The Mysteries of Laura Episode 2.02 The Mystery of the Cure for Loneliness

When a cancer patient dies of an apparent suicide and the scene looks a little too perfectly staged, Laura Diamond (Debra Messing) suspects foul play. Nina Dickerson was poisoned with hemlock, but she's found with a bottle of pills - which means someone wanted to make her death look like suicide. Captain Nancy Santiani (Callie Thorne), who's had it up to here with Laura's far-fetched ideas, insists there's no evidence of murder. Irritated with Laura, the captain puts Billy Soto (Laz Alonso) and Meredith Bose (Janina Gavankar) on the case. Billy and Meredith visit Love Reach, a food delivery organization, and ask a supervisor which volunteer saw Nina last. They're introduced to Ted Burns, who says he wasn't the last person to see her; a grief counselor arrived when he was leaving. The team talks to the counselor who says Nina was too nauseous to eat. So why are there so many junk food wrappers in her garbage? And why weren't her fingernails affected by the chemo? The truth immediately becomes clear to Laura: Nina was faking it.

At work, Jake Broderick (Josh Lucas) pops several pills, indicating that perhaps he didn't make a full recovery, after all. Meanwhile, Laura is seeing Tony again, and Meredith asks her whether she's really over Jake. Laura replies that she has no plans to take Jake back, despite his confession of love - which he doesn't remember. She teases Meredith about what may or may not exist between her and Billy, still a secret at the precinct.

The team learns Nina received support by writing a blog about her cancer experience and find a blog draft about her potential remission. Was she ready to ditch the scam and pretend to recover? Or is it more proof that she never intended to die? Laura and Jake visit April, one of Nina's close friends from the online cancer community. April explains to the detectives that she and Nina had been raising money for a children's cancer ward. When Max Carnegie (Max Jenkins) digs deeper, he discovers the money was withdrawn from the charity's account in small increments by a third party. Using ATM security footage, the team gets a clear image of the man who withdrew the funds. Billy tracks him down and a chase ensues, which ends in tragedy when the man falls off a roof. While Billy is upset to have lost the key suspect, he notices the man's backpack is from Love Reach.

Laura and Jake visit Love Reach to ask about the victim. Apparently, his grandmother receives deliveries from the same volunteer who delivered food to Nina: Ted Burns. Putting two and two together, Jake and Laura deduce that Ted teamed up with Nina on her scam, but once she began entertaining the idea of remission, he bailed. One perilous car chase later, Ted is in custody and the case is closed. Laura comforts April and reassures her the money she and Nina raised will still benefit the children's cancer charity.

That night, Laura has just put the twins to bed when Tony comes calling. They're in the heat of the moment when Jake shows up. Jake apologizes for interrupting and leaves, but Laura follows him outside to ask if he's comfortable with her moving on. He responds that it doesn't really matter how he feels, and they say good night, leaving much unsaid.