Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door

Later, Nick gets a call from Katie Shapiro, a police detective he used to work with. She asks about the Dickie Frick case, to which she was assigned after Weber was suspended for reasons she doesn’t explain. She also asks about the vigilante dog situation. Nick feigns ignorance on all counts.

While Gabe is giving Riley another psychic lesson, a stranger she saw at Nature Girls busts in Dickie’s door. She contacts Nick, but when he calls back, she insists that the crisis was averted and the intruder is gone. Nick is annoyed by her flippancy but updates her on the case. Then Blossom calls Riley, asking if she’s okay and insisting that she bring Nick to dinner.

Riley drives Nick and Gabe to her parents’ place for dinner. On the way, they stop for fast food because Blossom always cooks healthy but unappetizing food that Riley insists the men won’t want to eat. Over dinner, the family interrogates Nick. Riley is embarrassed, but Nick is unfazed. He even agrees to let Blossom give him a tarot reading. Riley tries to ignore the reading but worries when Blossom pulls the death card. Afterward, the family turns on the TV to a report of state legislator Rob Bowers’s death in a mysterious car accident. Riley identifies Bowers as the man who broke down Dickie’s door.

Wander gives Gabe a ride home so that Riley and Nick can look into the Bowers situation. They head out to a junkyard to inspect Bowers’s totaled car. Inside, they find a fake fingernail that raises their suspicions. They wonder if it could belong to Betsy, whom Riley noticed cozying up to Bowers the other night.

Riley returns to Nature Girls to find Betsy, but she doesn’t show up to work. The other servers are unfazed, insisting that Betsy is lazy and dumb. Later, when Riley sneaks into the back of the bar to continue investigating, she runs into Duncan, or Dun. She guesses that he’s the silent partner, but Josie races in to rescue her before she can ask more questions.

Riley and Josie rejoin Nick and Brian. Nick is mad at Riley for putting herself in danger. She insists that Dun is involved. They argue about the case. Furious, Riley storms off, while Brian and Josie confront Nick about overreacting. Realizing that they’re right, Nick follows Riley, but she gives him the finger and races away.

Riley complains to Gabe about her fight with Nick. They do a psychic session at Gabe’s. Riley is having a vision involving Dun when a vision of Griffin intrudes. She tells Gabe that she thinks Griffin is cheating on Bella. Then Nick shows up, wanting to talk and apologize. Another argument ensues about how they’re each handling the case and behaving toward each other. They agree to go to Nick’s office to continue working, but don’t ride together.

At the office, Nick and Riley confer with Josie and Brian about the case. Riley describes Duncan to the group. They soon discover that his last name is Gulliver and that he’s linked to the mayor, Nolan Flemming. They realize that Flemming must be Dickie’s silent partner and agree to heavily research him and Gulliver.

That evening, Riley, Josie, and Gabe scour the city for Betsy while Nick and Brian look into Flemming at a party. Finally, Riley locates Betsy’s number through her friend and learns that she skipped work after she got into some trouble. Riley privately asks her spirit guides for help in finding Betsy. She receives a vision and directs the group to Market Street, where they find Betsy, who has been battered. She insists that she wasn’t involved with “the blackmail or the wreck” that Bowers got into (346).

Nick encounters Jasmine at the party, where he’s looking for Flemming. She urges him to take his fake relationship with Riley seriously, explaining the kind of man Riley needs. Then he and Jasmine run into Fat Tony, who introduces them to Flemming. Duncan is present, too. Griffin and Bella show up and join the conversation. Griffin justifies his reasons for interviewing Riley about the Dickie case, which ignites Duncan’s interest. Meanwhile, Nick focuses on asking Flemming about Bowers, whom he suspects Flemming hired Duncan to kill (just like Dickie). Flemming won’t answer his questions and heads off with Jasmine. Brian rejoins Nick and insists that they leave.

Riley and Josie take Betsy somewhere safe. On the way, Betsy explains that Duncan and Dickie worked together to intimidate people for favors and cash. She was having an affair with Bowers, whom Flemming tried to extort “about campaign finance fraud” (357). She guesses Duncan killed Dickie because she heard them arguing the day he was murdered; Flemming suspected Dickie of stealing money and must have sent Duncan after him. She thinks evidence might be hidden in the office. Intrigued, Riley drives to Nature Girls.

While Josie, Gabe, and Betsy get drinks, Riley sneaks into the office and digs around for evidence. She finds bags filled with photos and flash drives. On her way out, she runs into Duncan, who pulls a gun on her. She and her friends run out of the bar together as Duncan fires at them.

Riley puts her phone inside her bra and calls Nick while she’s driving. Her friends tease her for talking to her breasts. She updates Nick on what happened and explains that she’s running from a gunfight and the cops have been alerted, too. She and her friends then notice that the cops are shooting at them; they suspect that Nick was right and the cops are dirty. Riley intentionally crashes the car; she and her friends jump out and run.