Detroit 1-8-7 Episode 1.13 Road to Nowhere

Detective Louis Fitch is in the police interrogation room seated on the wrong side of the table. That's because Special Agent Jess Harkins of the FBI is in town to determine if he murdered one Detroit's top most prominent citizens. In truth, Henry Malloy was one of the city's slimiest citizens. But did Fitch shoot him in cold blood?

Out on the streets, three people are shot to death on a city bus. Thousands of dollars in large bills are floating around outside and the bus driver is MIA. Charles Murray Boyer appears to be a victim in a robbery gone south. He shot the man who snatched his wallet, but a second gunman escaped. There's a blood trail that leads to a field. Mahajan finds Boyer's briefcase. It was shot open and a few hundred dollar bills are still stuck inside.

Fitch and Washington learn that Boyer's granddaughter, Lily, was kidnapped. The victim's daughter, Shayna, and Lily's stepdad, Clark Wilkins, fear the worst once they realize the kidnappers didn't get their money. The abduction was caught on video by an ATM camera, but no one recognizes the man who took Lily.

Fitch uses the bus driver's girlfriend to set up a sting to catch the guy. It works to perfection. The bus driver didn't kill anyone, but he does recognize the kidnapper from the ATM photo. The guy's been riding the bus for a week and always got off at the same stop. A license plate search of cars in the area leads to a former felon named Leonard Jaspers. But when Fitch and Washington storm the guy's apartment, they find Jaspers dead from an earlier gunshot wound and the little girl is still nowhere to be found.

Fitch wants to use Jaspers' cell phone to continue a text message exchange he had going with his partners. They set up a meeting at a remote location. During the stakeout, Washington tells Fitch about his interview with Harkins. He told the FBI lady his partner was innocent even though he's not so sure. Fitch says, “Did I kill Malloy? Doesn't part of you hope I did? Won't you be a little let down either way?”

Their conversation ends abruptly when a car pulls up to the area. The detectives swarm the vehicle where they arrest the driver. It's the little girl's stepfather, Clark Wilkins. With Lily still missing, Fitch knows he needs to get Clark talking fast. This time he's on the right side of the interrogation table.

Fitch says, “People make mistakes. Good people. They get pushed into the center of the storm; they can't see a way out so they do things. Things they never dreamed they would ever do. And I know all about that.” He says all this with Special Agent Harkins listening in. Fortunately, Clark was listening, too. He tells Fitch how everything went down. But he has no idea how to find the people who have Lily.

The kidnappers send a text to Clark's phone. They want a million bucks or they'll kill the girl. Clark used Leonard Jaspers as a go-between, so the kidnappers have no idea what he looks like. Harkins offers federal help to track an undercover cop during the money exchange. When the kidnappers call, Fitch has no choice but to answer and pose as Clark. A meeting is set.

Fitch knows he may not survive this particular assignment, so he asks Washington to give a message to his son just in case. He wants his boy to know that he was trying to make things right. He also reveals the reason he left New York. Fitch was close to nailing a mafia kingpin named Big Al Stram. The mob man told him that if he didn't clear out of the Big Apple, he'd kill his kid. Fitch did what he had to do to protect his family.

Fitch follows the instructions of the kidnappers and is led into the basement of an abandoned building. The kidnapper is there, but Lily isn't. The guy is ready to shoot when Harkins and her team arrive just in the nick of time. Fitch demands to know Lily's whereabouts. The thug gives up the address. The hideout is raided by Detroit's finest and a little girl is saved.

Tears of joy flow when mother and daughter are reunited at the station. There's more good news when Harkins tells Fitch he's off the hook in the Malloy murder. A contract killer is now their prime suspect. The assassin was working for a New York crime boss Fitch knows all too well-Big Al Stram. Later, Fitch receives a phone call from Big Al. The mob man is looking for a friend in Detroit. That's bad news for Detective Louis Fitch.