Thirteen

The memo for juror Daniel Clay notes that Clay is 49, unemployed, single, and has no family or friends. His finances are poor, and his interests include social media, sci-fi novels, and Elvis. He has no criminal record but has an unpursued interest in Scientology. Arnold assesses Clay’s probability of a Not Guilty vote at 25%.

Eddie meets with FBI agent Paige Delaney at a newly established incident room for the Dollar Bill murders. Delaney adds another past case to the murder wall: A waitress killed in 2014, for which an English professor was convicted. Overwhelmed by the gallery of victims, Eddie struggles to maintain his composure. Delaney explains that she copes by focusing on the killer’s patterns rather than the victims’ suffering.

Eddie’s investigator, Harper, arrives, and Eddie presents his theory: The serial killer, Dollar Bill, frames innocent people and then attends their trials to watch them be convicted, deriving a sense of power from the spectacle. He believes the killer is in the courthouse for Bobby Solomon’s trial and suggests the FBI monitor the spectators.

Delaney provides a profile of Dollar Bill, which posits that he targets individuals who have recently experienced significant, positive life changes, such as winning the lottery. His motive is a vengeful attack on the American Dream. The profile describes him as an intelligent, organized, and high-functioning individual with “sociopathy and psychopathy present” (264). The killer has likely experienced personal failure or poverty. Harper begins searching news archives for stories that would have brought the framed individuals to the killer’s attention. Eddie suggests they also search for photos and videos from the previous trials, as the killer might have been inadvertently captured on camera. He then has a sudden insight and asks Delaney for help with a plan he admits is “technically” illegal, but only if they get caught.

At 7:30 am, at the jury hotel, Kane watches as a court officer, accompanied by jurors Betsy and Rita, uses a spare key to open a juror’s locked room. The officer heads toward the bathroom and calls out, while Betsy cries out having spotted the body of Manuel Ortega in the gap between the bed and the left-hand wall, a sheet tied around his neck and the bedpost in an apparent suicide. While the others are horrified, Kane covertly locks the window from the inside, completing the illusion of suicide. It is revealed that earlier that morning, Kane murdered Manuel—the one juror likely to vote not guilty and Bobby’s last chance of an acquittal—to eliminate the only obstacle to a guilty verdict. Kane now believes the jury is his to control.

The memo on juror Christopher Pellosi, a 45-year-old single divorced man who drinks heavily at home every weekend. He has a poor social life and a poor financial situation. He takes mild medication for depression and anxiety. Arnold views him as unfavorable, with only a 32% probability of voting Not Guilty.

The trial resumes after the parties convene in chambers, where NYPD confirms Manuel Ortega’s death as suicide and an alternate juror is seated. Bobby Solomon is deeply shaken. Eddie tries to comfort him but also presses him for his real alibi, which Bobby still refuses to provide.

Eddie studies the jury, attempting to identify the “alpha” who will lead deliberations, and settles on Alec Wynn, an outdoorsman. The medical examiner, Dr. Sharon Morgan, testifies about the causes of death. During cross-examination, Eddie has Morgan confirm that the five stab wounds on victim Ariella Bloom’s chest form a perfect five-pointed star, mirroring a marking on the $1 bill found in the other victim’s mouth. At the close of his questioning, Eddie has Morgan confirm that the victims’ bodies may have been posed to resemble the numerals one and two, and he suddenly realizes Dollar Bill arranged them to represent the number 12, corresponding to the killer’s 12th trial. As he concludes, Harper arrives with a team of FBI agents. She confirms to Eddie that his theory about the killer attending trials was correct.

From the jury box, Kane observes the proceedings. He is internally thrilled that Eddie has deciphered the meaning behind the posed bodies, which Kane confirms he arranged to represent the number 12. He notes the FBI agents watching the spectators at the back of the courtroom and realizes they are looking in the wrong place. The chase is on, but they do not yet suspect a juror. He thinks about another body he left the previous night, which should now be discovered.

Prosecutor Art Pryor calls Bobby’s neighbor, Ken Eigerson, who testifies he saw Bobby enter his house at nine o’clock on the night of the murders. On cross-examination, Eddie discredits Eigerson’s testimony by pointing to the poor visibility at night and the fact that the person was hooded and wearing sunglasses. He emphasizes his point by asking Eigerson to describe the tie Pryor is wearing. When he misremembers the color of the tie, Eigerson realizes that his witness testimony is not as reliable as it seemed. 

Pryor then calls forensic technician Todd Kinney, who testifies that Bobby’s fingerprint and DNA were a perfect match to those found on the dollar bill in the victim’s mouth. During his own cross-examination, Eddie demonstrates how easily DNA can be transferred by planting a $1 bill on Kinney without his knowledge, utilizing a sleight of hand trick from his days as a conman. He argues that the bill found at the crime scene was scrubbed of all other DNA traces, leaving only Bobby’s, which proves it was planted to frame him. Though Pryor lodges an objection to Eddie’s tactics, Eddie knows that the jury has understood his implication.

During the lunch break, Kane is furious at Eddie’s effective cross-examination. He recalls how he obtained Bobby’s fingerprint for the setup: disguised as an unhoused man near Solomon’s home, he asked Bobby for money, memorized the position of Solomon’s fingers on the two bills handed over, and received them in an empty coffee cup so they dropped straight in. He planned to clean them later with antibacterial spray while retaining Solomon’s print. Kane reflects that he could not have come this far without his man on the inside and that the moment he has been building toward is nearly at hand.

In a consultation room, Eddie meets with Bobby, the security guard Holten, Harper, and the FBI tech, Angel Torres. Harper reveals that jurors in two previous Dollar Bill cases were either murdered or went missing. Eddie has a breakthrough realization: Dollar Bill does not just watch the trials; he infiltrates them by stealing a juror’s identity and serving on the jury himself to guarantee a guilty verdict. They conclude the killer is one of the jurors in Bobby’s trial.

Delaney joins them, and they formulate a new strategy: expose the killer’s method in court to force a mistrial. Eddie warns Bobby that if the judge denies the mistrial, accusing the jury will almost certainly lead to a conviction. Bobby agrees to take the risk to help catch the killer. Eddie then has another insight into how the DNA of a long-dead man, Richard Pena, could have appeared on $1 bill.

Kane watches as Pryor calls a video expert, Officer Williams, who presents security footage showing a hooded figure resembling Bobby entering his house at 9:01 pm. Williams testifies that the camera recorded no further activity that night. During this testimony, NYPD detectives, including Mike Anderson, still wearing his cast, enter and stand at the back of the courtroom.

On cross-examination, Eddie introduces a report from FBI tech Angel Torres. The report shows that Bobby’s Wi-Fi router logged an unauthorized device attempting to connect at 9:02 pm, while Bobby’s own iPod connected at 12:03 am, consistent with his claim of arriving home around midnight. Eddie then points out that because the security camera did not record the police arriving at the crime scene later, the killer must have disabled it after entering the house, invalidating its evidence.

Kane is unnerved that Eddie discovered the Wi-Fi router evidence. Pryor calls his final witness, journalist Paul Benettio, who testifies that his source, victim Carl Tozer, told him Bobby is gay and that his marriage to Ariella was purely for public image. Benettio speculates that Bobby murdered them to prevent this information from becoming public, thus jeopardizing his movie career.

Though Judge Ford instructs the jury to disregard Benettio’s speculative testimony, the allegation hangs in the air. The prosecution rests. Eddie calls Agent Delaney, who testifies for over an hour about the Dollar Bill killer’s methods and psychology, covering each prior case, victim, and dollar-bill evidence in detail. 

In a planned maneuver, Eddie has Delaney state the FBI’s belief that Dollar Bill infiltrates juries to secure his convictions. As she speaks, both she and Eddie watch the jurors, focusing on Alec Wynn, but the killer’s reaction is unreadable. On cross-examination, Pryor asks Delaney if she believes the killer is on this specific jury. Before she can answer, Judge Ford summons the lawyers to his chambers.

To prevent the jurors from turning on one another, Judge Ford orders them to be sequestered in separate rooms. Kane is escorted to an office by a young court officer. He contemplates killing the officer and escaping but decides to see the trial through. He asks the officer for a glass of water and also asks him to leave the door open, claiming to suffer from claustrophobia. As the officer returns and sets down the water, Kane grabs his wrist.

In chambers, Pryor argues that Eddie is merely trying to force a mistrial. Judge Ford acknowledges the unusual circumstances but rules that, without direct evidence of a compromised jury, he cannot stop the trial. He denies a mistrial and announces that the case will proceed to closing arguments.

Kane decides against attacking the court officer and releases his wrist. The jury is brought back into the courtroom and Judge Ford announces that closing arguments will now begin. Prosecutor Art Pryor stands and begins his speech, telling the jury that their duty is to find the defendant guilty.

Art Pryor finishes his closing argument, systematically recounting the forensic evidence, motive, and conflicting alibis against Bobby. Then, Eddie gives his closing argument, stressing the reasonable doubts created by the Wi-Fi evidence, the tampered dollar bill, and the unreliable eyewitness. He tells the jurors their only duty is to acquit if they are not absolutely sure. 

Later, as the courtroom empties, Detectives Granger and Anderson suddenly arrest Eddie. Ignoring protests from Judge Ford and Delaney, they cuff him and inform him he is being charged with the murder of his jury consultant, Arnold Novoselic, whose body was found with throat stuffed with 13 $1 bills.

From the jury bus, Kane watches Eddie’s arrest and smiles. He recalls travelling from Jamaica, New York to Arnold’s apartment in Rhode Island, where he gained entry by promising inside information about the jury. After strangling Arnold, he used a spoon to wedge dollar bills deep into Arnold’s throat, leaving one specially marked bill protruding from Arnold’s mouth, a bill bearing Eddie Flynn’s fingerprints and DNA, which Kane had previously acquired.

Eddie is placed in an unmarked police car with Detectives Granger and Anderson, along with Officer Valasquez from Rhode Island. Eddie realizes he is being set up when he notes they have not searched him and are driving in the wrong direction. Granger stops the car on a side street, and Anderson throws a gun at Eddie’s feet while drawing his own, planning to kill Eddie and claim self-defense.

Eddie fights back, kicking Anderson out through the passenger door onto the street before the car crashes. In the chaos, Granger fatally shoots Officer Valasquez to frame Eddie. Just as Granger aims his weapon at Eddie, a car driven by Harper slams into him. Harper and Judge Ford are on the scene; Eddie had managed to voice-dial Harper during the attack. Harper tells Eddie that neither Granger nor Anderson will make it. As sirens approach, Delaney is working to clear the false charges with Rhode Island police.