22.00–23.00The fourth series of the stylish crime franchise continues tonight, starring Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe. In the penultimate episode of the series, the detectives investigate the murder of a man in Harlem. The victim’s wife is found to be having an affair with an influential former police chief who is close to Deakins. Cops find the body of Walter Czabo in Harlem. He was reported missing by his wife, Anya, who says that she was at her sister’s place the whole time. Goren and Eames notice that she has a cut above her eye and wonder if Walter was violent towards her. Under questioning, she admits he regularly beat her – this time it was because she was home late from work. She had fled to her sister’s after the latest attack while Walter had gone out drinking alone. Somebody then beat him to death and abandoned him in Harlem. At first the cops suspect that Walter –who was a maintenance worker at a hospital –was stealing pharmaceuticals from his workplace and selling them on the street. Then Goren discovers a raunchy note at Anya’s house addressed to someone called ‘Bear’. She claims it was a note to Walter, but Goren suspects she is having an affair, and that Walter beat her because he discovered the note. Could Walter’s killer be Anya’s lover? The detectives learn that Anya was caught up in a political protest outside a government building some time ago. While everyone else involved was arrested, Anya was mysteriously freed without any questions being asked. A cop tells them that a high-ranking official flashed a “gold shield” and they were forced to release Anya. “Bear might be her gold shield,” muses Goren.It is at this point that Deakins is visited by an old friend, Frank Adair, who is a former police chief now seeking a high-profile career in politics. Adair admits to Deakins and his detectives that he conducted an affair with Anya some time ago, and it was he who released her from custody.Goren and Eames are intrigued by the charming Adair, and wonder why he chose this moment to tell Deakins his secret. “He’s straight up and clean as a whistle,” warns Deakins, sensing that Goren and Eames already suspect Adair. He and Deakins were on the beat together years before and Adair is now a local hero.

The detectives find prints on the love note that belong to Walter, Anya and a janitor. The janitor discovered the note at an apartment she was cleaning that belongs to a colleague of Adair’s. It is clear that Adair was ‘borrowing’ his friend’s apartment in order to continue his affair with Anya.

Somehow, the note ended up in Walter’s hands – but why would anyone want to inform him of his wife’s infidelity? The cops are then greeted with the news that Anya has gone missing. “I wouldn’t count on her showing up any time soon,” Goren says to Deakins.

“She’s the only person who can tie Frank to her husband’s death.” Deakins reluctantly agrees to talk to Adair, knowing that his department’s reputation will be on the line if he falsely accuses Adair of a crime...

Producesr Rene Balcer, Dick Wolf, Fred Berner Director Alex Zakrzewski A Wolf Films Production in Association with Universal Network Television

Tagged in