The Mysteries of Laura Episode 1.13 The Mystery of the Deemed Dealer

One moment a young man is walking through a rough part of town, minding his own business with his beats, and the next he's plowed down by a ritzy white Range Rover. Billy and Reynaldo are quick to arrive at the crime scene, where it's confirmed the teenaged victim died on contact after the hit-and-run. While he has no identification, he does happen to have $1,500 in cash, a key ring and "some very kind bud." At the station, Laura and Jake are briefed on the case, and Laura speculates the teen was a drug dealer taken out in a turf war. The conversation takes a turn from business to personal, however, when Jake asks Laura about her evening with Food Truck Tony - Grandpa Leo, Jake's source on the inside, filled him in. Laura isn't eager to share the details of her date, and warns Jake to stay out of her business. Max interrupts the hostile conversation with new developments: the murder victim is 17-year-old Miguel Santos of Greenpoint, whose records reveal that he hasn't shown up to Van Wyck High School since last May.

Billy calls Miguel's father Victor Santos, a blue-collar worker, to the precinct to find out why his son was skipping school. Devastated, Victor explains Miguel was a good kid, and insists the money, keys and drugs found on Miguel's body are not his. While he admits signing a paper saying his son wasn't attending school, Victor says he thought it was simply a permission slip, realizing there's a lot he doesn't know about his son. Meanwhile, Meredith tells Laura that Miguel was killed in Trinitario Gang territory, an area with a very active marijuana market. Just in time, DEA Agent Alejandro stops by with more information - the Trinitarios work out of a laundromat in Crown Heights. But Alejandro hasn't come just for work, but for play too. He finally asks Laura out to dinner, only to learn she's already seeing her foodie fellow. When Laura asks what took him so long, he admits planning to ask her out a while back, until Jake stopped him. Laura is definitely not too pleased to hear that. Jake's got some nerve, deciding whom she can date! Alejandro makes it pretty clear he doesn't have plans to give up anytime soon. Laura is a wanted woman these days!

Hot on the trail, Meredith and Billy make their way to the Trinitarios' headquarters. The sketchy gang members try to scare off the undercover cops, but it's not long before Meredith and Billy catch one of them, Carlos, and bring him in for questioning. Carlos seems genuinely shocked to hear Miguel is dead, since he was too smart to sling drugs. The only clue Carlos has: Miguel hung out at the City Center Ice Rink. Laura and Billy head to the rink to try to figure out why. Maybe it's where Miguel hid his stash? They open a locker with the keys Victor didn't recognize, only to find books and a hockey jersey for Wendsworth Academy, the most exclusive private school in New York City... Look's like Miguel was attending school after all. The ice clerk Steve confirms Miguel was not only on the hockey team, but he was Wendsworth Academy's star player, and was hoping to lead the team to a championship victory next week. Back at the precinct, the detectives conclude that Miguel's privileged classmates may have had something to do with his death. After all, competition is pretty fierce at such a prestigious school; Miguel could have been a threat that needed to be removed. Laura wants to start by scoping out parents first, but Jake insists they start by talking to administration... Captain's orders.

Just as Laura thought, Billy can't get any information out of the Wendsworth Academy headmistress. Time for Plan B: Laura takes a tour of the school disguised as a prospective parent. Princeton-bound Tracy leads the tour, pausing briefly to blow a kiss to her varsity-jacketed boyfriend, Spencer Schofield. As the tour continues, undercover Laura explains to Tracy how much she would love for her son to attend Wendsworth Academy, but since he has a slight smoking problem, she would like to know who the school pothead is ahead of time. Tracy points her toward Phillip Johannson, a grungy-looking stoner. Laura finds Phillip by his locker and tries to seduce him, "The Graduate" style. She asks him for some "herbal relief," promising him she's not a narc. Unfortunately for Phillip, she never promises she's not a homicide detective, and she busts him as soon as he delivers the drugs. Frightened, Phillip tells Laura that Miguel "was straight-arrow as they come" when it comes to drugs. Later, Laura learns Miguel was put on school probation last month for a sexting scandal.

Later that night, Laura and Jake pull out some props - aka their old wedding rings - to play a married couple attending the Wendsworth Academy. Leo agrees to babysit the twins on one condition: family dinner on Sunday night, and by family, he means Jake, too. At the gala, Ally Davis, a nerdy-looking student, greets Jake and Laura, and hands over their nametags, "Viv and Hunter Finley." Once inside, Jake immediately spots the hockey coach, while Laura gets friendly with a gossipy group of women. In the mom huddle, Laura learns a student filed a sexual assault allegation against Miguel. The coach tells Jake that Miguel's charges were dropped within a week, and he didn't ask questions - as long as the team still had a chance of winning. Maybe the accuser tried to get justice on her own? There's only one way to find out - slip into the school office's file cabinet. Laura and Jake rummage through the drawers and finally come across Miguel's file, which consists of only a cover page. At the very bottom, however, Laura makes out "Davis, A. versus Santos, M." - Ally Davis, the nerdy girl! Suddenly, the doorknob turns; Jake and Laura are about to be busted! They squeeze into the closet together, and the security guard opens the door to find Laura and Jake pressed up against each other, playing seven minutes in heaven.

Tipsy and tired, Laura finally makes it home to report back to her father... not about the case, but about Jake. Leo insists it's not over between Laura and Jake, but she brushes it off and Leo heads home. All of the sudden, the back door creaks open, so Laura quickly whips out her gun. To her surprise, Jake stumbles in. Is he ever going to give her some privacy? Before she has a chance to be angry, Jake grabs her face and kisses her. While Laura pulls away, Jake spills his heart: he's still in love with her. But Laura stays strong and tells Jake to go home, with tears in her eyes. Jake, who is not the best listener, is still on her couch the next morning... and they are both an hour late for work! Laura frantically hurries Jake out of her house. Right as Jake is leaving, Billy walks toward Laura's front door to find out why she's late. Now he thinks he knows the reason why... Billy promises Jake he won't tell anyone about what he saw, but that doesn't stop Max from figuring it out back at the precinct. Soon almost everyone at the office is whispering about Laura and Captain Booty.

Meanwhile, Meredith confronts Ally at Wendsworth Academy, and finds out Miguel was in fact innocent and not responsible for sending the dirty text messages. Ally isn't sure who did sent them, but she suspects it's a fellow student trying to limit the college competition and mess with her head before midterms. Back at the office, Billy suspects the whole mess has nothing to do with Ally, but everything to do with Miguel. Perhaps the culprit is a rival teammate? The disciplinary ruling initially sidelined Miguel, and another player would have had to start in his place. Who was next in line to fill Miguel's position? Spencer, Tracy's jock boyfriend! Billy brings Spencer into the precinct for questioning, specifically about his recent debit card purchases. Spencer bought a disposable phone - the phone used to send Ally harassing messages. Spencer cracks. He sent the texts because although he already got into four schools, he's on the waiting list for Princeton and he wants playing time in front of the scout. But when Miguel got let off the hook, Spencer let it go. He says the night Miguel was killed he was home studying, and his parents are his alibi. Watching Spencer through the glass, Laura's confident he didn't do it. Why is she so sure? It's the fact that he didn't get into Princeton, but someone else he knows did... and as Laura says, some people will do whatever it takes to stay together.

Laura heads to Wendsworth Academy to visit Tracy once more, but this time as a cop. She tells Tracy the police think Spencer may have killed Miguel, since the tire treads from the crime scene match his Range Rover, but then again, they also match Tracy's. Tracy acts as if she knows nothing about the situation, then asks why the police don't check Miguel's stuff for "whatever sketchy drug dealers would be carrying." Laura tells her they already have, and they found an eighth of pot and $1,500 - the exact amount Tracy bought from Phillip last week. Phillip may be a pothead, but he's a very organized pothead who logs all his sales. When the sexting charges didn't stick, Tracy took matters into her own hands and assumed the cops would write off Miguel's death as a drug-related murder. Instead, it was a "rich bitch-related murder," and the rich bitch is now in handcuffs.

On Sunday night, family dinner night, Laura, Jake, Leo and the twins sit around the table eating spaghetti. When it's time for dessert, Jake brings out fat-free brownies, Laura's favorite. Laura's eyes widen when she realizes Jake special ordered just for her. Jake simply smiles... after all, some people will do whatever it takes to stay together.