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A business student, a bar owner, a banker, and a bimbo. An unlikely quartet drawn into a web so complicated that it takes almost the entire hour to disentangle it. In fact, by the time the detectives and attorneys figure out the relationships among the four, there is little time left for any meaningful exploration of interesting legal issues. The result: an episode better described as provocative than thought-provoking.

Leslie Kavanagh, the business student, is found dead in her dorm room, sexually assaulted, doped up on Ecstasy, and manually strangled. Shocked by the assault, her Midwestern parents regret their sweet, innocent daughter's decision to venture into the big city. When the medical examiner points out the victim's new breast implants, though, the detectives start to think that this "Dean's List" honoree was not your typical B-School student. Had this murder occurred in Los Angeles, I must note, this important piece of evidence wouldn't even have raised an eyebrow.

The detectives visit Foster and Wallace, the investment bank where Leslie supposedly worked to pay for her education. They meet Jim Wallace, the epitome of a Wall Street Banker in navy suit and red power tie, who confirms that Leslie did in fact apply for a job with the firm--for an internship the next summer. Hmmm, wonder the detectives, if she didn't have a job yet, how did she pay for those implants?

Leslie's friend, Penny Rollins, fills them in. Strapped for cash, Leslie had called a "Dancers Wanted" ad in the newspaper. Leslie's cell phone records lead the detectives to "Bare Necessities" and "Head Lights."

At Head Lights, the detectives learn that Leslie danced under the stage name Sybil (and comment on the split personality reference). Although Sybil did pretty well given her physical limitations, the proprietor passes on the name of a good plastic surgeon who may have been recommended to her.

Pleased with the results of his work, Leslie's doctor explains to the surprised detectives the ease with which such enhancements are performed. No hospitalization necessary, he informs them. Then, with only minimal hesitation, he directs the detectives to Elizabeth Terino, another of his patients and Leslie's friend.

Terino, her face bruised and her fingers burned, describes in detail the two likely suspects--skinheads who were looking for Leslie. "If I had known where she lived," she laments more than once, "I would have told them." The detectives show an employee at Bare Necessities the artist's picture of the suspects and track them to an Ecstasy lab on the beach.

The sophisticated drug paraphernalia seized during the bust includes computer software registered to Bare Enterprises, so the detectives can tie the skinheads and Leslie to Bare Enterprises. The proprietor of Bare Enterprises, Andy Palone, is arrested. When asked to work with the DA's office, he tells Carmichael to "put [her] deal between [her] knees and squeeze."

One of the skinheads, much less colorful with language, quickly rolls and confesses that Palone asked him to kill the girl. Whether obtaining this confession outside the presence of the skinhead's counsel constituted a violation of the skinhead's rights is irrelevant. The detectives were out to peg Palone, and he lacks standing to challenge the confession.

In their search for a motive for the crime, the attorneys learn that Palone recently made a killing in the stock market. This, they conclude, must be the connection to Leslie, the Dean's List business student. They visit the SEC and learn that another individual, Wendy Alston, made money on the same stocks purchased by Palone. They visit Alston, who denies knowing Palone but praises CNBC's reporting. Once made aware that he could be made the target of an SEC investigation, though, Alston's broker gladly "cooperates." The investigators learn that Alston is a retired porn star and that Palone produced many of her movies.

They go back to Palone's files and find a number for "EM," who the detectives conclude is Eva Moreau, Alston's alter ego. The detectives trace the number to the respectable banker Jim Harris. Now, all the dots are in place. The banker had an affair with the porn star and, on occasion, paid her with inside information. The porn star shared this information with her producer. The business student/stripper stumbled upon the trade confirmations one night at work and blackmailed the banker into offering her a summer internship. The producer, afraid of losing his place on Wall Street, ordered a hit on the business student.

To connect the dots for the jury, however, the lawyers have to cut a deal with one of the defendants. Not surprisingly, they choose the banker. They learn that, in fact, Alston asked for Leslie's address, claiming she was going to try to talk some sense into the girl. Now the lawyers can tie Alston and Palone to the murder.

On the stand, the banker breaks down. Unable to send the woman he loves to jail, he invokes his Fifth Amendment rights and thus signals to the jury that he may have been involved in the murder. McCoy moves to strike the banker's testimony, but the Court agrees with the defense counsel that the State has no case without it. Also, the defense counsel reminds the judge, double jeopardy has attached. The judge dismisses the case with prejudice, meaning the State cannot refile murder charges against these individuals.

Instead, McCoy charges all three -- Palone, Alston, and Harris -- with conspiracy. Because conspiracy requires the State to prove something more than murder, double jeopardy does not bar this charge. The banker begs for leniency, but McCoy does not believe that the banker's "ruined life" is punishment enough. He permits the banker to take the same deal the State offered the other defendants: 10 to 20 years in prison. Harris agrees.

Interestingly, little mention is made of the two skinheads who raped and murdered Leslie Kavanagh and tortured Elizabeth Terino. In what appears to be a recent pattern on Law and Order, the attorneys are more interested in prosecuting the individuals who orchestrated the murder than the suspects with the victim's blood on their hands. Perhaps if more emphasis were placed on prosecuting these criminals (who in this case agreed to kill Leslie as thanks for the $20,000 Palone gave them to start up the Ecstasy lab), there would be fewer willing killers out there.

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