[indistinct chatter]
There is nothing more
cruel than having
the most beautiful
woman in New York
sitting at one of your tables,
and not being able to sit
down and eat with her.
Well, don't let me keep you.
Ha ha.
[Marissa chuckles]
Dinner?
Absurd, divine.
Did you ask Chef
Johnny to do that?
Do what? Make the agnolotti.
From our wedding.
It was so good, I
got a little teary.
Took me right back
to that night.
That perfect night.
Thank Chef for me?
I got a better idea.
I need three bluefins fired, now.
Yes, Chef!
Looking good; Where are we at
on that sauce? Working, Chef!
Danny, where are we at on that sauce?
Working, Chef.
JOHNNY: All right.
Looking good, Tom.
GREG: Johnny.
You guys good?
We got about 300 more on
the books before 10:00.
We're rocking and
rolling, jamming it out.
I just wanted to say thank you
for such a beautiful dinner.
I don't know how you had the
time to make that pasta
with all this going on.
You kidding? I love
making that dish.
I don't want to keep you.
I just wanted to say
how appreciative I am.
My pleasure.
Ooh, that smells good!
Let's keep going!
You sure you don't want dessert?
A nightcap, maybe.
If I consume anything else, I
will quite literally explode.
I'm in desperate need
of an elastic waistband
and the couch. [chuckles]
See you at home.
How'd I get so lucky, huh?
Must've done something
right, hmm?
I love you. I love you, too.
♪
Everything all right?
[music playing over earbuds]
[sniffing]
[sniffing]
[sniffing]
[metal creaking]
[air hissing]
Mmm.
Babe.
Hey, babe.[groans]
Happy Sunday.[groans]
It's after 11:00 in the morning;
Why didn't you wake me up
and kiss me when you
got home last night?
I just couldn't.
I couldn't do it; You
were too adorable.
All curled up around your
pillow like a little koala.
[chuckles] Wait.
Do koalas drool? [laughs]
You have to wake
me up and kiss me.
Drool or no drool,
cute or not cute.
We had a deal.
Aye, aye, Captain Morgan.
I won't let it happen again.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa.
[Greg moans
softly][doorbell buzzing]
Is that the door?
Is this the Valerian residence?
We're looking for a Mr.
Greg Valerian.
W-Would you mind telling me
just what this is about?
Does Mr. Valerian live here?
We need to speak with him.
Uh, Greg? Is
everything all right?
What's going...? Greg Valerian?
Yes, why?
You're the owner of the
Briarcrest Room restaurant?
I am. Is everything all right?
We'd like you to come down
to the station with us, sir.
There's been a fire.
[gasps]A fire? When?
Happy Sunday.
Hi. How did you...?
Benny called me.
Told me about the fire,
said it was turning into
an all-day event. [sighs]
What's the latest?
I don't know.
It seems like Greg's
been back there
with the detectives for hours.
Last I heard, the fire was out,
and the fire inspectors were
going through the place.
Apparently, there's
not much left.
It was Greg's first
restaurant, his whole...
What?
What-what is it?
What's happened?
They found a body.
The night janitor was
in the restaurant
when the fire broke out.
He's dead.
[gasps] Oh, God.
That's awful. I have to see Greg...
No, no, no.
You can't do that
right now, Marissa.
What? Why not?
Greg's been arrested.
He's being booked at the moment.
You'll be able to see him
as soon as we post bail.
What's the charge?
Involuntary manslaughter.
[gasps]
That's... that's...
15 years.
♪
I don't know if you have a
criminal attorney or not,
but if you do, please
let them know that.
TAC would like to
offer our services.
BENNY: And if you don't
have an attorney,
I stand ready to
represent you, Greg.
No, I don't have a
criminal attorney.
Thank you. Thank you all.
Tell us about the man who died.
He was a really nice man.
Didn't speak a lot of English.
Loved to show pictures of his...
grandkids.
Oh, his poor wife. I have
to, I have to talk to her.
Pay my respects.
As your attorney, I would
strongly advise against that.
Even offering
condolences can be spun
by the prosecutor as
an admission of guilt.
But that's-that's crazy.
I have to do something.Hey...
Pay for the, uh,
funeral, set up some kind
of fund for the family.
Something. I can do
all of those things.
I can make arrangements
through TAC.
All right, well,
let's talk about
the fire inspector's
report for a second.
He's saying that a grease
buildup in the exhaust ducts
above the kitchen caught fire,
creating an enormous
heat in the duct system.
And when the flames
grew powerful enough,
apparently they burst
through a loose vent...
and came in contact
with improperly stored
cleaning materials, which
caused an expl*si*n.
That sounds like bad luck.
An accident, not a crime.
Well, you're the only
one who's gonna see it
that way, I'm afraid.
The first thing they teach you
when you go to work in
a restaurant kitchen
is that two out of
three restaurant fires
are caused by grease buildup.
There's even a law.
In New York, you have to
have your exhaust systems
professionally cleaned
and inspected
every three months, which I do.
Those ducts were clean,
like, seven weeks ago.
The report indicates at
least five months worth
of buildup would have been
required to start that fire.
Well, that's-that's impossible.
That must be some mistake.
Those ducts were
cleaned and inspected.
We'll look into it, but, Greg,
that's not your only problem.
See, the prosecution is
going to say that you
repeatedly disregarded city
and state regulations.
They're gonna point to
a lack of oversight
and lax management.
What are they talking about?
The Briarcrest Room was served
with a fire code violation
six months ago and
an OSHA citation
just 12 weeks ago.
Well, the fire code
violation was nothing.
One of the managers added
a few extra tables
over a holiday weekend.
And the OSHA citation?
Some of the guys got a little
lazy with the cleaning supplies.
Not storing them properly.
As soon as I found out,
I made the whole staff
do safety training,
and I beefed up the
closing procedures.
It never happened again.
Till last night.
What's your tummy tell you?
Not much. Not yet.
Same here.
Not that it matters.
I mean, at the end of the
day, we're in it for Marissa.
Whether he's guilty or
not, the job's the same.
We need to convince a
jury that this fire
was not foreseeable,
not his fault.
[sighs] Good luck to us.
What if we're wrong?
What if it's exactly
what he says it is?
A collision of unfortunate
miscalculations.
A perfect storm.
Like some kind of
gigantic systems failure?
A fluke rather than a
pattern of behavior.
So, what kind of jurors
are we looking for?
Fellow business owners
who will sympathize?
People who understand
complex systems?
Post hoc, ergo, propter hoc.
Post hoc, ergo, propter hoc?
After this, therefore,
because of this.
That's the prosecution's theory.
The fire and JC's
subsequent death
happened after a series
of negligent behaviors
on Greg's part: The
fire code violation,
the OSHA citation,
the grease buildup.
I would argue the same thing.
But post hoc is actually
a logical fallacy.
It basically means that
correlation equals causation,
which it doesn't.
Just because there's
a relationship
between two events doesn't mean
one event caused the other.
So, to answer your question,
we need people who
understand that.
We need people who
see that correlation
doesn't always equal causation.
And how do I go about that?
Good morning.
So it says here on your
jury questionnaire
that you played
semipro football.
Up until about a year ago.
BENNY: You drink a lot
of sports drinks? Sure.
Got to stay hydrated.
What if I told you
that there is a
direct correlation
between the number of sports
drinks a person consumes
and the increased likelihood
of that person getting
a knee injury?
I would say your
logic is faulty,
but your conclusion is sound.
How so? I mean,
it makes sense.
People who drink a
lot of sports drinks
are more likely to be athletes.
Athletes are more
likely to get injured.
But sports drinks don't
cause knee injuries.
This juror is acceptable to
the defense, Your Honor.
Mr. Watson. You are a high
school history teacher.
That's correct. So let
me ask you a question.
Are you aware that
in World w*r I,
the British wore steel
helmets for the first time?
I'm vaguely aware of that.
So would it surprise you to hear
that the rate of head injuries
went up, not down?
Do you have any
explanation for that?
I can offer an educated guess.
I mean, it makes sense,
having all that metal
clanking around on your head,
it's bound to bang you up.
Interesting theory.
But wrong. The steel helmets
actually kept more men alive
that otherwise would have died.
True, they had head
injuries, but at least
they were still breathing.
Taylor, give me a reason
to keep this guy.
I don't think there is one.
We'd like to thank and excuse
this juror, Your Honor.
Then the defense is
out of challenges.
Is this panel acceptable
to the prosecution?
It is, Your Honor.
Then we have our jury.
I was hoping for a
stronger start, Bull.
By my count, at least
eight of these jurors
are susceptible to
logical fallacies.
That means a third aren't.
That's not bad. We can
work with a third.
Got a sec? Oh, sorry.
You scared me. Um,
you heading home?
Yeah, in a minute.
While you were in court,
Taylor and I went through
all the paperwork for all
of Greg's restaurants,
and we found something
I wanted you to see.
What exactly am I looking at?
Did you know that Greg
only had six weeks
to pay his investors $2 million
or he'd lose the controlling
stake in his restaurant group?
Mind if I join?
I think my husband owes
millions of dollars
he's never told me about.
[elevator bell chimes]
BULL: You know,
debt's a funny word.
One man's debt is another
man's working capital.
You know what I mean?
I just know what I read.
Danny showed me some
promissory notes.
Apparently, he is two weeks
away from losing everything.
If he doesn't pay,
which the promissory note
wouldn't have shown you.
Are we having a
conversation about Greg,
or the last great love
of your life, Kyle?
I sure can pick them, can't I?
Listen, I don't mean to
crash your pity party,
but I think you might be
rushing to judgment here.
But why wouldn't he tell me?
I have no idea.
Here's a crazy thought: Ask him.
Taxi!
He's not Kyle.
[car door closes]
ANDERSON: Based on
our investigation,
this fire and the
subsequent expl*si*n
were the result of a grease
buildup, a faulty vent
and the haphazard storage of
cleaning products and solvents.
Correct me if I'm wrong,
Fire Marshal Anderson,
but isn't all of
that preventable?
Yes. The City of New York
has rules and regulations
to prevent incidents like
this from happening.
So is it fair to say
that JC Morales's death
is a direct result
of the defendant
disregarding those regulations?
You could say that, yes.
Thank you. No further questions.
BENNY: Good morning,
Fire Marshal Anderson.
Really appreciate
your testimony.
The thing is... [sighs]
I've been through your
report a dozen times,
and there's something
that's been bothering me.
I see no mention of what
actually ignited the grease
and started the fire
in the first place.
ANDERSON: Well,
given the severity
of the damage, that's
impossible to determine.
Yes, but given your 35
years of experience,
I imagine you have a theory.
Objection. Calls
for speculation.
A professional opinion
is not the same as speculation, Ms.
Drake.
You may answer the question.
Uh, most likely, some kind
of particulate matter got in
through the vent and heated over
time to the point of ignition.
That's interesting.
Now, when you say
"particulate matter,"
you're basically saying anything
that burns and is small enough
to have gotten up into
that vent, right?
I mean, it could be a
small piece of paper,
an onion skin, the lint
from somebody's pocket,
a cigarette ash?
It's certainly possible, though
there's no evidence to suggest
any of those items
were involved.
What if I told you that
the deceased Mr. Morales
had a history of smoking inside
the restaurant after hours?
Objection. No foundation.
Your Honor, we'd like
to enter into evidence
a report from JC Morales's
personnel file.
An opening manager had
written him up after finding
cigarette butts he had left
when cleaning the night before.
So...
if Mr. Morales had
been smoking inside
the night of the fire,
wouldn't you say it would've
been possible for him to have
inadvertently started the fire?
Yes. If that was the case,
it's certainly possible
he may have started
the ignition.
Thank you.
No further questions,
Your Honor.
TAYLOR: Good news for our team.
Starting to see a
little burst of green.
We'd like to redirect,
Your Honor.
Go ahead.
DRAKE: So, Fire
Marshal Anderson,
regardless if the fire was
ignited by a cigarette
or any number of other things
that could have gotten
through that faulty vent,
were it not for the
grease buildup
and the improperly
stored chemicals,
wouldn't Mr. Morales
still be alive?
No accelerant, no expl*si*n.
So yes, I believe he would.
Thank you. No further questions.
You Michael Davis?
Cesar Caputo. Who wants to know?
My name is Danny James.
I'm working on Greg
Valerian's defense team.
Investigating the
Briarcrest Room fire?
I have an inspection
report here saying
that the restaurant's
exhaust vents were cleaned
by this company two months ago.
I'm looking for the guy that
signed it, Michael Davis.
Yeah, well... [chuckles]
If you find him, tell him
I want my tools back.
He's not here? He's not here.
He's not anywhere.
Hey.
This is your company, right, Mr.
Caputo?
Can you explain to me how
there could have been
five months of grease
in those vents,
if this guy Davis did
what he said he did?
Well, I think you just answered
your own question, didn't you?
Look, 80% of our guys
have been here since they
graduated high school.
They're grateful for the job,
and they take the
responsibility seriously.
But the other 20? It's
like a revolving door.
Nobody dreams of
crawling through
greasy ducts for a living,
spending all day
breathing in solvents.
It doesn't matter how
much you pay them.
'Cause sometimes they can make
more for not doing the job.
All right? Guy
owns a restaurant,
he needs the kitchen that
morning for a catering job,
or simply can't be bothered
having somebody
that'll let us in.
Now, mind you, I have
no idea what happened.
Davis is long gone,
I can't find him.
For all I know, he did
what he was supposed to do
and that's why he
signed the paper.
And by the way,
you call me into court,
that's what I'm gonna say.
DANNY: He claims he
doesn't know anything.
But he did strongly imply
that if those ducts
weren't clean,
it's because Greg didn't
want them cleaned.
Oh. Sorry I'm late.
Didn't realize we were
having a meeting.
Nothing important. Just
the usual postmortem.
You really don't
need to be here.
In fact, aren't
there other places,
other people, it would
make more sense for you
to be spending time with?
I think that's for me to decide.
Don't forget, I actually
have two dogs in this fight.
My husband, and TAC.
I may lose one. I am
not gonna lose both.
Now why wouldn't Greg
want those ducts cleaned?
Nobody knows anything.
These are just theories.
Marissa...
I might know.
Greg's fire insurance policy.
It would have given him more
than enough to cover his debts.
Marissa, we all know how
hard this is for you.
How tempting it is
to get ahead of it,
assume the worst.
That way, the world
won't let you down.
That way, the ones you
love won't wound you
because you've already
wounded yourself,
and there's no blood
left to bleed.
But the simple truth is,
there is absolutely no evidence
that this fire was intentional.
Not even the prosecutor
is claiming it was arson.
Okay. You're right.
But there's something else.
Something else I haven't
shared with any of you.
Okay.
Greg and I have this thing.
It's a ritual.
Sort of a promise we
made to each other.
If I'm asleep when he
gets home from work,
he wakes me up and kisses me.
And if he's asleep
when I get home...
You get the idea.
And you're mentioning
it because...?
Because we've been
doing it every night
since we got back together.
Every night, one of us gets
home later than the other.
Every night, except the
night of the fire.
The night of the fire,
he didn't wake me up.
It's the only time
and I cannot help but wonder,
is it because he wasn't at
home when he should've been?
And if he wasn't, where was he?
Thanks, Benny.
Danny.
See you in court.
You know where to find me.
I apologize if I seem dramatic.
Just...
a man lost his life.
I'm hoping it's a
terrible accident,
but it's possible it wasn't.
And I need to know.
I need to know who I married.
Want to share a cab?
Look, the fire science
can be subjective.
There's always room
for interpretation.
I know someone, an arson expert
with top-of-the-line equipment.
Like me to give her a call?
Might put your mind at ease.
I wouldn't mind having
a second opinion.
I'm a terrible wife.
[crying]: I should
just trust, right?
You're asking the Helen
Keller of marriage
whether or not he likes
the color of your dress.
[laughs]
You are who you are.
You can only do what you can do.
You can only be who you can be.
Dr. Bull, Chef Hansen.
Just finished a
little witness prep
and I believe he's good to go.
Thanks for doing this, Chef.
Happy to. Greg's my boy.
Anything I can do to help.
Well, not much to it.
Just need you to testify
to Greg's safety policies
and character as a
business owner.
No problem.
Do you think I have a little
time before you guys need me?
I'd love to go outside and
maybe walk a mile or so.
Trying to get my steps in.
[phone vibrates]The girlfriend
worries about my love affair
with butter and sugar and cream.
Checks the count every night.
[laughs] Yeah. No girlfriend,
but, uh, I count steps now, too.
Steps are gonna have to wait.
Benny says it's go time.
Let's do it.
Now the prosecution has
been trying to paint Greg
as a negligent boss.
A guy who doesn't like
to follow the rules.
Now, you worked for
him for eight years.
Now what's your
impression of him?
My impression?
The Briarcrest Room is the
best place I've ever worked.
Probably the best place
I ever will work.
Why is that?
[sighs]
A lot of restaurant
owners in this city
only care about status
and their bottom line.
Greg is not that guy.
He understands the business.
He cares about his product
and his customers.
He cares about his employees and
their futures, their lives.
He made me business partner
after six years of
working together.
Told me I was such a
valuable member of the team,
he couldn't bear
the thought of me
not profiting from my hard work.
I mean, come on,
that's pretty special.
It is indeed.
No further questions,
Your Honor.
Just one question for
you, Chef Hansen.
If Greg Valerian was
such an amazing boss
and you were so
lucky to be there,
then why were you looking
for another job?
Wait.
No, no, no, no, no.
That's not exactly true.
Oh, so you weren't interviewing
with other investors
and restaurants?
No.
Is that your sworn
testimony under oath?
Okay, I had started to
look around a little.
Sometimes you just
got to change it up.
DRAKE: I'm sorry. I
don't understand.
A minute and a half ago,
you were talking about
what a special place
the Briarcrest Room was and how
grateful you were to your boss,
and now you're saying you were
looking to "change it up"?
Greg had gotten busy.
Building a new
place in Brooklyn.
It was getting harder
to get his attention,
to get the answers I needed
to keep the kitchen
what it needed to be.
It sounds worse than it was.
You take some meetings.
You do some interviews.
Doesn't mean anything.
Oh, I beg to differ.
Now go back to where you said it
was "hard to get his attention."
Would you say that Greg had
been neglecting his duties
at the Briarcrest Room?
Objection!
I'll withdraw. No
further questions.
BENNY: We're starting to think
that the only way forward is
to put you on the stand, Greg.
Let you speak for yourself.
You guys go ahead.
I need a minute.
I just finished with
the arson expert.
And?
She said the fire inspector's
methodology was sound,
but she reran the chemical
samples through a system
using chromatography and
spectrographic analysis,
something the FDNY didn't
have access to on this case.
That was quite a drumroll.
She found traces of gasoline.
Gasoline's not commonly found
among restaurant
cleaning products?
No, it is not. The
fire was arson.
[knock on door]He
moved out of state.
You talk to Marissa yet?
No, and I'm not going
to and neither are you.
Dr. Bull, it was arson.
She has to know. We
have to tell her.
I mean, this is her life.
She was the one who had
misgivings in the first place.
I know it's her life,
which is why no one is
going to say anything
unless and until we have proof.
We have proof.
Proof the fire was arson,
not that Greg did it.
If we tell Marissa
that her husband is
criminally responsible
for the death of a man,
her marriage is over.
That is a bell we
cannot un-ring.
So...
before we go around broadcasting
something we suspect,
we need to find out if
our suspicions are true,
or, even better, if they're not.
♪
♪ I'm told the case
is now closed ♪
♪ So I can come
♪ To my senses
♪ But when the
question is posed ♪
♪ I'll have this
meager defense ♪
♪ I was hoping that you'd know
♪ Better than that
♪ I was hoping
♪ But you're an amateur
♪ I was hoping that
♪ You'd know better
♪ But I've
♪ Been wrong before...
CHUNK: Direct is the easy part.
That's when Benny will run you
through a series of questions
about how you run your business.
Every chance you get,
stress why you love
your restaurants,
and if you're honest and open,
the jury will feel that,
and they'll be more inclined
to believe what you say.
Simple as that?
It's as simple as that.
Now, cross-examination is where
we can run into trouble.
Pardon the interruption.
Greg.
You mind if I do the honors?
You want to prep Greg yourself?
Yeah, I just feel like
keeping my hand in.
Don't want to get rusty, and
Greg's kind of like family.
CHUNK: Whatever you say.
Thank you, Dr. Bull.
Taking the time.
Jason. Jason.
So why didn't you wake
your wife with a kiss
when you came home on
the night of the fire?
GREG: Hmm?
I really need to know.
Was it because you were
later than usual or...?
From what I understand,
you normally get home
between midnight and 1:00.
Of course, the fire was at 3:00.
I'm sorry, could you speak up?
I'm having trouble hearing you.
This is like... practice, right?
You're pretending
to be the woman
from the district
attorney's office?
Right?
They're just questions.
The answers shouldn't change
no matter who's
doing the asking.
Did Marissa say
something to you?
New subject, just curious. How
much do you stand to gain
from the fire insurance
policy on the restaurant?
What do you mean, gain?
The restaurant's gone.
JC is dead. No one
gains anything.
Except for insurance money.
How much is it? How
much do you get?
A lot.
But none of it's mine.
None of it's liquid.
All that money is committed
to rebuilding the restaurant.
Really? You weren't planning
on using it to repay investors
so you could keep
control of the company?
That's not how the
contract is written.
I have to use the money to
rebuild the restaurant.
The insurance company won't
give it to me otherwise.
Happy to show you the policy.
Excellent answer.
Now, what if someone said,
"Turns out it was
actually arson"?
GREG: [stammers] What
was actually arson?
And who is "someone"?
I'm saying it.
I hired the best
expert there is,
and she says it's arson.
So what I need to
know from you is:
Were you in on it?
Are you the one
that set the fire,
or did you just pay
to make it happen?
Do you believe in redemption?
I would need to know about
your transgressions first.
I am the reason my marriage
didn't work the first time.
My wife Marissa was away a lot,
and I felt that
gave me permission
to feel sorry for myself.
And feeling sorry for
yourself is no fun alone.
Getting her back
a second time...
is as close to a miracle as I
am ever likely to experience.
The night you're asking about,
I got home at the regular
time, but I was exhausted.
Like, sleep-in-your-clothes
exhausted.
And she looked so... content.
So... beautiful...
lying there, asleep.
So I thought, okay.
We've gotten there.
I'm not gonna wake her up.
I don't have to.
She doesn't need me to do that.
She knows I love her.
I can see it on her face.
Guess I was wrong.
BULL: Okay.
But did you set the fire?
My other transgressions,
my lifetime of transgressions
ceased to matter the day I broke
ground on that restaurant.
I was determined, despite
all the bad choices
I might have made in my past,
despite having always been told
that I would never
amount to anything...
To build a beautiful thing,
an enchanted place where people
could have magical experiences.
Where I would employ
people and train people,
serve fabulous food and
intoxicating drinks.
But the best part...
was after all the
people had left,
after all the chairs
were on the table.
I would sit there alone,
thinking...
look at what I did.
Look what I built.
None of this would exist
if it wasn't for me.
I would no more put a
match to that place
than I would betray my wife.
They are... my redemption.
They are my salvation.
Well, for what it's worth,
I think you'll make
an excellent witness.
Now we just have to figure
out who did set that fire.
Preferably within
the next 18 hours.
I checked out the
insurance policy,
and Greg was telling the truth.
He has no access to the payout.
It has to be spent to
rebuild the restaurant.
And if for some reason
they elect not to rebuild,
the only people who
get any money at all
are the original investors,
and they only get enough
to be made whole.
So, no one stood to
profit from the fire?
Well, one person did.
Six years after the
restaurant was opened,
Chef Hansen was made a partner.
Not because he
invested any capital,
but as an inducement to
keep him from ever leaving.
So, as it happens, he
would be the only one
to walk away from
this with fresh cash.
And he needs cash.
Hansen wasn't looking
for a new job.
He was looking for partners
for his own restaurant.
He made an offer for a
place in the Bowery.
He just needed money
for the down payment.
Sounds like Hansen
might be our arsonist.
Yeah. And if we're gonna
introduce arson in court,
we need something solid...
Real proof that it
wasn't our client.
And we have to do
it in the next...
You all right, boss?
Taylor, you have your
laptop with you?
Great. We have work to do.
BENNY: Chef Hansen...
thank you for agreeing
to take the stand one more time.
Happy to do it.
BENNY: Just for the
record, what time did you
close the restaurant on
the night of the fire?
I think I locked up
around 1:00 a.m.
And then what did you do?
Grabbed a drink with
Kim, my sous chef.
At the Rosemead
Pub, is that right?
Yes. That's right.
And when did you leave
the pub, would you say?
Objection! Your
Honor, relevance?
As riveting as the minutia of Mr.
Hansen's evening is,
I don't see what it has
to do with the case.
Your Honor, I guarantee you
will see the relevance
if you'll allow me to continue.
Get to the point, Mr. Colón.
Quickly.
So what time did
you leave the pub?
I hopped a cab home
around 2:30, I think.
And you went straight home?
You didn't stop anywhere first?
No. I was tired. I
just went home.
Ah.
Your Honor, we'd like
to enter into evidence
the GPS data from Chef
Hansen's smartwatch
on the night of the fire.
Objection!
The smartwatch app
is open-source.
The A.D.A. had the same access
to this information as we did.
I'll allow it.
BENNY: Thank you, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Chef Hansen, were you
wearing your smartwatch
on the night of the fire?
It certainly looks
like you were.
It-it corroborates
your testimony.
You-you left the
restaurant at 1:00 a.m.,
then on to the Rosemead.
The only thing is... it doesn't
have you going straight home
after you left the bar.
Your smartwatch app
has you going back
to the Briarcrest Room.
As a matter of fact,
the GPS data has you
in the restaurant from
2:52 to 3:07 a.m.
Actually... I forgot
my knife roll.
Keep my knives in it.
I've had it for 20 years. I
had to go back and get it.
So, what, you just forgot
about that when I asked you?
I mean... it wasn't a big deal.
But on this night,
there was a fire.
Right around the
time your watch says
you went back to the restaurant.
You sure you didn't start a fire
so that you could use your
cut of the insurance money
to put a down payment
on your own place?
Never mind. No further
questions, Your Honor.
Man...
We the jury find the
defendant, Greg Valerian,
not guilty.
MARISSA [gasps]: Oh,
my...[gavel bangs]
[mouths]: Thank you.
[mouths]: You're welcome.
[laughing]: I am
really, really happy.
Aren't you really, really happy?
Honestly, I'm...
kind of confused.
You told your boss
about our kiss thing?
You made an issue out of not
getting a kiss that night?
Because you thought it meant
I must have been out
late setting a fire.
No. Of course not.
I just...
You just. I know.
You just can't help yourself.
You are the sum of
your experiences,
as you love to remind me.
And so many of your
experiences have been...
not great.
Your first experience with me...
not great.
So I get it.
But I don't know if
I can accept it.
I wanted you beside me.
Behind me.
Believing in me.
Never really felt
you were there.
Um...
I don't disagree with
anything you said.
I'm not proud of it.
I wanted to be there for you.
But I am who I am.
I can only do what I can do.
And I can only be who I can be.
Please give me time.
Please give me a
chance to learn.
What was that?
I just wanted to let
you know I was home.
[cries]
Come on.
Let's go to bed.
♪
No further questions,
Your Honor.
TAYLOR: Good news for our team.
Starting to see a
little burst of green.
We'd like to redirect,
Your Honor.
Go ahead.
DRAKE: So, Fire
Marshal Anderson,
regardless if the fire was
ignited by a cigarette
or any number of other things
that could have gotten
through that faulty vent,
were it not for the
grease buildup
and the improperly
stored chemicals,
wouldn't Mr. Morales
still be alive?
No accelerant, no expl*si*n.
So yes, I believe he would.
Thank you. No further questions.
You Michael Davis?
Cesar Caputo. Who wants to know?
My name is Danny James.
I'm working on Greg
Valerian's defense team.
Investigating the
Briarcrest Room fire?
I have an inspection
report here saying
that the restaurant's
exhaust vents were cleaned
by this company two months ago.
I'm looking for the guy that
signed it, Michael Davis.
Yeah, well... [chuckles]
If you find him, tell him
I want my tools back.
He's not here? He's not here.
He's not anywhere.
Hey.
This is your company, right, Mr.
Caputo?
Can you explain to me how
there could have been
five months of grease
in those vents,
if this guy Davis did
what he said he did?
Well, I think you just answered
your own question, didn't you?
Look, 80% of our guys
have been here since they
graduated high school.
They're grateful for the job,
and they take the
responsibility seriously.
But the other 20? It's
like a revolving door.
Nobody dreams of
crawling through
greasy ducts for a living,
spending all day
breathing in solvents.
It doesn't matter how
much you pay them.
'Cause sometimes they can make
more for not doing the job.
All right? Guy
owns a restaurant,
he needs the kitchen that
morning for a catering job,
or simply can't be bothered
having somebody
that'll let us in.
Now, mind you, I have
no idea what happened.
Davis is long gone,
I can't find him.
For all I know, he did
what he was supposed to do
and that's why he
signed the paper.
And by the way,
you call me into court,
that's what I'm gonna say.
DANNY: He claims he
doesn't know anything.
But he did strongly imply
that if those ducts
weren't clean,
it's because Greg didn't
want them cleaned.
Oh. Sorry I'm late.
Didn't realize we were
having a meeting.
Nothing important. Just
the usual postmortem.
You really don't
need to be here.
In fact, aren't
there other places,
other people, it would
make more sense for you
to be spending time with?
I think that's for me to decide.
Don't forget, I actually
have two dogs in this fight.
My husband, and TAC.
I may lose one. I am
not gonna lose both.
Now why wouldn't Greg
want those ducts cleaned?
Nobody knows anything.
These are just theories.
Marissa...
I might know.
Greg's fire insurance policy.
It would have given him more
than enough to cover his debts.
Marissa, we all know how
hard this is for you.
How tempting it is
to get ahead of it,
assume the worst.
That way, the world
won't let you down.
That way, the ones you
love won't wound you
because you've already
wounded yourself,
and there's no blood
left to bleed.
But the simple truth is,
there is absolutely no evidence
that this fire was intentional.
Not even the prosecutor
is claiming it was arson.
Okay. You're right.
But there's something else.
Something else I haven't
shared with any of you.
Okay.
Greg and I have this thing.
It's a ritual.
Sort of a promise we
made to each other.
If I'm asleep when he
gets home from work,
he wakes me up and kisses me.
And if he's asleep
when I get home...
You get the idea.
And you're mentioning
it because...?
Because we've been
doing it every night
since we got back together.
Every night, one of us gets
home later than the other.
Every night, except the
night of the fire.
The night of the fire,
he didn't wake me up.
It's the only time
and I cannot help but wonder,
is it because he wasn't at
home when he should've been?
And if he wasn't, where was he?
Thanks, Benny.
Danny.
See you in court.
You know where to find me.
I apologize if I seem dramatic.
Just...
a man lost his life.
I'm hoping it's a
terrible accident,
but it's possible it wasn't.
And I need to know.
I need to know who I married.
Want to share a cab?
Look, the fire science
can be subjective.
There's always room
for interpretation.
I know someone, an arson expert
with top-of-the-line equipment.
Like me to give her a call?
Might put your mind at ease.
I wouldn't mind having
a second opinion.
I'm a terrible wife.
[crying]: I should
just trust, right?
You're asking the Helen
Keller of marriage
whether or not he likes
the color of your dress.
[laughs]
You are who you are.
You can only do what you can do.
You can only be who you can be.
Dr. Bull, Chef Hansen.
Just finished a
little witness prep
and I believe he's good to go.
Thanks for doing this, Chef.
Happy to. Greg's my boy.
Anything I can do to help.
Well, not much to it.
Just need you to testify
to Greg's safety policies
and character as a
business owner.
No problem.
Do you think I have a little
time before you guys need me?
I'd love to go outside and
maybe walk a mile or so.
Trying to get my steps in.
[phone vibrates]The girlfriend
worries about my love affair
with butter and sugar and cream.
Checks the count every night.
[laughs] Yeah. No girlfriend,
but, uh, I count steps now, too.
Steps are gonna have to wait.
Benny says it's go time.
Let's do it.
Now the prosecution has
been trying to paint Greg
as a negligent boss.
A guy who doesn't like
to follow the rules.
Now, you worked for
him for eight years.
Now what's your
impression of him?
My impression?
The Briarcrest Room is the
best place I've ever worked.
Probably the best place
I ever will work.
Why is that?
[sighs]
A lot of restaurant
owners in this city
only care about status
and their bottom line.
Greg is not that guy.
He understands the business.
He cares about his product
and his customers.
He cares about his employees and
their futures, their lives.
He made me business partner
after six years of
working together.
Told me I was such a
valuable member of the team,
he couldn't bear
the thought of me
not profiting from my hard work.
I mean, come on,
that's pretty special.
It is indeed.
No further questions,
Your Honor.
Just one question for
you, Chef Hansen.
If Greg Valerian was
such an amazing boss
and you were so
lucky to be there,
then why were you looking
for another job?
Wait.
No, no, no, no, no.
That's not exactly true.
Oh, so you weren't interviewing
with other investors
and restaurants?
No.
Is that your sworn
testimony under oath?
Okay, I had started to
look around a little.
Sometimes you just
got to change it up.
DRAKE: I'm sorry. I
don't understand.
A minute and a half ago,
you were talking about
what a special place
the Briarcrest Room was and how
grateful you were to your boss,
and now you're saying you were
looking to "change it up"?
Greg had gotten busy.
Building a new
place in Brooklyn.
It was getting harder
to get his attention,
to get the answers I needed
to keep the kitchen
what it needed to be.
It sounds worse than it was.
You take some meetings.
You do some interviews.
Doesn't mean anything.
Oh, I beg to differ.
Now go back to where you said it
was "hard to get his attention."
Would you say that Greg had
been neglecting his duties
at the Briarcrest Room?
Objection!
I'll withdraw. No
further questions.
BENNY: We're starting to think
that the only way forward is
to put you on the stand, Greg.
Let you speak for yourself.
You guys go ahead.
I need a minute.
I just finished with
the arson expert.
And?
She said the fire inspector's
methodology was sound,
but she reran the chemical
samples through a system
using chromatography and
spectrographic analysis,
something the FDNY didn't
have access to on this case.
That was quite a drumroll.
She found traces of gasoline.
Gasoline's not commonly found
among restaurant
cleaning products?
No, it is not. The
fire was arson.
[knock on door]He
moved out of state.
You talk to Marissa yet?
No, and I'm not going
to and neither are you.
Dr. Bull, it was arson.
She has to know. We
have to tell her.
I mean, this is her life.
She was the one who had
misgivings in the first place.
I know it's her life,
which is why no one is
going to say anything
unless and until we have proof.
We have proof.
Proof the fire was arson,
not that Greg did it.
If we tell Marissa
that her husband is
criminally responsible
for the death of a man,
her marriage is over.
That is a bell we
cannot un-ring.
So...
before we go around broadcasting
something we suspect,
we need to find out if
our suspicions are true,
or, even better, if they're not.
♪
♪ I'm told the case
is now closed ♪
♪ So I can come
♪ To my senses
♪ But when the
question is posed ♪
♪ I'll have this
meager defense ♪
♪ I was hoping that you'd know
♪ Better than that
♪ I was hoping
♪ But you're an amateur
♪ I was hoping that
♪ You'd know better
♪ But I've
♪ Been wrong before...
CHUNK: Direct is the easy part.
That's when Benny will run you
through a series of questions
about how you run your business.
Every chance you get,
stress why you love
your restaurants,
and if you're honest and open,
the jury will feel that,
and they'll be more inclined
to believe what you say.
Simple as that?
It's as simple as that.
Now, cross-examination is where
we can run into trouble.
Pardon the interruption.
Greg.
You mind if I do the honors?
You want to prep Greg yourself?
Yeah, I just feel like
keeping my hand in.
Don't want to get rusty, and
Greg's kind of like family.
CHUNK: Whatever you say.
Thank you, Dr. Bull.
Taking the time.
Jason. Jason.
So why didn't you wake
your wife with a kiss
when you came home on
the night of the fire?
GREG: Hmm?
I really need to know.
Was it because you were
later than usual or...?
From what I understand,
you normally get home
between midnight and 1:00.
Of course, the fire was at 3:00.
I'm sorry, could you speak up?
I'm having trouble hearing you.
This is like... practice, right?
You're pretending
to be the woman
from the district
attorney's office?
Right?
They're just questions.
The answers shouldn't change
no matter who's
doing the asking.
Did Marissa say
something to you?
New subject, just curious. How
much do you stand to gain
from the fire insurance
policy on the restaurant?
What do you mean, gain?
The restaurant's gone.
JC is dead. No one
gains anything.
Except for insurance money.
How much is it? How
much do you get?
A lot.
But none of it's mine.
None of it's liquid.
All that money is committed
to rebuilding the restaurant.
Really? You weren't planning
on using it to repay investors
so you could keep
control of the company?
That's not how the
contract is written.
I have to use the money to
rebuild the restaurant.
The insurance company won't
give it to me otherwise.
Happy to show you the policy.
Excellent answer.
Now, what if someone said,
"Turns out it was
actually arson"?
GREG: [stammers] What
was actually arson?
And who is "someone"?
I'm saying it.
I hired the best
expert there is,
and she says it's arson.
So what I need to
know from you is:
Were you in on it?
Are you the one
that set the fire,
or did you just pay
to make it happen?
Do you believe in redemption?
I would need to know about
your transgressions first.
I am the reason my marriage
didn't work the first time.
My wife Marissa was away a lot,
and I felt that
gave me permission
to feel sorry for myself.
And feeling sorry for
yourself is no fun alone.
Getting her back
a second time...
is as close to a miracle as I
am ever likely to experience.
The night you're asking about,
I got home at the regular
time, but I was exhausted.
Like, sleep-in-your-clothes
exhausted.
And she looked so... content.
So... beautiful...
lying there, asleep.
So I thought, okay.
We've gotten there.
I'm not gonna wake her up.
I don't have to.
She doesn't need me to do that.
She knows I love her.
I can see it on her face.
Guess I was wrong.
BULL: Okay.
But did you set the fire?
My other transgressions,
my lifetime of transgressions
ceased to matter the day I broke
ground on that restaurant.
I was determined, despite
all the bad choices
I might have made in my past,
despite having always been told
that I would never
amount to anything...
To build a beautiful thing,
an enchanted place where people
could have magical experiences.
Where I would employ
people and train people,
serve fabulous food and
intoxicating drinks.
But the best part...
was after all the
people had left,
after all the chairs
were on the table.
I would sit there alone,
thinking...
look at what I did.
Look what I built.
None of this would exist
if it wasn't for me.
I would no more put a
match to that place
than I would betray my wife.
They are... my redemption.
They are my salvation.
Well, for what it's worth,
I think you'll make
an excellent witness.
Now we just have to figure
out who did set that fire.
Preferably within
the next 18 hours.
I checked out the
insurance policy,
and Greg was telling the truth.
He has no access to the payout.
It has to be spent to
rebuild the restaurant.
And if for some reason
they elect not to rebuild,
the only people who
get any money at all
are the original investors,
and they only get enough
to be made whole.
So, no one stood to
profit from the fire?
Well, one person did.
Six years after the
restaurant was opened,
Chef Hansen was made a partner.
Not because he
invested any capital,
but as an inducement to
keep him from ever leaving.
So, as it happens, he
would be the only one
to walk away from
this with fresh cash.
And he needs cash.
Hansen wasn't looking
for a new job.
He was looking for partners
for his own restaurant.
He made an offer for a
place in the Bowery.
He just needed money
for the down payment.
Sounds like Hansen
might be our arsonist.
Yeah. And if we're gonna
introduce arson in court,
we need something solid...
Real proof that it
wasn't our client.
And we have to do
it in the next...
You all right, boss?
Taylor, you have your
laptop with you?
Great. We have work to do.
BENNY: Chef Hansen...
thank you for agreeing
to take the stand one more time.
Happy to do it.
BENNY: Just for the
record, what time did you
close the restaurant on
the night of the fire?
I think I locked up
around 1:00 a.m.
And then what did you do?
Grabbed a drink with
Kim, my sous chef.
At the Rosemead
Pub, is that right?
Yes. That's right.
And when did you leave
the pub, would you say?
Objection! Your
Honor, relevance?
As riveting as the minutia of Mr.
Hansen's evening is,
I don't see what it has
to do with the case.
Your Honor, I guarantee you
will see the relevance
if you'll allow me to continue.
Get to the point, Mr. Colón.
Quickly.
So what time did
you leave the pub?
I hopped a cab home
around 2:30, I think.
And you went straight home?
You didn't stop anywhere first?
No. I was tired. I
just went home.
Ah.
Your Honor, we'd like
to enter into evidence
the GPS data from Chef
Hansen's smartwatch
on the night of the fire.
Objection!
The smartwatch app
is open-source.
The A.D.A. had the same access
to this information as we did.
I'll allow it.
BENNY: Thank you, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Chef Hansen, were you
wearing your smartwatch
on the night of the fire?
It certainly looks
like you were.
It-it corroborates
your testimony.
You-you left the
restaurant at 1:00 a.m.,
then on to the Rosemead.
The only thing is... it doesn't
have you going straight home
after you left the bar.
Your smartwatch app
has you going back
to the Briarcrest Room.
As a matter of fact,
the GPS data has you
in the restaurant from
2:52 to 3:07 a.m.
Actually... I forgot
my knife roll.
Keep my knives in it.
I've had it for 20 years. I
had to go back and get it.
So, what, you just forgot
about that when I asked you?
I mean... it wasn't a big deal.
But on this night,
there was a fire.
Right around the
time your watch says
you went back to the restaurant.
You sure you didn't start a fire
so that you could use your
cut of the insurance money
to put a down payment
on your own place?
Never mind. No further
questions, Your Honor.
Man...
We the jury find the
defendant, Greg Valerian,
not guilty.
MARISSA [gasps]: Oh,
my...[gavel bangs]
[mouths]: Thank you.
[mouths]: You're welcome.
[laughing]: I am
really, really happy.
Aren't you really, really happy?
Honestly, I'm...
kind of confused.
You told your boss
about our kiss thing?
You made an issue out of not
getting a kiss that night?
Because you thought it meant
I must have been out
late setting a fire.
No. Of course not.
I just...
You just. I know.
You just can't help yourself.
You are the sum of
your experiences,
as you love to remind me.
And so many of your
experiences have been...
not great.
Your first experience with me...
not great.
So I get it.
But I don't know if
I can accept it.
I wanted you beside me.
Behind me.
Believing in me.
Never really felt
you were there.
Um...
I don't disagree with
anything you said.
I'm not proud of it.
I wanted to be there for you.
But I am who I am.
I can only do what I can do.
And I can only be who I can be.
Please give me time.
Please give me a
chance to learn.
What was that?
I just wanted to let
you know I was home.
[cries]
Come on.
Let's go to bed.
♪