A billionaire hotelier's fiancee falls to her death from the balcony of her room. Mooney, although distracted by his daughter's impending departure from Sainte Marie, insists on investigating the woman's death as murder, not suicide.
Tropes:
- Absence of Evidence: The one clue that convinces Mooney that it was murder, not suicide is that the victim hadn't finished painting her nails before she supposedly jumped. She also didn't screw the cap of the polish bottle back on.
- Call-Back: The Summation mirrors that at the end of Season Two's "Death at the Clinic." One of the witnesses tries to pull a Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! on the detective, appealing to the Commissioner on a First-Name Basis; but the Commissioner has heard enough to know that there is something to the detective's suspicions, and responds with the same words: "Carry on, Inspector."
- Daddy Didn't Raise No Criminal: Whatever problems he may have with his children, Philip Marston never imagined in a million years that any of them would commit murder just to preserve their pampered lifestyles.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Philip Marston is appalled to learn that his children conspired to murder their future stepmother, and honestly baffled by their avowed reasons: Karen saw her as a threat because she refused to sign a pre-nup; Stephen was afraid she was going to report him for sexually harassing a maid; and Pearl resented being forced to take an actual job with the hotel.Philip: Why?!
Pearl: ...We didn't want her. - Driven to Suicide: The murderers dug up dirt on the victim and leaked it to a tabloid reporter, hoping either that she would take her own life, or else that it would look like she had done so.
- Establishing Character Moment: While the rest of his team is staking out a street market to catch a drug dealer, DI Mooney appears to be on a different planet, asking Catherine for the details of a recipe for melon curry. The drug dealer gives the team the slip and flees the market, only for Mooney to turn around, toss the melon into his arms, and handcuff him. Florence, Dwayne and J.P., panting from their failed pursuit, are at a loss to understand how their boss managed to get two steps ahead of everybody without leaving the bar.
- Everybody Did It: Specifically, all three of Philip Marston's children worked together to kill their future stepmother.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Mooney and Florence, in the police jeep, pull alongside Karen Marston while she is out for a jog. She suggests that if they want to question her, they'll need to run alongside her. Mooney jokes that he'd need to call in advance for an ambulance and an oxygen tank.
- Idle Rich: Stephen Marston stays expense-free in his father's hotels and calls it a job. His sister Pearl, when Mooney and Florence approach her, asks them to be quick, she has a deep tissue massage scheduled in five minutes.
- Immoral Journalist: Mooney converses with the tabloid journalist that published the tawdry story about the murder victim; after politely saying goodbye, Mooney hangs up and finishes, "you amoral, spineless, parasitic, bottom-feeding hack!"
- It's Personal: DI Mooney injects an uncharacteristic tone of disgust into The Summation. Having just said goodbye to his daughter, who has left St. Marie to attend university, Mooney has had to come to terms with the fact that children need to leave their parents' nest and carve their own paths; therefore, he has No Sympathy for three Spoiled Brats who were content to continue living off their father's money for the rest of their lives, and murdered their future stepmother because she dared to suggest they couldn't.For the first time, you heard the word, "no".... So you reacted the way all spoiled children do. Except it wasn't just your toys you threw out of the pram. Hmm? (waves a hand in disgust) Take them away.
- Never Suicide: How the Victim of the Week died.
- Non-Idle Rich: Of the three Marston children, Karen, the eldest, is the only one who seems to actually work for her father's company, and has successfully built up an independent reputation as a competent businesswoman.
- One-Hour Work Week: Stephen Marston's job title is "Global Brand Ambassador" for his father's hotel chain. As far as Florence can determine, his duties consist of jet-setting around the world and staying in the hotels, reminding customers through his mere presence that the company is still in business.
- Pearl, a failed actress and former model, is even worse; she scoffed at her stepmother's suggestion that she get an actual job with the hotel, insisting that she was promoting the hotel's brand every time she Tweeted or Instagrammed. "What did she expect me to do, show up at nine and put on a uniform?" Florence, who joined the team as a uniformed officer before her promotion to Detective Sergeant, holds her tongue with an effort.
- The Upper Crass: When Mooney and Florence return from interviewing Karen Marston, Florence is stunned that Karen threatened to sue them just for pursuing routine inquiries. Mooney quips:You know what they say, Florence: "if you want to know what God thinks of money, look who He gives it to."
- We Need a Distraction: Karen Marston is quick to point out that she was nowhere near Diane when she fell from her balcony, giving a speech on the patio to the assembled wedding guests. Mooney rejoins that that was part of the plan: the conspirators needed everyone looking at her, so no one would notice that Diane fell from the fourth floor, where Stephen's room was, not from her own balcony on the third.
- Wicked Stepmother: Diane was this to her future stepchildren - even if her only "wickedness" was to signal that she wasn't going to let them remain Idle Rich for the rest of their lives.
