Jagged Edge (film) - Plot

Plot

The movie opens with the brutal murder of San Francisco socialite Paige Forrester at her remote beach house. An intruder in a black mask ties her up in bed and kills her with a hunting knife. He writes the word 'Bitch' on the wall above the bed with her blood. Her husband Jack Forrester (Bridges) is devastated. To make matters worse, he is then arrested for her murder by Thomas Krasny (Coyote), a posturing D.A.. Jack tries to hire high-profile lawyer Teddy Barnes (Close) to defend him. Barnes used to work for Krasny, and she is reluctant to take the case, as she stopped working in criminal law after an incident with Krasny.

Krasny runs into Barnes in a restaurant, where she is dining with her ex-husband. He tells her that "Henry Styles hanged himself in his cell," which clearly distresses her. Barnes visits Sam Ransom (Loggia), a two-bit private detective who used to work for Krasny's office as well. He stopped private investigations at the same time that Barnes left Krasny's office, and it becomes clear that Styles' case was the reason why. During her visit with Ransom, Barnes decides to take the case.

In the course of preparing for the trial, Barnes and Forrester spend a great deal of time together, and eventually, they sleep together. Ransom warns Barnes that Forrester is just trying to make her care more about his case so that she won't lose it. She says, "I know that!" In the run-up to the trial, her office begins receiving anonymous typed letters that mention things about the case. All of the "t's" in the letters are slightly raised, and Ransom has the notes analyzed, determining that they were typed on a 1942 Corona typewriter.

In a pre-trial meeting, Barnes tells the judge that Krasny has a history of not meeting his discovery obligations. She is warned about making such a claim without any evidence. The prosecution's case relies mainly on circumstantial evidence. A jilted woman claimed that Paige told her she was divorcing Jack, but Barnes discredits her with evidence, including a love letter, that her advances had been rejected by Jack, causing Paige to cut off all communication with her. The other main witness is a locker-room attendant at a private club who claims to have seen a hunting knife in Forrester's locker. Barnes discredits him by proving that the knife was in another member's locker.

Krasny calls a witness who had an affair with Forrester. The details of her relationship with Forrester are eerily similar to the way he seduced Barnes. She is horrified and threatens to drop the case. She only agrees to proceed due to a sense of duty, though she now believes that Forrester is guilty. Another note arrives at her office saying, "He is innocent. Santa Cruz. January 21, 1984. Ask Julie Jensen."

Barnes drives to Santa Cruz and interviews Jensen, who then testifies at the trial that she was attacked in the same manner as Paige Forrester. All the details match, but she says her attacker seemed to stop himself from killing her. As Krasny is busy objecting that the attack on Jensen is unrelated to the one on Forrester, he lets slip that his office had investigated the attack and not revealed it in discovery. In chambers, the judge threatens to have Krasny disbarred. It's become obvious that he's lost the case and that Barnes once again believes Forrester is innocent. Krasny seems deranged as he yells at Barnes that Forrester is guilty and not a psychopath but an "iceman". Krasny insists that Forrester staged the earlier attack on Jensen in order to create an alibi of sorts for Paige's murder, which he had planned for eighteen months. Krasny also insists that Forrester has been sending Barnes the anonymous notes, leading her along.

After the "not guilty" verdict is read, Barnes announces to the media that she left Krasny's office over the Henry Styles case, where Krasny suppressed evidence that proved Styles was innocent. Krasny walks off in disgust. Barnes goes over to Forrester's house to celebrate, and they sleep together again. In the morning, as she is changing the sheets on the bed, she discovers a Corona typewriter in his closet. She tests it by typing 'He is innocent,' and the "t" is raised just as it was in the anonymous notes she received. She throws clothing over the typewriter and flees with it, pretending to Forrester that her little boy is sick.

With Barnes back at home, Forrester calls to ask after her little boy, and she tells him that she found the typewriter. Forrester says he's baffled and that he's coming over. Barnes calls Ransom, breathless with fear and on the brink of telling him that Forrester is a killer, when a sudden calm comes over her face, and she instead murmurs something inconsequential and hangs up. The masked figure last seen in the opening scene breaks into her house and confronts her in her bedroom. She knew he'd come and is waiting for him, covered up in bed. As he starts to attack, Barnes throws back the covers to reveal her gun. She shoots him multiple times until he falls to the floor. Ransom comes in with his gun drawn and unmasks the attacker: it is Forrester (a final look of dismay crossing his face). "He was trash," Ransom says to Barnes.