Prime Suspect Episode 1.02 Carnivorous Sheep

It's a bad morning for Jane. She can't find the coffee filters; she can't find her nicotine gum, and Matt is asking her questions like "Frogs or clownfish?" He's offering a choice of non-skid bath tub stickers. Jane's not thrilled at the prospect of sitting on either one during her baths, but Matt's son Owen will be arriving later to spend his first night at the apartment. Jane wonders if Matt's ex, Tricia, will be not delighted to learn that Owen's sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room for the time being. This inquiry prompts Matt to heave Jane onto the counter for a little early morning sexy time. Of course, that's when Jane's phone rings, calling her way downtown to the scene of a homicide plus a missing three-year-old. This is Duffy's case, but for now, it's all hands on deck.

Evrard and Blando are already working the Alphabet City loft where gallery owner Allison Healy lies dead on the bed. A broken window off the fire escape suggests forced entry, and Allison was suffocated with a memory foam pillow. Duffy questions nanny Letecia Castillo, who tearfully claims that Allison's ex Jason Healy wouldn't hurt anyone. Even though he doesn't have keys to the apartment, Letecia's thinking Jason may have taken his three-year-old daughter from the scene. Minutes later, the detectives gather for a State of the Union with Sweeney. Calderon reports that Jason's nowhere to be found and not answering his phone. Like Letecia, Jane's hoping that Jason has his daughter Hannah, but Duffy figures she's probably dead or worse and goes off on a rant. That's when Jason pipes up, having heard the whole thing - if his daughter isn't with him, she's dead?!

After holding a press conference to ask for the safe return of Hannah, Duffy questions Jason, with Jane assisting. Jason's prickly; he didn't particularly like his wife, who was suspicious of everyone, paranoid even. Blando interrupts to show Jane and Duffy Alison's phone. Jane offers to go through it with Letecia. For his part, Duffy's going to let Jason sweat for a while in interrogation; Blando should tail him upon release. Calderon's researching registered sex offenders in Allison's zip code. Jane asks him to print up photos of the under 12s, then shows the photos to Letecia. Apparently, Allison was scared of pedophiles. A few months ago, she pointed out a guy in the park who really freaked her out. Letecia identifies Chris Hughes, who spent six years in jail for molestation and lives near Allison's apartment on Avenue A. Duffy decides to visit Hughes. Jane's all set to go along, but Duffy tells her to check out Allison's art gallery instead. After that, she can finish the crossword puzzle on his desk...

Duffy refuses Hughes' invitation to enter his apartment, preferring to embarrass him in front of his neighbors. As Duffy gets angrier and more aggressive, Hughes claims that he was with his girlfriend Noelle Tanner all last night. Meanwhile, Jane and Valerio proceed to the gallery to ask Allison's assistant for a list of everyone Allison's been in contact with. Duffy calls to send Jane to question Hughes' girlfriend Noelle, who knows that Hughes has a record - just not that he was convicted for raping a nine-year-old girl. According to Noelle, Hughes was with her - and her eight-year-old daughter Rita - all night. Jane is beginning to feel very nervous indeed...

It's not long before Duffy's interrogating Hughes down at the precinct, as the other cops look on. Why does Hughes have so many children's clothing catalogs? And why does he belong to an online pedophile network? Hughes claims he belonged to the online network 10 years ago - when he was sick, like cancer. Even if you're cured of cancer, you're still going to be interested in the disease, right? Furious, Duffy stands and tells a story. One day his father had a backache, three months later he was dead of pancreatic cancer. Hughes should think twice before comparing himself to Duffy's father again. Duffy doesn't care that Hughes' alibi is solid; he likes him for the murder, and he blasts Jane for not telling Noelle that Hughes is a pedophile. When Jane points out that they don't have to ruin Hughes' new life for no reason, Duffy suggests they're destroying Rita's life instead. Nevertheless, Duffy releases Hughes and tells Calderon to follow him.

Duffy takes Jane with him to meet with the Dr. Joanna Sykes, Hughes' prison therapist. She's aware Hughes is now dating Noelle and that Noelle has a daughter the same age as the girl he went to prison for raping. She doesn't think Hughes is capable of murder. Furthermore, Hughes believes children reach sexual maturity at age seven, and Hannah is three; so she doesn't believe he abducted her. Disgusted, Duffy huffs out of the office, telling Sykes he'll see her in hell. For her part, Jane tries to confirm once more that Hughes would never take Hannah, knowing full well there's no sure thing in this situation. Out on the street, Duffy calls Sykes a quack. Clearly his feelings about pedophiles are directing his judgment - or maybe he always runs his cases this way? Jane reiterates that Hughes has an alibi, and he's clearly not a killer. Duffy points out that Ted Bundy wasn't a killer either, until he was.

Taking a different tack, Jane tells Duffy that Allison's assistant reported that she has been having an issue with one of her gallery's artists, who blamed her for ruining a painting. The artist, a guy named Bounce, explains that the guy Allison hired to move his painting ruined it. Allison promised to fire this guy Glen and then stiffed him on money she already owed him. Jane's interview with Bounce comes to close when she gets a call from Matt, summoning her for yet another meeting with Trish, who's concerned about Owen sleeping on the sofa bed. Trying to make quick work of it, Jane changes the subject. Does Trish have good locks on her bedroom windows? Jane tells her about Allison's murder, claiming they're looking at her ex as their prime suspect. With Trish effectively silenced through mortification, Jane's phone rings again, and she's out.

Back at the precinct, Jane's trying to track down Glen when Tkachenko steps in with a folder for Duffy - Hughes' old case file. Duffy starts reading aloud from the case transcript, getting angrier and angrier. It's not long before he's reading aloud from the case file to Noelle. The tears stream down her face as she admits Hughes was with her on the night of the murder... and then he left. Overjoyed, Duffy practically runs back to the precinct to tell Sweeney. After leaving Noelle, Hughes has no alibi until the next morning. Duffy and Blando do their "Rocky fist-pump dance," and Sweeney tells them to make the arrest. Later, Calderon finds Hughes at a bar. After telling Hughes they set Noelle "straight," Calderon starts reciting Miranda rights, at which point Hughes runs out the door.

Jane pulls out her flashlight and starts opening doors, then follows sounds of whimpering until she finds a sobbing Hannah padlocked inside a bedroom. As Jane calls Manhattan East to let them know, Calderon sprints towards Noelle's apartment, calling HQ to request backup. As it turns out, Calderon's surmise is correct; Hughes is at Noelle's apartment holding Rita at gunpoint. It's not long before SWAT and a massive number of cops are gathered on the street outside Noelle's building. Inside, Hughes won't pick up his phone, as he's trying to explain himself to Noelle: he would never hurt her or Rita. But now look what Noelle's gone and done! Jane rushes up to the building, asking if anyone told Hughes they found Hannah. Realizing they haven't, Jane grabs a bullhorn to tell Hughes he's off the hook. Finally, Hughes picks up his phone.

Hughes demands to see Hannah. Jane grabs Sweeney's phone and takes over the negotiation, telling Hughes that Hannah's at the hospital. Hughes doesn't care; he still wants to see her, so he can be sure the detectives aren't trying to trick him. Jane promises that once Hughes lets Noelle and Rita out of the apartment, she'll take him to Hannah. Hughes agrees, so Jane asks the tactical team to let her into the apartment before they storm it. Sweeney refuses, but Jane's adamant. She has to try to fix what they've done because Hughes is innocent. Suddenly, screams are heard, and the SWAT team busts down the apartment door. Noelle and Rita run out while Jane runs in, calling for Hughes. She finds him in the bedroom and immediately starts apologizing. The stakes were high in this case, and they had to be sure they got it right.

Hughes remembers meeting Allison and Hannah once in the park, a day when he was hanging out with Rita. They hung out and talked - it was just two adults with their kids talking - so normal. But he did do something terrible 10 years ago. He thought he could make it go away, but it never will. Asking Jane to tell Rita she was safe all along, Hughes puts Calderon's gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. The next day, the cops gather around the TV in the squad room as Sweeney gives a press conference featuring Hannah, who's finally been reunited with Jason, claiming it's the best possible outcome. In the squad room, the cops all clap, except for Jane, who silently pulls photos of their suspects off the bulletin board. When Duffy asks how she's doing, she admits she could be drunker.

Duffy tries to apologize, but an angry Jane tells him to suck it. Duffy maintains this case was a win. As for Hughes - well nobody will have to wonder if he was for real or not ever again. Moving on. It's not Duffy's job to help a guy like Hughes; Duffy's job is to broom the carnivorous sheep out of Manhattan. Besides, he knows the real truth behind Jane's anger. She has a problem with Duffy working lead. She thinks she busted her ass, so Duffy could get all the glory. Little girl rescued, pedophile dead. Why, they might even name a bridge after Duffy! Through her teeth, Jane acknowledges that this may be so... but she'll always know Duffy was wrong. That night, Jane's treating herself to a very large tumbler of whiskey when Matt comes home with shy guy Owen. He hides behind his dad until he finds the courage to run over and give Jane a hug.