Nightshade

The next morning, Stilwell begins diligently crafting a search warrant for the Black Marlin Club. Not wanting the murderer to get off on a technicality because of a problem in the initial warrant, he makes sure that every part of his theory can be substantiated by evidence. After spending the morning writing, Stilwell receives word that the mayor authorized a reward for information leading to a prosecution in the Moss case. Shortly after, the station receives a call from an anonymous woman naming Moss as the victim. A local deputy identifies the voice as that of Leslie Sneed, a local waitress. She tells Stilwell that she was Moss’s roommate.

While Sneed finishes working a busy lunch shift, Stilwell stakes out the Black Marlin Club. He receives a call from Sampedro, who confirms that blood was found on the Emerald Sea and that they are pursuing a warrant for information from a GPS-tracking system installed on the Emerald Sea. That afternoon, Sneed explains that she kept Moss’s belongings and locked her rented room after Moss stopped paying rent. While searching the room, Stilwell finds expensive designer shoes and three business cards from the manager of the Black Marlin Club and a doctor and lawyer from the mainland.

At the station, Stilwell is stopped by Merris Spivak, who is still being held as he awaits trial. Stilwell again asks how he knew Officer Dunne. Spivak refuses to answer. In a recorded interview, Sneed plays Stilwell a threatening message that Moss left the morning she was likely killed. Sneed reveals that Moss often got expensive gifts from men and sold them online. While bagging the designer shoes as evidence, an administrative worker finds a signed note from someone named Dan, matching the name Daniel Easterbrook found on one of the business cards. The note uses the nickname “Nightshade,” a reference to Moss’s purple hair streak.

Stilwell visits the Mount Ada hotel, which he believes is the only place fancy enough for Moss to wear the designer shoes found in her room. The hotel clerk immediately recognizes Moss from a photo and confirms that she has stayed at the hotel multiple times. When pressed, the clerk gives exact dates for four visits and agrees to let Stilwell search the specific suite that Moss booked. Stilwell suspects she used the hotel to meet up with her wealthy conquests. The clerk also confirms that Daniel Easterbrook stayed at the hotel, though in a different suite and before Moss came to Catalina.

Stilwell learns that the Prada shoes have a microchip sensor that can be used in the store to identify where the shoes were purchased. He is reluctant to turn this thread over to Sampedro and Ahearn on the mainland. Henry Gaston, the Island Mystery Tour warehouse worker who was reported missing, arrives at the station desperate for protection. Gaston claims that “Baby Face” Terranova wants him dead because of what he knows about Terranova’s involvement in both the mutilated buffalo and criminal activity surrounding the construction of a new Ferris wheel. Although Stilwell cannot promise legal immunity, Gaston agrees to talk.

While waiting for visiting District Attorney Monika Juarez to check into her hotel, Stilwell researches the Ferris wheel project. He learns that the person behind the project is Marcus Rifkin, a developer with a history of proposing similar projects in tourist towns but not completing them. Stilwell tells Juarez that Gaston personally helped Terranova sabotage other tourist companies and that Terranova told him to mutilate the buffalo to encourage rumors of alien activity and boost his tourism company. He also reveals that Gaston has evidence that Mayor Allen is working with Terranova to encourage the Ferris wheel for personal profit. Juarez agrees to discuss a deal with Gaston.

When Stilwell and Juarez arrive at the station, the door is locked, troubling Stilwell. Inside, he finds his deputy Esquivel unconscious in the jail cell that is supposed to be holding Merris Spivak. In the next cell, Henry Gaston lies dead. After sending Juarez to call EMTs, Stilwell notices that the station’s hard drive has been stolen. Esquivel regains consciousness and explains that Spivak knocked him unconscious when he got too close to the cell. Stilwell suspects that Spivak had himself arrested so that he could be in the prison if Gaston arrived looking for protection. He calls for help from the mainland.

Stilwell is forced to step back from the Moss investigation in order to focus on Spivak’s escape and murder of Gaston. Ahearn and Sampedro promise to keep him updated. The theft of the hard drive means that Stilwell has no record of Gaston’s interview and no proof of Terranova’s involvement with the buffalo or the mayor’s Ferris wheel project. Stilwell asks to rush DNA comparison of the blood found on the saw in order to gain leverage over Terranova, but Captain Corum seems reluctant to pursue charges against the mayor. Frustrated by Corum’s decision to pin the buffalo mutilation on Gaston and not Terranova, Stilwell leaks the truth to journalist Lionel McKey.

When Stilwell returns home, he is disappointed to find that Dano is not waiting for him. He calls and texts her but receives no answer. Her location on their location-sharing app has not updated in two hours. Stilwell leaves Dano a voicemail professing his love for the first time. Hours later, he receives a call from her phone. A voice whom Stilwell recognizes as Spivak demands that he return the blood-stained knife entered into evidence, or Dano will be killed. After confirming that Dano is alive, Stilwell agrees to meet with Spivak. He checks her location and then stops sharing his own.

Stilwell travels by boat to the location pinged by Dano’s phone during their conversation. Rather than pulling into the closest dock, he moors the boat offshore and swims to shore. He approaches a large trailer, the only lighted building in the area. As he attempts to break in, he hears a man answer a phone call. Stilwell forces his way into the trailer and is confronted by Spivak. Stilwell shoots him in the head and rescues Dano, who says that Spivak threatened to rape her. As they are leaving, Spivak’s phone rings. Stilwell answers and tells the caller, implied to be Terranova, that he is coming for him.

Stilwell is removed from the case and placed on paid leave as an Internal Affairs investigation is opened into the shooting. Corum and Stilwell feel confident that the shooting conforms with department policy, but Mayor Allen calls for Stilwell’s immediate removal from the island. In the Internal Affairs interview, Stilwell lies about the location of Spivak’s gun, claiming that it was in his waistband rather than on the table. Afterward, Stilwell is informed that he will have to complete a psychological evaluation before returning to duty if he is cleared in the investigation.

Stilwell and Dano leave Catalina Island for a weekend in Pasadena. Although Stilwell tells Dano that he wants to give her time to recover off the island, he also hopes to interview Daniel Easterbrook about Leigh-Anne Moss. Dano is unable to relax, wanting to be back in her own home. Although Stilwell assures her that she’s safe, she begins to panic and insists on returning to the island. Stilwell explains that they’ve missed the last ferry and promises that they can leave the next day if she’s still upset. Dano tells him to go to the interview, assuring him that she will be okay.