Briscoe and Curtis are called to an apartment building where a postman was murdered. They then find a resident named Katherine Lansing dying in her apartment, having been tortured and mutilated. Katherine's parents tell the detectives about her abusive, drug-addicted ex-husband Roger. He says he has no reason to kill her - he is happy with his new girlfriend Michelle Ashford. Despite initially lying about his alibi, Roger turns out not to have been anywhere near Katherine. He was actually in a hotel with not one but five escorts.
The detectives check out incidents with a similar MO and are led to serial killer Matt Bergstrom. He initially denies he's ever met Katherine. But when Carmichael threatens him with extradition to a death penalty state, he takes a plea. He agrees to immunity for prosecution for his other victims in exchange for revealing where their bodies are. Whilst Bergstrom is in custody, Katherine receives a threatening note containing details only her attacker would know. This indicates that it wasn't Bergstrom.
The evidence suggests that the attacker already knew Katherine, and had access to woodworking tools. So the detectives take a closer look at Roger's girlfriend Michelle, whose brother Michael Ashford runs the family carpentry business. When Briscoe and Curtis find the murder weapon in Michael's workshop, he flips on his sister. He says that Roger was still hung up on Katherine and wanted to get back together with her. Michelle told her brother to kill Katherine and make it look like a sexually motivated murder.
This leaves the question of what to do about Bergstrom - or else he will get away with all the murders he committed, just like he planned. McCoy and Carmichael tell Bergstrom that the Ashfords have confessed to everything; he recants his confession, which automatically invalidates his plea. They then convince him that he's about to be extradited to Texas, where he will swiftly get the death penalty. Carmichael provokes him, knowing that Bergstrom cannot stand to let a woman be in control. He accepts a plea for one of his murders in New York.
Tropes present in this episode
- All for Nothing: Michelle tried to have Katherine killed so that Roger would stop fixating on her. It didn't work - Roger is even more preoccupied with Katherine since she was attacked.
- Bondage Is Bad: The detectives talk to a woman who had a near-miss with a man who didn't pay attention to safe words. She was found dazed and half-dressed but didn't want to press charges.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Bergstrom is obsessed with the idea of controlling and dominating women. He hastily confesses to murder rather than have Carmichael, a woman, prosecute him.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Roger went to a hotel with an escort but couldn't "perform" because he was high on drugs. She took advantage of this and called in a group of friends for backup so he'd have to pay them all.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: This is why Michelle wanted Katherine dead.
- Sadist: Bergstrom, judging from his description about what he did to his victim:"I cut her, and she screamed. I burned her, and she screamed louder. I pushed my fist into her, and she passed out. I made her say she admired me. I had total control. Total."
