Synopsis[]
A petty crook shares some new information about the night a high school track athlete was found shot to death, and her boyfriend was originally imprisoned for the crime. Meanwhile, Lilly is assigned a new partner: a cocky, young up-and-comer named Scotty Valens.
Plot Summary[]
May 15, 1981 At a high school track meet, a girl sprints down the track as the crowd cheers her on. The scene transitions to her running at night in the woods with a bloodied head injury and tripping at a small bridge. She begs for her life as a gun is raised and fired.
Present: Lily finds out she has a new partner: Scotty Valens. He is flirting with a young woman named Blair, who is his alleged informant. He promises her a dinner if she "gives him what he needs". Then, Valens Blair her to leave. A small-time criminal, Ricky Stockvis, comes forward with some information on Paige Pratt, a high school track star. That night, Ricky planned on robbing an auto shop he worked at, but saw the owner’s kid, Will Harrell, washing blood out of his car. Ricky says that Paige's boyfriend, Al Clarkson, was convicted and serving life. With Valens’s knowledge of cars, they theorize Will’s car could have been at the scene given the tire tracks. Valens asks Lily why she likes “old murders,” and she answers that she “doesn’t like bastards getting away with murder.”
They track down Will and ask him about Ricky, who Will said was a thief. They confront him about the blood and the fact he sold his car, a Trans Am, not long after. Valens gets in his face, and an irritated Will walks away. Jeffries and Vera follow up on the woman who bought the car. She tells them the kid didn’t know what it was worth and bought it cheap, not bothering to ask why. When going to visit Al, Valens tells Rush he’s not sure if cold cases is his thing, and she jokes she’s not sure if he has a choice. Al maintains his innocence and explains that Paige “ran wild,” causing him to be jealous. He suspected there was another guy she liked, but he never found out if it was true.
Vera and Jeffries impound the Trans Am for evidence. The team sprays the car and finds blood. Rush and Valens confront Will, who claims he hit a dog. The night of the murder, he went to see Raiders of the Lost Ark with Bennett Cahill and Bennett's girlfriend Jane. Apparently, he still has the stub. Bennett, now a surgeon, says kids used to party at the auto shop until Will privately showed him a gun, calling it a “bitch killer.” Bennett stopped going after that. Back at the shop, they tell Will the blood was Paige’s. Valens also finds the gun hidden away in the corner of the ceiling tiles. Will said Bennett showed up covered in blood, saying he hit a dog and that the car needs to be cleaned. He asks Will to say they saw the movie together and to borrow his car. Will agrees to all of it, thinking they’re friends.
They bring Will in for questioning and run into ADA Jason Kite, who demands that Will is arrested before Clarkson is released. Rush wants to be positive there are no other angles so another innocent man isn’t locked away. Since Bennett and Paige both ran track for different schools, they think they could have met and been cheating on their partners. They speak to Jane, who says she and Bennett dated all four years until they went to separate colleges and drifted apart. On the night of the murder, Jane claims she and Bennett had sex for the first time with each other. When going over data, Jeffries finds a photo of Paige’s memorial service with Bennett in the frame.
Back at his office, Bennett confesses to having sex with Paige in his car one day after a track meet with their schools. He says he felt guilty after she was murdered, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Jane what happened. Jeffries and Vera find Heidi, Paige’s high school friend, who says Paige was hung up on Bennett well past track season. She also mentions that Jane found out about the affair and called Paige to tell her off. Rush goes back to Jane, who admits that she knew and was told it “was a one-time thing.” Rush hands over forged love notes detailing their affair. Scotty and Lilly was talking in his car. She asks him if he has a girlfriend and he tell her no. Shortly after, Rush and Valens see Jane leave the house. They stake out Jane at a diner, where she meets Bennett. She show him the supposed love letters, then leaves.
In interrogation, Bennett flashes back to confessing his affair to Jane, who doesn’t want to be with him anymore. He begs for forgiveness, insisting his affair with Paige was meaningless. Bennett says that he and Jane had true love for each other. Scotty tells him that he can't keep a girlfriend for more than three months. Bennett claims Jane is the one who shot Paige and hid the gun. In another room, Jane claims Bennett was the one who shot Paige after he said he would do anything to get her back. Bennett claims that the love he and Jane had was as rare as Haley’s Comet.
They’re put together and lay out the details of what really happened that night. They convinced themselves that getting rid of Paige would “purify” their relationship again. Bennett calls Paige one night to meet him in the park. After she gets in his car, Jane pops up from the back seat and yells for Bennett to kill Paige. He begins to choke her as Jane hit Paige on the head with a dumbbell. Paige manages to escape the car, but Bennett catches up to her at the bridge and shoots her.
Bennett and Jane are processed as Al is released from prison. Lily sits down at the high school track and "sees" Paige running laps.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
- Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
- John Finn as John Stillman
- Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
- Thom Barry as Will Jeffries
Guest Cast[]
- Vincent Ventresca as Bennett Cahill (2003)
- Josh Hopkins as ADA Jason Kite
- Lacey Beeman as Jane (1981)
- Tim deZarn as Ricky Stockvis (2003)
- James DuMont as Will Harrell (2003)
- Summer Glau as Paige Pratt
- Howard Holcomb as Bennett Cahill (1981)
- Doug Kruse as Al Clarkson (2003)
- Saxon Trainor as Jane (2003)
- Unknown actor as Ricky Stockvis (1981)
Co-Starring[]
- Kevin McCorkle as Detective Gil Sherman
- Dylan Cope as Al Clarkson (1981)
- Ben Lang as Will Harrell (1981)
- Jeanette O'Connor as April
- Charles Duckworth as Isaac
- Isabelle Dahlin as Heidi Busch
- Jessica Burrows as (Woman) Blair
Notes[]
- Danny Pino joins the cast as Scotty Valens.
- First appearance of Josh Hopkins as ADA Jason Kite.
- This episode marks the first time that a closed case (as opposed to an unsolved case) is reopened, and a wrongly convicted individual exonerated as a result.
- Al's lawyer's was mentioned as being named Rudy Tanner. There was also a character named Rudy Tanner in the episode "Revenge". (Presumably, they are not the same person).
- This episode is loosely based on the 1995 murder of Adrianne Jones by Diane Zamora and David Graham.
- In the beginning of the episode when Ricky is being interviewed, Mitchell Bayes's box can be seen in the background.
- The episode was remade as the sixth episode of No Statute of Limitations.
Music[]
Opening Song[]
Alongside Songs[]
Closing Song[]
