Body of Proof Episode 1.07 All in the Family

Megan's latest case brings back memories of the day her father died. Ed Russell was a stay-at-home dad who was stabbed to death in his kitchen. His baby was upstairs at the time of the murder. His wife, Jen, stopped home for lunch to feed the child only to find her husband's body. Her teen son, Mike, says his mom is a workaholic. So why was she home in the middle of the day?

Someone cleaned up a bit with peroxide after the murder. They conclude Jen tried to wipe away footprints she believed belonged to her son. Bud visits the Mike at football practice to chat about the fight he had with his dad the day before. The kid points a finger at a guy named Jake, a day laborer who helped his dad build furniture.

Jake is wearing Ed's watch when Bud and Sam track him down. He claims it was a gift. He also has blade that is the same length as the murder weapon. He's cleared when the team learns the killer has a skin condition that Jake doesn't have. But the victim's son does. Mike Russell left messages on his computer saying he'd like to make his dad disappear. The notes are to a mystery woman named Carla. Mike planned to run away with her.

The skin condition Mike has is hereditary, so further tests indicate that Ed wasn't the boy's father. This leads the team to discover that Jen Russell's real name is Jennifer Burke. She changed her identity to escape an abusive ex and Mike's real father, Timothy Scanlon. This felon posed as Carla online to track down Mike. Megan tries to confront Jen, but she slams the door in her face. She has no idea that Scanlon is holding Jen's baby hostage on the other side.

Megan notices shadows in the window, so she sneaks inside the house to find the baby alone in a pack-and-play. Scanlon drags Jen outside as a swarm of Philly's finest arrive. BANG! Bud shoots the suspect in the leg. Scanlon's down. Jen and the rest of her family are safe. Case closed. But the memories of the day Megan's own dad died remain open.

Megan is surprised to see her ex-hubby Todd at the office. He's there to get help from Kate as he tries a pro bono case. Todd also needs Megan to cover his carpool duties with Lacey. Peter suggests she take a bag of treats along on the ride. In this case, it's those Philadelphia favorites known as Tastykakes. The Krimpets and Kandy Kakes are the best. As far as the tween girls, they all thoroughly enjoy hearing the gory details of Megan's murder case.

Todd's client, Manny Santos is a good kid who took a joyride that went bad. The kid is in the country illegally, so he doesn't have a birth certificate. Todd wants Kate to verify Manny's age so he's not tried as an adult. But the tests Curtis performs show signs of abuse from his uncle. Kate wants Todd to hire his client so he'll qualify for entrance into a children's home. That'll work.

At the end of the day, Megan has a heart-to-heart chat with her daughter. Lacey says her friends think her mom is cool. It's nice, albeit slightly weird. It's enough of a breakthrough to have Lacey ask Megan if she could do the carpool thing again next week. That'll work, too.