Law & Order

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.

Your mom knew I was dropping you off this morning, right?

I think so.

Mommy, then can Katie sleep over again?

Please, Mom?

Oh, my God, Danielle.

I've been knocking for ten minutes.

I'm just dealing with some things

between me and Frankie.

Well, nobody said marriage wasn't work, right?

Katie had a blast.

Can you take her for the day?

Please, Mommy! Can I please!

Come on, Mom.

I'm already running late for my shift.

And Jenny's going to the babysitter.

Just this one time.

Next time.

Next weekend I can do it. I promise.

Bye. Bye.

Look, I know you and Frankie need to work some stuff out...

Yeah.

Next time I'll take her for two nights.

All right.

Danielle.

Are you sure you're okay?

Yeah. Everything's fine.

I have to go now.

The four DOAs are a family.

Last name Andreas.

Who called it in?

The super. Found the bodies a little before 10:00.

I got one of my guys sitting with him downstairs.

He's pretty shaken up. Hold him.

We'll talk to him when we're done here.

Looks like two kids, mother, grandmother.

See the condensation?

They were alive when they got bagged.

Asphyxiation would've kept things quiet.

It's a slow way to go.

Probably three or four minutes before they lost consciousness.

You got a time of death?

The bodies are still warm, no rigor.

So less than four hours?

There's no forced entry off the fire escape

or the front door.

Could have been a push-in.

I don't know. The place isn't tossed.

It doesn't look like a robbery to me.

There's no obvious signs of a sex crime either.

Now, whatever it was, when that duct tape came out,

they didn't stand a chance.

Bind and kill four victims, that had to take some time.

And more than one suspect.

The mail was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Andreas.

I suppose he's the man of the house.

I'd like to know where he was

when his family was being slaughtered.

It was about 9:45.

I was mopping the floor in the basement

when Mr. Andreas called.

That's Frank Andreas, right?

Yeah, from 4B.

His usual call is, like, a clogged toilet, you know?

What'd he say?

He wasn't making any sense.

Saying they got to his family.

And he wanted you to check on them.

I wasn't gonna at first.

You know, Frankie and Danielle's

always in some kind of tiff.

Last I heard, she kicked him out of the house.

Ah, geez.

What changed your mind about going up?

Well, when I was coming up the stairs,

I saw two strange guys going out the door.

I got a bad feeling.

What did they look like?

One was white, the other guy was black.

I didn't see faces.

About how old?

25, 30.

Mr. Andreas say where he was?

Nope, but I got his number on my cell.

You know, the last time they separated

he lived out of the back of his store.

What store is that?

He's got a gift shop.

9th and 43rd.

Sells souvenirs.

NYPD closed this place down two weeks ago.

It got raided. I wonder what he was selling.

Excuse me, sir.

You have any idea why they padlocked this place?

Bogus merchandise.

Cops backed up a truck, took the entire inventory.

We're looking for a guy named Frank Andreas.

They took him, too, in handcuffs.

Haven't seen him since.

The fraud unit raided Andres' store

to seize pirated DVDs.

Come to find out he's selling NYPD equipment

out the back.

And I'm talking uniforms, raid jackets, scanners.

The real thing?

en route to supply.

If he's selling it on the black market,

who knows who he's dealing to?

A lot of these home invasion crews,

they pose as cops.

We're thinking Andreas might have been supplying them.

Is he out on bail?

He was ROR'ed a week after his arrest.

Andy home invasions out there

with a similar MO?

There's some open homicides

related to drug robberies.

But you're thinking they weren't looking

for drugs or money.

The dump from the home phone has a dozen calls

to Andreas' cell from 4:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

Calls from the wife.

Or the suspects trying to lure him back home.

They waited at least five hours.

He never showed up.

That's a lot of exposure.

They want him bad.

Which means they're not gonna give up,

and we need to find Andreas before they do.

What about the cell number?

Went straight to voice mail.

Well, the case is still open.

Who's the ADA?

Andreas was selling more than stolen police equipment.

He was also pushing counterfeit DEA badges.

Wait a minute, I thought after 911

we were prosecuting that sort of thing more seriously.

How'd he walk?

The ROR was incentive.

Andreas isn't the biggest fish here.

What'd you release him for?

Well, he told me that he sold the shields to two men.

Couldn't give a positive ID.

But he told me enough that I linked them to this.

The robbery of a drug house

on Dyckman Street in Washington Heights.

Three people were murdered.

They used those badges to gain entry.

According to an eyewitness.

So you let him go so he could find out who did this?

He said he could work his contacts on the street,

come up with their names if not the location.

He give you a description?

One black, one white.

So if they heard that Andreas was out on the street,

It could be the connection between

your phony shield case and our home invasion case.

his financials, everything.

The guy's not coming up for air.

I don't know where he is.

You think he talks to his lawyer?

He's paranoid. He won't even come to my office.

But if you're in contact with him...

Andreas called me twice, that's it.

Said he threw his phone in the Hudson

so they couldn't trace it.

You get what I'm dealing with?

He gets in touch with you again,

let him know that he'll get protective custody.

He's not interested, I'm telling you.

Hey, we're trying to save his life.

Better the offer.

Are you listening to me?

They killed his family. They will kill him too.

Hey, I smell leverage. It's my nature.

This guy winds up with a bullet in him,

I will make damn sure everyone knows why.

I'll see what I can do.

Frank Andreas?

My lawyer says you're the two detectives

taking care of my family. Is that right?

Sorry for your loss, man.

I used to come here every Sunday with my two kids.

No wife, no work.

Just two hours a week when everything seemed okay.

And now I got 'em all killed, didn't I?

Why don't we talk about this down at the station?

I wanted to go to them.

But they would have killed me too.

I mean, you understand, don't you?

Come on.

Come on.

Let's go.

Your wife's personal effects.

Danielle's engagement ring.