- Hannah West: When's the last time you had to sit down to be eye level with a murder suspect who is standing up?
- Sara Sidle: Hannah, you are smart.
- Hannah West: So I've been told.
- Sara Sidle: But you are not smart enough to get away with murder.
- Hannah West: I think I am. A lot of people are smart enough to get away with murder. You probably are too. But you have to be really smart to make people think things happened... that never did.
- Sara Sidle: What do you mean... exactly?
- Hannah West: Please don't worry about me. I'm going to be fine.
- [leans in]
- Hannah West: [whispering] I didn't kill Stacy. Marlon did.
- Sara Sidle: Do you have any physical evidence that would conclusively rule Hannah out as a suspect?
- Nick Stokes: Well... yeah. She's four-foot three and sixty-five pounds. The crime just required more strength than she's got.
- Catherine Willows: How old is she?
- Nick Stokes: 12.
- Warrick Brown: In high school?
- Nick Stokes: She's a high school senior. She skipped six grades. She's a prodigy.
- Sara Sidle: Which means that she has the brains for murder.
- Conrad Ecklie: [to Nick] Good news is Judge Crawford denied the defense's motion to dismiss.
- Nick Stokes: Of course he did. She's just a mixed-up kid trying to protect her older brother. All the evidence points to Marlon.
- Conrad Ecklie: Yeah, and all the jury's going to remember is a little girl in a bloody shirt confessing to murder. That's reasonable doubt on a silver platter.
- Sara Sidle: I bet you really liked high school.
- Nick Stokes: Yeah. Playin' football, chasin' girls, books when I wanted to learn somethin', what's not to like?
- Mandy Webster: Twelve year old killer, huh?
- Nick Stokes: Starting to look that way.
- Mandy Webster: I bet that Grand Theft Auto had something to do with it.
- Nick Stokes: Mmm, I don't know, I don't think Hannah is the video game type.
- Mandy Webster: You never know. Between you and me, I actually think it's a ton of fun.
- Hannah West: You don't think I could have done it. Either one of you.
- Sara Sidle: That's a big job... for a little girl.
- Hannah West: Not if you have the right tools.
- Sara Sidle: Smart kid like you, knows your brother is suffering, you feel bad, you wanna help... so you fabricate some evidence.
- Hannah West: Uh, if you thought the evidence was fake I wouldn't still be in jail.
- Hannah West: Marlon didn't kill Stacy. I did.
- [stands up and opens her sweater to reveal a dirty and bloody shirt]
- Hannah West: I was wearing this when I did.
- Sara Sidle: [to Hannah about Stacy's murder] You put sodium in the showerhead to get back at her?
- Hannah West: A prank for a prank. I thought that there'd be a few sparks, that she'd freak out and that'd be it, but the nozzle exploded. Stacy ran... and fell down the stairs... and died. I tried to cover it up.
- Sara Sidle: You miscalculated.
- Hannah West: I guess I did.
- David Hodges: Ah, teen lust. It's starts with some chemistry, mess around with some biology.
- [Nick and Sara give each other looks]
- David Hodges: And once you have some experience under your belt then you introduce the physics. Apparently chivalry is not dead. The bloody fingerprint tested positive for nonoxynol spermicide.
- Nick Stokes: So much for the boyfriend.
- Sara Sidle: If we can't pin this on Hannah or Marlon, they could both walk.
- David Hodges: You could flip a coin.
- Sara Sidle: [reading what's on Hannah's dress] Rainbow party?
- Nick Stokes: Yeah, it's a party game where the boys get the girls to wear different colored lipsticks while they have oral sex. The boy with the most colors wins. It's supposed to be trendy.
- Sara Sidle: So much for spin the bottle.
- Mr. Estrin: Ms. Sidle... I've had my share of good students over the years, but Hannah... sometimes, right in the middle of a lecture, I'll catch her staring at some little thing in the yard - a tree, a squirrel... and all I can think about is how much I wish I could see it the way she does. If Hannah came up and asked me for a chunk of sodium, I'd give it to her, just to see what she would do with it.
- Mr. Baird: Two people confessed to the murder, and now you're accusing my son?
- Sofia Curtis: Kids do stupid things. Marlon covers for Hannah, Hannah covers for Scott.
- Nick Stokes: [to Marlon] You moved the body, you buried it.
- Marlon West: I know I did; I was there. What's the problem?
- Nick Stokes: Well, the problem is what happened in the locker room. I mean, you're not the kind of guy who puts sodium in a showerhead to get back at somebody. You just trip them in the hallway.
- Marlon West: So you think I'm too stupid to have done it. Great, join the club.
- Nick Stokes: I don't think you're stupid, Marlon; I didn't say you were stupid. But this is Hannah's game. The whole way.
- Hannah West: Look, I don't need a lawyer, and I don't need my parents. I just want to do what's right.
- Sara Sidle: Hannah, taking the blame for something you didn't do may be noble, but it doesn't make it right.
- Hannah West: That's deep. Okay. It happened like this: Stacy humiliated me, I wanted revenge.
- Sara Sidle: Yeah, and you knew that there was no way you were ever going to get it by yourself.
- Nick Stokes: The evidence says either one of them could have done it, but I think they were in it together.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: Okay, I'll proceed against Marlon for the murder and bring charges against Hannah for conspiracy.
- Conrad Ecklie: Another trial? You sure you want to go through all this again?
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: Stacy's parents and the community will have my ass if I don't.
- Sara Sidle: Well, then maybe this is good news. I was just going over Sofia's notes from the original investigation. The night of the murder, Hannah and Marlon's parents had left them alone in the house. A pizza was delivered to the residence around 9:00 PM.
- Nick Stokes: That's right around Stacy's TOD.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: So, did anybody talk to the delivery guy?
- Sara Sidle: Yes, and at the point that Sofia did, a month had passed. Now, the delivery guy's at the house all the time. He recognized photos of both kids, but he could not be sure which one answered the door that night.
- Nick Stokes: But one of them did answer the door.
- [Sara nods]
- Nick Stokes: So that means they were not together at the time Stacy was killed.
- Conrad Ecklie: Yeah. So much for conspiracy. We're right back where we started.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: Where we are is in the crapper. Look, I have to disclose the cart. Defense is going to eat me alive.
- Nick Stokes: Marlon's your guy. He's your guy - just because Hannah wasn't there doesn't mean she didn't help plan this.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: Well, I sure hope it's Marlon, because he's the one we have on trial.
- Nick Stokes: I stand by the case we filed.
- Conrad Ecklie: I agree. The girl's just trying to protect him.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: Sara?
- Sara Sidle: This was more about brains than brawn. I think Hannah did it.
- Conrad Ecklie: Two out of three.
- A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair: In my world, that's called an acquittal.
- Sara Sidle: [to Hannah] Hey, there.
- Hannah West: Did you come to say bye?
- Sara Sidle: No. Actually, you and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other. If you thought the DA wouldn't prosecute a twelve-year-old for murder, you were wrong. He wants justice for Stacy and her family.
- Hannah West: Of course. He's a totally linear thinker. Most of you guys are.