17. The Ballad of Lady Frances

Complete story — includes the ending

Drywaller Darren Azoff is seized by D'Agostino and Reese Vennek, who tortures Azoff, demanding to know where "the Lady Frances" is. Azoff denies knowledge and Vennek kills him. Audio of the shooting is monitored by Cosmo Dellis and recorded by BulletPoint, a surveillance device, activated by gunshot, of which the pilot is politically debated between the mayor and Councilman Slessinger, who is running for mayor on a 'be tougher on crime' platform. NYPD mounts a search for the kidnapped "Frances." At Azoff's mistress Marjorie's home, they realize "Lady Frances" is a vintage guitar originally owned by Eric Clapton, worth $5 million. Azoff stole it from Herman Wolf, who hired Vennek to retrieve it. Vennek betrays D'Agostino, and admits killing Azoff but denies killing Cosmo, who was beaten to death after Cosmo used the BulletPoint recording to steal the guitar for himself. Thea Moser reports Cosmo who created fake gunshot incidents for months. They arrest Councilman Slessinger for murdering Cosmo, who he used to manipulate his election campaign. Meanwhile, an attempt on Shinwell's life is made by Damon, in revenge for a shooting death from Shinwell's prior thug life.