Motive Episode 4.10 In Plain Sight

When the team investigates the homicide of a young woman who's been nail-gunned to death, they discover the truth is stranger than fiction.

Victim: Chloe Wilson, a dog walker with a mysterious past

Killer: Jessica Wilson, a woman caring for her dying mother

The Discovery: Jane Doe is found in a house under construction. She was killed by a nail gun.

The Investigation: In interviewing the trades people who were working on the house, the victim is identified by Cam Riley, who says she was his girlfriend of three months. He was supposed to meet her at the house the night of the murder to try out the new tub he just finished installing, but he had to cancel.

When Detectives Angie Flynn and Brian Lucas notify Chloe's mother, Ava, she calls her older daughter Jessica to come home. Jessica lies about being about to board a ferry for a trip, and throws a purse and ID in the trash.

At the Wilson's house, the detectives search Chloe's room and find $25,000 in cash, as well as an oxygen mask that Ava says is for oxygen therapy for her advanced cirrhosis.

Jessica's friend Maggie Campbell gave Chloe a job as a dog walker, which is how she met Cam. Maggie directs them to one client whose dog Chloe refused to walk. He confesses to the detectives it's because he propositioned her after recognizing her as a prostitute. The detectives confirm Chloe serviced Johns as "Ruby".

Cam Riley brings a cake to Jessica, wracked with guilt that he sent Chloe to the house where she died. Jessica tells him he's better off without her and she was probably meeting another guy. Cam mentions the conversation to Angie, showing that all was not well between the sisters.

The detectives find that Ava wrote $25,000 in checks to cash for Chloe.

Angie and Brian talk to Ava, who tells them she gave Chloe the money but didn't tell Jessica.

The detectives review Chloe's texts and find she signed her last one to Cam differently than the others. They home in on Jessica, the only person who would have had access to Chloe's phone to intercept the texts from Cam the night she died.

A review of traffic cam footage shows Jessica tossing Chloe's things in a Dumpster when she had said she was waiting for a ferry. Angie talks to Jessica, who says she was having a panic attack at the time.

Lucas finds from Chloe's credit card records that Chloe rented a helium tank from a party supply store. That combined with the oxygen mask in her room paints a grim picture.

Background: The family was recently reunited. Twenty years ago, Ava's ex-husband snatched three-year-old Chloe out of her front yard and tried to grab Jessica, too, but she was older and fought back and ran. Jessica has carried the guilt of her sister's abduction her whole life and recently paid Ian Mitchell, a private investigator, to find her – the sixth she'd hired.

Angie is curious how Ian found Chloe and asks for his case notes. He has to make excuses when she busts him for knowing Chloe turned tricks. Ian claims he was just trying to spare the family from the sordid truth.

Angie asks Agent Stoker for help tracking Jeremy's trail to Mexico, after a dinner of breakfast and wine, and they learn that Ian made up all his notes from his search. They start to wonder if Chloe was really Chloe.

When confronted again, Ian confesses he discovered that the real Chloe and her dad died in a car crash in Mexico seven years ago. "Chloe" is actually Misha, a hooker he knew, er, professionally. Ian thought Ava was going to die any day and they'd get half her estate, but the ruse has gone on for months as Ava lingered.

The Motive: Chloe/Misha bought Jessica a weekend getaway and she and Ava insisted Jessica go. But before she left, Jessica saw searches on Misha's phone about killing someone with helium and thought the trip was an excuse to get her out of the way.

She responded to Cam's text to Chloe when he said he had to cancel, making it look like Chloe had gotten it. Instead, Jessica went to the renovated house and confronted Chloe, accusing her of plotting to kill their mother. When Chloe insisted that Ava wanted to die, Jessica attacked her and grabbed the nearby nail gun, firing nails into her chest and killing her.

After Jessica's confession, Ava admits to Vega that she knew Misha wasn't Chloe, because her ex-husband was obsessed with vitamins and vaccinations and Misha didn't know anything about them. Misha had confessed and packed her things to leave, but Ava asked her to stay and offered her money to help her die with dignity. She was in pain and knew Jessica wouldn't be able to let her go. Jessica killed Misha thinking she was protecting her mother, but instead she was destroying her mother's final wish. She didn't even know Misha was an imposter.

Viva La Vega: Sgt. Saunders from Internal Investigations stops by Staff Sgt. Oscar Vega's office to talk about George Darrow, the "witness" Lucas coached to come forward in Tim Kelly's trial. Saunders ultimately agrees with Vega's assessment that Darrow wouldn't have held up on the stand. The constant politics of the job are getting to Vega.

At Angie's place one night, Vega tells her it's time for him to do something else. She's upset that he's apparently quitting, but supports his decision even if he doesn't know where he might go next.