Blue Bloods

- What do we got? - Lorenzo Aspromonte.

55. Owned the place.

Looks like multiple gunshots to the chest.

Probably happened sometime last night.

Oh, man.

You knew him?

Well, we hung out here as kids.

Place hasn't changed at all.

They hit the register?

No. And no sign of forced entry.

Girl over there found the body.

Thanks.

What's your name?

Carmen Russo.

I'm the assistant manager.

You worked for the deceased?

Since high school.

I can't believe this happened.

When's the last time you saw him alive?

Last night.

I-I left around 11:00.

He and Angelica open and close the place.

- Angelica? - Lorenzo's daughter.

She manages the restaurant.

If Angelica opens the place,

how come it wasn't her who found the body?

She didn't show up this morning.

Did she call in?

No.

How did Angelica and her old man get along?

I mean, you know, working with family can be tough.

We're gonna need to speak to Angelica.

You remind me of a partner I used to have.

I bet she was way better rested.

You're signing out kind of late.

There was another cab robbery.

- Makes, what, four this month? - Five.

All early mornings

when they're coming off a night shift, full of cash.

I told Sergeant McNichols we should run a decoy operation,

me as the driver.

Any of the other victims women?

I'm not sure. Why?

You generally want the decoy to resemble the victims.

Oh.

I got a steak sandwich for you in the fridge.

Breakfast of champions.

Animal came clean on every charge.

He's toast.

You'd think so.

No, I know so.

The confession was taken by Detective Kim Andrews.

- Yeah, so? - She's on the D.A.'s naughty list.

His what?

The D.A. started a list of NYPD officers

with adverse credibility findings.

In English, please?

They get blackballed.

And why is Andrews on this list?

A judge threw out a confession she elicited

from a sexual assault case two years ago.

Well, that was then.

This is now. That doesn't mean Kent's

confession won't hold up.

The D.A. has a responsibility

to consider credibility problems that might impede a conviction.

This prick

targets disabled victims in home invasions.

He's the worst kind of scumbag.

It's got to be worth a shot.

Not according to the boss.

This a joke?

I wish it was, boss.

We have a signed confession.

- Yeah. - We do, but...

Someone else confess to the crimes?

- No, sir. - Then someone please tell me

how this predator is gonna go free.

They got a naughty list.

A what?

The D.A.'s keeping a confidential list

of NYPD officers whose record could impede convictions.

Last time I checked, I thought it was my job

to evaluate the fitness of my officers.

Damn straight.

To be fair, the D.A.'s office has limited resources.

Which they're deploying to be unfair to our cops!

What about our resources?

We created a special task force

- to identify and arrest this guy. - Just the messenger here.

And they're not even saying Kent's confession is messed up.

They're saying anything this detective brings

ain't getting prosecuted.

Which means her career is effectively over

along with anyone else on the D.A.'s "naughty list."

And this isn't a letter to Santa.

Let's call it what it is:

a blacklist.

Angelica's not in her apartment.

Or answering her cell phone.

You speak to her mother?

Yeah. She hasn't spoken to Angelica

since yesterday morning.

Coworkers say the restaurant is her life... 24-7.

Yeah, well, it's a funny time to play hooky.

Let's issue a want-card.

Yeah. Will do.

Bartender said Angelica and her father

were going at it pretty good last night.

What about?

Well, apparently, the restaurant isn't doing too well.

Angelica wants to redecorate, change the menu.

- Her father wasn't having it. - That's no reason to shoot him.

Well, Angelica's next in line to inherit the place.

If she feels that he's running it into the ground...

Well, if the Reagans killed each other

every time they had a disagreement, there'd be nobody left at

the Sunday dinner table.

Baez.

Got it. Thanks.

Angelica Aspromonte had a handgun registered

to her name. Same caliber as the murder weapon.

And there's that.

You know, I have every right to expect the D.A. himself.

He's on the way to Albany.

Ground rules, then.

You take his place in a sit-down, you take his heat.

I'm fully capable of representing our office.

Are you keeping a blacklist of my officers?

I wouldn't call it that.

Well, I would.

Sidelining cops based on unproven allegations,

keeping a no-fly list for prosecutions.

We have to assess the strength of every case,

including the credibility of the cops involved.

Which is fine on a retail basis.

But a blacklist?

That's something else altogether.

- The D.A. feels that... - Oh, no.

No laying it off on a third party.

Our office takes the position

that going to trial with a compromised officer

- would be... - "Compromised"?

I don't recall seeing that in the Patrol Guide

regarding an officer's integrity.

It's the D.A.'s term.

Then I would like to read the protocol he used

to arrive at that designation.

There isn't an official protocol.

Okay. I would like to review the appeal process for my officers.

Figured.

And do your detectives gather evidence

using a standard set of diagrams and equations?

Figured.

- It's completely different. - Not only cops play hunches.

We do, too. And it is our hunch the defense will highlight

your detective's past missteps and Kent will walk.

It's not a hunch. It's a blackballing.

It's a hunch, and one based on a set

of well-known probabilities.

Now, I'm not saying that this is ideal by any stretch.

Then why are you here defending it?

The D.A. is my boss.

And, at my level, my most senior partner.

And I know you understand partners.

Did you tell him he's dead wrong?

Does Lieutenant GORMLEY walk in here

and tell you you're dead wrong?

Or does he offer diverging viewpoints?

You're lawyering me. I hate that.

You're patronizing me. I hate that.

So, what, you're just following orders?

Is that it?

I'm doing my job.

No one has eyes on Angelica yet, but every cop in the city

has a photo of her in their smartphone.

Well, while you were away, I laid my eyes on this

from a security camera outside the restaurant.

You recognize this mook?

Should I?

Well, I ran his mug through facial recognition.

You're looking at one Paulie DeMarco.

- The enforcer of the Grazioso family? - Yes.

He entered the restaurant ten minutes before closing.

He exited five minutes after closing.

Vic's time of death falls in that window.

That's one hell of a coincidence.

Sure is. Looks like our family squabble's

turned into a mob execution.

Everyone step back, please. Step back.

- Take a step back. Get back. - Hey, out of the way.

You, out of the way now. Out of the way.

How you doing in there? Sir?

Sir?

He's been shot in the back of the head.

Did anyone see a passenger?

Did anyone see a passenger?

- Anyone get out of this car? - Get back, please.

- Take another step back. - Hey.

- Did you see anything? - I didn't see anything.