| “ | Big surprise, our suspect seems to have a girlfriend. In other news this morning, the sun rose in the east. | ” |
— Lt. Provenza | ||
Season Premiere. The squad scrambles to garner a confession when the pregnant wife of a big-time film director is found murdered. Meanwhile, just as things seem to fall into place under Raydor’s leadership, new Deputy D.A. Emma Rios challenges Raydor’s intentions as Rusty’s guardian.
The Victim
- Gretchen Elliot, the third wife
- Brittany Wells, the first wife
- Gretchen and Brittany's unborn children
The Suspects
- Martin Elliot
- Jennifer O'Brien
- Ashley Elliot
Evidence
- Phone calls to Gretchen Elliot
- Murder weapon
- Vallium in the systems of both wives
- Security footage from the Hotel Perino
- Testimony from Jennifer O'Brien
Closing the Case
As the evidence points to Martin being the killer of both his first and third wives, Provenza and Flynn bring in his girlfriend Jennifer O'Brien to tell them where Martin really was the night of the murder. While she initially goes with the story Martin gave her, after they threaten to charge her with the murder and show her the video of Martin asking her to lie and threaten to tell her husband, she admits that she was having an affair with Martin and was supposed to meet him at a hotel but he never arrived. They realize that Gretchen had a phone call from that hotel shortly before her death and that it means that Jennifer was checking to see if she was home before going over to kill her. Checking the hotel security footage, they find what appears to be Jennifer calling Gretchen from the house phone in the lobby but find from a clear shot of her face at her car that its actually Martin's second wife, Ashley. They bring Ashley in for questioning and offer her a deal of two counts of murder two rather than four if she confesses, putting the evidence before her: the footage of her in the hotel where she'd just checked to make sure Jennifer was there and Martin soon would be, the phone call, the fact that both wives had Vallium in their system but had no prescriptions for it and the blood evidence in her car that the rest of the squad is supposedly checking for. When she delays, Flynn calls Raydor's phone, the signal that the time for the deal is up and she confesses: she knew Martin was having another affair because she still got his schedule and he had the same thing marked on his schedule at the same time when he had his affair with her. She found out that Gretchen was pregnant and Martin wanted to have a second chance at being a father was his new child while ignoring her and their two children. Feeling that Martin was replacing her children, she made sure Jennifer was at the hotel and Martin soon would be before going to the Elliot home and drugging Gretchen's drink with Vallium. Once she was unconscious, Ashley stabbed her to death and dumped her in the pool, figuring Martin would get sent to prison for the murder and she'd have her revenge. However, while they ask about the murder of his first wife, Brittany, Ashley's lawyer tells them the deal was for two murders and counts them as Gretchen and her unborn baby. Ashley refuses to tell them why she murdered Brittany and says they will have to wonder about it as Martin never did. As a result of Ashley's arrest, Martin ends up getting full custody of his two kids, leaving Raydor and DDA Rios worried about them as Martin cares more about his next film than his kids.
Guest Cast
- John Ales as Martin Elliott
- Laura Gordon as Ashley Elliott
- Spencer Garrett as Charles Hardin
- Kate French as Jennifer O'Brien
- Eric Tiede as Issac
- Christopher Schauble as KTLA News Anchor
Locations
Episode Notes
- At the end of the episode, Provenza buys the Major Crimes Division a new state of the art printer. He also makes it clear that he will be charging everyone five cents per page. Following this episode, the printer is seen in frequent use with Provenza charging everyone anytime its used. The printer and Provenza's money jar appear all the way through season 5's "Shockwave, Part 2" when the murder room is destroyed in a bombing. Provenza's money jar is one of the things to survive that blast. In “Sanctuary City, Part 2” its shown that the printer actually survived the blast as well and continues to see use in the repaired and upgraded murder room.