The Firm Episode 1.12 Chapter Twelve

Tammy books two rooms for the night, after the family flees the McDeere house. Agent Louis Coleman has been called in for protection and his sirens approach in the distance. Despite Abby's protests, Mitch leaves to meet Andrew at "the place where they first met." For safety's sake, Tammy and Ray accompany him, leaving Abby and Claire in Louis' hands.

Two days earlier, Mitch, Abby, Tammy and Ray piece together Moxon's trail of evidence. Kevin Stack was Sarah Holt's commanding officer when she was a military medic serving in Afghanistan. After her return to the States, Stack employed Sarah to kill terminally ill patients so Noble Insurance wouldn't have to pay for medical bills. Stack cannot know they're on to him! The current evidence is circumstantial: life goes on like normal until there's solid evidence.

Alex calls Stack into her office, panicked that Mitch deciphered Moxon's numbers. Stack is confident Mitch won't make a move until his evidence is solid, and he hasn't met with Sarah in weeks. "Relax, Alex," Stack soothes. "It's under control."

Gerald Sikes, Mitch's first paying client, is in trouble yet again. He's accused of robbery and attempted murder, and was IDed by the victim. Gerald swears he's innocent, even when Mitch shows him records of his fingerprints on the gun. However, they don't have a defense with a victim ID and fingerprints, so Gerald tells Mitch "the truth." In court, Mitch relays Gerald's story: Gerald is the real victim, as the unemployed new father - the supposed victim - robbed him at gunpoint. When the police arrived, his only defense was to accuse Gerald of the crime. Anna, Gerald's girlfriend, runs from the courtroom, stunned by what she's heard. Back in jail, Gerald tries to explain the story to Anna, but she doesn't believe him. The burden of proof is on the government, but Anna believes his actions are too suspicious.

The first witness against Gerald can't be called on, according to the opposing attorney, as the crime lab that processed the results is under quality control investigation. Angry at the timing, Mitch demands a mistrial because the entire defense was based on Gerald's fingerprints. Judge Kerzan denies the motion, as the opening statements don't qualify as evidence. Grim, Mitch explains to Gerald there won't be a mistrial because Judge Kerzan won't allow them to introduce a new theory - it's repugnant to the truth.

Tammy theorizes that Sarah Holt may have a calendar that's still on her laptop documenting her whereabouts on the dates of the Noble patients' deaths. After some digging, Ray's hacker friend Dimitry finds Sarah's calendar, and it puts her in the vicinity of each patient at the time of their deaths. A second file pops up containing a scrambled software program for ventilators. Tammy informs Mitch that Dimitry's trying to restore the program; Margaret Whitaker, Sarah Holt's supposed victim, used a ventilator.

Through bribery, Tammy inspects a ventilator, the same model as Margaret Whitaker's. She's brought along Sarah's program on a memory stick, which she plugs into the ventilator. Tammy places the oxygen mask over her face, anxiously waiting to see what the program does. When the medical technician informs her that the program isn't doing anything, Tammy takes off her mask - that's when the machine beeps and keeps going. Somehow the program has bypassed the machine's operating system, making it seem as if Tammy's still wearing the mask. The program causes the machine to overwrite the mask wearer's true breathing patterns to make everything appear normal.

Ray visits Mack, a knowledgeable tattoo artist, who confirms that the distinctive tattoo on the guy chasing Mitch hails from the SOA, a corps of Army medics embedded with a special ops team. The snake coiled around the sword looks like the caduceus, which is the official sign of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Nevertheless, the SOA rejected the caduceus as the true symbol of medicine in favor of the staff of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Mack guesses that the guy Ray is chasing is a serious soldier who shouldn't be crossed. Ray discovers the names of Mitch's pursuers - William Herman and Vincent Mercer - also Army medics, who worked with Stack and Sarah in Afghanistan. Locating them, Ray places a tracking device under their van.

Abby revisits Danielle Moxon to see if any new evidence has surfaced in light of the new information. Rifling through a stack of mail and paperwork, Abby discovers a statement from Moxon's safe deposit box declaring overdue fines. Confused, Danielle remarks that she didn't know Moxon had a safe deposit box. Abby and Danielle proceed to the bank to check out the box, which contains three other safe deposit keys. Abby and Danielle open them: two are full of deceased patient files, but the third is stuffed with stacks of hundred dollar bills - around $500,000 in total. Leaving the money at the bank, Abby shows Mitch and Tammy the deceased patient files. They surmise that Moxon must've known Sarah Holt, despite his denial, as the money reeks of pay-off money from Stack. Tammy tells them about the overwrite program - Sarah's guilty, and she needs to be confronted before they take this new evidence to the Feds.

Mitch proceeds to the jailhouse to visit Sarah, who once again claims innocence. Mitch blatantly tells Sarah what he knows, including the ventilator program, promising he's on his way to the Feds. Stunned, Sarah sits down across from Mitch as he tries to understand her motivations. Sarah didn't use one of Stack's lawyers because she had information to trade, something Stack's lawyers would never allow. Nevertheless, she refuses to go to prison forever. "Lieutenant Stack is a great man," she insists. Their real motivations will only be told if she gets a deal. When Sarah asks to speak the U.S. Attorney, Mitch snorts that there's not a deal on earth that can save Sarah, now that she's confessed to murdering over a dozen people. Sarah warns that if Stack knew about their conversation, he would "come for them both."

Told by a guard that her lawyer returned due to an emergency, Sarah enters the visitor's room to find Kevin Stack. He questions her loyalty, drilling her to find out how she plans to survive. Feigning wounded feelings, Sarah declares her loyalty to Stack and the mission. She didn't want her mistake to jeopardize their plans. Little does she know, Stack has heard the conversation she had with Mitch. Regardless, Sarah pledges her loyalty to Stack.Looking through the patient files, Abby and Tammy discover a man named Gabriel Lyons who was murdered on the eighth of the month. Sarah Holt was in custody at that point and therefore couldn't have killed him. There must be other killers! After a closer look, Tammy discovers that Moxon was predicting which patients were going to die next. On three files, Moxon noted dates of death that haven't transpired yet.

Mitch confesses to Ray that Gerald deserves more than he can currently offer. "One punch can save everything," says Ray. Questioning the victim on the stand, Mitch begins telling him step by step how the encounter between him and Gerald must have unfolded. Agitated, Gerald begins screaming, proclaiming his innocence. Ignoring him, Mitch continues the fake story. Completely fed up, Gerald sprints across the courtroom and punches Mitch in the face before security pounces. Icing his jaw and bruised ego, Mitch is taken off Gerald's case. The jury is tainted and no longer impartial, so Judge Kerzan grants a retrial. Later, outside the courthouse, Mitch runs into Gerald and Anna holding hands. Gerald's new lawyer got him acquitted and he was just released. "That was a real stand-up thing you did - taking a beating to get me a mistrial," Gerald says. The punch was staged!

U.S. Attorney Diane Ruckeyser isn't having it - Sarah will only get a deal if Diane likes what she hears, not before. Is Mitch saying Sarah's a serial killer? Mitch believes Sarah is a pawn in a greater conspiracy, which will only be discovered if she's given a deal. Abby frantically calls Mitch with news that there are more killers than just Sarah. Horrified, Mitch demands Diane talk to her bosses and work out a deal. Later, the U.S. Attorney calls Mitch to his office, having made a decision about Sarah's case. On the way into the building, Mitch's briefcase sets off the checkpoint alarm, so the guard makes him leave it behind. Upstairs, the U.S. Attorney informs Mitch that the government doesn't make blind deals with serial killers. The only thing they can offer Sarah is the possibility of parole, a deal she'd be smart to make. Mitch has one day to convince her. On the way out, the security guard informs Mitch that he found a high-tech listening device imbedded in his briefcase. A wave of realization washes over Mitch and he sprints out of the building.

Rushing to the jailhouse, Mitch screams at the guard, "I have a client who needs to be in protective custody immediately!" Sauntering slowly through the jail, the security guard insists Sarah's fine - just as the emergency siren goes off, code black, cell 114. Cell 114 is Sarah's room! Pushing past the guards, Mitch runs to the cell to find Sarah declared dead. No signs of trauma are found on her body, so the warden concludes she died from natural causes, despite Mitch's protests otherwise. Later, Mitch regroups with Abby, Ray and Tammy. Ray has replaced all the phones, and Mitch has gathered all the evidence in the Holt/Moxon case, which he intends to turn over to Louis in the morning. In the meantime, everyone will have to stay on their guard.

Andrew hears Stack's voice through the cracked door, lamenting the inevitable loss of a good soldier. Mitch is next on the hit list. Alex concurs; it's time to end this. Shocked, Andrew calls Mitch to tell him to get out of the house - now! Fast forward an hour, Louis is surprised to find Abby and Claire waiting for him alone. Where's Mitch? Mitch, Tammy and Ray pull up in front of an old gymnasium, the first place Andrew and Mitch met.