Motive Episode 4.01 The Vanishing Policeman

Angie and newly minted Staff Sergeant Vega must adjust on the fly to their changed working dynamic, while dealing with the added pressure of bringing a cop killer to justice.

Killer: Murray Schultz, a comedian

Victim: Greg Schultz, a police officer

The Discovery: Det. Angie Flynn arrives on scene at a rail yard with a short and stylish new 'do, which seems to have made her even sassier. As the officers are securing the scene, a man with a knife jumps out of a train car and attacks Officer Greg Schultz, who gets cut on his side in the process.

The Real Discovery: Oscar Vega returns to work and is surprised by the policeman's bagpipe band in his new Staff Sergeant Office -- he was promoted to replace Sgt. Mark Cross. He gets a call that an officer has committed suicide. On the scene at the waterfront, four different people describe seeing a policeman walk to the edge of the water and shoot himself in the head. They recover the gun and then the body -- Angie recognizes Schultz from the rail yard a few days before.

The Investigation: Vega's replacement on the team takes some getting used to. Det. Mitch Kinecki, is the son of District Commander Walt Kinecki. He's arrogant, insensitive, and brash. Angie is not a fan.

Angie and Mitch notify Greg's wife, Lori, who barely reacts. Mitch latches onto the idea that she's guilty, despite Angie's misgivings.

Dr. Betty Rogers can't definitively rule it a suicide; there are signs the body was in the water longer than when witnesses saw him go in, in full uniform. Angie starts to wonder if the suicide was faked.

Next the detectives talk to Greg's brother, Murray. He's a comedian, and an alcoholic. The night of the murder, he slipped out while his girlfriend Sandy was passed out in bed.

Angie interviews Lori, who doesn't seem very broken up about her husband's death. She mentions he had been wearing his baton on his left side because it rubbed on his stitches from the knife wound on the right.

The detectives watch cell phone footage one of the witnesses took and notice the man in the video was wearing his nightstick on the wrong side. Angie and Brian find there was no blood in Greg's car, meaning the body was never in the car. They find a location upstream with blood on the bank.

Murray lets himself into Greg's house to return his dry cleaned uniform and runs into Lori and her young son, Max. Murray also had access to their father's gun, which Greg kept in his house.

Chief Wells is pressuring Vega to wrap up the case quickly and Det. Kinecki is all too happy to share his theory about Lori, going over Vega's head. Angie is irate when she learns Kinecki arrested Lori Schultz on Chief Wells' OK. Kinecki has a lot to learn about supporting his team.

Angie goes back to talk to Murray and tells him the suicide was an elaborately staged illusion. He also makes it sound like they've got Lori dead to rights.

With Lori in jail and Murray worrying about what will happen to her and Max, Angie checks in with Vega. Then, Murray calls and confesses. He threatens to shoot a cop, drawing Angie and dozens of other cops to him.

Backstory: Weeks earlier, Lori invited Murray to her son's birthday party without telling Greg. Greg comes across as a nice guy, but he's controlling, judgmental and cruel. Greg is upset with Murray when he shows him up with a better present for Max at the party - a magic kit. When Greg thinks his brother his drinking, he confronts him and they get into a shoving match.

Angie looks into the Schultz' brother's family history and finds their mother had a history of unexplained injuries. She died when the boys were very young and Dr. Rogers thinks the fall down the stairs that killed her might have even been domestic homicide. She wonders if it runs in the family.

The motive: The night of Max's birthday party, Murray went back to his brother's house after their fight and saw Lori cowering on the floor in front of Greg. Murray confronts Greg about it later by the riverbank and tells him he saw their father kill their mother all those years ago. Murray took beatings for Greg as a child and is furious that Greg turned out just like their dad. And now Murray has, too.