His Hour Upon the Stage (Season 2, Episode 11)
Premise: A body in a tuxedo, frozen for five years, revives the disappearance of a Broadway producer on the eve of his big hit.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 11
- Detectives
- Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Finn Carter as Leslie Hart, Frank Converse as Gary Wallace, Alan Feinstein as Elliot Ketcham
- Director
- Steve Cohen
- Writers
- Robert Nathan & Giles Blunt
Summary
The Investigation
“His Hour Upon the Stage” begins with a man in a tuxedo found shot in a dumpster in the meatpacking district. The medical examiner finds ice crystals in his organs: the body had been frozen for about five years. Fingerprints identify him as Joshua Foster, a Broadway producer who vanished just before his musical became a hit. A search of nearby restaurants turns up a broken freezer at a mob-connected restaurant where the body was hidden.
Foster’s sister describes a man who had little success until his last show and his engagement to a young actress, Leslie Hart, who has past arrests for prostitution and drugs. His producing partner, Gary Wallace, claims he barely knew him. The detectives trace the freezer to a dishwasher whose brother-in-law, Wallace’s former chauffeur, brought him the body. Wallace’s old Cadillac yields a bullet and blood matching Foster, and Wallace is arrested.
The Trial
The show’s songwriter reveals that Foster suspected Leslie and Wallace of an affair and was ready to stop raising money for the production. Robinette traces a million dollars invested in Leslie’s name to a drug dealer named Elliot Ketcham. In exchange for a federal deal, Ketcham testifies that Leslie sold cocaine to buy into the show and to free herself from Foster, and that Foster had threatened to go to the police. Leslie is arrested and tried with Wallace.
Stone presses the dishwasher, who admits he was paid and saw Wallace leave the car the night of the killing. Facing the evidence, Wallace pleads guilty as an accessory and testifies that Leslie ordered the chauffeur to shoot Foster as he tried to get out of the car. On the stand, Leslie blames Wallace and claims she barely knew the driver.
Spoiler, the ending: In rebuttal, Stone plays a recording of Leslie testifying at a licensing hearing years earlier that the chauffeur was a close friend she would trust with her life. She is convicted and plans an appeal.
Why it stands out
- A five-year-old frozen body gives the episode one of the season’s most unusual openings.
- The case is built on a chain of small-time criminals, each trading information for a deal.
- A forgotten recording of the defendant’s own words decides the trial.