new lawsuit against the museum.
When that was dismissed,
he went so far as to threaten me.
- When?
- Last week.
He sent me an email saying that if I didn't cooperate,
he would take the crown by any means necessary.
- I was blowing off steam.
- Some people go for a run.
You write death threats?
- I believe that Indigenous Colombians are
the rightful owners of the Crown of Popayán.
I am passionate about that,
and I will never stop fighting for it,
but I didn't kill anyone.
- Well, that doesn't mean this whole thing wasn't
your idea in the first place.
I mean, maybe you hired those two guys to steal the crown.
- Please.
- Where were you this morning around 10:30?
- At mass. - What church?
- St. Augustine's on Benton Avenue.
- What were you praying for?
Their success?
- Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
I was praying that I might live wisely
with whatever time I have,
which would not include hiring two imbeciles to steal
something from a museum.
- Let me ask you something.
You've been pissed at the church for years,
but you still go to mass?
You're still a believer?
- You're confusing the church with faith,
which is exactly what the church wants.
That's how we got into this mess.
- How's that?
- Indigenous artisans spent six years making the crown.
For 400 years, we worshipped it as an emblem of faith itself.
And then the church, as you call it,
suddenly decided that poor Colombians are not
sophisticated enough to be guardians of the crown.
They snatched it, took it away.
People like me, people of faith,
I am seeking a union with God--
truth, moral order.
The church is only interested in market share,
protecting their brand.
- We don't get many people in here as cynical as me.
- Can I go home now?
- Yes.
We're gonna confirm you were at mass this morning.
- Please do.
- Uh, you guys remember Lieutenant Brady?
- Your Eminence?
- The Archbishop was looking for an update on the case.
- Mrs. Carbo's husband gave his life protecting the crown,
which means he gave his life protecting the church itself.
Nothing's more important to our community
than getting justice for him, for his family--
nothing.
- We understand.
I appreciate your concern, but I assure you,
we're using all of our resources on this.
- But so far, the only suspect they have is me.
You know who I am?
- Should I?
- I'm glad the crown is gone.
And I hope you never get it back.
- I couldn't care less about the crown.
- Right.
- You know, a good man was just murdered.
[tense music]
- I'm very sorry for your loss, ma'am.
♪ ♪
- Hey, Amaru Yupanqui was at St. Augustine's Church
at the time of the shooting, just like he said.
- Yeah. He didn't feel right for it,
but the guy was definitely intense.
- Yeah, we'll keep an eye on him.
- Where are we with everything else?
- I ran our dead thief's tattoo through the gang database.
No hits.
So I did a reverse image search.
Turns out it's a military thing used by this unit.
- SORD?
Special Operations Reconnaissance Detachment.
- Yeah, elite troops-- behind enemy lines,
high-value targets, that kind of thing.
Pentagon keeps a DNA database of personnel to use
in case they got to identify remains.
We sent them a sample from our deceased thief,
and we got a hit.
- Frank Henry Stephens. Three tours in Afghanistan.
Did you get an address?
- Astoria.
Landlord said that Frank Stephens lived
there with his girlfriend.
- Well, great. Go.
- Yeah. - Okay.
- This can't be happening.
- I know this is a lot to process right now,
Ms. Campbell, but you need to tell us everything you know,
and you need to tell us right now!
- There's nothing to tell!
Frank would never do something like this.
He's not a thief.
He's sure as hell ain't a murderer.
- Going somewhere? - It's Frank's.
He had a business trip.
- What business is that exactly?
- Well, I'm not sure.
- You're not sure? - No.
- She's not sure what her boyfriend did for a living.
That's cute. - [chuckles]
- Because we happen to know that your boyfriend reported
no income and filed no taxes since he was
dishonorably discharged back in 2021.
- Look, you're not gonna wanna hear this,
but Frank was never coming back after that trip
because he chose the crown, money over you.
- He's dead.
- So there's no need for you to cover for him anymore.
- I'm not covering for him.
I don't know anything, I swear.
- Look. Look at this.
That's who Frank did this with.
Who is that?
- I don't know.
- Was Frank having any money trouble?
Anybody threaten him lately? - No.
- Anyone unusual come to the apartment recently?
- No.
I mean, Frank's buddy came by last night,
but that's not weird. He's over here all the time.
- Tell me about this buddy.
- He's just some guy.
He lives here in Astoria.
He--
[suspenseful music]
- He what, Amy?
- I think he works at the museum.
- What is going on?
Why'd you bring me down here?
- Really, Joe? Come on. - Yes, really.
I--I didn't do anything wrong. - Oh.
Well, then you should just sit back and relax,
and I'll just lay out all the ways you're screwed.
This is the museum security system log.
A security guard named Danny Gardner logged
into the system at 10:24 a.m. to order a reboot of the CCTV.
This is what allowed the thieves
12 minutes to get in and out.
- So you should go talk to Danny.
- We did.
Turns out Danny called in sick this morning.
He wasn't at the museum.
You were.
And Danny told us that a few days ago,
you asked him for his login credentials
because yours weren't working.
Danny didn't order the reboot.
You did.
Oh, wait, there is more.
You reported your ID missing twice in the past three weeks.
And the funny thing is, the IDs that the thieves used
to gain access to the museum just so happened
to be your lost ones,
with an assist from Photoshop, of course.
[tense music]
- I wasn't the one who stole that thing,
and I didn't hurt anybody.
- Unfortunately for you, that doesn't matter,
because unless you talk, chances are
you're the only sucker going down for this whole thing.
And that means we are gonna come at you
with everything we got.
You will never eat Mommy's meatloaf again.
- She's dead.
She was a lousy cook.
- So was mine.
♪ ♪
- Okay.
Okay, but I want a deal.
I'm not saying a damn thing until that's done.
♪ ♪
[door clicks open]
.
- Queen for a Day?
What the hell does that even--
- Yeah, it's a funny name.
It's actually named after an old game show.
It means you tell us what you know,
we can't use that information against you.
- This is what you wanted, Joe.
You don't do this, you're looking at felony murder.
You want reduced charges?
This is what that looks like.
You tell the truth today.
You testify at trial.
- Yeah, okay.
- Good.
Our primary concern right now is identifying
and capturing the thief that's still at large.
What is his name?
- He goes by Flaco.
- No, what is his real name? - I don't know.
That's what everybody calls him.
I only met him once, a few weeks ago.
- Where?
- Some bar in Queens.
I don't know.
Frank--Frank drove.
Frank would know.
- Frank is dead, Joe.
- Yeah, he's dead because you people shot him, lady!
- Lady. Do they call you Lady?
- That guy was like a brother to me!
- Joe.
- Flaco.
I don't know.
He's a Spanish dude.
- From Spain or, like, Latin?
Puerto Rican? Dominican?
- Yeah, that.
- What else you know about him?
- He's about my age, my height.
- But Joe, if they find this man, arrest him,
if you saw him in court, you'd recognize him.
You could point him out to the jury
and say, yeah, that's the guy.
- Yeah, sure.
- Sure. So your friend,
Frank Stephens, how did he know this Flaco guy?
How did they meet?
- They served together in Afghanistan.
- And the robbery?
How'd they plan it and coordinate it?
Used WhatsApp?
Signal maybe, so the messages were encrypted?
- They used pagers.
- Pagers?
Like it's 1995 and Coolio's on the radio?
- Where do you even get a pager anymore?
- Yeah. Here it is.
We issued two pagers to Frank Stephens
a couple months back.
- What's the second name on the account?
- There isn't one.
- Why not?
- Pagers, they ain't like cell phones.
If this guy, Frank Stephens, comes in here
and wants to rent two pagers, we give him two pagers.
Once he walks out the door, he can give them
to whoever the hell he wants.
The system does keep track
of the last 20 messages sent by each pager.
So I know it's not a lot.
- Well, that should be plenty. Thank you.
- Yeah.
- Morse code? Is that still a thing?
- Yeah, special ops forces are still trained in it.
- And you know it? - Nope.
But there's an app for it.
- Hey, check this out.
Flight 289.
- What airline?
- Looks like Pathways Airlines has a Flight 289.
Flies JFK to Miami every day at 3:00 p.m.
And the message says, "We're leaving tomorrow,"
but that's actually today.
- Okay, I'll pull up the flight manifest,
cross-check it with the list of soldiers who served
with Stephens in Afghanistan.
- If we get a hit, that's our killer.
- Plane leaves in an hour.
Get going.
[suspenseful music]
- This is the final call for Flight 289
with service to Miami.
All remaining passengers proceed
immediately to Gate C22.
- Where the hell is this guy?
♪ ♪
- Oh, the overhead bin is full.
We'll need to gate-check your bag.
That's weird.
Last name?
- Salazar.
Luis Salazar.
- Flight's full, Flaco.
- So where is it?
Where's the crown, huh?
- No idea what you're talking about, man.
[bag thuds]
- Vince!
Pager.
- Turn around.
Luis Salazar, you're under arrest
for the murder of Cecil Carbo.
♪ ♪
.
- We have a suspect in custody named Luis Salazar.
He's a former special ops guy.
- We caught him as he was attempting to flee.
As we speak, he's being arraigned
for the murder of Cecil Carbo.
I expect he'll be remanded.
- Very good.
And what about the crown?
- It wasn't in Mr. Salazar's possession
when we took him into custody.
- So you have no idea where it is?
- Not yet.
Mr. Salazar isn't cooperating with us.
- But we did find evidence in his apartment
that links him to the crime.
We've been retracing his steps to see
if we can figure out where he might have hidden it,
but so far, no luck.
- I have to tell you, the Catholic community has
been galvanized by this theft
like nothing I can remember.
It's essential that the crown be found.
So what are you doing to ensure its recovery?
- Respectfully, we're trying to bring a killer to justice.
So finding the relic is not our focus.
- It should be.
- You were the one that told me the most important thing was
getting justice for Cecil Carbo.
- And you think these things are mutually exclusive?
That crown was created by ordinary people
who then surrendered their treasure,
their literal treasure,
gold and stones that they pulled
from the ground beneath their feet.
So its creation, its beautiful story,
it mirrors the gospel itself.
- I get it.
And we're gonna do everything we can to find it.
You have my word.
- I don't want your word, Nick.
I want your guarantee.
[soft tense music]
- Like I said, we'll do everything we can.
♪ ♪
- Hey.
Luis Salazar has been remanded.
- Good.
How's our case?
- Solid.
We don't have the murder weapon.
But forensics has confirmed that the circular glass cutter
we found in Salazar's apartment is
the same blade used to slice open
the display case in the museum.
- And Salazar didn't just have a plane ticket to Miami.
He was connecting in Miami to Yemen,
which doesn't have an extradition treaty
with the United States.
- But the core of the case is based on the testimony
of the security guard, Joe Whitaker...
[phone buzzes]
And the Morse code chatter between Salazar
and his other accomplice, Frank Stephens.
- Uh, about that.
The defense is challenging the admissibility of the pager.
- Your Honor, the detectives performed
an illegal search of my client's suitcase at JFK.
- There were clearly exigent circumstances.
The defendant was preparing
to abscond to Yemen, carrying evidence
that was vital to a murder investigation.
- It doesn't matter.
Mr. Salazar's suitcase was gate-checked prior
to the detectives' arrival, which is a legal transfer
of custody to the airline.
Once that happens--
- Then you're saying, the suitcase was
no longer in the immediate control of Mr. Salazar,
and therefore no longer subject to a warrantless search.
- Correct.
- Your Honor, the inevitable discovery doctrine
speaks directly to this point.
Federal authorities were required by statute
to inspect that bag once our arrest triggered an alert.
So the evidence--the pager-- would have been discovered
inevitably, within minutes.
- Perhaps.
But the inevitability doctrine does not grant you the ability
to retroactively justify an improper search
by conjuring up lawful versions
of the events that never happened.
Once that suitcase was checked at the gate,
it entered the exclusive custody
of a federally regulated airline.
The bag's contents are out, which means the pager is out.
- Prior to February 18th,
the day of Cecil Carbo's murder,
did a man named Frank Stephens ask you
to help him rob the museum?
- Yes.
Frank and I were old friends.
We grew up together.
I had mentioned a few weeks before that
that the crown was on display
at the museum where I worked.
Then, out of the blue, Frank asked
how easy it would be to steal.
I thought he was kidding,
you know, joking around at first.
But he told his buddy, Flaco,
because they-- - Sorry.
By Flaco, you are referring to?
- Luis Salazar.
He goes by Flaco.
- And you met Luis Salazar?
- Yes, two weeks before the heist,
Frank and Salazar asked me to help them,
said they would cut me in.
- Do you see Luis Salazar in this courtroom?
- Right there.
He's sitting right there.
- Your Honor, let the record reflect
that the witness has identified the defendant, Luis Salazar.
- The record shall so reflect.
- What help did you provide in the robbery?
- I rebooted the museum CCTV to turn the cameras off,
smuggled out extra security guard outfits and ID badges
that I reported as lost so Frank and Salazar could
have access to the building.
- And on the morning of the murder,
did you see the defendant?
- Yes. After I rebooted the cameras,
I went upstairs to make sure
Frank and Salazar got inside okay.
They were there, so I went back downstairs.
- Thank you. Nothing further.
- Mr. Whitaker, you testified earlier that
the police threatened to--
to charge you with felony murder
if you didn't testify today.
- Yes, I cut a deal for reduced charges.
- So you're a criminal, a criminal who swore
to defend the Atlas Museum of Art
and robbed it instead.
And now, to avoid responsibility,
you've agreed to lie in court.
- Objection. - Sustained.
Watch it, Mr. Wood.
- How tall are you, Mr. Whitaker?
- I'm about 5'7".
- Did you tell the police that the defendant
was about your height?
- Yeah, I--I--
I think so. - I'm confused.
Mr. Salazar is 6'1".
- Okay.
- You didn't actually witness the shooting
of Cecil Carbo, did you?
- No. - And when you allegedly saw
Mr. Salazar inside the museum on the day
of Mr. Carbo's death, you're sure it was him?
- Uh, yeah.
- Because the prosecutors seem to think
that the men who did this were wearing masks.
- He was.
- Then how did you recognize him?
- I don't know. Because--
- You don't know, or this wasn't part
of the dress rehearsal with the DA?
- Objection. - Sustained.
- Look, I went up there and I looked him in the eyes,
and he nodded, just like we planned.
It was him.
And I remember everything about it, okay?
We were standing under an Exit sign outside the room
where the crown was.
I remember there was a dude on crutches next to us.
I remember I was worried he was gonna
take forever to get out of there once the heist started.
I--I--I saw the ID badge Salazar had on,
my old badge that I reported as lost, okay?
I remember it all!
Okay? I'm not lying.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
- That wasn't super fun.
- Agreed.
Our star witness got beat up pretty good.
- Well, he did mention something new, though--
a guy on crutches,
a museum patron that was on the second floor
while the shooting and robbery unfolded.
It's possible that if he was having a hard time
leaving the building-- - He could be a witness?
- Something.
- We've taken a few hits on this one.
It'd be great to claw some of that back.
[elevator dings]
That's a good idea.
Cameras inside the museum were down,
but ask the detectives to review exterior footage.
See if they can find a man on crutches leaving the museum.
- Yeah, I fell off a stupid ladder,
busted my calcaneus.
I never heard of it either--
heel bone.
Still can't put any weight on it.
Such a drag.
[sighs]
How did you even find me?
- You were the only one who fled the art museum
that morning on crutches.
Our detectives found security footage from across the street,
and you popped in facial recognition.
- You're not in any trouble.
To the contrary, we need your help.
- Is it true you were there that morning?
- Yeah, I went to see the crown.
I drop by once a week or so.
That thing's a big deal.
- Were you close enough to the robbery
to see what transpired? - No.
But I heard everything.
- Walk us through it.
- Well, the thieves walked around first,
making some big announcements.
Said there was some sort of private event.
- Right, to clear out the area.
- Exactly.
And I'm such a slow-poke these days,
it was taking me forever to get out of there.
I saw the guy that died run in there.
And then I hear them all start screaming
at each other, and then bang, bang!
I was terrified.
I just got behind the nearest thing I could find,
some sculpture, to kind of ride it out
till the coast was clear.
- What else could you hear?
- The bad guys?
They were pissed.
Didn't sound like this was part of the plan, killing anybody.
One guy goes, "Damn it."
The other guy goes, "Leonard better deliver."
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- You know, to this day, my mom yells at me
if I don't pray before I eat?
- [sighs]
I never understood the point.
It's like talking on the phone,
and there's nobody on the other end.
But do me a favor?
Pray that we figure out who this Leonard is.
- I think your prayers have been answered.
Got a hit in the ATU database,
an import-export guy in Canarsie,
Leonard Hawkins.
- A lot of guys named Leonard out there.
- For sure, but this guy is Salazar's uncle.
♪ ♪
.
- Mr. Hawkins, do you own a business?
- Yes, I am the president and sole employee
of an LLC called MTH Import-Export.
I sell items and buy items--
art, watches, jewelry, you name it.
- Sounds like a pawnshop?
- I prefer import-export, thank you.
So do my clients.
My business requires a certain amount of discretion.
- And the defendant, Luis Salazar,
is it true that he is your nephew?
- Yeah, kind of.
- Can you explain that for the jury?
- Well, he's my nephew by marriage,
except I'm not married to the family anymore.
For 12 years, I was married to his mother's sister.
We don't talk much-- ever, really.
I always thought he was kind of a screw-up, honestly.
- And yet, did Mr. Salazar have occasion
to call you just prior to February 18th,
the day of Cecil Carbo's murder?
- Yes, he did.
That was four days before.
- To say what?
- He asked if I could move an expensive piece of art.
- Did he mention what it might be?
- Hell no.
I mean, if I'd had known, I would have told him
he was insane, which he clearly--
- Objection, Your Honor.
- Sustained.
- All he told me was that it wasn't a painting.
It was more like jewels, gold and emeralds.
- Did the defendant contact you after the day of the theft?
- Yes.
- And what did he say?
- He said that he--
that the thing that he was going to do,
that he actually did it.
- And what did you interpret that to mean?
- That he stole the thing that he was going to steal.
- Thank you.
Nothing further.
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
[knocking on door]
- Mr. Baxter?
Mr. Wood is here to see you.
- Luis Salazar's defense lawyer to see me?
- He's not alone.
He's with the Archbishop.
- Okay.
Send him in.
Gentlemen.
- Thank you for seeing us.
- Please, have a seat.
I wasn't aware the two of you knew each other.
- Mr. Wood and I have been in conversation
about our mutual interest.
- Which is?
- The Crown of Popayán.
- Anything concerning the Salazar case,
you should be talking to Nolan Price, not me.
- We felt that this should involve the full weight
of your office--you.
We'd like to discuss a plea.
- From what I understand, the case is pretty much over.
Why would we possibly consider a plea now?
- We're prepared to have the crown returned.
- That doesn't sound like it involves me at all.
- There's a price tag.
- Huh.
And I don't suppose you'd consider doing the right thing,
just because it's the right thing to do.
I know that's asking a lot.
- Mr. Wood, could you give us a moment alone, please?
Nick, I feel like over the years, you and I,
we got a fair read on each other, right?
- I think so.
- So then I can tell you this
without it feeling like an attack.
It's not. It's an observation.
You're not an overtly religious person,
devout, like your father.
- I have my own beliefs, but yeah, that's probably true.
- But you are a student of history
and someone who could appreciate perspectives
that might not be your own.
- Thank you, I think.
I'd like to think that's true.
- Here's one.
I would encourage you not to think of the Crown of Popayán
as an object.
- Okay.
Tell me.
- The Crown of Popayán is proof
right here on Earth of God's grace.
It draws us closer to God.
Millions of people believe that.
- That sounds lovely, comforting.
I mean that.
- Many of them are right here in New York, your constituents,
the people whose interest you were elected to serve.
To refuse this offer would mean sacrificing the spiritual good
of the faithful for the emotional satisfaction
of punishment.
[solemn music]
♪ ♪
Mercy is not weakness, Nick.
Please.
♪ ♪
- We're doing what?
- In exchange for reducing charges and advocating
for a lenient sentence, Luis Salazar will reveal
the location of the crown.
- No, I understood the offer.
I don't understand why we're even considering it.
This is nothing but an act of desperation at the 11th hour.
We have Luis Salazar dead to rights.
I'm confident the jury will return a guilty verdict
tomorrow morning.
- I'm not sure that's the math on this one.
- No, it's the only math that matters.
We are holding a man to account for murder.
And this thing?
It's just a thing.
It's immaterial, Nick.
- This isn't a debate, Nolan.
Prosecutorial discretion exists precisely for cases like this.
We're not here to solely satisfy
a lust for maximum punishment.
We're here to protect the public interest,
which, in this case, is more complicated than a prison term.
- It doesn't matter that I don't believe
what you're saying, Nick.
I don't think you do, either.
- Oh, right.
I keep forgetting how you really feel about me.
- Come on, Nick.
Let's at least be honest about why this is really happening.
There are 2 1/2 million Catholics in New York.
They vote.
That is why this is happening.
- You're wrong.
If we drop this to murder two
and recommend the low-end of the sentencing range
and bring the crown home in one piece,
that is a win for the many, many people
who believe in this thing.
That means it's a win for the City of New York.
And that means it's a win for us.
- For God's sake, there's an argument
to be made the crown doesn't even belong to the church.
- That is not our concern.
- Right, right.
Not a lot of Indigenous Colombians around here.
- I'm done.
Make the deal.
- [scoffs]
[door shuts]
[applause]
- Today is not about what was lost.
Today is about what was found,
about the resilience of faith.
What happened here caused so much pain,
confusion, even anger.
But I would argue that we are better for it.
Gold will tarnish.
Emeralds will crumble to dust.
But what the Crown of Popayán proclaims is eternal.
Gratitude is stronger than greed,
and God does not abandon his people.
And finally, I would like to thank Nicholas Baxter,
our esteemed district attorney, for making this happen.
- Thank you, Your Eminence.
[applause]
[tense music]
- Not a mention of Cecil.
Not one word.
- Mrs. Carbo, I know that--
- You people promised us that you'd do everything
to get justice for Cecil.
- The man who did this has pleaded guilty.
He's going to prison for 15 years.
- So he'll be out before he turns 40.
Why does he get a life, but my dad doesn't?
♪ ♪
- As prosecutors, we are not here just to satisfy
a lust for punishment.
We also have to protect the public interest,
which, in this case--
It got complicated.
♪ ♪
- Can you even believe
the words coming out of your mouth?
Come on.
[footsteps receding]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[wolf howls]