Chicago Justice

I need for you to stay back, ma'am,

for your own safety.

- Evan! - Stay back!

Ma'am, stop!

- No, he's my husband! - Stay here.

Ma'am. Ma'am, I...

What the hell happened?

The crane was lifting an I-beam,

and boom, the jib arm smacked into the building,

takes out six floors just like that.

Poor bastard, sitting in the car.

That was all she wrote.

- Anyone else? - We're still looking.

- Ma'am, for your own safety... - He wasn't supposed to be here.

- I need you stay back! - No, you're not...

- Ma'am. - Evan, stay with me.

- Officer! -

Here's the crane operator.

He just transferred to this job two days ago.

He's my husband! Evan!

Help him!

I got it on the citywide.

When I heard a building went down, I just...

I went to the same place. How bad?

There's four injured,

and this guy, Evan Wheeler.

She's lucky she got out of the car.

She's lucky she never got in it.

She was at home on the phone with him when she...

- Ah, damn. -

Evan!

Oh, my God, Evan!

She's Frank Linden's daughter.

- The Frank Linden? - Yeah, this is his project.

Evan was running it for him.

Mr. Benzinger, we're from the state's attorney's office.

Can't this wait?

He's got two broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

- Sorry, we'll be quick. - It's okay, Kyra.

- Can you tell us what happened? - I'm not sure myself.

21 years operating a crane, nothing like this ever happened.

- It's not your fault, John. - I never said it was.

If you could tell us what happened.

I get to the site around 7:00 a.m.,

check the paper, uh, drink some coffee.

- When did you get on the rig? - 7:30 on the nose.

Next thing I know, I'm upside down,

concrete, metal flying all around me.

Thought it was all over.

How much did you have to drink last night?

- You're kidding, right? -

John, you don't have to answer that.

It's all right.

One beer after shift, and another when I got home.

- So two beers? That's it? - That's what he said.

And I don't like what you're implying.

What about drugs?

See? They're going to pin this on you.

I never even smoked weed in high school.

Sure as hell not gonna start now.

Look, my husband needs his rest.

You wanna know anything else, you can talk to his union rep.

Why did you get transferred to Riverfront?

Good-bye.

Sorry.

I was at a new project in Havana.

I came as soon as I heard.

- How's Sarah? - In shock, you know.

We're all in shock.

Oh, God.

What's the point, Mark, you know?

What... what good is any of it if we can't protect our kids?

I mean, you were at their wedding.

I'm really sorry, Frank.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

- What can we do to help? - Well, we heard

the crane operator tested positive for cocaine,

and that he was written up three years ago

for being drunk on the job.

- Where did you hear that? - I apologize for my son.

He's a brilliant attorney, but apparently

they don't teach discretion at law school...

- How... how did you... - So I'm just gonna let it go.

Evan and Brett, they were very close.

They were like brothers.

We went to school together.

And Evan graduated, what, third in your class?

- Yes. - Yeah, such a good kid.

Great family from Philly.

He was like a son, you know. He was a son to me.

Oh, I gotta go look after Sarah.

Get to the bottom of this, will ya?

- Mm-hmm. - And anything I can do,

you just let me know.

Thank you. Thank you.

He didn't answer my question.

When you're worth several billion dollars,

people take your calls.

There's a word for that.

Yes, it's called loyalty.

I want you running point on this.

I swear, Annaleigh can make a mess while she's sleeping.

Do you have kids?

I don't.

The best of times, the... The worst of times.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Wheeler. This won't take long.

No, I'm okay.

Why was Evan at the site?

I have no idea.

Did he ever mention any problems at the site?

Trouble between any of the workers?

No.

Do you think someone who worked for us drugged Benzinger?

Honestly, we don't know what happened.

You, uh... you work for your dad too, don't you?

Oh, haven't you heard?

I'm Frank Linden's financial brain.

Everything associated with Frank has to be the best.

Including his kids.

Mm.

But Evan...

Evan really was brilliant...

and kind...

and good at what he does.

You told my investigators that you were on the phone

with your husband just before the collapse.

Is there anything else you can remember about that?

Uh, we had a bad connection.

I just...

heard this explosion.

I tried to call him back, but I...

He didn't pick up.

I turned on Channel 5, heard about the accident,

and I got to the site as quickly as I could.

Mommy! Mommy!

Annaleigh, sweetie.

Mommy's talking to the nice man.

How old are you? Nine? Ten?

- No, four. - Oh, four?

Come here.

Give us a minute, okay?

I still haven't told her yet.

I mean, how do you tell a four-year-old

her daddy's never coming home?

The crane snapped in six different places.

We were lucky that only one person got hit.

That time in the morning, smart money's on a pillow.

Preferably one's own.

This is where the main boom pins should be.

After they snapped, the tonnage and the jib

cut through the construction project.

The boom cracked, pieces went flying in different directions.

One landing on Mr. Wheeler's car.

Right.

And you don't think this could've been caused

by the operator being high on cocaine?

Contributing factor, maybe,

but the boom pins being connected to the jib

would've acted like a kill switch.

Hey, Chief!

Looks like we found one.

Thanks.

What's that?

This is a boom pin.

- See this? - What?

Well, you can barely see it, but those veins.

That is where the boom pin...

- Broke. - Whoa.

This has been treated with difluoroethane.

Which is?

It can freeze metal

to minus 167 degrees.

Makes it brittle enough to break.

So all this because of that?

Someone wanted that crane to collapse.

So the crane operator was a patsy?

Looks like. They tested his thermos.

Let me guess, positive for cocaine?

Not only positive. Pure.

There's no way a guy like Benzinger

gets that on the streets of Chicago.

Someone drugged his thermos, knowing his work history.

And maybe somehow transferred him

to Riverfront two days before the crash.

- We'll hit the union tomorrow. - Don't bother.

The site foreman referred me to the shop steward,

who referred me to their labor lawyer.

Who claimed privilege.

This would be an easier gig, if not for the lawyers.

Thanks.

- Hi, guys. - We may have something.

We know that the crane was still working properly

when the site closed at 8:00.