The Mysteries of Laura Episode 2.01 The Mystery of the Taken Boy

While Julia Davis watches her son Theo at the playground, a mysterious man lurks at the perimeter. She eyes him, but before she can say or do anything, a taxicab plows right toward Theo. The shady-looking man yells "Run!," and Theo escapes - but the man is hit and dies on impact. Detectives Laura Diamond (Debra Messing) and Billy Soto (Laz Alonso) arrive at the scene, where Julia fills them in on what she saw. Back at the precinct, Jake Broderick (Josh Lucas) returns from medical leave to find that his temporary replacement, frosty Captain Nancy Santiani (Callie Thorne), is reluctant to give up her position - and that Laura can't stand her. Meanwhile, the team uncovers the victim's identity: Ronald Belasco, a former heroin addict. And though he appears to have been an innocent bystander, the taxi that hit him was stolen. Meredith Bose (Janina Gavankar) and Billy visit the cabbie and investigate the charred remains of the vehicle. Inside, they find a camera full of photos of Theo; someone was following the boy for weeks! Panicked, Meredith calls Laura and Jake to let them know of the imminent danger, but by the time they reach the Davis residence, Theo is gone.

Laura and Jake tell Carl and Julia Davis and their 19-year-old daughter Candace to expect a ransom letter. The devastated family reveals Theo is diabetic and will need an insulin injection in a matter of hours. After extended interviews with both parents, the team subpoenas Carl's financials to discover he skimmed $100,000 of his company's funds right around the time Theo was born. Based on conflicting stories about Theo's birth, Laura deduces that the Davises aren't Theo's biological parents; he was adopted illegally on the black market.

It turns out Theo's biological parents died, and thus can't be behind the kidnapping. The kidnappers send a ransom demand to the Davises, asking for $75,000 within three hours or Theo will be killed. The police respond by organizing a ransom drop: Julia will bring the money to a man on a motorcycle in a specified location, and in return, he'll say where the kidnappers are keeping Theo. But when Julia approaches the biker, she lifts the visor on his helmet, causing him to panic and botching the operation. He speeds off with the money - without divulging Theo's location - while Laura notices Theo in the back of a nearby van that's leaving the scene.

The police track down the motorcycle and take the biker into custody. Jake offers the biker a plea deal, but the biker angles for full immunity, commenting offhand that no one would miss a "dead junkie." Laura realizes there's a reason the biker knows the hit-and-run victim, Ronald, was an addict: Ronald was never an innocent bystander; he was involved in the plot all along. But when Ronald began to have second thoughts, he went to the playground to warn the Davises about the oncoming cab. Laura immediately visits Theo's older sister Candace. She points out Candace's habit of wearing long sleeves and confirms her suspicions that Candace is also an addict, her arms full of track marks. She then shows Candace a photo of Ronald, asking if she recognizes him, and Candace shares that she and Ronald were treated at the same methadone clinic. He must have known from group therapy sessions that her family was wealthy enough to be targeted for a kidnapping. Candace points the team to a shelter that Ronald used for his drug deals. When they raid the abandoned shelter, they arrest a perp and find Theo, finally injecting him with insulin in what would have been his final hours.

The Davises are reunited, and Jake and Laura decide to let the illegal adoption go, in the interest of keeping the family together. Jake decides to approach Captain Santiani about her refusal to return his position to him, but instead of arguing with her, he lets her know that he has accepted a demotion so he can stay at the same precinct as his team, working as a detective. He and Laura exchange knowing looks that suggest they're ready for a new chapter.