Charlie and Rex investigate the murder of a wealthy man who leaves only his three dogs to his estranged friends.
Tropes:
- Amoral Attorney: Ellen Parker. She was the one who brokered Barney's gold purchase, then later plotted to steal it from him with Rudy's help. She also helped Rudy concoct his alibi after hearing he killed Barney, but almost immediately gives him up once the truth is exposed.
- Beachcombing: The weapon used to kill Barney is revealed to have been a metal detector that was hidden on his property, implying that his killer was using it to search for the gold.
- Blatant Lies:
- Rudy's insistence that he didn’t know about the gold until the events of the episode and that Barney’s murder wasn’t his doing. Charlie retorts by revealing the whole chain of events that led to Rudy killing Barney, then pointing out how Rudy was greedy enough to keep searching even after Barney was dead.
- Also Ellen's claim that Rudy was the mastermind behind everything, despite the evidence making it clear that she was the one who tipped him off about Barney's gold purchase.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Rudy and Ellen were working together to get their hands on Barney's gold, with Rudy doing the searching and Ellen feeding him information and concocting his alibi after hearing he killed Barney. The two are rather quick to turn on each other after the truth is revealed, with both of them claiming each other to have been the one who set everything in motion.
- Closed Circle: Barney is stated to have had no family or anyone else close to him other than his three dogs. The only people who qualify are his former longtime friends Max, Patti, and Steven, and his dogsitter Rudy, all of whom he was on good terms with up until his death.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Rudy tries to pull a knife on Charlie upon being cornered by him during their chase. The detective catches his arm mid-swing and disarms him in less than three seconds.
- Eccentric Millionaire: Barney Chafe was a millionaire who became so after letting a hydro company build an access road through his property, and up until his murder lived alone with his three dogs Duff, Kona, and Buster. His estate lawyer Ellen Parker even considered him such from her dealings with him.
- Et Tu, Brute?: The culprit behind Barney's murder is his dogsitter Rudy, who had been working with Ellen Parker to try and steal Barney's gold right from under him. Max, Patti, and Steven are left wondering how Rudy could've done that to Barney, especially after Barney trusted him so much.
- Game Between Heirs: Barney leaves his dogs with Max, Patti, and Steven, but not before claiming that learning to love them may help guide his former friends to a portion of Barney's wealth that he converted to gold and hid somewhere. Turns out the three of them had to work together to find it as how Barney set it up to have them reconcile with each other.
- Gold Digger: An almost literal case with Rudy. He had been working to get close to Barney as his dogsitter for clues about the gold ever since Ellen Parker tipped him off about it a year prior. Then when Barney caught Rudy outside his house with a metal detector and threatened to fire him and turn him in to the police for it, events led to Rudy bludgeoning Barney to death with the metal detector and dumping his body in the nearby water to make it look like a drowning, then tried to continue searching after stealing Barney’s dogs and using the clues left in his will.
- Gold Fever: Barney emptied his bank accounts eighteen months prior to the episode and converted over two million dollars of his fortune into gold. A break-in at Barney’s residence then happened shortly after he did this, meaning there was someone who knew about the gold before anyone else did. It's revealed to have been Rudy after Ellen tipped him off about it.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Shortly after the video will, an unknown assailant steals Kona from Patti and leaves the latter unconscious in her burning shed. Charlie and Rex manage to rescue her, although Patti admits to likely being the one who started the fire due to being knocked out from behind while she was holding a lit soldering iron.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Barney was diagnosed six months ago with a condition that put him at risk of sudden heart failure, prompting him to make a will despite being deemed too young to do so at only thirty-seven years old.
- Incompetent Guard Animal: Barney originally adopted Kona to act as a guard dog when a break-in at his residence occurred after buying his gold, but she turned out to be too friendly to do the job. Patti assumes this to have been the same situation with Duff and Buster.
- Secret Test of Character: Tracking down the supposed location of Barney's gold turned out to be this for Max, Patti, and Steven, as explained under "Shaggy Dog" Story below.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Turns out there was never any gold. Barney had already donated it to a dog rescue organization and left an empty box as part of a convoluted plan to get Max, Patti, and Steven to rekindle their friendship, which they take surprisingly well. He does however leave his property and estate to them, with the three agreeing to have joint custody of Barney’s dogs.
- We Used to Be Friends: Barney used to be longtime friends with his neighbors Max, Patti, and Steven, until a drunken affair between Patti and Max while Steven was dating her led to the latter three being at each other's throats. Barney eventually distanced himself from them all after he got tired of being in the middle, but hoped he could one day convince them to come together again. His dreams are made a reality when they manage to rekindle through the treasure hunt and after Rudy is arrested.
