Old Friends (Season 4, Episode 22)
Premise: A baby food executive’s death on a busy street is revealed as a mob hit, and Stone’s case depends on a terrified witness.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 4, Episode 22
- Detectives
- Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Allison Janney as Ann Madsen, Victor Slezak as Steven Green, Bob Dishy as defense attorney Lawrence “Larry” Weaver, Don Creech as Nikolai Rostov
- Director
- James Quinn
- Writers
- Story: Robert Nathan; Story & teleplay: Joshua Stern
Summary
The Investigation
“Old Friends” begins at a crowded Manhattan corner, where Harry Renkmeyer, 32, falls under an 18-wheeler while a panhandler works the crowd. Witnesses blame the homeless man, and Briscoe and Logan pick up Rudy, a street musician, but fibers under Renkmeyer’s nails do not match his coat. The medical examiner then finds that Renkmeyer was shot through the heart with a .32 before the truck hit him.
Renkmeyer was chief financial officer of Nature’s Way, a baby food company founded by Ann Madsen. A former bookkeeper admits an affair with him, but his widow says that weeks earlier he threw out the company’s baby food and told her not to feed it to their son. Records show that after a bank called Madsen’s $2 million loan, Renkmeyer brought in partner Steven Green, who arranged private financing at 25% interest. Green was born Sasha Gruskov into a Brighton Beach crime family, and a thumbprint on a shell casing leads to Nikolai Rostov, whose coat fibers match.
The Trial
Rostov is charged with murder. An investigator links him to the 1989 killing of a witness against the Gruskovs, and the Agriculture Department shuts down Nature’s Way over spoiled food. Madsen tells Stone that Renkmeyer had complained about moldy apricots and that she saw Rostov in Green’s office the night before the shooting. When the judge bars any mention of the Russian mob, Stone has a Gruskov associate transferred to Rikers, and Rostov agrees to name Green in exchange for a plea.
Green is arrested, but Madsen, frightened by anonymous calls, denies on the stand that she ever saw Rostov. Despite Schiff’s doubts, Stone has her arrested for perjury. With only accomplice testimony against Green, the judge says she will dismiss the case unless more evidence comes. Facing a possible conspiracy charge, Madsen finally testifies that she saw Rostov in Green’s office the night before the murder.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury convicts Green of second-degree murder. As police move Madsen out of her apartment, she is shot dead in the street. Stone submits his resignation to Schiff, briefs Kincaid on his open cases, and leaves the DA’s office.
Why it stands out
- This is Michael Moriarty’s final appearance as Executive ADA Ben Stone.
- Stone resigns after Ann Madsen (Allison Janney), the witness he pressured into testifying, is murdered.