Forever Episode 1.04 The Art of Murder

Gloria Carlyle, the elegant, seemingly ruthless matriarch of one of New York's wealthiest and oldest families, has been known to bring a world of hurt down on her family. She's found dead at a Metropolitan Museum of Art gala celebration of her philanthropy. Henry is a no-show at the crime scene. Lucas claims it was for personal reasons. He knew Gloria Carlyle a long time ago. He owes her some kind of debt from the past. In the present, he believes Mrs. Carlyle didn't die a natural death.

Lucas inadvertently lets a member of the press know that Gloria Carlyle was murdered. The masses believe this woman was a terrible person. Henry knows this wasn't always the case. He's pulled from the investigation after taking the fall for Lucas. Jo offers to let him work the case with her on the sly. It involves going to the museum where the victim died. This is hard for Henry, as he has conflicted memories of the place.

Henry recalls a time when he and Abigail conned their way into a high society event at the museum as he and Jo investigate the crime scene. He believes Gloria tried to crawl away from a killer who pushed her down a staircase. Detective Hanson says a man named Lance Sharp was caught on surveillance tape. The guy claims he was following the victim only to ask for her granddaughter's hand in marriage. His description of what happened has Henry believing Gloria may have been poisoned.

Sofia Carlyle says Lance didn't kill her grandmother and her father doesn't care who killed her. She claims Gloria was a heartless woman. Flashbacks once again show that Henry remembers things were different once. Gloria is the one who led him to be courageous with Abigail. In the present day, Henry has Abe do some investigating at the Carlyle estate sale. He gets a photo of all of Gloria's medication, but nothing would create a toxin. Henry believes the drug Gloria's son, Conrad, takes for his epilepsy is the one that killed his mother.

Conrad admits that he hated his mother, but he didn't kill her. He has no idea how Gloria became so miserable. Flashbacks show Henry and Abigail speaking to Gloria about the special person in her life. All indications are that it wasn't her husband. In the present, Henry is impressed at the sneaky way Lucas got a liver sample from the victim. Signs point to Gloria's nurse, Marta, as being the killer. After all, she got all of her fortune. Henry has his doubts that the nurse is a killer.

Henry checks out Gloria's bedroom. He finds the remnants of a burned letter in the fireplace. He knows that Gloria never drank, so it makes no sense that one of her vintage wine glasses is missing. This fact, among others, has him believing the victim was poisoned elsewhere. The killing was initiated in the family's limo by the victim herself. It was suicide.

Gloria only had a few months to live. She chose the night of the art gala as the ideal time to kill herself so she could tell off everyone in attendance and celebrate one of her favorite places. The love letter found in the fireplace was initialed F.C., which matches the name of a young artist Gloria fell in love with many years ago.

One of the artist's paintings hangs in the gallery. Conrad confirms that his mom loved this man. Henry realizes that she wanted to die in front of his painting. Gloria's final desire was fulfilled. As for her influence on Henry, it was enough to give him the courage to propose to Abigail right in the middle of that museum.