19 Hours Missing
Defence counsel comments something must be happening for the juror to disappear on the first day of deliberation. Viv (Marianne Jean-Baptiste)says the best way to ensure a mistrial is if one of the jurors disappears. Jack (Anthony LaPaglia) adds especially if there aren’t any alternates. Peter Ducek, (Josef Sommer) 72. Jarrod Billingsley’s sister was killed by the defendant and he tells Jack and Viv they have to find the juror.
20 Hours Missing
Ducek is worth over $10 million so they may get a ransom demand. He’s lived in the Us for over 40 years. Martin (Eric Close) looks at his notes from the trial. Sam (Poppy Montgomery) says he wasn’t meant to take his notes out of the jury room which means he disappeared from home. Martin notices the notes end and then he doesn’t make anymore notes until 2 days later.
The defence tells the judge he already wanted to be recused from the jury anyway and asks for a mistrial. He wanted to be removed because of the stress of the trial as he has a heart condition and a note from his cardiologist. A new trial would be expensive and affect the victim’s family. The judge asked Ducek before he disappeared if he’s afraid of the defendant threatening the jurors and witness. He decided to stay on. Jack asks permission from the judge to question the jury non-prejudicially. He gives them access to court transcripts.
Viv looks at photos of the parties involved in the trial: of the defendant and the victim. Janelle was an Honours student. Danny (Enrique Murciano) puts up photos of Brook’s gang and Viv shows him the crime scene photo of Janelle.
His son Roy (Jack Coleman) tells Martin and Sam his mother died 2 years ago and his daughter Noelle (Haley King) was doing a project on her grandfather. He told her her grandmother was a mermaid but wouldn’t tell her the real story of his past. He came to the US when he was 19 and he was abrupt with her. The next day he talked to the judge about leaving the jury. Martin wonders if he possibly committed suicide but his son refutes that claim.
22 Hours Missing
His cardiologist says he kept to himself. She was having an affair with him. He told her he couldn’t be impartial anymore. Billingsley (Corey Hardrict) spoke to him at the courthouse. She recognizes him from the court photos. Billingsley tells Viv he asked him to stay on because there were no more alternatives. Jack says he must tell the judge he spoke with him.
24 Hours Missing
Danny thinks he may have decided to stay because Billingsly asked him to. Sam thinks there might be something going on in his life. Viv asks the judge for more time to investigate and he gives her until tomorrow morning. Dr Rebel (Linda Gehringer) says Ducek made a call to his lawyer. Who says he wanted to leave a painting to a woman in his will and also $5 million. His son doesn’t know.
Roy saw the painting at his father’s house and he told him it wasn’t his. He then called an art dealer who looked it up on the database on stolen artwork. It belonged to a wealthy Jewish family in World War II Germany. It was stolen by the SS. His father may be a Nazi war criminal.
26 Hours Missing
Klaus Reinhardt (Damien Midkiff) was a lieutenant in the SS aka Klaus the Betrayer. Interpol file says he entered the US in 1950. Ducek immigrated in 1952. Sam looked up the painting. It’s called La Plassage Danguilles. The curator of the museum knew the family Klagsbruns. Jack tells them to look them up in New York.
27 Hours missing
Dr Rebel tells Martin Ducek never talked about himself. Two nights before there was a plumber at the apartment; he was looking at a photo of Decek when he was younger. He stayed 10 minutes.
The photo is no longer in the apartment. The art dealers phone records show he made a call to Ezra Hafetz (John Kapelos). He’s part of a vigilante group called ‘Zionists for Truth’. He says he tracked Ducek and wanted to return him to the authorities. Someone confronted Ducek 2 days ago and gave him a photo. Ducek tore it up and threw it away. The photo was of the Hitler Youth, Ducek was part of this.
30 Hours Missing
Search reveals there was a Klagsburg in New York now Greta Cohen (Darleen Kardon). She’s 70 and lives in Brooklyn. Ducek came to see her yesterday and gave her the painting. They grew up together and he was there when the SS took her family away. Ducek told Reinhardt about her family.
32 Hours Missing
Greta survived. He told her he betrayed her family and wanted forgiveness which she refused. He had the painting for 60 years. He identified Reinhardt who is still alive. The plumber also called. An age enhancement is done o the photo and Viv recognizes Reinhardt as the witness in the trial: Albert Mayhew. (Madison Mason). Sam says Ducek stopped writing in the notebook because he recognized him.
Jack and Martin find Ducek in Mayhew’s apartment with a gun. Mayhew/Reinhardt is gone. He wanted to shoot him. Ducek was a child. Reinhardt told him he’s old now and to let it rest. He wouldn’t turn himself in. He’d be dead before he even got to a US court. A phone check reveals Ducek called Ezra and gave Reinhardt to him to take to Israel. Ducek is an accessory to kidnapping.
Danny finds a Gulf jet left Peterborough Airport 40 minutes ago. They’ll be over the Atlantic by now and in international waters. Viv tells Billingsley there’ll be a new trial without Mayhew’s testimony. Small comfort.
Martin: “This reminds me of my grandfather’s house…dad’s dad – died when I was 12.”
Sam: “Were you close?”
Martin: “Men in the family aren’t particularly into the close thing.”
Viv showed Danny Janelle’s photo as if he really needed another gruesome image in his mind.
Sam: “Does your husband know about you and Mr Ducek?” She’s the expert on recognizing cheating spouses now.
Sam: “Maybe there was something else going on in his life and he wanted to get off to deal with it.”
Danny: “You need a hand?” When Sam doesn’t show him the paper, was she going to work the case by herself.
Jack: “if it were my father I wouldn’t be holding out on the people who could find him.” How’s this for a possible future storyline, Jack’s father going missing.
Viv: “Justice can be slow sometimes.” Yes and it can take up to 60 years sometimes, if at all, but it’s not really justice. Parallels can be drawn between each character's concept of justice in this episode.
Funny Mayhew/Reinhardt killed all those people and now wanted to testify in a murder trial as a witness for a black girl, against a black defendant, beggars belief. Perhaps he ‘justified’ this by saying that times have changed and that was all in the past. But the past catches up. Also Ducek waited all this time to make amends when a chance meeting at court in a murder trial to turn in Reinhardt. He knew this case was important to the victim’s family so he could’ve waited until the trial was over and the verdict was delivered. Reinhardt wasn’t going anywhere! Ducek wanted justice but not for the victim and her family, so much for wanting to clear his conscience.
The plane was only a Gulfstream jet so wouldn’t it need to refuel somewhere in the UK or part of Europe so surely there’d be some jurisdiction in an abduction case. There's Interpol. Another case without satisfactory conclusion even Danny ended up throwing his pad in anger/frustration. Love those scenes!
This wasn’t the first time such an episode was made, Nazi war criminals were also in an episode of Law & Order as well as Magnum PI to name but a few.
Who does that sketch belong to pinned on Danny’s desk?
Music Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata but we all know that.
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