In his cell, Frank cleans himself up and prepares for his trial. The guards manacle him and lead him out.
The lawyers review the jurors for the Castle trial, and the jurors' opinions are split on whether Frank is a hero or a fascist. Judge Batzer finally tells the lawyers on both sides that they either have to agree on 12 jurors, or she'll make everyone's life a living hell. The lawyers finally agree to a jury and the trial begins.
At their office, Matt, Foggy, and Karen go through the files on Frank. Foggy suggests that they go with an insanity defense, and Matt points out that there's only a 0.12% acquittal rate for insanity in New York. Karen wants to push for a mistrial based on Samantha's behavior, but Foggy points out that they'll have to prove that the government willfully held evidence of the ambush. Matt wants to argue PTSD, noting that if Frank goes into general pop then one of his many enemies will kill him. Foggy agrees and Matt asks Karen to get Frank onboard with it because she's the only one that he'll talk to. As Foggy gets their questions for Frank, Matt tells Karen that she doesn't have to do it by herself. She insists that she can take care of herself and they kiss briefly.
Karen goes to Frank's cell and outlines their case. He quickly realizes that they plan to argue PTSD, and insists that he's not insane and he doesn't want to demean the soldiers that do suffer from it. He wants the answers that Karen promised about who framed him, but Karen angrily warns him that if they don't get him into psych treatment and out of general pop, then he'll die. Frank gives her the name of Colonel Ray Schoonover, his former CO, but insists that he testify as a character witness and tells Karen to forget the PTSD defense. He returns to the topic of finding out who was responsible for his family's death, and Karen says that the two of them will go over the files together.
As Matt rehearses his opening statement, Elektra calls to say that she's tracked down the professor, Philip Cabroni, who encoded the ledger pages. Foggy comes in and wants to review the Dog of Hell depositions, and Matt asks for a minute. He tells Elektra that he can't go with her, but she convinces him to meet her and tell her in person.
Cabroni is at his high-rise apartment paying off two Korean prostitutes. Once they leave, Elektra and Daredevil break in despite his security system and demand answers. They tell Cabroni that they want him to translate for them, and he says that Hirochi's people will kill him if he does. Daredevil threatens to toss him out of a window until Cabroni agrees. He explains that there are weekly shipments and the next one is that night at Bay Ridge Rail Yard. Cabroni decrypts the number and says that it's the boxcar that they're looking for, but doesn't know what's inside it.
Karen returns to the office and is surprised that Matt isn't there. Foggy says that he's working on opening statements. She tells him that Frank is refusing the PTSD defense, and Foggy tells her that Dr. Gregory Tapper is the chief medical examiner who will testify for Samantha against Frank. Tapper's report says that each of Frank's family was killed with a single shot, but Frank says that they were shot repeatedly. Karen insists that Frank is reliving the nightmare every moment of his life, and Foggy says that if they can shake Tapper's testimony on the stand then they might get a mistrial. Karen offers to call Matt, and Foggy says that they'll do it.
Daredevil and Elektra go to the rail yard and find the box car. He tells her that the last time Hirochi's people brought someone to town, it was a human kid. Daredevil detects that the boxcar is full of something heavy, and they find dirt inside. Guards arrive and the vigilantes attack them. As Daredevil realizes that one of the guards cut Elektra with a knife, more guards arrive. Once the vigilantes take them down, they go back to Matt's apartment and he stitches up Elektra's cuts. She points out that they make a good team, and checks out his scars. Matt wonders where Elektra went ten years ago, and she found out that she was mostly alone. She didn't come back because Matt deserved better. After a moment, Matt tells her to get some rest and sits down to watch over her.
The next morning, Elektra wakes up and finds Matt dressing for work. She says that she'll look into the imports, and tells him to have a good day in court.
At the court room, Foggy is waiting nervously for Matt to arrive. Karen wonders what's going on with him. Batzer calls the courtroom to order and Foggy realizes that he'll have to give the opening. Samantha gives her opening statement, Batzer gives Foggy the chance to hold off his statement, but he goes ahead despite Matt's absence. As Matt comes in, Foggy says that Frank just trades in one war zone from another when he returned home from Afghanistan only to see his family gunned down and a DA unwilling to do anything about it.
The trio meets out in the hallway and Matt apologizes for running late. He and Karen both assure Foggy that he did great, and they go over the list of prosecution witnesses. Samantha is calling Tepper, and Foggy points out that Matt doesn't know their strategy because he didn't show up. Matt wants to question him, insisting that he'll be there, but Foggy warns that the odds are slim that they'll get Tepper to incriminate himself. He doesn't see how they can tear Tepper down, and Matt says that Karen will catch him up and they'll figure out a way. Once a disgusted Foggy goes back to the office, Matt tells Karen that he'll make it up to her and to Foggy.
That night at Matt's apartment, Matt discusses his strategy with Karen. Karen offers to stay and go through Tepper's questions, and Matt suggests that she go to law school and become a member of the firm. She says that there's something about the rules and loopholes that hide the truth. Karen talks about how Matt and Foggy bailed her out after Daredevil saved her life, and asks if Matt believes in what he does. She wonders what people like her and Frank do when the legal system fails them, and Matt says that he believes in the law. He insists that Frank killed people and should be behind bars, and it's up to God or a jury to decide who lives and who dies. They argue about whether what Frank is doing is right or wrong, and Karen wonders if Frank is right. After a moment she admits that she isn't sure, and Matt suggests that they call it a night.
Once Karen leaves, Elektra steps out of the upstairs room and says that she's not interrupting his life because he doesn't have one. Matt insists that Karen is important to him. Elektra says that she looked at Roxxon's construction investment and learned that they only have a few projects capable of moving that much dirt. One of the sites is the tenement that Wilson took over as part of his Better Tomorrow initiative. He suspects that Wilson obtained it on behalf of the Japanese, and Elektra suggests that they check it out. Matt refuses, pointing out that he has a case the next day, and Elektra postpones until the next night and says that she'll do initial recon in the meantime.
The next day in court, Blake has Tepper give his testimony concerning the shooting at the Burren Club. On cross-exam, Matt brings up Tepper's medical history and monitors his heartbeat with his heightened hearing. Tepper immediately says that there's something he needs to say, and Batzer clears the courtroom. The ME then admits that he altered the autopsy records on Frank's family on the orders of two men who came to his office. He also altered the records of a John Doe who was killed the same day. Tepper says that a masked woman with a foreign accent came to his apartment the night before and told him to tell the truth or she'd kill him. Samantha suggests that the defense set up the whole thing, and Foggy Matt angrily insists that they didn't. Batzer refuses to grant a mistrial but strikes Tepper's testimony and orders a recess until the next day.
Once they're alone in the restroom, Matt tells Foggy that Elektra threatened Tepper. Foggy remembers Elektra from college when she screwed with Matt's life, and Matt explains that she's working with him to stop the Japanese. When Matt says that his new client is Elektra, Foggy points out that Matt lied together and Elektra has ruined their main chance of getting Frank cleared. Matt insists that he didn't tell Elektra anything about the trial and figures that she overheard him talking, Foggy angrily tells him that Elektra isn't the problem: Matt is. He says that going forward he will count on Matt for nothing with the trial, and to keep his "girlfriend" away from the trial. When Matt says that Elektra isn't his girlfriend, Foggy says that he should tell Karen that.
Karen is outside and hears them yelling, and asks Foggy what's going on. He tells her to ask Matt, and when Matt comes out, he insists that they're fine. Karen points out that she's done more work on Frank's case than Matt has, and demands to know the truth. Matt refuses to answer and says that he has to go, and he overhears her whisper that maybe they'll see each other the next day.
That night, Daredevil finds Elektra watching the construction site. He grabs her and says that he told her to stay out of his life, and Elektra says that she was following his rules to take at night what he can't get during the day. She insists that it's what he really is, and Daredevil insists that both halves of his life are his. Elektra says that she'll stay out of his legal matters, and asks if he's going to help her fight the Japanese.
Daredevil goes down to the construction site, walks up to the guard, and beats him unconscious. Two more guards open fire on him and he ducks into the catwalks and then takes them down. Elektra walks up and points out that Daredevil didn't want her help, and they go inside. Daredevil confirms that they're alone. The only thing there is a large seemingly bottomless pit.
Written by Gadfly on Mar 28, 2016