Det. Halloran (James Franciscus) shoots a robber who was armed and trying to shoot him. Of course, he is heart-broken that he had to take the life of Peter Cretias (played by Andrew Gerardo). At the Grand Jury hearing as to whether or not it was a Justifiable Homicide (it was), Halloran meets the deceased criminal's mother and wife.
Eugenie Leontovich plays Katina, the mother of the thug. She goes way over the top screaming, yelling, and cursing Halloran for killing her son. She is totally nuts in that scene. The wife of the crook is played by Diane Ladd, who was only 23 years old at the time. She is much more reserved, and she looks really sad, like a real human being would be after a loved one dies.
Halloran spends the next several days whining and sulking because he is sad about killing a thug. He visits the bar where the guy used to hang out, and all the lowlifes tell Halloran what a great guy he was. So he asks his boss, John McIntire about his guilt, and gets a whole load of cliches from him. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," is what comes to mind. Halloran is not convincing about his remorse.
Halloran ends up going to the home of the dead guy, where his mother gets to tell him how much she hates his guts one more time. Really insensitive of Halloran to expect that if he said he was sorry she would give him a big hug and forget about it. The twist is that later on Diane Ladd calls and wants to meet him. Ladd was only in a couple of scenes, but she was the best actress, and the most sincere and believable character in this episode.