Law & Order: Los Angeles Episode 1.08 Playa Vista

Golf pro Kristin Halstead emerges from a chauffeured SUV at the ritzy Wilshire Country Club. Clearly something's not right, but Kristin puts on a good show for the cameras and the applause of the teens attending the day's golf clinic. Still, she can't pull it together with her golf club, and her demo shot lands square in the drink. Later that night, Kristin returns to her Playa Vista condo, bumping into neighbor Libby on her way home. Gabbing on her phone, Libby recognizes Kristin, then proceeds to her own condo to water the plants on her patio. Libby notices water seeping from the sprinklers next door... it looks reddish... it's blood! It's not too long before TJ and Winters are on the scene.

A golf fan, Winters recognizes Kristin as a former LPGA champ, taking the title at age 19. TJ surmises that the first blow to her temple knocked Kristin down, and the next two finished the job. Winters thinks the killer laid in wait, letting Libby walk by before attacking Kristin, his target. An investigation of Kristin's condo indicates that she travels constantly. There are no signs of love life by the bed; instead, there's a glass of milk - maybe she had insomnia. Oddly, a lot of Kristin's bills have gone to collection, and she has very little in savings. It's not a lot to show for eight years on the pro circuit. The cops decide to talk to Kristin's manager, Ken Friedman, who confirms she was on the road 50 weeks out of the year, and had no social life. The reason she had money problems? Female pro golfers make only a fraction of what the men do. And yes, Kristin had been off her game recently.

Coroner Nishizawa shows the detectives strange grooves on Kristin's skull, which may have been made by a decorative knob at the end of the murder weapon. The GPS on Kristin's phone tells the guys that she was at the Hotel Angeleno a week ago. The valet parker remembers Kristin. On Tuesday night, she sat texting in her car from 9:00 - 11:00. Back at RHD, tech Stacey analyzes Kristin's Tuesday night cell phone activity. She made five texts to a no-name throwaway cell, received two, and deleted all. There's no ID on the throwaway, but every couple of weeks it makes calls from different golf resorts. Winters recognizes the locations as stops on the PGA tour. When Stacey points out that the calls in September were from Vegas, Winters recalls watching a celebrity poker tournament featuring golf superstar Chip Jarrow.

Chip's wife Monica serves iced tea, while Chip tells the detectives he barely knew Kristin - however he did text her with career advice from his throwaway cell phone while in Vegas. Chip laughs when he realizes the detectives think he was having an affair with Kristin. Didn't they know she bats for the other team? Chip compliments her agent for keeping it out of the press. Later, Friedman explains he was trying to protect Kristin's reputation, and he never paid attention to what she did on her own time. Last month however, Kristin did ask for an all-access pass for her "friend" Carly Morris. The detectives visit Carly, who claims she wasn't romantically involved with Kristin; they only saw each other a few times. On the night of the murder she was at dance class. Carly claims she's a design student who waitresses on the side, but by the look of her expensive apartment, the cops figure she's hiding something.

While Carly's out of the room, TJ spots a business card belonging to a personal shopper at a tony clothing boutique. The shopper tells the detectives that Carly's a loyal customer with expensive tastes, and different men pay her bills every week. TJ and Winters tell Gonzales that Carly's a hooker, with only one legit job that paid withholding on her record, at the A.K. Lounge. Lounge employee Amy doesn't want to tell them anything about Carly, until TJ claims Carly called Amy a slut. Amy unloads, telling the guys that she and Carly got a gig playing "foursquare" on Tuesday night with an old white guy who calls himself Ace. TJ and Winters track Carly to her parents' house, but she remains inside as her folks run interference. They believe Carly's just a waitress, but she won't be one forever! After all, one of her friends got a PR job and flew her to Greenville, North Carolina for a corporate retreat with caviar service all the way.

Knowing there's no such thing as caviar service on commercial flights anymore, the guys check FAA flight plans to find a company named Intellog flew Carly to Greenville. Intellog's new spokesman? Chip Farrow. They show Amy a photo of Chip and she positively identifies him as Ace, the guy Carly said might be "the one." It's not long before Carly is dragged out of her parents' house in handcuffs on a prostitution charge, and sitting in interrogation with her lawyer. Carly admits she dated Kristin briefly, but she's not a lesbian. She told Kristin about getting serious with Chip, hoping she would back off. Kristin was texting her on Tuesday and threatening to talk to Chip, but Carly insists Chip would never hurt anyone.

Realizing Carly and her lawyer are going to play their cards to win hush money from Chip and his lawyers, TJ and Winters turn to the transcripts of Kristin's texts. It looks like Kristin threatened to expose Chip's infidelities, and Chip threatened to expose Kristin as a lesbian. Gonzalez sends the detectives to roust Chip out of bed, but he's already up and in the pool as his wife Monica goes after him with a golf club. The detectives break it up in time to hear Monica tell Chip how much she hates him. The Farrows immediately close ranks and put on an affectionate show, with Chip claiming he fell into the pool while sleepwalking and Monica tried to save him. Afterwards, the guys separate husband and wife for questioning while EMTs bandage Chip's bloody head. Monica sends her concerned son Luke back to bed, and Chip's lawyer sends the detectives packing.

The detectives are surprised to find Dekker waiting for them in the Farrows' driveway. He's hoping that TJ and Winters can bust Chip's alibi for the night of the murder - he said he was home with his wife. When TJ laments that they need Chip's real cell phone number, Dekker promises to get a subpoena, but only if they make it count. They'll only have one chance with Chip. The next day, the detectives proceed to the Wilshire Country Club to question Chip's caddy Doug, the last person to talk to Chip before he shut off his phone on the night of the murder. After some convincing, Doug admits he lined up some girls, booked a room, and dropped off Chip at 9:30. If Kristin threatened to expose Chip's cheating, he would have paid her off, just like all the other girls. They all had their hand out - even Chip's wife.

It turns out Monica busted Chip for cheating on her 10 years ago and forced him to sign a post-nup. Now anytime he's caught stepping out, she gets $1 million to stay in the marriage and keep her mouth shut. For Chip, it's the cost of doing business. All that money might have helped Monica cheer up, but apparently she still hates Chip's guts. After hearing what the cops learned, Dekker orders them to get a warrant and search the Farrow home, where Monica delivers the surprise news that Chip checked himself into rehab for sex addiction. Chip's bathroom is amidst a remodel, and that's where TJ finds a towel bar with a decorative finial covered in dried blood.

Chip's lawyer fumes when the cops drag Chip out of rehab for questioning. Chip insists he's innocent, and confesses to taking part in another foursome on the night of Kristin's murder. It's kind of a golf thing. Later, TJ tells the ADAs that Kristin's blood was also found on the floor of the pool shed, so the killer must have hid the towel bar there first, then stashed it in Chip's bathroom to frame him. Focus immediately shifts to Chip's wife Monica, but Dekker tells TJ and Winters to bring the Farrows' 16-year-old son Luke in first - he'll know his mother's whereabouts on the night of the murder. Stanton accompanies the detectives to West Palisades High School, where they interview Luke in the principal's office.

Luke's used to his parents' fighting. The only thing his dad cares about is getting laid, and his parents were arguing because his dad was having sex with the golfer lady. Luke claims that both he and his mother were home the night of the murder, but when he realizes that Monica's the suspect, he asks, "Didn't you find the...?" TJ and Winters are ready to pounce, but Stanton steps in, telling Luke not to answer, and pulls the cops out of the room. It's one thing to talk to a 16-year-old as a witness, but the minute he made himself a suspect - game over. Later, after interviewing Luke with his lawyer present, Dekker sends Luke home, tells the cops Stanton did the right thing, and sends them off to get warrants to search Luke's world. Then he pulls Stanton aside. Ethics are nice and all, but the next time a suspect wants to talk, she should let him talk.

TJ and Winters search Luke's car to find a piece of paper under the seat - a mailing list for a golf charity event chaired by Monica with Kristin's address circled. In short order, Luke is booked as Monica freaks out. If anyone killed another "gold-digging skank," it was Chip! Luke and his lawyer Simms meet with Stanton and Dekker. Simms protests - why charge Luke as an adult? Dekker promises to mitigate charges if an adult influenced Luke, like his mother. Luke flames, insisting his dad committed the murder because "this gold-digging skank was going to mess him up." After Simms and Luke leave, Stanton presents Monica-inspired Chip-hating quotes on Luke's Facebook blog, and an arrest report. A year ago, Luke vandalized Chip's new Ferrari with a baseball bat - 54 separate hits! Convinced Monica has poisoned Luke, Dekker decides to use a strategy from a friend's custody battle.

In Judge Cruz's chambers, Dekker lays out his defense of Parental Alienation Syndrome - when one parent brainwashes a child into hating the other to the point where violence is committed. He intends to prove that Monica convinced Luke to kill Chip, and is guilty as his aider and abettor. The judge decides not to rule on the admissibility of P.A.S. until she hears Dekker's case in court. In court, Dr. Coburn describes the effect P.A.S. has had on Luke, who exhibits unambivalent hatred towards Chip. Incapable of killing his father, Luke has opted for the next best thing, killing the woman he thought his father loved. On cross, Simms establishes that the APA doesn't recognize P.A.S. And furthermore, how could Luke be alienated from his father when they're living under the same roof?

Dekker snaps back, establishing that Chip is away 48 out of 52 weeks of the year, so Luke's P.A.S. is in fact typical. When Luke gets on the stand, the judge warns Dekker to limit his questions to P.A.S. Dekker asks Luke how he found out his dad was having sex with Kristin, but Luke doesn't remember. Dekker pounds away, showing that Luke uses the exact same language as Monica to describe his father, and that in general, he's a very angry kid. Next on the stand is Monica, who puts up a good show until Dekker starts ticking off the long list of women Chip has paid to keep quiet over the years. Boiling over, Monica calls Chip a filthy pig, a fact she insists her son well knows.

In chambers, Judge Cruz tells the lawyers she's going to instruct the jury to disregard all testimony regarding P.A.S. Hoping to manipulate Monica into a confession, Dekker withdraws the lesser charge of manslaughter, so that Chip will only be tried for the higher count of murder. Hearing Cruz's instructions to the jury, the Farrows ask to meet with Dekker. Chip steps up to take the blame. Playing along, Dekker congratulates Chip, promising that his son will finally know how much Chip loves him. Monica explodes - Chip doesn't get to swoop in and be the hero! She was the one who got Luke to murder Kristin. Luke loves her more, not Chip! Back in court, Dekker tells the judge that Monica will plead guilty to manslaughter, and Luke will be recharged as a juvenile. Devastated, Luke calls after his mother as she's lead off to jail.