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While the Major Crimes unit investigates a complicated gangland shooting, Det. Amy Sykes finds she must protect the identify of a witness capable of identifying the killer. Rusty struggles with how to manage newly gained information on the Alice case and Lt. Flynn works to gain the courage to take his relationship with Captain Raydor to the next level.
The Victims[]
- Steven "Breezy" Craft
- Shot caller of the Monster gang.
- Boyfriend of Tamara who left Big Hazard for him.
- Tamara Roe
- Girlfriend of Breezy.
- Together with Twizz in a picture on Breezy's cell phone.
- Ex-girlfriend of Big Hazard who spent two years in prison for attacking her.
- Started dating Breezy after breaking up with Big Hazard.
- Ernest Parks
- 83-year old bystander.
- Taking out the trash at the time of the murders.
- Shot in the neck.
- Died on the operating table.
- Humberto Perez
- Taco truck driver murdered five days before Breezy and Tamara.
- Killed using the same gun.
- Shot by Emanuel "Twizz" Gaines during a robbery.
- Only witness to the murder recanted her statement due to intimidation.
The Suspects[]
- Emmanuel Gaines
- Known as Twizz.
- Member of the Monster gang.
- Murdered taco truck driver Humberto Perez during a robbery five days before the murders of Breezy Craft, Tamara Roe, and Ernest Parks.
- Intimidated the only witness to the Perez murder into recanting her statement.
- James Albert DeRay
- Known by the title of Big Hazard.
- Former shot caller of the Monster gang.
- Ex-boyfriend of Tamara Roe.
- Went to prison for two years on a domestic charge relating to Tamara, recently paroled.
- Tamara left him for Breezy who took over the Monsters.
- Originally owned the murder weapon before he went to prison for two years.
Evidence[]
- Help provided to Sykes by Amira.
- Murder weapon.
- Twizz's fingerprints found on the gun.
- Picture of Tamara and Twizz found on Breezy's phone.
- Anonymous tip to police by Amira as directed by Sykes.
- Sign painted on Twizz's door after trick by police.
- Statements by Twizz and Big Hazard.
Closing the Case[]
As Twizz is questioned for his role in the murders, particularly that of Humberto Perez, Sykes gets a call from Amira who reveals that the killer of Breezy, Tamara and Ernest Parks is searching the crawlspace for the murder weapon. Wanting to protect Amira, Sykes checks that the nearest convenience store has no security cameras with Buzz and then directs Amira to call the front desk from a pay phone and leave an anonymous tip with the desk sergeant about the killer. Provenza's is suspicious about Sykes's behavior.
As the interrogation of Twizz continues, Provenza gets a call about the tip from a witness whom Sykes is protecting. Sykes tells Captain Raydor that she cannot identify Amira due to the possible danger to her life, pointing out that the fingerprints on the gun link Twizz to the murder of Humberto Perez and Amira's anonymous tip allows them to investigate the person identified as the killer of the other three victims.
The killer is revealed to be James Albert DeRay, also known as Big Hazard. Big Hazard was Tamara's ex-boyfriend who just got out of prison on a domestic charge related to Tamara. She had left him for Breezy, explaining their murders. After it's argued that they won't need a witness if they can make deals, Assistant Chief Russell Taylor agrees to give Sykes some latitude with Amira unless or until they require her testimony.
Julio and Provenza confront Twizz with the news that his fingerprints on the murder weapon connect him to four homicides which overqualifies Twizz for the death penalty. Twizz insists he didn't kill anyone the night before, but Julio points out that he did murder Humberto Perez the week before. Provenza offers that if Twizz can convince them that someone else killed the three people the night before, Twizz can have a parole date in the distant future instead of an execution. However, Twizz refuses to talk, stating that he's not a snitch.
As the interrogation of Twizz continues, Amira's anxious grandmother arrives and hands over Amira's cell phone and Sykes' business card, afraid for her and her granddaughter's life if Amira continues to help the police. Sharon orders Flynn to alert Taylor that she is placing Twizz into protective custody with the intention of transferring him into the Witness Protection Program. Sharon reveals that her plan is to give the Monsters the impression that Twizz talked to put added pressure on him to tell the truth. She orders a very public search of Twizz's house to be done and at Flynn's suggestion, a moving truck added to help create the illusion that Twizz has snitched. Sharon orders that Big Hazard be arrested in the hopes he can be mislead into telling the truth.
At Big Hazard's house, he attempts to run when Tao and Julio lead officers through the front door to arrest him. However, as he rushes out the back, Sykes takes Big Hazard out at the knees with a grill cover and quickly subdues him. Watched by the neighborhood, Big Hazard is loaded into a police car and driven past Twizz's house by Sykes and Julio. Big Hazard notices the amount of boxes being removed from the house by officers led by Flynn and Provenza and Sykes and Julio make a point of "mentioning" that Twizz is being put into the Witness Protection Program by Sharon. Big Hazard immediately asks for his phone call while Flynn and Provenza notice that at the very least, the neighborhood has bought their deception.
Following Big Hazard's arrest, he is questioned by Sharon and Julio. Sharon claims to Big Hazard that she has learned from Twizz that before Big Hazard went to prison, the Monsters were his gang but when he came out, Breezy was in charge and was also sleeping with Big Hazard's ex-girlfriend. Big Hazard claims not to have cared enough about Tamara to drop bodies and Julio points out that Big Hazard didn't care about Breezy, Tamara or the innocent bystander Ernest enough to murder them in cold blood. Julio tells Big Hazard that they have an eyewitness who saw him stash the gun under a nearby house following the murders and he can't intimidate Twizz as they have Twizz in protective custody.
Big Hazard is enraged that they would choose Twizz over him after the murder Twizz committed. Julio tells Big Hazard that they know that Twizz murdered Humberto Perez but they just can't prove it. Sharon and Julio offer Big Hazard the choice of giving up Twizz for the Perez murder in exchange for a deal where he doesn't end up on death row for triple homicide. After Sharon and Julio nearly leave while making it clear that Big Hazard has to choose right away, he angrily agrees to the deal as he wants to see Twizz in prison with him. His lawyer agrees that if the police bring what they have on the murders committed by Big Hazard and its compelling, they will discuss what Big Hazard will tell them in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. However, while they now have the beginnings of a deal with Big Hazard, they still need Twizz's statement for the deal to work.
Provenza gets a new picture of Twizz's house from SIS and has Tao print it out for him. Tao and Provenza then confront Twizz with the picture which is of 187 Sntch painted on Twizz's front door. Provenza and Tao reveal that the sign, which means the Monsters think Twizz snitched on a murder, is because they have arrested Big Hazard for murder and left the impression that Twizz is going into witness protection. Provenza lies that the police staked out where they found the gun and arrested Big Hazard when he came back for it, giving him the impression that Twizz told them where to look which Big Hazard then spread amongst the Monsters when he got his phone call. Provenza and Tao claim that Big Hazard has claimed that Twizz is responsible for all four murders and they have the evidence to arrest him.
Provenza points out that they can arrest Twizz for murder, but reminds him that Twizz's life would be in danger in the county jail with how the Monsters deal with snitches. Tao offers that they can give Twizz protective custody if he does something worthy of it. Twizz's lawyer offers a deal where Twizz tells them about what Big Hazard did and in return, Twizz gets a parole date added to his sentence to be served far away under a fake name. Provenza agrees, but asks for Twizz to first explain why he gave Big Hazard the gun he killed Humberto Perez with if he didn't want Tamara and Breezy dead. Twizz explains that the gun actually belonged to Big Hazard before he went to prison. Twizz admits that he should've moved the gun when Big Hazard got out of prison, but he hadn't expected that Big Hazard would be so angry over Tamara.
With Twizz's statement and deal, they are able to finalize the deal with Big Hazard. With Twizz and Big Hazard having both taken deals, they no longer have a need for Amira who is a hero that allowed them to tie together four murders. Sykes quietly honors Amira's heroism by secretly returning Amira's cell phone to her. Flynn later brings a list of Twizz's known associates to Sharon who suggests that in the future once Twizz is in prison and feeling secure, he may turn on more of the Monsters in exchange for luxury items.
Guest Cast[]
Recurring[]
- Rene Rosado (Gustavo Wallace, on a voicemail played for Dr Joe Bowman)
- Bill Brochtrup (Dr. Joe Bowman)
Locations[]
Episode Notes[]
- The number 187 on one of the shooter's front door refers to California Penal Code Section 187, which defines first and second-degree murder.
- Despite not physically appearing, Rene Rosado is credited as co-starring as Gus Wallace in the end credits. This presumably comes from Gus' voicemail played by Rusty.
The Search for Alice Herrera[]
- Rusty's hacking of Alice Herrera's voicemail turns up a message from a man who seems to know who she really is and she had run away from in Las Vegas. Rusty is left unsure of whether to turn the messages over to the police, but after a session with Doctor Joe, he decides to. DDA Hobbs tells him it will have no bearing on the case and allows him to post it to his blog. Its also mentioned that he now has a friend helping him with the investigation, a young man named TJ Shaw who he met in a cell phone store while looking for help. TJ was the one who helped him hack Alice's voicemail password and its suggested that Rusty may be attracted to him. Rusty denies this, claiming he's not looking for a relationship with TJ who's gay, but deeply closeted.
Sharon and Andy[]
- Early in the episode, Andy Flynn announces his intention to ask Sharon Raydor on a real date to Louie Provenza. At the end of the episode, Andy asks Sharon to dinner at Serve, a new restaurant that is supposed to be a romantic setting. Though surprised, Sharon agrees to go on the date.
Trivia[]
Episode Media[]
- This episode features Buzz Watson, who explains that the equipment he uses in his job belongs to him, not the LAPD. It also has Rusty discuss Alice's voicemail and his efforts to use it to identify her.