A couple makes love in a romantic, candle-lit motel room. The woman reaches for the bottle of champagne only to discover it's empty. She ventures out of the motel room in search of a soda machine, then screams at the sight of a middle-aged man slumped on the ground with his back to the wall and eyes closed.
Her lover rushes over to find a man with a shaved head, neatly trimmed goatee and expensive leather jacket lying there. He tries to wake him as the young woman panics. He attempts to help him up and the man slumps back to the ground as a stream of blood leaks from his leather jacket.
Jim Longworth and Jeff round the corner to Callie's yard. Jeff explains to Longworth that he was doing "homework," and admits to playing a video game instead, when he saw a man with long blonde hair with a tattoo of an eagle on his neck. Callie pulls into the driveway as Jeff tells Longworth he had never seen the man before.
A couple find the body of Allan Slater by a dumpster.
Callie exits the vehicle looking tired and dressed for a double shift at the hospital. She is surprised and curious as to why Longworth is at her home and jokingly asks if there was a party she wasn't invited to. Longworth explains that Jeff had caught an uninvited guest peeking through the window. Callie tells her son that he could have called her and suggests that Jeff was probably crying wolf. Jeff insists that he saw the man. Callie tells Jeff he should head inside and finish his homework and Jeff, angry and annoyed, goes inside, slamming the door behind him.
Callie thanks Jim and apologizes for the false alarm, explaining that Jeff gets like this when he misses his dad. She asks Longworth to come inside, as his cell phone rings. He grudgingly agrees with the caller and explains to Callie that he's "got a date with a dead guy," and asks for a rain check on the invite. On the way out, Longworth turns to a bush beneath a window, kneeling to look at something he noticed earlier: a pair of boot prints in the soil.
Carlos Sanchez and a team of FDLE crime scene techs work on the dead body, roped off by crime scene tape. Longworth approaches and Carlos asks him if he has heard from Daniel Green. Longworth jokes that he'll have to do his own dirty work and asks about the body. They move the body, still in the same position the young couple had found it.
Carlos examines the body.
This victim is a male in his 40s with many puncture wounds in his neck and chest. Sanchez suggests a screwdriver or ice pick may have done the damage. He also mentions that someone swiped the man's wallet, watch, keys and wedding ring. Longworth comments that someone must have really hated the man. He then remarks on the dead man's leather jacket and Sanchez explains that it is a John Varvatos jacket and estimates the deceased's outfit to be worth at about five grand.Longworth notes that there is no blood splatter and Sanchez says the blood pooled inside the man's jacket. Sanchez suggests the attack took place somewhere else and that the victim made it over to the location before dying. The hotel manager has confirmed that the man was not a guest.
Longworth asks the young couple a few questions. The couple requests that he not report their names, for fear their spouses may find out about their affair. Longworth declines but assures them that it is unlikely their spouses would find out. The couple explains they had been across the street earlier at Cancun's Beach Club, notoriously known as "Cheaters," where they met a few weeks ago. Longworth rejoins Sanchez, and sees a bar stamp on the victim's hand reading "Cancun's Beach Club." He takes a photo of the victim with his phone.
Longworth heads to the beach club, where he shows the bartender the photo he had taken with his cell phone. She describes the man in the photo as a pig and tells Longworth that he kept grabbing her all night and was kicked out of the club by the bouncers. She adds that the man hit on every woman in the club, spent the night making people angry and even got into an argument with his one friend, who split. She calls the friend a "muscled-up 'yes' man" who kept apologizing for his friend's behavior. The bartender also mentions an extremely drunk man who told the victim he wouldn't live to see nightfall. She describes the drunk as scrawny with a crew cut and a scar over his right eye. She says she eventually had to cut him off.
Longworth steps out of the bar and admires a row of shiny motorcycles in front. Sanchez tells Longworth that he found needle marks on the victim's hips, for which he will fire off a tox report. Green meets up with Longworth, his backpack filled with surveillance videos he acquired from the clubs and bars around town. He shows Longworth his hand, which is covered in bar stamps to compare with the three on the victim's hand. He plans to assemble a video timeline and Longworth asks him to find out the identity of the owner of the motorcycles. Longworth decides the bikes look too expensive to belong to a biker, but perhaps to a rich obnoxious jerk that everybody hates.
Jim and Carlos thinking about the case.
Green shows Longworth the surveillance footage of the obviously wasted victim, staggering through crowds, bumping into people and pissing off bystanders. The footage shows a man who sees the victim from across the bar and is quite obviously flaming with anger. The man starts toward the victim when his girlfriend stops him and the man continues to yell across the room. The footage shows the victim flipping the man off as the man's girlfriend drags him away before there's a fight.episode
Daniel on his scooter.
Longworth suggests an old enemy or perhaps someone he had pissed off earlier in the night may be guilty. Green adds that he hadn't seen him with anyone who looked like a friend, let alone a scrawny guy with a scar and crew cut. He also remarks to Longworth that all the motorcycles' owners are accounted for. Longworth ponders the victim's leather jacket aloud.Longworth and Sanchez argue the matter of the leather jacket, Sanchez believing that an expensive leather jacket doesn't mean he rides, just that he's rich. Sanchez jokingly suggests that perhaps he pissed off a gang of real bikers and Colleen Manus, who has joined them, remarks that real bikers stay away from nice places like Yucatan's.
Manus opens a case folder. She tells Longworth and Sanchez that the victim was not in the system as a criminal but she caught a lead from the DA in Palm Beach. She found that he had done an internship there when he was at the University of Miami Law School. Longworth seems surprised his victim was a prosecutor. Manus corrects him: divorce attorney. The victim is Allan Slater, 51, of Palm Beach, Florida. He was a ruthless divorce lawyer who made millions tearing families apart and destroying lives. Longworth guesses half of Florida wanted this guy dead. The list of suspects has just grown infinitely.
Longworth arrives at the Slater house. The dead man's last trophy wife answers the door: Brandi Slater, 29, very blonde, buxom, and smart. Before Longworth has a chance to tell her why he's there, she guesses that something happened to her husband. When Longworth asks how she knew, she simply replies that Longworth is a cop knocking on her door and her husband is a divorce attorney who destroys families. She doesn't have much of a reaction as Longworth breaks the news of her husband's death.
Brandi invites Longworth inside and Longworth relays the story. Referring to the bar, she comments that nothing good comes out of that place and that she would never be caught dead there. She says she did not know of any cheating going on with her husband, but that he may have been at Cancun's trolling for business, due to the fact people go there to cut loose and escape their unhappy marriages.
Longworth comments that she isn't showing much emotion and Brandi denies involvement with her husband's death and even offers an alibi, noting that she knows the works of the industry; she was a crime reporter for Channel 8 in Miami. She has interviewed cops and knows how they think. She says that just because she's not sad that he's gone doesn't mean she's happy either and that the two had a generous pre-nup.
Noticing the medical supply box of needles, along with many bottles of vitamins including one titled "Chasteberry" in the kitchen, Longworth asks if Slater was diabetic. Brandi tells Longworth that the needles were for testosterone, he liked to feel invincible. Longworth comments that he probably made a few enemies along the way. Brandi gives Longworth a netbook full of people including judges, clients, lawyers and others that Slater wanted to hurt but she doesn't have the password. The netbook's screensaver is Slater sitting on a chromed-out vintage motorcycle. Brandi describes her husband as being very "into" his bike, spending at least $500,000 on it. She says he must have taken the bike with him since it was not in the garage and that he would never give it up without a fight. She suggests that maybe the murderer was trying to steal it from him.
At the hospital, Longworth holds up a bottle of Chasteberry vitamins to Callie and asks her if she's heard of them. Callie tells him that they help you get pregnant. Callie tells Longworth that Jeff is frightened going home to the empty house and that it will soon pass. He mentions the boot prints he found under the window and she says that it was the day she had the exterminator spray the perimeter of the house and that Jeff has a history of crying wolf. Longworth suggests Jeff hang out at the police station after school and Callie reluctantly agrees.
Green is unsuccessful in finding the bike but does discover a man named Craig Daniels, Slater's trainer and bike mechanic. He says it sounds like this is the man Allan Slater fought with the night of the murder.
Craig Daniels is a muscular personal fitness trainer at the Palm Glade Fitness Center. Longworth shows him his badge and Daniels tells his client to take a break. Daniels is belligerent and rude, asking Longworth what he wants. Longworth brings up the fight with Slater and the murder. Daniels claims that Slater wasn't his boss, that he simply trained him. Longworth adds that Daniels also took care of Allan Slater's bike and it must have made him pretty mad when Slater got cover spreads and accolades, where his name was barely mentioned. Though Daniels built Slater's bike from scratch, he insists, "his money, his bike."
Longworth mentions that most people disliked Slater and Daniels defends him saying that people didn't know Allan like he did. He claims they were friends since childhood and as close as brothers. He says they fought that night over the amount Slater had to drink and that he would not stop when he asked him to.
Longworth continues to interrogate him but Daniels insists they were partners. Longworth accuses Daniels of finding sport in messing with people's marriages, to which Daniels replies, "All's fair." He goes onto say that he figured his buddy should have the chance to cash in. He also explains that he has been trying to open his own gym and Allan Slater was going to co-sign the loan and questions Longworth as to what his motives would be for killing his friend. Longworth brings up the motorcycle, but Daniels is shocked at the idea that he would kill his friend for "Baby," the name Slater used to call the bike. Daniels suggests he try looking at some of the ex-husbands Allan Slater took down.
Longworth leaves Daniels and makes a phone call to Daniel, asking him to try B-A-B-Y as the netbook password. Back in Manus' office, Manus and Longworth discover a picture on Slater's computer of Wade Connors, the man with the crew cut and scar above his right eye who threatened to kill the divorce attorney. According to Longworth, he owned four Harley Dealerships in Florida before the divorce and thanks to Allan Slater, he lost his business, house and family, ending up bankrupt and in rehab.
Manus asks Longworth if he received a warrant for the computer and Longworth tells her that Slater's wife gave it to him. Manus says they can't use any information they get from the computer in court without a warrant. Considering the photo of the man on the computer, Longworth remarks that Wade Connors is a drunk who's pissed and has nothing to lose and is therefore an imminent threat. As Longworth exits, Manus dials the phone for a BOLO, a broadcast passed from one law enforce agency to another that stands for "Be on the Lookout," for Wade Connors.
Longworth arrives at the Boca Estates to find a 16 year-old Shane Connors, sporting an oily baseball cap, sliding out from underneath a mid-70s Bronco. Longworth asks if he is Wade Connors and Shane says that Wade is his dad. Longworth asks if he's seen his dad and Shane tells him that his father is not allowed to come there because the last time he stopped by he was drunk, fought with his ex-wife and ended up breaking a window. The boy adds that his mom is not around and that she is with her boyfriend.
Longworth asks Shane about the truck and Shane replies, obviously unhappy, that he got it for "being good" and letting his soon-to-be step-dad move him and his mom out to L.A. While he finishes up the oil change, Longworth asks for his mom's number but complains about not having service on his phone and asks to borrow Shane's. While Shane goes to wash his hands, Longworth slyly scrolls through the boy's contacts and hits "Dad."
Wade Connors answers his phone and Longworth can tell from the background noise that he is clearly at a club. Longworth pretends he is someone who wants to pay Connors back some money and asks Connors if he's is at Cancun's. When Connors tells him he is, Longworth uses his own phone to tell his men to go pick him up. He switches back to Shane's phone, telling Connors that he is also at the club and requests that Connors hold his hand up in the air so he can find him. Longworth then switches back to his own phone and lets the FDLE Agents know that Connors is the man with his hand up. At the club, two plain-clothed FDLE Agents part the crowd, cuff Wade and take him away. Shane returns and Longworth hands him the phone and thanks him.
Longworth and Jeff sit at his office computer, looking at an array of suspects that match Jeff's description of the prowler. Longworth tells Jeff to continue looking as he makes his way to the interrogation room. In the interrogation room, Longworth questions a hung-over Wade Connors about the scar on his face, but Wade says he doesn't recall how it happened. Longworth suggests that perhaps he got it when he busted through the window of his wife's home. Connors, defensive and annoyed, insists that he had nothing to do with the murder of Allan Slater, claiming that he did not go to Cancun's to pay Slater back but to get his life and son's respect back. He tells Longworth the story of his life after the divorce, the rehab and the money it took to pay the lawyers. He's upset and says he thinks his son doesn't believe he cares about him anymore.
Connors brings up the invention he and Shane had always dreamed about and discussed, called the Supermuffler, designed to cut emissions and improve mileage. He tells Longworth about how he sold his car, made a prototype and came to Florida to find some investors when he stopped for lunch and happened to see Allan Slater and decided to follow him. He explains how he had a drink to steady his nerves but got too drunk and passed out in his car.
In another office, Jeff continues to search through mug shots, hoping to find the man he saw through the window that night. He types in the name "Raymond Cade Cargill," his father's name, but the search is blocked. Jeff finds a way around it by searching through Longworth's history and clicks his dad's name, and to his horror, his dad's mug shot appears, along with his criminal record.
Later, Longworth reads Slater's preliminary file and is disappointed to find that there is still no time of death. Sanchez explains that they are still waiting on the labs and asks why it matters since Longworth already caught the guy. Longworth denies this, explaining that the suspect is an ex-husband with motive but there are no facts or hard evidence to convict. Green walks in and tells Longworth that Jeff got bored and said he was going home.
Green lays out a series of photographs, in which are a variety of knives, ice picks and tools along with a close up of one of the victim's wounds. He tells Longworth and Sanchez that he has been running tests and has found that the wounds were caused by a small pocket knife or a specialty kitchen tool. He also tells them he still cannot conclude the cause of death until the lab results are in.
At a dumpster near The Iguana Cafe Bar, one of many in the area, Longworth walks to a dumpster, noticing a reddish-brown smear on the wall, about six feet off the ground. Green is prepared with a blood kit and the two extract a sample of the blood. Longworth notices a security camera in the alley and asks Green if he had gotten a surveillance tape from the bar. Green replies that he had only gotten tapes from the bars based on the stamps on the victim's hand.
Jeff sits in the back of Callie's car with a mini DVD player, watching a home video from when he was seven, where his dad takes him out on a motorcycle ride. Jeff restarts the video and continues to watch it and Callie becomes concerned. She tells him that he does not need to restart the video since they are almost home, to which Jeff replies, "You lied to me." Callie, confused, asks what he's talking about and Jeff tells her that he saw Dad's arrest report at the police station. Callie immediately blames Longworth and Jeff insists that it was nobody's fault but her own for lying to him for so long. Callie explains that she was trying to protect him and Jeff, clearly upset and angry with his mother, questions if Ray will ever get out and Callie reassures him he will. Jeff slams the car door and marches into the house.
Green sits at a desk, continuing to run through the video at Cancun's during the night of the murder. Green tells Longworth that he has not seen much besides a ton of "pretty hot" women. They pan in on a beach bunny in her 20s, wearing a bikini top and boy shorts with a butterfly tattoo across her back. She turns and faces the camera: the beach bunny is Brandi Slater, the victim's wife.
Carlos enters, carrying a file folder. He explains to Green and Longworth that the tox results suggest Slater was poisoned with antifreeze. Longworth takes a look at the file and sees that the victim also had a vasectomy. Sanchez and Daniel explain the simplicity of poisoning someone with antifreeze, how easy it is to mask the taste and color, by mixing it with Red Bull or Mountain Dew. After a minute of thinking, Longworth adds in "or RevitalAde."
At the Slater house, Brandi steps out of her car and Longworth approaches her from behind, noticing there is no butterfly tattoo on her back. Longworth tells her that her husband was poisoned and Brandi seems surprised. Longworth explains that the poisoner fits a narrow profile: someone close to the victim, afraid to confront him and with intimate knowledge of his habits. Longworth reaches into one of her grocery bags and pulls out a bottle of lime RevitalAde. Brandi defends herself, saying that she likes RevitalAde. Longworth hands her a photo from the surveillance video of her in beach bunny attire at the boardwalk.
Brandi admits that she went to Cancun's that night but it had nothing to do with her husband death and that she actually went there to try and save her marriage. She tells Longworth that she wanted Allan to see her "carefree" and to show him that she had a beach bunny side too. Longworth puts the Chasteberry bottle on the table and Brandi tells him that she takes it for PMS. Longworth accuses her of trying to have a baby so Slater would have to pay child support, along with the house and expensive car. Brandi asks Longworth why she would kill him if she wanted to have his baby, to which Longworth replies that she had found out about his vasectomy.
Brandi then admits that she went there that night to confront him. She said that her husband never drank and when she saw him loosening up, she wanted to surprise him but lost him in the crowd. She also adds in that she could not find his bike. Longworth questions why a high-powered lawyer wouldn't drink and Brandi tells him that he would not put anything into his body that his trainer did not provide.
Longworth arrives at Craig Daniels' new personal gym. He asks Daniels if he ended up getting the loan from Slater after all. Daniels is still hostile towards Longworth but Longworth ignores him, asking Daniels if he's about to come into some cash, since he has made some calls and found out that despite being turned down for a loan, the trainer has still managed to sign the lease for a gym. Longworth looks around and notices a waist-high drop cloth in the room. Daniels warns him to stay away but Longworth pretends to smell gas, declaring that it is a public safety violation and he has the right to check it out. He pulls off the drop cloth to reveal "Baby," Allan Slater's prized motorcycle.
Daniels insists that it's not what it looks like, but Longworth theorizes aloud that when Slater didn't sign the loan, stealing the bike became Daniels' goal. Daniels says that Longworth has it all wrong and tells him not to believe a word that Brandi says because she hated Baby. He tells him that it made her angry that Allan loved the bike more than her and that she was money-hungry. Daniels continues to insist that he and Allan fought the night of the murder because he had been drinking. Longworth tells Daniels that the lab found high levels of alcohol and ethylene glycol (the kind one finds at Pep Boys) in Slater's body which would produce the same woozy effects as if Slater had been drinking.
Longworth explains to Daniels, as he pulls out an empty bottle of RevitalAde from the saddlebag, that if he tests the bottle for trace ethylene glycol and find Daniels' prints on it, they have him for murder. Just then, Longworth receives a call from Sanchez who tells him the cause of death is actually not poisoning. Longworth corrects himself to Daniels, "Sorry. Not murder, but attempted murder." Longworth pulls out his cuffs to arrest Daniels and as the man begins to resist, brings in the FHP deputies to make the arrest.
Back at the station, Sanchez explains that the antifreeze was not the cause of death, but that a stab wound nicked Slater's lung cavity, causing a small leak that suffocated him before the antifreeze could kill him. They found both Slater and Wade Conners' blood in the alley and Connors has the very rare AB-negative blood type which only one percent of the population has. Longworth expresses his doubt about Wade being a suspect and hands Sanchez a pamphlet he found at Cancun's for the Supermuffler, Wade's invention. He explains to Sanchez that perhaps Wade came down there for a fresh start and to look for some investors.
Callie approaches Longworth, looking angry but composed. Callie and Longworth talk about the situation with Jeff, and Callie lets him know that Jeff found his dad's arrest and conviction report. Longworth, baffled, tells her that he blocked it from him and Callie, wearied, explains to Longworth that he's old enough to find his way around parental controls and asks Longworth to please stop fanning Jeff's insecurities by looking for peeping Toms that don't exist.
Back in the autopsy room, Sanchez asks Longworth what he's waiting for to make the arrest on Wade Connors since they now have his blood and a motive, but Longworth counters that he does not have enough evidence, only Wade's blood type. Sanchez tells Longworth that the autopsy has been expedited so he is done with the body.
Longworth sits across the table from a weary Wade. He asks him if he used to drive a '75 Bronco, to which Connors' replies, "So what?" Longworth remarks that a broken-down old Bronco doesn't seem like a typical bribe, referring to Shane's earlier comment that the car was a gift from his mom so that he would move with her and his stepfather to California. Longworth goes on to suggest that maybe Shane wanted the car because it was something he and his father could work on together in defiance of the court order. Connors remains silent as Longworth continues. Longworth tells Connors that even through a tough divorce, there's one thing one would fight to the death for: their child. He tells him that there's no way a guy like him would let his ex-wife take his son out of state unless a ruthless divorce attorney made sure he didn't have a choice.
Longworth accuses Connors of killing the man who took his son away from him and pushes over a confession awaiting Wade's signature. Connors replies that he won't confess to something he did not do and Longworth reminds him that he threatened to kill Slater all day and they found his blood type in the alley and on Allan Slater's clothes. Wade Connors, exasperated, picks up the pen and slowly starts to write out a confession.
Longworth sits at his desk reading the confession. Manus congratulates him, and Longworth, in a daze, excuses himself. Longworth arrives at the Boca Estates as Shane Connor's fills a bucket from the hose. Longworth tells Shane his dad confessed to Allan Slater's murder. Shane replies that it's too bad. Longworth sees through Shane's tough exterior and tells him that he knows he's not as mad at his dad as he pretends to be and that's why he asked specifically for the old truck, since his dad had one just like it. Longworth snatches Shane's oily cap off, revealing a bandage over a nasty head wound and asks if he got into a fight. Shane replies that he was just being stupid. Longworth suggests that he received the wound behind Cancun's and tells him that they found blood there that matches his dad's blood type. He goes on to say that when they told his dad they were going to use the blood to confirm it was he who killed Allan Slater, Wade confessed so they wouldn't find out the blood was actually Shane's.
Shane, clearly angry with the divorce attorney who took his dad from him, breaks down. He tells the story of how his dad called him and told him he saw Slater, confessing to Shane he was going to do Slater in for good. When he didn't hear from his dad all day, Shane became worried that he had done something stupid so he drove over to the bar, where he saw Slater walking towards the alley to take a leak. He tells Longworth that he warned Slater about his dad and Slater laughed and replied that his father had broken the custody agreement by talking to Shane and that he would have him arrested. Shane tells Longworth he got angry and shoved Slater and that Slater responded by pinning him to the wall and threatening him. Emotional now, Shane explains that he just wanted Slater to let go of him and so he reached down and got his knife.
Longworth reassures Shane that it was not his fault and he was only defending himself but Shane, crying, insists that it's not okay and that he cannot go to jail. Longworth tells Shane that if he helps them out, they will try to get the judge to see things in his favor and then perhaps, he and his dad can have a second chance at life. Reminded of second chances, Longworth hands Shane the pamphlet for the Supermuffler, the invention the boy and his father came up with so long ago. Shane stares at the brochure, overcome by a flood of emotion as he finally understand the lengths to which his dad went to to piece their lives back together.
At the station, Longworth wraps up arrest reports on his computer. Before leaving for the day, Green shows Longworth a photo on his computer. He explains that VICAP, an international database where profiles of criminals are kept, got a hit on the tattooed man that Jeff claims to have seen by the house. The man is William Cobb, on parole after serving four years for armed robbery and sexual assault. He fits Jeff's description perfectly.
That night, wearing a dark hoodie, William Cobb hides in the shadow of thick shrub that surrounds Callie's home. He inches in the darkness for a bedroom window, looks inside to see Jeff in his bedroom, asleep. Cobb moves around to another window, looks inside to see Callie fresh from a hot bath, slipping into a robe and moving through the house as she prepares for bed. Cobb trails her through the windows and edges quietly around the house, keeping an eye on Callie as she continues through the house. Callie settles into the couch while Cobb stares at her, eyes full of intent. He slips something out from his hoodie and quietly jimmies the glass doors when Longworth stops him, holds a gun to his head and tells him not to move. Cobb claims that Longworth has it all wrong and Callie is his girlfriend. Longworth throws him down on the ground and arrests him, assuring the others through a radio that the suspect has been secured. FDLE detectives dressed in street clothing emerge from their unmarked sedan hidden behind bushes and Longworth shoves Cobb at them, thanking them for surveying the place. The detectives tell Longworth that it was a close call as Cobb showed up only minutes after they had arrived.
The detectives read Cobb his rights and lower him into the back of their car. Longworth watches the house for a beat, comforted by the fact that Callie and Jeff are safe within and none the wiser.
References
http://www.aetv.com/the-glades/episode-breakdowns/marriage-is-murder/