Mr. Mason is a DA. Daniels is still at a Homeland conference. The chief isn’t happy about it. Mr. Mason’s wife was murdered. They are at a beach. They find her covered in cattleprod electrical burns and cigarette burns. Chief Pope and the Commander Taylor kept the techs and the other detectives away, except Lt. Flynn.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Taylor tells Johnson that 3 other women were found murdered in this fashion in 1998. They were also dumped on beaches. The press called him the PCH killer, the Pacific Coast Highway killer. The killer also brands the women on the bottom of the right foot in the order that he killed him. Mrs. Mason has the number 2 on the bottom of her foot. This means that there are missing a murder.
Flynn tells the chief that all of the women were in long term relationships and were fooling around with other men. All of the women are attractive, meaning that even if the killer is a sexual pervert, it doesn’t mean that he looks like one. The women might have gone with him willingly. Lt. Tao believes that the murderer is in LAC law enforcement.
Scott Mason didn’t report his wife missing because she was staying at her sister’s place in the city. He doesn’t an alibi.
They found the first victim in the morgue. The woman was found on Malibu beach. She was dumped without her clothes nearby and her face was bashed in. It looks more personal.
The sheriff’s department was investigating that murder, but didn’t even turn up the victim’s identity. They hand off the murder to LAPD. It turns out that Mr. Mason has a spicy sex life, filled with BDSM.
They ID the Jane Doe. Her name is Tammy Reynolds. Her husband is Robert Reynolds, but they can’t tell if he is missing or not. The LAPD goes to the boat and the FBI goes to Reynolds’ condo.
At the boat, after some problems getting onto the pier without a search warrant, they find the murder scene. It is gruesome, with torture implements, cigarette butts, ropes and blood everywhere. The chief deduces that the killer is killing at sea.
The chief has the early onset of menopause. Fritz proposes to Brenda. She wants to keep her own name but accepts. In her office, she hides her engagement ring.
Provenza says that the blood on the deck of the boat is male. But the teeth and the blood inside was Tammy’s. The chief wants to question Mr. Mason a bit further. He admits to an open relationship and that they are members of a sex club, the Verge.
The Verge has over 6000 members, with over 2000 females. The chief wants to question and sift through the information of the club members, but Pope doesn’t have the manpower to help her out.
The chief goes by herself to see Lucas Jones, the guy responsible for boat maintenance at the marina. He is an ex-vet, has a raft and a powerboat. He also has rope. Provenza calls the chief to tell her that they found Reynolds’ body tied up underneath his boat. She tells Provenza that she needs backup, but she is ambushed by Jones and a cattleprod. He hits her twice. She loose her gun, but manages to get it again. She shoots Jones 2 times. She tries to question him, but had to shoot him again.
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