- When a confessed killer gets an important detail of the murder wrong during his allocution, Brenda suspects that he may be covering for his schizophrenic son. Meanwhile, Brenda gets a visit from her mother and teenage niece.
- A man who confessed to murder while Brenda was away on her honeymoon gets details of the crime wrong during his allocution, causing Brenda to reopen the case. Her first thought is that he is trying to cover for his schizophrenic son, whose doctor was the victim. Brenda's investigation, however, is interrupted by a visit from her mother, who hopes to pawn a troublesome niece (Brenda's) off on Brenda and Fritz for the summer.—TNT Publicity
- Brenda welcomes her mother Willie Ray and her niece Charlene to Los Angeles for a bit of a holiday. Before they can set off for Disneyland, Brenda has to appear in court where Russell Clark will plead guilty to the murder of Dr. Keith Milano. When his allocution doesn't correspond with the physical evidence, the judge gives the DA just over 24 hours to come up with additional information or he will proceed with sentencing. Clark's schizophrenic son James had been undergoing alternative holistic therapy for his condition, which Russell had been trying for some time to terminate. Brenda, whom had nothing to do with this case (as it occurred during her honeymoon), is certain the elder Clark is pleading guilty to protect his son. In fact, the truth is far more complex. Meanwhile, Brenda and Fritz learn that Willie Ray wants to leave Charlene with them for the summer.—garykmcd
- Brenda waits anxiously in an empty courtroom. Her mama Willie Ray comes in with her surly too-cool-for-school teenage niece Charlene, who immediately informs her aunt that she goes by "Charlie" now. Brenda doesn't have to stay and testify, she explains, the defendant confessed while she and Fritz were on their honeymoon. It's just an allocution.
A nerdy, clean cut teenage dude comes into the courtroom and, upon seeing Charlie, starting telling her how hot she is in French. Commander Taylor doesn't understand why Brenda is there, but she says Tao asked her to show up because they never had a chance to interview the suspect before he asked for a lawyer. She doesn't think it'll take long.
The defendant Russell Clark (Bruce Davison) is brought in. The nerdy teenager, James Clark, leaps up and shouts hi to his dad. Brenda whispers to Tao that he doesn't seem schizophrenic to her. Tao says he went back on his meds.
The judge prepares to hear the plea to murder in the second degree. His son was receiving some sort of holistic cure from a Dr. Milano, which Russell's mother in law was paying for. But, Russ says, it made James much much worse. The judge checks that Russell visited the Dr. one day and attacked and killed him. Yes, Russell says. The judge asks how he strangled the doctor. Russell pauses, then says he used his bare hands.
This doesn't seem to sit well with Brenda or Tao. A look at the autopsy photos of the victim clearly show a thin ligature mark.
The prosecutor asks for a continuance. The judge says they'll reconvene at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
Out in the hall, the doctor's wife Robin (Cynthia Watros), also a doctor, asks how much longer things are going to take. She wants to get their stuff back.
Commander Taylor tells Brenda this isn't his fault. She waits to hear why. He says he picked up father and son, but five minutes in the dad say he did it and lawyered up. Taylor hasn't even seen the autopsy photos.
Brenda needs to know why Russell lied. She begs off a trip to Disneyland. Fritz points out that she's the only one who wanted to go, they want to go to Venice Beach. Charlie texts, uninterested. Then James Clark comes out and goes to talk to her, reciting French poetry. He gives her a poem then smiles like an idiot, bows, and leaves. Charlie looks at what he gave her - he drew pictures of her.
Back at headquarters, the team gets back into the case. Brenda and Tao talk to Russell. She asks how James is.
Russell says he's hoping to get back to MIT, where he had a scholarship - and where he was arrested for walking around campus naked. Twice. Russell says his wife died before James went to college. Russell says James is a disorganized schizophrenic, and doesn't have multiple personalities. He says Keith Milano is no doctor, he and his wife are con artists. He wrote letters begging Milano to return his mother in law's money and stop treating him.
They found Milano's office ransacked. Brenda wants to make sure James didn't do it. Russell says James is innocent and doesn't deserve to be shipped to some mental institution.
Russell doesn't know anything about the implement that was used to kill Milano, but suggests they find it. He asks to go back to his cell.
Watching the interview on the video feed, the rest of the team gives Taylor the stink eye. Again, he says it's not his fault. Really, it's not.
Later, he tries to make up for it by recreating the crime scene in an interview room. They found $600 in Keith's desk drawer and his wife had a couple grand. Robin Milano was out delivering meds.
Flynn shows Brenda a bill. The Milanos were making about $300,000 a month.
Brenda wonders why the patients before and after James didn't seen anything. "There are all good questions, Chief," Sanchez says, "but by the time we would have asked them, Mr. Clark had lawyered up and made a deal with the DA."
Taylor jumps in, saying that's right.
Brenda wants to know where the other patients and the receptionist were. She also wants to talk to James, but Taylor warns her he's not very solid, even on his meds.
Back at home, Willie Ray serves chicken and dumplings to the family as Charlie texts sullenly. When Brenda asks her how she's liking LA she replies she'd tell her, but she's not allowed to have her own opinions.
Willie Ray then tells them about her super idea that Charlie spend the rest of the summer with them. Brenda takes a big swig of wine as Charlie explains her parents hate her right now. She starts texting again, but Willie Ray takes her phone. Fritz starts to make a speech about how they don't use their phones at the table, but Brenda's rings. Charlie laps up the hypocrisy as Willie Ray tries to explain that Brenda's working. "It's OK, I'm used to adults making rules for me that they don't live by themselves," Charlie says.
Done with her call, Brenda asks Charlie if she'd like to see James when he's off his meds. She says sure. As Brenda gets up she pantomines "no Charlie for the summer" to Fritz. With them out of the room, Fritz asks Willie Ray what's really going on.
She explains that Charlie has decided to stop listening to her parents so they took her, but Clay won't disclipline her and she's uncontrollable.
Meanwhile in the bedroom, Brenda and Charlie watch a video of the truly uncontrollable James, who is dishelved and twitchy, yelling and nervous - complete opposite from his polished and pressed presence before. He's telling Tao that Milano wouldn't talk to him. Charlie can't believe it's the same kid.
On the tape Tao says James' hand looks hurt. He says the office was dark and he wouldn't answer his questions and his dad told him to sit back down, and his friends wanted out, but he wouldn't open the door. It comes out in a babbling, incoherent rant.
Charlie wonders if James did it. Brenda says he may have just told them it was premediated when he said the office was dark.
The next morning Brenda talks to her brother to "make sure" Charlie staying is OK with them. Fritz already told Willie Ray they'd try it for a week. Fritz says he knows what's going on with Charlie. They think she's smoking pot, had sex with her ex-boyfriend and is making some bad friends. Fritz wants to think of it as a dry run for kids.
Brenda thinks of a way to make Charlie useful. She wants to take her to work. Willie Ray objects. Brenda suggests they let Charlie decide. "Which would you rather: museums with Grandma or schizophrenia murder suspects with me?"
Charlie opts for cops.
At the station, Flynn and Provenza have tracked down the other patients scheduled for that day. Most have since died, the others were all canceled by Keith Milano himself.
Sanchez brings James Clark in. He hugs Brenda. He thinks her voice is "odd." Brenda asks him to talk in her glass-walled office, where Charlie is waiting nearby. He says yes.
Brenda positions him where he can see Charlie and gives him some chocolate. He says he remembers what happened, but not the chronology.
Brenda walks him through it. The receptionist was gone (or maybe he was invisible, he says) and Dr. Milano called for him. The office was dark. He starts to get upset, but looks at Charlie and calms down. The blinds were usually up, but not that day. Dr. Milano wouldn't answer him. His friends told him to inspect -- that's what he calls the voices when he's off his meds.
He politely asks for another chocolate. He says his dad was either there already or after and he was mad. And he searched the office, which upset James, so he punched the wall.
Brenda asks why James's dad was upset. Because Dr. Milano was dead. Tao reviews just to be sure, James came in when Dr. Milano called and Dr. Milano was dead, then his dad came in and started searching around.
He says his dad wanted to know why he strangled the doctor and how he did it. He says he did it with one of his socks, which he put back on.
Charlie listens to the video feed of James saying he used to make his dad proud, but doesn't anymore. But he thinks he is behaving very well today.
The prosecutor watches James' confession and says she'll happily try him or his dad. They decide. The sock theory doesn't hold up much better since it looks like he was strangled by something heavier. Pope wonders if maybe Russell was telling the truth.
Looking at the crime scene photos, Brenda has a thought and breezes out. She wants Russell brought back and tells them not to release the office contents to Mrs. Milano. Brenda's going shopping.
As 4 p.m. approaches, the prosecutor and the team wait. Brenda comes back with a shopping bag. Mrs. Milano is in the hallway, upset that she can't have her stuff. Brenda says she can have some of her stuff and politely ushers her into the interview room that's still made up like the crime scene. Brenda flips on the camera for Provenza and Buzz's benefit.
Brenda starts packing up the scene as the prosecutor watches in the viewing room, confused. Mrs. Milano asks why they haven't wrapped things up yet. Brenda explains that Russell didn't know things about the crime he should have. Mrs. Milano says they obviously fought, but Brenda says no one heard anything until James punched the wall.
Tao says Russell saw James standing over Milano and thought he'd done it, so he searched for the murder weapon. He came up empty.
Brenda's guessing that Mrs. Milano took it with her. She holds up a clutch purse from evidence, with no strap. She was able to find one just like it. She pulls it out of her bag - it's has a metal chain that's detachable.
Mrs. Milano asks what her motive would be. Brenda says it was money. Russell was telling the truth that Keith had agreed to stop treating James -- and all their patients, maybe even returning some of the money.
They tell her they have a witness. James said Dr. Milano called him in and because Keith was already dead, James had to mean her and she slipped out the back door.
Mrs. Milano says they argued about money, Keith said they were charlatans, and it got physical, and the chain accidentally wrapped around her husband's neck. She swears it was an accident. But Brenda doesn't think it was.
The office was dark when James got there. She closed the blinds because she didn't want anyone to see her strangling her husband. Tao reads her his rights.
Watching in the viewing room, the prosecutor says the confession's no good because they didn't read her her rights before questioning her. But Provenza and Taylor note that they didn't hear Brenda asks a question. They suggest the next time she wants to close a case without asking a question, this is the way to do it.
Fritz and Willie Ray drop by in time to see Russell reunited with James, who's busy chatting with Charlie. Russell thanks Brenda.
Charlie asks if James will go back to living with his dad. She says it looks like it, and she's part of the reason why.
Willie Ray walks out of the office with her daughter, excited to see her getting through to Charlie.
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