Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Amends (Episode 134)

It’s another season of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, this time on the USA network. We open with two men in a car, on a rainy night, discussing one of their three-year-old kids’ performances in a recent baseball game. Looks like they’re on some sort of stake-out. The proud papa gets a page. “Call in a bathroom break for me,” he says, and exits the car.

We jump to an old boys’ poker game, and listen to Captain Ross tell the story of how his wife found their 15-year-old son in bed with a girl. Everyone laughs.

Now we’re back in the stake-out car, and the man remaining inside – in the drivers seat – gets shot through the window.

At the poker game, a cell phone rings. “It’s One PP,” says the guy who answers, and I’m going to use my extensive knowledge of law enforcement to guess that means “One Police Plaza.” All of a sudden, everyone’s phones ring.

And we’re in Goren’s apartment, with his phone ringing. He’s crouched up against the wall, looking dismal, as Goren is inclined to look, and not answering.

The shooting victim is being taken into the ER. Goren gets a call from Eames, and tells her he’ll meet her at the hospital.

We learn this is Detective Quinn, and he’s been shot twice in the head. “Kevin Quinn?” asks Eames. “He was my husband’s partner. The night Joe was murdered.”

Eames asks about their detail, and Ross tells her they were protecting a witness in an upcoming drug trial. Eames and Goren are introduced to Detective Copa, the man who was supposed to be in the car with Quinn. They ask him where he was at the time. “Bathroom break,” he says. Goren – who has, for the record, put on about twenty pounds since last season – doesn’t seem convinced. Copa says he saw a “short Asian guy” fire the second shot.

Quinn’s widow walks by. “Theresa!” says Eames. Theresa clearly doesn’t want to talk to her right now.

We walk through the crime scene with Copa. He tells them the shooter was alone, no getaway car. They’d been there protecting Corinne Williams, a woman who’d witnessed a gang shooting that resulted in the death of an eight-year-old kid.

Eames has Williams in the interview room, and she doesn’t seem too convinced the police can protect her at this point. She says the cops usually take their bathroom breaks at her house, but neither of them asked her the night of the shooting.

We see a few mug shot of members of the 86ers, a Korean gang. Ross tells us they have an APB out on all members.

At forensics, we hear that the shooter used an “interesting” bullet that hasn’t been manufactured in decades, although it fits in a 45 mm. The ME tells us he was shot once in the head – which killed him – and once again in the eye. “That was a message,” concludes Eames.

Eames is grieving with Theresa Quinn, asking her if anything suspicious had happened to her husband recently. Theresa says no. We have a grieving widows moment. Theresa tells Eames she never knew what to say after Eames’ husband died. Eames takes her hand.

Meanwhile, Goren’s chatting with Detective Copa, who says he didn’t use Corinne Williams’ bathroom because “she hates cops.” Copa thinks the shooter was Sang, the leader of the 86ers. Goren asks him why a leader would do the shooting. “Sang does everything himself,” says Copa. “Has a problem delegating.”

We finally get to meet Sang, who’s at home telling his son to eat his Cocoa Puffs. The SWAT teams storms the house and arrests him. When he shows up at the station, the entire police force is outside to spit at and jeer him.

At the line-up, Copa fingers Sang without much hesitation.

Per usual, Goren seems distrustful of the situation. He tells Copa he has a few more questions for him. Copa is peeved. He’d told Goren that he took the bathroom break at a chicken restaurant, and Goren informs him that the place was closed at the time. “You checking up on me?” asks Copa, which seems like an improper response to the fact that he’s just been caught in a major lie in the murder investigation of a police officer. He finally admits he was actually in a car up the block with a woman. He says he was walking back from her car when he heard the shots.

Goren makes a big show of pointing out that Copa has a blind spot in his central vision and has to see from the periphery. “We both know you did not see who shot Quinn,” he bellows.

The Chief is pissed that Goren’s distrusting a cop’s testimony, and Ross reminds him that they’ll have trouble getting the case to trial if the ID’s no good. Chief’s still pissed. “The funeral’s tomorrow,” he says. “Good luck explaining this to Theresa Quinn.”

Goren and Eames drive to the funeral, but Goren doesn’t go inside. “I don’t have any friends in there,” he says. Copa approaches him and berates him. Goren rolls his eyes.

Eames and Theresa have another widow’s moment. “Is it true your partner made them release that bastard?” asks Theresa. Eames has no answer.

A kid on a skateboard runs into Goren outside. He’s wearing a suit. “You hear about that detective that let my dad’s killer get away?” asks the kid. “Chief of D’s? He told my mom that detective was a whack job.” This displeases Goren.

Now we’re in a skate park. Someone on a skateboard – that looks a lot like the one Quinn’s son was riding – shoots a white male who appears to be a drug dealer. We don’t see the shooter’s face. In the morning, Eames and Goren get to the scene and learn the man was, in fact, a low-level drug dealer, who was shot once in the head and once in the face. Just like Quinn. “I know that man,” says Eames. “He testified against the shooter in my husband’s murder case.”

Eames rehashes her husband’s murder for Captain Ross. Joe had been working undercover with two drug dealers. He went in for a “big buy,” he was wired, and the other cops lost the transmission. Quinn ran in to check on him, but, by the time he got inside, the dealers were gone and Joe had been shot in the stomach. He died a day later. The man killed in the skate park was one of the dealers, and had ID’d the man who shot Joe. Ross wants to bring in someone new, lest it appear Joe’s widow is out for revenge. Eames is upset about this, and argues that bringing in someone new would waste time. Ross agrees to keep her on for now.

Goren’s brought in and confirms that the shooter in the skate park used the same bullets as Quinn’s shooter. The three of them muse on why Joe’s killer – Ray Delgado – would choose now to seek revenge. Eames informs them he lost his last appeal two months ago.

We go to the jail to talk to Delgado, who continues to maintain his innocence. Goren asks him why his gang buddy would have lied to the cops. “Whoever was with him that night might have outranked me,” he suggests. He claims he was dealing drugs in Thompkins Square when the murder occurred. Goren and Eames leave the jail. Goren seems open to Delgado’s possible innocence, but Eames isn’t willing to discuss it. She’s clearly emotionally involved.

Back at headquarters, Eames discovers that Goren’s been looking into her husband’s case. Goren explains to her that there was a cigarette left at the crime scene, and Delgado claimed he didn’t smoke. He tells Eames that, although forensics couldn’t get enough DNA evidence off the cigarette nine years ago, they probably can now. “This isn’t another one of your puzzles,” she cries. Goren is gentle with her. “We’ve got to do this,” he says.

Eames and Goren go to pick up the evidence box from Joe’s case, but the cop there says it’s not where it’s supposed to be. Goren instructs him, in no uncertain terms, to search until he finds it. Goren gets a phone call telling him the murder weapon’s been found, and leave Eames to wait for Joe’s evidence.

It’s an old Vietnam weapon found two blocks from the skate park. We compare Delgado’s visitors to a list of Vietnam vets, and Goren ends up at Delgado’s dad’s house. “I hope Ray didn’t do it,” he says, as Goren notices his Marines tattoo. The guy’s grandson, Victor – who I gather is is Delgado’s son – rides up on a skateboard. The same kind of skateboard we saw at the funeral and the skatepark shooting.

Back at the evidence room, Eames is handed a box. “Must have fallen behind something,” says the cop.

Goren’s chatting with Victor and his grandpa. Goren asks Grandpa what kind of gun he carried back in Vietnam. “M11,” he says, and the grandson seems in a big hurry to go. “Where you going?” asks Grandpa. “Don’t be rude.” Goren asks him if he still has the gun. “Sure, I got nothing to hide,” says the Grandpa. “Victor’ll get it for you.” Victor says he doesn’t know where the gun is. “Where it always is,” says Gramps. “Victor? Que te pasa?”

We cut to Eames at the station, crying over her husband’s case evidence. She pulls out the bag with the cigarette.

At the station, Goren is questioning Victor, who claims that NYPD framed his dad. Victor’s mom, it turns out, left when he was 10, and his grandparents raised him. Eames and Goren insinuate that his grandpa is about to confess to the murders. “No, he didn’t do it!” says Victor. Eames and Goren pester him some more. “I did it!” he says. “I killed them. They lied on the stand.” He begins to cry.

Eames goes to see the ME, who’s run the DNA off the cigarette again. It’s not Ray Delgado’s. And it’s not either of the witnesses. “Someone else was in that room,” concludes Goren.

They go to talk to Lombardi, an old member of Delgado’s gang. They ask him who Manaya, the dead skate park guy, would be protecting. Lombardi tells them that Manaya always had some kid following him around. A little kid with a big gun.

So we talk to Manaya’s widow. Goren finds a photo of Manaya with his cousin, Manny. Manny’s a doctor now, he grew up in San Juan. “He spent one summer here,” says the widow. He works in a hospital in the city now.

Goren and Eames arrive at the hospital to chat with Manny. Goren notices cigarette stains on his fingers and explains their purpose there. “I swear to God, it was an accident,” says Manny. “So many years ago. I still have nightmares. I thought he was going for a gun. I didn’t realize until after that he was just going for his shield.” His family put him on a plane back to San Juan the next day. Eames tells him he’s under arrest. “That officer, he’s why I became a doctor,” says Manny. “To make ammends some day. I took his life away. I have no idea who he was.”

“He was a good cop,” says Eames, as she walks away.

Dick Wolf.