Elsbeth (TV series)

In New York City, theatre professor Alex Modarian murders one of his students, Olivia Cherry, who threatened to expose their affair. Alex carefully stages Olivia's death as a suicide and using SIM card he had cloned from the one in her phone, he sent out suicidal texts to support that premse. Chicago attorney Elsbeth Tascioni arrives to the city, sent by Department of Justice Agent Celetano, under a consent decree to observe the NYPD police, much to Captain Wagner's chagrin. Elsbeth befriends Officer Kaya Blanke, who is investigating Olivia's death, and Elsbeth becomes suspicious of Alex even though evidence points to Todd, his teaching assistant and Olivia's boyfriend. Elsbeth is ordered to apologize to Alex, but she and Kaya dupe him into planting his SIM card cloning tool in Todd's bag where he is caught red-handed by Wagner & Bobby Smullen and is arrested.A phone call with Celetano reveals Elsbeth's real mission in NYC: investigating Wagner for corruption.

Gloria Blecher, the loathed president of her co-op board, vetoes a lucrative offer from real estate broker Joann Lenox. Following the rejection, Joann loosens the bolts on Gloria's balcony and Gloria falls to her death. Elsbeth matches liquid chalk residue on the balcony to that used by Joann for rock climbing and she uspects foul play. Elsbeth makes an offer on an apartment in the building and at a meeting with Joann and the board, Elsbeth reveals her theory that all of Gloria's fellow board members played a role in Joann's plot to get rid of Gloria, and the board members immediately turn on Joann. In a shocking twist, it's revealed Joann's father was Gloria's husband, whom Gloria killed after she discovered he was having an affair with their housekeeper, Joann's mother. The corpse of Gloria's husband is recovered in the building, and Joann happily pleads guilty with her revenge arc fully completed.Elsbeth connects Wagner to a man named Martin Wali and a company called FlairAll.

Skip Mason, a producer for the reality show Lavish Ladies, electrocutes one of his stars, Wendy Wexler, in her bathtub when she attempts to blackmail him. Kaya, a Lavish Ladies superfan, guides Elsbeth through the show, which former star Katricia quit after an inebriated on-camera meltdown. Elsbeth suspects Skip, noticing glitter from Wendy's bath on his hands and on glassware he removed from the bathroom to cover his tracks. A voicemail he left Wendy at the time of her death seems to prove he was with another star, Tracy, and he provides footage painting intern Valencia as a suspect. Kaya tracks down Katricia, who has a high tolerance for alcohol and believes Skip and Wendy drugged her to elicit a meltdown. Rewatching the show, Elsbeth realizes Skip's voicemail used an old sound clip of Tracy. At Wendy's memorial service, Tracy finds a text she sent that contradicts Skip's voicemail, and Katricia confronts Skip. He tries to intimidate her by admitting he killed Wendy, but Elsbeth reveals his confession was captured by a hidden microphone, and Skip is arrested.Elsbeth tries to obtain information on Wali from Lieutenant Noonan, but he proves fiercely loyal to Wagner.

Margo Clarke, a celebrity matchmaker, coaches petty criminal Dennis Pagano to pose as perfect match for her demanding client Lainey Belfort. They are married six months later, fulfilling Margo's contract. After a year of marriage, Dennis visits Margo's home in the Hamptons and announces he will expose the con to Lainey. An angry Margo clubs him to death with a statuette of Cupid, dumping his body and the murder weapon offshore. Captain Wagner assigns Kaya to investigate the disappearance of Lainey's husband, as she is an important donor to Wagner and his wife Claudia's charitable foundation. Suspicious of Margo, Elsbeth deduces that she burned a rug to destroy evidence. Dennis' body is found and identified, leading Kaya and Elsbeth to his ex-girlfriend Tina and a file cabinet full of evidence of his transformation, which was funded by Margo. A previous magazine photoshoot of Margo's home reveals the statuette is missing; Margo hurriedly buys a replacement, but Elsbeth confronts her with the recovered murder weapon, and she is arrested.Invited to Claudia's foundation gala, Elsbeth sees Wagner with the head of FlairAll but chooses not to tell Celetano. Wagner realizes Elsbeth may be investigating him.

Cliff McGrath, father and coach of professional tennis player Hunter McGrath, is determined for his son to win against top-ranked Johann "Yoyo" Arnaldo. Cliff laces Yoyo's towel with nitroglycerin ointment during a tournament in NYC, noticed by ball girl Ashlee, and Yoyo collapses on the court and dies. Wagner, hoping to learn about Elsbeth and her secret investigation, treats her to sushi, but an oshibori leads her to realize how Yoyo died. Ashlee approaches Cliff with a scheme to win bets on Hunter by sabotaging his opponents, and plants the incriminating towel in Yoyo's hotel room. She tips off the police, leading them to suspect Yoyo's girlfriend Irina, who reveals that she gave him erectile disfunction medication; an inadvertent adverse reaction with the ointment resulted in his death. Suspicious of Cliff, Elsbeth learns from Hunter that his late mother had the ointment, and Hunter comes to suspect his father as well. In Hunter's final match, he and Elsbeth manipulate Cliff into believing Ashlee has sabotaged his son's towel. Cliff incriminates himself, and he and Ashlee are arrested.Meanwhile, Elsbeth is conflicted after Wagner arranges a new job for her son.

Plastic surgeon Vanessa Holmes murders her protégé Astrid Olsen when she starts her own rival practice. Vanessa poses as a patient and proceeds to poison Astrid, then bludgeons her to death. Vanessa flirts with a guard at the Museum of the City of New York to establish an alibi, but the museum is later disrupted by a climate change protest. Elsbeth suspects Vanessa of arranging the fake patient's appointment using fellow surgeon Dr. Yablonsky's phone. Celetano introduces Elsbeth to Martin Wali, who believes Wagner is covering up FlairAll's illegal labor practices in exchange for bribes through his foundation. Elsbeth approaches Wagner about the alleged bribes, but he implies that her son's new job could be viewed in the same light. Paint on Vanessa's shoes is matched to paint from the museum protest, confirming her alibi, but Elsbeth realizes the fake patient's medical history actually belongs to Vanessa's wife, Carolyn. Yablonsky also confirms that Carolyn went to Astrid to correct Vanessa's work. Elsbeth finds evidence in Vanessa's trash that she splattered her own shoes, leading to Vanessa's arrest.Elsbeth lets Kaya in on her investigation into Wagner; meanwhile, Lt. Noonan accepts a bribe from FlairAll on Wagner's behalf.

Wealth management executive Ashton Hayes reveals his unethical business practices to his employee and future son-in-law, Derek. At his bachelor party, Derek blabs Ashton's secret to an exotic dancer named Capri, who was specifically hired by Ashton to test his discretion. Realizing he cannot be trusted, Ashton gets Derek drunk following the wedding and sinks him in the lake via a golf cart. Elsbeth and Kaya doubt Derek's death was accidental when his autopsy determines he suffocated. Ashton's daughter Nora confesses she cheated on Derek with Rob, the wedding choreographer. Elsbeth interviews Rob under the guise of a private dance lesson and he leads her to Capri, who in turn leads her to Ashton. Discovering dissolving tape at Ashton's country club kitchen, Elsbeth realizes Derek died as a result of Ashton gagging him with the tape, while a wedding video shows Derek wearing a watch Ashton gave him, which Ashton took back before killing him. Wagner helps lure Ashton to plant the watch at Rob's dance studio, where Elsbeth intercepts Ashton and talks him into an impromptu dance. The watch falls out and Ashton is arrested. At Elsbeth's housewarming party, Wagner reveals he suspects Noonan of being the real corrupt cop, leaving Elsbeth unsure who to believe.

Investigative journalist Josh Johnson prepares an exposé on Cerberus, a crime-reporting app led by entrepreneur Quinn Powers. Using Cerberus to create a fictional cattle prod-wielding dog-kidnapper, Quinn plays a prerecorded presentation during a virtual company meeting and sneaks away to Josh's apartment. She beats him to death with a cattle prod, destroys his article, and steals his dog to implicate the fictional dog-napper. Elsbeth becomes suspicious after neighborhood dog walker Mimi does not recognize the supposedly kidnapped dogs, while Kaya suspects Cerberus is generating posts with AI. Video of Quinn's meeting reveals that she lost her headband during the murder. Unable to find it at the murder scene, Elsbeth and Kaya find evidence leading them to Quinn's former high school friend Ellen Davis, the true creator of Cerberus. Ellen reveals data flaws that Josh discovered, which Elsbeth confirms by feeding Quinn false information which is later reported on Cerberus. When Mimi finds Josh's dog in the park and Elsbeth brings it home, she realizes the dog must have hidden the headband. Finding the headband, Elsbeth crashes a Cerberus team meeting and Quinn is arrested.Meanwhile, Wagner tells Wali his suspicions about Noonan, promising to bring the corrupt lieutenant down.

Cocktail bar owner Joe Dillion learns from Ivy Benson, his favorite customer, about her former college roommate and bully Gemma Nelson. A vengeful Joe strangles Gemma in her sleep, but the police discover it was actually Jane Dunhill, who did a house swap with Gemma, who was killed. Elsbeth suspects Joe, who left a footprint at the crime scene, and Kaya links a mark on Jane's neck to Joe's bottle opener ring. Ivy's online comments toward Gemma make her a suspect, and an angry Gemma unleashes her followers on the NYPD, demanding Ivy's arrest. Joe's regulars reveal he is fiercely protective of his customers, and he admits to Elsbeth that he would do anything for Ivy. Elsbeth stages the arrest of Dion, Joe's employee, who receives a grateful kiss from Ivy, goading Joe into confessing. Joe is arrested, and Ivy tells him off as Gemma's boyfriend Brad breaks up with her, exposing her bullying in a humiliating video.Wagner tells Claudia his suspicions about Noonan, and lures him into a secret meeting with FlairAll's CEO, Declan Armstrong. With Elsbeth recording the incriminating conversation, Wagner intervenes when Noonan pulls a gun, and Noonan and Armstrong are arrested. Wagner is exonerated, but orders Elsbeth back to Chicago for betraying his trust.

Retiring supermodel Nadine Clay walks her final runway at her soon-to-be-ex-husband Nick Garrison's fashion show, where photographer Ezra Tate is shot dead. Nadine explains that Ezra, her former lover, was desperate for money, and a pawn shop owner reveals Ezra was involved with gambling debts, blackmail, and a mysterious "Pangaea Project". Elsbeth surprises Nadine at the home of designer Matteo Hart, who declares Elsbeth his new muse. Nadine claims Ezra had compromising photos of her, and suspects a jealous Nick killed him. Matteo tells Elsbeth that Ezra and Nadine, as fashion students, created Pangaea Project: a misguided photoshoot of Nadine made up as different ethnicites. Nick tells the police that he suspects Ezra was blackmailing Nadine over Pangaea, and she killed him. At Matteo's fashion show, built around Elsbeth and her unique fashion sense, Elsbeth has an epiphany. She confronts Matteo with Ezra's photos of Nadine's final shoot, revealing Matteo killed him. Matteo also confesses to killing an enforcer who threatened Ezra over his debts, burying him in the backyard, and Elsbeth gives Nadine the Pangaea photos.Wagner changes his mind, fast-tracking Kaya as a detective and convincing Celetano to give Elsbeth her own position investigating corruption in NYC.

Devoted opera lover Philip Cross is infuriated by the constant disruptive behavior of Eddie Reese, an obnoxious young stockbroker who sits in front of him. Philip follows Eddie home and brutally stabs him to death. Viewing Eddie's selfies from the opera, Elsbeth notices Philip in the background of each one. She and Kaya attend the opera themselves to meet him, and by feigning interest in the opera, Philip invites her to his home. His home is filled with opera memorabilia, including a prop knife with a retracting blade, which was a gift from the baritone of the first opera he ever saw; Elsbeth suspects it was the same knife Philip used to kill Eddie. It is only when the DNA on Eddie's body matches the DNA from an old costume the baritone wore when he performed in New York can Elsbeth prove that Philip stabbed Eddie after turning off the retracting mechanism.

Lt. Steve Connor is brought on to replace Noonan and discovers that Kaya does not have the proper credits to enter the police academy and must take classes part-time to earn them. At the end of the episode, Elsbeth is walking her dog when a black SUV pulls up, and an unknown person orders her to enter.

While going through an exclusive private space training simulation, self-made paint billionaire Neal Dorsey is repeatedly humiliated by renewable energy CEO Gavin Morrissey. Neal becomes bitterly jealous when another trainee, Randy, showers Gavin with admiration, leading him to retaliate by placing a lithium battery in the shoe lifts of Gavin's boots. When Gavin enters a centrifuge, the battery explodes and kills him. Elsbeth investigates while dealing with a handsome fire marshal who constantly flirts with her. She quickly learns of Neal's rivalry with Gavin and the tension between Neal and Randy, Neal's son. When Elsbeth discovers that Gavin's hoverboard stopped working shortly before his death, she theorizes the battery came from there, but Neal has already replaced it with another stolen battery. However, when Elsbeth pries out the new battery, she finds a gold tip from a pen specifically customized for Neal. The tip allows Elsbeth to seal the case, and Neal is arrested.

The person in the black SUV is revealed to be Elsbeth's old colleague, Carter from Chicago, who tells her one of their clients from a divorce case they handled is now divorcing a second time, and details of the previous case are causing issues with the new one. Carter strictly orders Elsbeth not to discuss either case under threat of retribution from the firm.

Mackenzie "Mac" Altman, a former child actress turned professional party girl, wakes up on Halloween morning with no memory of the night before, except possibly killing someone. Elsbeth helps Mac retrace her steps, only for them to stumble upon the body of Mac's boyfriend, Sonny Miller. Mac soon becomes the prime suspect and cannot help her case, while her lawyer/manager, Danny, refuses to let Elsbeth get involved. Despite this, Elsbeth manages to track Mac's movements to a bar where she was not long before Sonny was killed. Elsbeth realizes that Mac did kill Sonny, but Danny orchestrated the murder by drugging Mac at the bar and manipulating her to do it. Danny's motive was to stop Sonny from revealing that Danny had been embezzling from Mac's estate. Danny and Mac are arrested, but Elsbeth assures Mac that she cannot be held liable for the murder due to Danny incapacitating her.

Lt. Connor posts an opinion sheet at the precinct, which shows morale has been low since Noonan's arrest, while suggesting Wagner's leadership skills are faltering. Connor insists this problem be corrected, which Wagner discusses with his wife as he contemplates how to do so.

Socialite Rosalyn Bridwell plans a heist with her best friend, Celeste, to rob Vivian's, an exclusive jewelry store, after the new creative director, Valentina, bars them from attending the store's grand reopening. When Rosalyn realizes one of their associates in the heist plans to expose them, Rosalyn poisons him with cyanide in his tea, while feigning to be poisoned herself. Elsbeth suspects that Rosalyn faked being poisoned and discovers her shaky finances. When she goes to Rosalyn's apartment, she realizes that Vivian's employee Judith and jewelry broker Huey are members of the heist group. When questioned, Judith confesses to the planned heist and is offered a deal to avoid arrest. That night, when Rosalyn, Celeste, Huey, and Judith put their plan into action, Elsbeth, Kaya, Wagner, and Detective Donnelly interrupt them, and they are arrested. However, Judith subsequently flees to Paris, having stolen all of Rosalyn's jewelry from her apartment.

Kaya moves in with Elsbeth while her home is being renovated and insists on paying rent. Elsbeth initially refuses, however, she concedes on the condition that they have a mandatory fro-yo night.

Renowned chef Genevieve "Veev" Hale plans to entertain a VIP at her exclusive restaurant, but his table is double-booked. When she discovers her kitchen staffer Jordan deliberately double-booked the table as payback for her explosive temper, she attacks in the kitchen in a fit of rage, only to find he filmed it on his phone. She then strangles him, deletes the video and inflicts injuries on herself to make it appear that an unknown assailant attacked them both and left her unconscious. Elsbeth investigates with Edwards and doubts Veev's story upon learning of her violent history, the VIP being prominent businessman Roger Montebello with whom Veev wanted to secure a contract at his luxury hotel chain, and Jordan's scheme to sell table reservations. While trying to cook Veev's duck confit, requiring the bird to be turned over during cooking, Elsbeth realizes Veev could not have been unconscious at the time like she claimed, and Veev is arrested.

Lt. Connor discovers that Elsbeth and Kaya are living together, prompting Kaya to worry about her promotion. Meanwhile, pop star Tru-Rose asks Elsbeth to help her in her divorce case against Elsbeth's former client Van Ness, but Elsbeth is constrained to refuse.

Christmas-curating power couple Dirk and DeeDee Dashers are preparing to launch their new vintage decor collection. DeeDee declares that she is sick of the Christmas paraphernalia and wants out of the marriage, but Dirk refuses to agree to a divorce, fearing that it will tarnish their brand. Dirk plans to murder her by electrocuting her when she switches on the light show. However, DeeDee discovers his plot and sets a trap of her own by tampering with a display's wires, which end up fatally electrocuting Dirk when he tries to fix a faulty light bulb. Elsbeth and Kaya investigate the "accident" and soon uncover both Dirk's murder plot and his affair with an assistant to the Dashers' publicist. Elsbeth solves the case by proving that DeeDee foiled Dirk's plan by wearing black shock-proof gloves, the same ones she wore to fray the wires that killed Dirk. Colorblind DeeDee is specifically implicated when she fails to realize the faulty lightbulb has broken the color pattern of the lights.

Kaya has aced her college classes and is now preparing to move out of Elsbeth's apartment, leaving Elsbeth all alone for the holidays. Meanwhile, Elsbeth suggests couples' dance lessons to Wagner for Claudia's Christmas present. Kaya and Wagner surprise Elsbeth by inviting Teddy to New York for the holidays.

Delia Bates has a sexual rendezvous with her neighbor, Andy Mertens, in his apartment. When Delia goes to use the shower after their tryst, judge Milton Crawford enters Andy's apartment and bludgeons him to death. Delia is charged with Andy's murder, and Crawford presides over her trial. Elsbeth is appointed to Delia's jury and soon notices that Crawford appears to be manipulating the proceedings in the prosecution's favor. Regardless, Elsbeth manages to find evidence that someone else was at the apartment that night, though she cannot identify the individual. Nevertheless, the evidence is enough for the jury to exonerate Delia. After the trial, Elsbeth finally begins to realize Crawford may be the actual killer, but has nothing to prove her suspicions.

Elsbeth's son Teddy is still staying with her, and Kaya shows him around New York. Despite having a good time, Teddy insists on knowing why his mother left Chicago so abruptly, which Elsbeth struggles to explain. Lt. Connor starts trying to improve the precinct by making a big deal out of minor complaints from the detectives, but Wagner convinces him to ease up.

TV actress Regina Coburn is about to leave her longtime role on a police procedural so she can perform in a London production of Macbeth, with her character being placed in a coma to accommodate her absence. However, the showrunner, Calvin Reed, blindsides Regina by rewriting the scripts to appease the network, obligating her to stay in New York. Outraged by the missed opportunity, Regina murders Cal with the heel of a stiletto shoe in his eye, mirroring an original script written by an obsessed fan. Elsbeth, however, believes Regina is the murderer after discovering the fallout between her and Cal and proves her guilt with the discovery that Regina only read her own lines in the scripts, thus not realizing that the stiletto referred to in the script was a knife.

Meanwhile Kaya invites Cameron Clayden, a handsome medical examiner to move into the spare room in her newly renovated house. Elsbeth confides in Wagner that she suspects Crawford of being the real killer in the Delia Bates trial. Kaya and Crawford both discover Elsbeth's role in the Van Ness case after the identities of the legal team are exposed on the national news.

A young man, Cole Campbell, dies in his car after leaving a holistic wellness center run by self-styled guru Tom Murphy. Elsbeth goes with Detective Smullen and Kaya to investigate the center, and Elsbeth joins the retreat, where she is forced to confront unpleasant memories from her past. With her investigation at the center and evidence provided by Kaya, Elsbeth establishes that Tom has continued using poisonous frog venom as a treatment contrary to a legal settlement following the death of Cole's sister ten years earlier. Together, they establish that to prevent his practice from being exposed, Tom injected mustard seed oil into the junk food in Cole's car, causing him to have a fatal allergic reaction.

Kaya questions Elsbeth about her involvement in suppressed evidence in the Van Ness case, that he was a domestic abuser. Captain Wagner suggests to Captain Kershaw that Elsbeth review the Delia Bates case.^[a]

Bill Hepson decides to resign from the venture capital firm he started with his twin brother Peter, give away his money and live a simple life. This infuriates the ambitious Peter, who dresses up as Bill to enter his building, and he pushes Bill out of a window to his death while conducting a live broadcast phone interview to establish his alibi. Elsbeth's suspicions turn to Peter after a local donut vendor that Bill frequented had misidentified Peter as Bill that morning. Further investigation shows Peter had invested in a VPN company that misidentified the location of his call. Elsbeth finds that a five dollar bill he used was a rare bill that Bill had only picked up from his safety deposit box that morning, leading to Peter's arrest.

Elsbeth traps Van Ness into publicly threatening her, and he is arrested, thus forfeiting his attorney-client privilege. This enables Elsbeth to defend herself against allegations of suppressing evidence in Ness's first divorce case.

Small town musician Angus Oliphant-Donnachaidh is at his local cafe in Scotland watching live streaming scenes in Manhattan on the Iris when he sees a young woman get mugged and then suffocate to death. The victim is cosmetics researcher Hayley Ritter, whose death is ruled as a fentanyl overdose. With Angus' help, Elsbeth finds a journalist Hayley was communicating with and to whom she was passing information via a box of chocolates. However, he is found dead from a fentanyl overdose. Elsbeth suspects that Hayley was a whistleblower and was about to expose the presence of a dangerous carcinogen in one of the company's products. Angus describes the man who grabbed the chocolates and who may have killed her as wearing a tartan scarf. As Elsbeth questions the cosmetic company security manager, Howard Thorwald, in his office, she sees his tartan scarf and realizes that he is the murderer. Just as Thorwald is about to spray her with a perfume bottle filled with deadly fentanyl, Kaya and Wagner bust into his office and arrest him.

The episode is set around Valentine's Day. As the case unfolds, romance blossoms between Angus and Elsbeth, Kaya and Dr. Cameron Clayden, and Wagner surprises Claudine by dancing with her after completing his dance lessons.

Lawrence Grey runs OutMatch, a college admissions coaching company whose former client Ethan Brooks, the new admissions director for Baden University, refuses to admit any applicants who OutMatch helped, as Ethan resents Lawrence for "forcing" him to pursue Ivy League schools instead of his passion for acting. Recognizing the threat Ethan poses to his business, Lawrence challenges Ethan to a fencing duel, then places enough cat dander in Ethan's helmet to trigger a fatal asthma attack. Lawrence plants evidence to blame the university mascot, Quad Cat, for what happened to the helmet, but Elsbeth and her team rule out the notion once they learn the animal was hypoallergenic. To avoid suspicion, Lawrence claims his cat has died, which infuriates his daughter Mandy, who has taken an extended break between high school and college. When Elsbeth suspects Lawrence lied, Mandy finds the cat at a shelter, providing enough evidence to arrest Lawrence.

The investigation causes Elsbeth to fear she led Teddy down the wrong path, which comes to a head at a celebratory dinner at Elsbeth's for Kaya's completion of her college course requirements, when it is revealed that Wagner had gotten Teddy his job. Teddy reconciles with his mother at the behest of his boyfriend Roy, to whom Elsbeth takes a liking. Judge Crawford tries to intimidate Elsbeth when he learns that Wagner has reopened the Delia Bates case, but Elsbeth calls his bluff.

After a lavish dinner with his "lifestyle" consultant Chloe, ageing real estate tycoon Nathan Jordan is found dead the following morning by his separated wife Deborah and her doctor boyfriend Jason Yamamoto. The couple lived with Nathan as his caregivers after they had Nathan declared medically incompetent. Elsbeth is joined by Wagner's new protege, brash young Detective Rivers, who immediately suspects Deborah and Jason after finding a pentobarbital pill bottle. Using Nathan's bank records, Elsbeth tracks down Chloe, who had dined with Nathan on the night of his death, but denies going to his apartment. Elsbeth solves the case after several clues indicate that Nathan's death was assisted suicide, and that Chloe stole the medication from Jason for him to consume willingly on his last night alive. Nathan intended to frame Deborah and Jason for his death as payback for locking him in a conservatorship. When Elsbeth confronts Chloe with evidence that she was Nathan's "agent", Chloe confidently replies that she has access to excellent defense attorneys.

Elsbeth takes Teddy and his boyfriend, Roy, on a "famous NYC crimes tour," which includes an Italian restaurant called Pupetta's. In July 1998, it was the site of mob soldier Goldie Moresco's murder, igniting a mob war that eliminated both the Del Ponte and Nova crime families. The only survivor was Lisette "Pupetta" Del Ponte, the daughter of the Del Ponte capo and the restaurant's namesake. When Pupetta's husband, Gene, a longtime waiter who witnessed Goldie's murder, is injured in a hit-and-run after agreeing to meet Elsbeth, she suspects Pupetta is behind it. Working with Kaya and Fleming, the original detective investigating the case, Elsbeth arranges to exhume Goldie's body. The exhumation reveals one of Pupetta's fingernails embedded in Goldie's remains, and using DNA evidence, Elsbeth proves that Gene Jr. was Pupetta's son with Goldie, and that Pupetta killed Goldie in a fit of rage when he refused to marry her, then blamed Eddie, which sparked the war.

Psychic Marilyn Gladwell convinces her client Phyllis Pierson that her late husband wants her to sell his snack company, Butterwell Treats, to its main competitor. Phyllis' stepson, Tim, distrusts Marilyn and forbids the sale, but days later, he is found dead in Central Park, shot with an arrow. Recently promoted Detective Kaya, Elsbeth and new officer Nicki Reynolds uncover that Tim was catfished in a dating app by someone using a fake profile. Further investigation reveals that Marilyn's alibi is false; she was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where the arrow was made, and that she has shares in the company seeking to buy Butterwell Treats. Elsbeth enlists Phyllis to lay a trap and trick Marilyn into revealing that she catfished Tim, leading to her arrest.

During the episode, Marilyn reveals eerily accurate details of Elsbeth and Wagner's pasts and then has a foreboding vision for Elsbeth.

Decluttering expert Freya Frostad grows jealous of her husband Axel's close relationship with their female mutual lover Taylor, wanting Taylor to herself. Freya conspires to murder Axel by waiting until he is alone in their hot tub and uses an app to remotely cause a robotic vacuum cleaner to close the cover, trapping him inside and causing him to drown. When Elsbeth finds evidence that Axel has had many near-death experiences since Taylor joined them, she becomes suspicious of Freya. It is only when Elsbeth exposes Freya as a secret hoarder, secretly keeping everything she encouraged others to declutter, including poisonous old rolls of flypaper, that she is arrested for Axel's murder.

Russell Greene, a stubborn conspiracy theorist, threatens to destroy his family's funeral home legacy by exhuming the casket of famous novelist L.D. Longacre to prove that she faked her death because the casket was too light. His uncle and current funeral director, Arthur Greene Jr., beats Russell to death with a shovel and hides his corpse at the funeral home. When Russell's YouTube channel auto-posts a video declaring himself dead the following morning, his fellow conspiracy theorist, Barb, is convinced of his death. Elsbeth then decides to investigate his disappearance along with chatty new hire, Officer Chandler. She questions Arthur's ageing father, Randolph, about the burial. He confesses that he mistakenly sent Longacre's body to be cremated instead of his beloved dog's remains, so they placed the dog's body in the casket with Longacre's ashes. Elsbeth arrives with the police at the funeral home's latest ceremony just in time to arrest Arthur before he can cremate Russell's body.

Flashbacks reveal that Crawford murdered Andy Mertens^[b] because he was the only witness to Crawford's first killing back in 1991; Crawford killed a woman named Sherry when she rejected his advances, and he bribed Andy with a college scholarship to never speak of it. With Crawford now being vetted for the federal bench, Elsbeth and her team are more dedicated than ever to bringing him down. While Crawford gloats to Elsbeth about his victory and thwarting her before he is appointed, he is fatally shot by Delia Bates, who is incensed by Crawford's ability to evade justice and for ruining her life.

The incident leaves Elsbeth traumatized, and her team is completely demoralized by the turn of events. However, Wagner tries to rally the group by reminding them that nothing changes if they don't try.

Rod Bedford, the anhedonic heir to a wealthy family, adds "getting away with murder" to his long bucket list. He assassinates a seemingly homeless person on the streets of New York, only to discover that he had unwittingly murdered a European crown prince when he visits the crime scene and talks to Elsbeth. ICE agent Wes McCarthy arrives on the scene and blames a fringe anti-royalist group of feminists for the killing, although Elsbeth becomes convinced that Bedford is the killer. She is arrested for criminal harassment after trying to look at Renolds' notebook in an exclusive club and sent to jail, from where she provides clues to prove that Bedford is the killer, leading to his arrest. Unfortunately, Edwin Dousant, the presiding judge in Elsbeth's harassment case, blames her for the death of his friend Judge Crawford and abuses his power by ensuring Elsbeth is transferred to a detention center housing some of the murderers she helped convict.

While in prison, Elsbeth is reunited with several killers she busted during her time in New York: Alex Modarian, Margo Clarke, Vanessa Holmes, Quinn Powers, Joe Dillon, Pupetta del Ponte, Freya Frostad, and Matteo Hart. She is also surprised by how the warden, Mrs. Martin, allows considerable freedom and trading among the prisoners. Modarian mentions an upcoming transfer to a nicer unit, but he is stabbed to death before it happens. Elsbeth looks into Modarian's murder and learns from Pupetta that ramen can be molded and hardened into effective weapons. A bowl of ramen was beside Modarian when he died in the library with a particular smell. Upon discovering that Genevieve Hale^[c] was temporarily held at the prison after her arrest, Elsbeth recognizes the distinctive smell, which meant that Hale made the knife, and only Mrs. Martin could have had it. Elsbeth accuses her of the murder because Modarian threatened to expose her black market operation in exchange for his transfer.

Wagner manages to have Elsbeth released after he confronts Edwin Dousant, the judge who had Elsbeth unfairly detained, with information that Crawford bribed him so he could hear the Andy Mertens case.

Talk show host Scotty Bristol is killed in a freak accident set up by his executive producer Laurel Hammond. Fed up with his tyrannical antics, Laurel lures Scotty to his office under the guise of a tryst; she then sticks Scotty's tie in the shredder and turns it on, effectively strangling him to death. The detective on the case immediately suspects the long-suffering sidekick Mickey as the culprit, but Elsbeth ascertains that his grief over Scotty's death is genuine.

Toy store manager Patrick Palmer tries to swindle a customer, Nolan Hurst, out of $6,000 for a rare doll. When an upset Nolan demands his money back, a scuffle for the cash ensues and leads to Patrick falling and suffering a fatal head injury.

Raquel Drabowski, whose husband Johnny supposedly died in a helicopter crash Puerto Rico, has made a career out of her widowhood, gaining success as a "grief influencer" and starring on a dating show for widows. When Johnny shows up on her doorstep, threatening Raquel's fame and fortune, Raquel kills him by shoving him off the Staten Island ferry with sandbags harnessed to his belt. Elsbeth joins Fleming and Hackett on the investigation when Johnny's mother Marie reports receiving a phone call from him, which the police confirm, only to find Johnny's corpse in the Hudson River. Further investigation shows that Johnny had never gotten on the helicopter and had been having multiple affairs in Puerto Rico. As Raquel rebrands herself as a "betrayal influencer," Elsbeth exposes her, noting that Raquel's videos include a shrine of Johnny's belongings, including his harness that had been replaced, as the old one was found with his body, getting Raquel arrested.

Meanwhile, Elsbeth finds Kaya now doing undercover work in Staten Island and the two catch up, during which Elsbeth mentions that she and Angus broke up but Wagner warns her not to get too involved. By the end, he gives Elsbeth a burner phone to call Kaya once, but the call fails to go through.

Sleepy Hollow housewife Sharon Norman has disliked her neighbor Beryl Nix as Beryl's free-spirited nature clashes with Sharon's rigid personality. Prior to Halloween, Sharon's trademark maple tree suspiciously dies and she suspects Beryl. Sharon agrees to help Beryl assemble a haunted maze for Halloween, where she decapitates Beryl with a chainsaw and attempts to frame the crew of horror prop suppliers. When Beryl's body turns up in New York Elsbeth joins Donnelly on the investigation and suspects Sharon as the culprit while celebrating "Halloweek" by dressing as Eliza Dolittle with a different costume each day. Sharon claims she was on her porch dressed as a scarecrow all night, but video footage shows her not moving at the time of Beryl's death, and a trick-or-treater's fingerprint on a identical-looking mannequin deflates Sharon's alibi. A search warrant turns up traces of Beryl in Sharon's washing machine, at which Sharon is arrested and her husband admits he poisoned the tree.

Meanwhile, Wagner is concerned about his daughter Julia spending time with Cameron, who is in a long-distance relationship with Kaya, upsetting Julia. Wagner finally accepts Julia is not a little girl anymore, only to find she is seeing Rivers.

Struggling poetry journal publisher Gary Pidgeon is desperate when he learns his longtime patron, Delores Feinn, is planning to change her will leaving a promised large gift to a rival publication instead. Reeling from the betrayal, Gary comes up with a solution to inherit her fortune; he opens the valve on Delores’s oxygen tank, then calls her from a party and tells her to write, knowing that Delores will light a cigarette for inspiration, causing an explosion that kills her. Elsbeth is at the party with Dr. Yablonski, who points out that Delores didn't actually use her oxygen tank. Wagner, stil displeased with Rivers seeing Julia, assigns him to the case. Elsbeth learns that Dolores was actually nearly broke while pretending to be wealthy and that Gary only published her terrible poetry to keep her as a benefactor. Acting on a tip, Elsbeth suggests to Gary that the oxygen discolored his jacket, making him frantic to recover it, leading him to confess. After Gary is arrested, Elsbeth notes Rivers' improved behavior.

Meanwhile, Marissa Gold sets Elsbeth up with mayoral candidate Alec Bloom, publicizing their supposed relationship.

Paranoid fintech billionaire Craig Hollis traps his crisis manager Anders Whitman in Craig's state-of-the art panic room, erratically believing that Anders will report his "indiscretions" to his company's board of directors.

Controversial pop star Alaïa Jade has purchased the fading Convent of Our Lady of Grace and Mercy, despite the disapproval of Reverend Mother Constance Mary Cabot. To save the nuns' home, Constance changes the time on Sister Darby's watch and convinces Alaïa, who is anxious about leaving her longtime producer Shane Sills, to view the sunset from the bell tower for guidance. When Alaïa does, Darby rings the bell, knocking her from the tower to her death. Elsbeth investigates with Reynolds and Smullen, and suspects foul play when seeing the bell tower's danger sign moved out of sight. Meanwhile Shane, who is using Alaïa's personal material as releases, become's the convent's buyer. Constance, knowing Elsbeth is on to her, confesses to Monsignor Frank, who aspires to become bishop, to get him to block the investigation, but Elsbeth subverts this by attending a food drive to which she was invited and bringing Jack Wilson from Father Crime, of whom the nuns are fans. Shane releases a posthumous Alaïa Jade single, with lyrics Elsbeth recognizes as Constance's words, leading to her arrest, but the popularity of the food drive saves the convent by getting it landmarked.

Meanwhile, Teddy locates Pete, the transit worker who allegedly helped Alec when he was homeless, however Pete doesn't recognize Alec, for whom Elsbeth is falling.

Peyton Ramsey, the outspoken much younger girlfriend of college basketball coach Russell Willoughby, is blamed by fans and the staff for the team's losing streak. Shortly after athletics director Dave Coppins bans her from the campus, he is found bludgeoned in an alley. Detective Nina Taylor, a transfer from another precinct, initially suspects Peyton but Elsbeth has her doubts.

Tiff Giles, a once famous supermodel whose career swiftly ended after losing her eye in a freak accident, is invited to New York for a reunion by her former rival Madison Chase. When Tiff realizes Madison and her husband TJ had set up the incident to sabotage her career, Tiff plans her revenge. She joins the event, after which she serves Madison a drugged drink in a glass with TJ's fingerprints and pushes her off the balcony, intending to frame him for the murder. Elsbeth investigates with Hackett and Fleming, and after speaking with Nadine Clay, doubts that TJ would kill Madison, whom he adored. TJ admits to the attack after his alibi is confirmed and he is assured about the statute of limitations, pointing suspicion to Tiff. Hackett performs at a comedy club, which Wagner and Elsbeth attend, to find Wagner is the target of the jokes. Elsbeth sees Ivy Benson, now the club's bartender, pocketing the foil she removes from the bottles. Inspired, the police find a foil cap from the wine bottle used for the drugged drink, with Tiff's thumbprint, resulting in Tiff's arrest.

The Midtown Ballet Company allows avant-garde director Donovan Chase to replace their annual performance of The Nutcracker with a darker rendition that incorporates a dangerous set piece known as "The Contraption" and does not include any children. Harris Monroe, a board member whose daughter Noelle had been aiming for the part of Clara and will age out next year, arranges a physical therapy appointment nearby at the time of The Contraption's demonstration, during which he sneaks out to tamper with the device so that it crushes Donovan to death. As Elsbeth investigates with Donnelly and Hackett she suspects Harris, especially after Noelle is given the part of Clara. Elsbeth finds video footage from a Broadway show that films its actors walking outside the theatre, but it shows Harris attended his PT appointment at 3:00 PM like he claimed. Hackett notices one of the actors looking up, and she and Elsbeth question him, a swing in the show, who admits to filming his performance. This video shows Harris rushing to and from the demonstration, plus stage blood from the site is found on the windowsill of the PT building. Harris is arrested, but the police allow him to first see Noelle perform as Clara.

Meanwhile, Elsbeth's son Teddy tells Wagner that he has found flaws in Alec's background, and Wagner advises Elsbeth to be careful.

Wealthy biohacker Archer Kopunek undergoes a strict diet and exercise regimen in order to achieve perfect health, though his liver isn't optimal. He hires Tyler, a young drifter, as a live-in trainer, but Tyler tires of Archer's routine and decides to leave, prompting Archer to switch fitness tracking rings with him, feign heart problems so the tracker will alert the hospital, then kills Tyler with an injection of air bubbles and switches rings back just as the paramedics arrive. A year later, Elsbeth meets with Cord, who received Tyler's heart as a transplant and has been having nightmares he attributes to cell memory. She meets the other recipients of Tyler's organs, who have similar experiences, and decides to investigate Archer, alongside Reynolds and Rivers, the latter of whom has been dumped by Julia. Elsbeth finds that Archer had his trainers sign contracts making him the recipient of their organs and suspects he killed Tyler to obtain his liver. Elsbeth eventually realizes that Archer had time to switch the rings while they were being updated at midnight and confronts him with the facts, pointing out that her youthfulness isn't from a fitness regimen, but due to her zest for life.

Meanwhile, Teddy gets dropped from reporting on Alec because Marissa reported that he and Elsbeth are a couple. As Teddy breaks the news to his mother, he finds that Alec and her have been intimate.

Prominent wigmaker Felix West makes wigs for burn victims and toupees for businessmen but wants to do something more glamorous. When daytime television host Lina Vyanti hires Felix to make a molten gold wig, he doesn't have enough hair, so he cuts a ponytail off a young woman nearby. Domenico Cappelli, who had previously made Lina's wigs, finds out and tries to blackmail Felix, so he strangles Domenico with the cord of a curling iron, then steals some of Domenico's high-priced wigs to make it look like a botched robbery. Elsbeth investigates with Smullen, who becomes self-conscious about his receding hairline, and Chandler, and while focusing on Felix, asks for a blonde wig to help conceal her identity in public. Felix invites them to a drag bunch, where one of the stolen wigs is spotted, implicating Persimmon, who makes drag queens' wigs, but she has an alibi. Meanwhile a donor to Wagner's foundation has the police investigate his teenage daughter being bullied; it turns out it was her ponytail Felix stole. Elsbeth notices that a hair in a jar of gravy Domenico's mother gave her matches the wig hairs on Felix's apron and he is arrested.

At the same time, Teddy isn't speaking to Elsbeth, while Winnie Crawford wants to meet with her to discuss Alec. By the end, Teddy reaches out to his mother, but Winnie is planning to use Teddy to dig up dirt on Alec.

At a crossword puzzle tournament, longtime champion Simon Carroll is infatuated with another contestant, recently-divorced Elaine McClusk, but she has accepted a dinner invite with the editor Morris Long. When Simon confronts Morris, a dispute ensues where Morris disqualifies Simon, prompting Simon to asphyxiate him with a swag bag. While continuing the tournament, Simon sends emails from Morris' tablet, then disposes of Morris' body in the woods out of town. After the body is found, Elsbeth, a former crossword addict, investigates with Edwards and learns about Simon's love triangle and his constant complaining over Morris' use of slang and modern pop culture, as the latest crossword is full of highbrow words Morris didn't use. When another contestant points out that Morris brought a trunk full of old crosswords as practice, and security footage shows Simon leaving with the trunk, Elsbeth heads to the town where the body was found, but can't find the trunk. She does see a coin-operated newspaper box and correctly figures that Simon bought a newspaper there, leaving his fingerprints on the coins. Simon is arrested as Elaine wins and rejects Simon for murdering Morris.

Meanwhile, Elsbeth's relationship with Teddy is still strained while Winnie Crawford publicly attacks Alec. Elsbeth holds a family dinner, where she finally realizes Alec is a liar.