| “ | There's no need to beat information out of this old man. He's been confessing all morning. | ” |
— Detective Lieutenant Louie Provenza | ||
When an old man comes to the LAPD and claims to be a serial killer, Brenda discovers that there may be some truth to his claim.
The Victim[]
- Bernard Kaplan - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center who was livin on Medicaid and lived in room 309.
- Joyce Robinson - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
- Marilyn Roberts - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
- Miles Hepfner - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
- Freeman Cross - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
- Dawn Graham - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
- Roger Wenstein - A resident of the Summerview Senior Living Center.
The Suspects[]
- Donald Baxter - Bernard's best friend and a former crime journalist who wheeled him out of Summerview and called 911 to get help.
- Nurse Janet Townsend - An elderly nurse at Summerview who cares for the residents and gives them their medications.
- Judd Whaley - The manager of Summerview who runs the day-to-day operations and is responsible for deciding who gets admitted to Summerview.
- Doctor Sid Reisen - The on-call doctor at Summerview who signed the death certicicates of all the people who died at Summerview.
Evidence[]
Closing the Case[]
Brenda's Story[]
Guest Cast[]
- Nina Foch (Doris Donnelly)
- Orson Bean (Donald Baxter)
- French Stewart (Gary Evans)
- Jim Ortlieb (Judd Whaley)
- Kathryn Joosten (Janet Townsend)
- David Andrews (Donald Baxter, Jr.)
- Debra Azar (Nurse Stiles)
Locations[]
Episode Notes[]
The episode's title, "The Round File", is drawn from the expression "to file something in the round file," meaning to throw something in the trash. In this case, the round file serves as a metaphor for the way older Americans may be viewed as having been thrown away by families who are unwilling to care for them, but instead send them to live in retirement communities such as the one where the murders took place. The expression also applies to the way the LAPD swept aside Donald Baxter's concerns by "filing them in the round file."
Trivia[]
- Dr. Crippen, the medical examiner, has the same surname as a famous American murderer, Dr. Hawley H. Crippen, who was found guilty of the grisly murder of his wife, Cora, in London in the early 20th century.
- First appearance of Dr. Morales who later becomes a major recurring character on The Closer and Major Crimes.