"♪ There's only one place that I wanna be ♪" "♪ with a beach umbrella" "♪ and my toes buried deep in the sand ♪" "♪ little string bikinis walking by on parade ♪" "♪ beachfront seats, man, I've got it made ♪" "♪ the only work I'm doing is working on an awesome tan ♪" "Everybody get out!" "Hey!" "Get out of the water!" "Out of the water!" "Everybody out now!" "Get out of the water now!" "What do you think?" "Way too many clothes for the shower." "But I can fix that." "No, no." "I just finished my hair and makeup!" "I know." "It looks great." "You've got a lot to learn about the ladies, Mr. Man." "Well, why don't you come and learn me?" "I would if I didn't have to be at the bank in half an hour." "Is everything okay?" "Yeah." "I was disappointed that I didn't get the job at port St. Lucie, but I figure if I can't get a job as a nurse, then I can take out a loan and go back to med school full time." "Whoa!" "Look at you." "That's great." "Yeah, I started to think maybe not finding a job means that I should go for what I really want." "Okay." "Which means a rain check on messing up the hair and the makeup." "Oh." "And wouldn't you know it." "Forecast calls for rain with a chance of " " Carlos." "She looks like one of the mermaids from the Weeki Wachee shows." "The Weeki What-chee?" "The mermaid shows at Weeki Wachee Springs have been a tradition in Florida since the 1940s." "Well, obviously hasn't got any I.D. on her." "Maybe she's from this Weeki Whatchamacallit show." "Weeki Wachee's not the only show in town, my friend." "Well, with all these legless women floating around, someone's got to be making these tails." "That's a good point." "I'll bet most of these costumes are custom-made." "Oh, I'll get Daniel onto it, see if we can't put a name to the fin." "That's a lot of legwork for an accidental drowning." "I'm not sure why we're here." "Uh, accidental, Carlos?" "You don't put on a tail like that and not know how to use it." "Look at her tris." "She's a swimmer." "Swimmers drown all the time." "So do divers, surfers." "That's the risk you take of being in the water." "Look." "The whole section of scale has been scraped off." "The tail probably got caught on something." "Well, what about her hands?" "Oh, that's a $40 manicure at least." "What?" "I live in a house full of women." "Yes." "Yes, you do." "Exactly." "Well, she's got two broken fingernails." "Maybe she fought with the killer." "Or she hit something in the water." "Yeah, like the person holding her down." "And now, Carlos," "I think you'll agree that she had some help." "No one saw a mermaid being drowned." "Well, taking into consideration the degree of bloating and the wrinkles from her "washerwoman effects" on her hands, I'd say the body's probably been in the water about six hours." "So, she was killed between 1:00 and 4:00 this morning?" "Well, in order to find out how she got here," "I need to find out where she came from." "I got Daniel to check the tides and currents from last night." "What the " "How long have you been there?" "Tides and currents -- I'm on it." "Sorry." "She just..." "looked so...real." "You see?" "He doesn't get it." "The mythical lure of the enchanting mermaid?" "Enticing mere mortal men to abandon their ships and their senses for the carnal pleasures that lie within her watery embrace." "Well, that just sounds like a flowery way of saying mermaids drown sailors." "It's true -- most mermaid tales don't end well." "Still, you should see a real mermaid show." "I've been to all the big ones -- merbabes, the aquadolls, and, of course, chicks of the sea." "And between you two mer-maniacs, we still don't know who this woman is." "Oh, we know." "I tracked down her tail, like you asked." "It was custom-made -- cost $10,000." "Whew." "That's a lot of clams." "It was made for Cassandra Hudson -- delivered to her apartment here." "Well, let's see how the other half of her lived." "The landlord said Cassandra's name is the only one on the lease, but she does have a roommate -- her younger sister." "Brooke Hudson?" "Little sis gets the catalogs, big sis gets the bills." "Cassandra was drowned, so there's no murder weapon." "Guess I'm not exactly sure what we're looking for." "Great minds, Daniel." "Neither do I." "This looks like something -- electricity bill." "That's pretty low for Florida." "They have air-conditioning." "Doesn't look like they use it." "Maybe they don't spend a lot of time at home." "Cassandra seemed busy." "She volunteered for save the manatees, donate to dolphins." "Four years in a row -- instructor of the year." "Made her parents proud." "And her friends." "That looks like a mermaid show." ""Sirens of the Seas." You know that one?" "Uh, they're not one of the bigger acts." "I've never seen them perform." "And this might be her merman." "Captain of the Tampa tech water polo team." "Here he is again, with Cassandra and the synchronized swim club in 2005." "He traded in his captain's jacket for a manager t-shirt?" "Speedos or bikinis?" "Bikinis win." "Yeah, well, when you put it that way..." "Let's contact Tampa tech, get some records on this guy, see who Aquaman is and if he's still in the picture." "Looks like he is." "Here he is on the "Sirens of the Sea" wall calendar." "Good girl, Cassandra." "She wrote down all her appointments." "Sirens performed last night." "And they're rehearsing right now." "That's what we were looking for." "5, 6, 7, 8!" "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 " "Stop!" "What the hell was that?" "!" "You look like out there, sirens." "How about we do it right and stop wasting my time?" "I think you're great." "Good work, sirens." "Nice." "Looking good." "Hey, jackass, this is a closed practice." "Oh, well, uh, not anymore." "I just opened it." "Detective Longworth." "And you are?" "Uh..." "Jay " " Nelson." "Is there a problem, sir?" "Well, that depends." "Where were you from 1:00 till 4:00 A.M. last night?" "Home -- asleep." "Why?" "What about before that?" "Before that?" "Um..." "I was at Daryl McMillanâs house." "Daryl McMillan -- De Mac." "You know, the music guy with the song from the one-hit-wonder boy band." ""Boom, Bam, Bounce."" "Oh, right -- "Boom, Bam, Bounce."" "Oh, I hated that song." "Yeah." "What were you doing there?" "This." "I'm the team manager." "Daryl's putting the financing together for a show featuring the sirens." "All this week, he's hosting parties for potential investors." "So this show is gonna be like the Weeki Wachee mermaid shows?" "Weeki Wachee?" "No, I don't think so." "Ever heard of Cirque du Soleil?" "A little show called "O"?" "What the sirens are doing will blow those water rats right out of the pool." "Must be hard to rehearse when you're missing a siren." "We're missing two." "Cassandra and who else?" "Brooke." "Cassandra's sister was a siren?" "Yeah." "In fact, the whole idea for this show is...hers." "What's going on?" "Where are they?" "Oh, I can tell you where Cassandra is -- the morgue." "She was murdered last night." "What?" "No." "That can't be." "I just..." "What about Brooke?" "Where is she?" "I was hoping you could tell me." "Why?" "What did Brooke do?" "Is she a suspect?" "Is she?" "Well, she is now." "Brooke Hudson is in the wind." "I'll get out a BOLO." "Cassandra was killed 12 hours ago." "Brooke could be anywhere by now." "Well, what about her family?" "They're out of state -- they haven't been notified yet since Brooke is the closest next of kin." "So, now they need a notification and a squad car outside their door in case Brooke shows up." "Yeah, uh, let's have Daniel pull Brooke's driver's license photo." "That's a good idea -- get her face on a flier, pass it around the neighborhood." "Go." "I'll get this moving." "I'm sorry to interrupt." "Oh, you're not interrupting." "Weren't you just talking to Manus about a case?" "Okay, you're interrupting." "I can't get a loan -- I went to three banks, and they all turned me down because I don't have a job." "But I can't find a job, which is why I wanted to go back to med school full time." "Okay." "It's okay." "We'll figure something out." "Everything we've tried hasn't worked." "I don't know what to do anymore." "Why not just take a break?" "And do...?" "Nothing." "That's what "take a break" means." "Ever since the hospital closed, everything in my life is going wrong." "Okay, not everything." "Look, I know you're upset." "And I know what you're gonna say " ""Relax." "Take a deep breath." "Be patient." ""This is just a little hiccup" ""and that you deserve some time off" ""because you've been pushing yourself so hard with the job and Jeff and your divorce and school."" "And maybe you're right." "But...?" "I thought I heard a "but" in there." "No "but." You're right." "I'll take a break." "Yeah." "It's okay, Daniel." "Did you make up those fliers with Brooke's photo?" "We don't need them." "Brooke is here -- in the tank." "The drunk tank?" "Detective's here to talk to you." "Come on." "Let's go." "Look, I know you want to talk to me about my sister, but I really..." "I just " " I can't -- I can't do this right now." "Rough night, huh?" "The roughest." "And could really use a swim right about now." "That's just what Cassandra and I would do when we needed to feel better." "Now I have to call my parents." "Uh, they've been notified." "So, you want to tell me what happened?" "I don't remember." "That's your story?" "No, it's not a story." "It's the truth." "How'd you get those marks on your arms?" "Truthfully." "Did you get those bruises maybe fighting with Cassandra?" "No " " I got these from the cops who dragged me in here last night." "Oh." "So you do remember something?" "Good." "Where were you last night?" "Are you kidding right now?" "Well, the cops didn't bring you in till 3:00 A.M." "I was at Daryl McMillanâs house for an investor party." "He wanted to show off the costumes that would be in the show." "Oh, you mean the $10,000 mermaid tail that Cassandra was gonna wear?" "Oh, it was actually $20,000." "And Cassandra's tail wasn't the only thing on display." "After we performed in Daryl's pool, he insisted that we stick around and have drinks with potential investors." "Well, obviously, checkbooks weren't the only things getting loose." "Okay." "Uh, here." "Let me lob a couple easy ones at you." "What time did you leave, and who did you leave with?" "My sister was just murdered, and you are asking me for an alibi?" "Or the name of your designated driver." "D.U.I., murder rap -- your choice." "Okay, I..." "I did take Cassandra's car." "And where is that car now?" "I don't know." "Honestly, I really don't." "Look, I know what people think about me, but I loved my sister." "Okay, hold that lie." "Yeah, Carlos." "All right." "I'll be right there." "Uh, you were saying about how you didn't kill your sister?" "How could I?" "She was alive when I left Daryl's party, and I have been locked up in here all night." "All right, well, now that you're out, make sure you don't disappear -- like Cassandra's car." "O-kay." "That's not Cassandra." "That's " "What is that?" "You'll never guess what Carlos found hiding inside her tail." "My patience?" "Yeah, it was right next to your sense of humor." "You're welcome." "It's an octopus." "They don't have skeletons, so they can squeeze into anything." "And they like to hide in dark places, like inside Cassandra's mermaid tail." "Nice work if you can get it." "But unless he can tell me who drowned Cassandra, he's just a side of Sushi." "Oh, you don't want to eat that." "His leg has been injected with a color tattoo tag." "Which means he's one of many octopuses in some kind of scientific experiment." "It's likely their movements are being tracked and we can find out exactly where this one has been." "And that's how I'm gonna figure out exactly where Cassandra's body was dumped." "Wait -- what do you mean "dumped"?" "Well, no one saw her being drowned because she didn't drown in the ocean." "Cassandra's blood composition is more consistent with somebody who drowned in fresh water." "Like a lake?" "Yes." "Except, after analyzing her stomach contents," "I found chlorine." "So, whoever drowned Cassandra had access to a pool, a car, and I'm guessing a lot of alcohol." "Her sister Brooke." "Brooke lied about how she got these bruises on her arms." "The uniform that brought her in found her passed out on the sidewalk -- definitely not fighting back." "Well, not with them anyway." "This uniform didn't happen to notice" "Cassandra's blue Taurus nearby?" "We went back to the location to check." "Cassandra's car isn't there." "Well, the killer needed to use some vehicle to move the body from the pool to the ocean." "And Brooke admitted she took the car?" "So much for sisterly love." "Well, Brooke was as bad as Cassandra was good." "Brooke's car was confiscated during a previous D.U.I." "She's had multiple citings for public intoxication and three years of juvi under her belt." "So, this is Cassandra's phone records and the financials." "This is Brooke's?" "Mm-hmm." "It's a tale of two sisters." "Cassandra had some money socked away." "Brooke didn't have two nickels to rub together." "Cassandra had perfect credit." "Brooke's credit is nonexistent." "Probably why she was forced to live with her sister." "Cassandra called her parents almost every day." "Brooke hardly ever." "Except on the night Cassandra died." "Brooke called her parents." "And at midnight," "Brooke called Cassandra five times in five minutes." "Hm." "I wonder why." "Let's get Brooke back in here and find out what that was all about." "I want to see what this was all about first." "Cassandra made lots of late-night calls to Daryl in this last month." "But three months ago, it was Brooke that was making calls to Daryl in the wee hours of the morning." "Well, they don't call him Mr. "Boom, Bam, Bounce" for nothing." "Sounds like the sisters were interested in the same man." "Well, now I'm interested in him, too." "Morning." "Morning." "Excuse the mess." "We had a party last night." "We got it in." "Yeah, and I heard you got two more investor events to host this week." "Have to." "This is like trying to finance the biggest, baddest, most crazy-ass, spectacular Broadway musical -- on water." "We talking about "Phantom of the Opera" on water." ""Le mis" -- on water." ""Cats" -- on water." ""Cats" on water?" "Yeah, you might want to rethink that one." "But I get your point -- costs a lot of money." "Let me get that out of your way." "Ho!" "Great pool." "And a great view of the intercoastal." "What is that -- a 40-foot cruiser?" "More like a damn houseboat these days." "Haven't been able to move it in three weeks." "You believe that?" "Talking about "Engine's in dry dock, missing a part."" "Let me shut up." "My high-class problems, right?" "Yeah." "Lord knows, I was lucky." "Made all my money in the music biz when you could still make your money in the music biz." "Right, yeah -- "Boom, Bam, Bounce."" "Yeah." "Yeah, well, with that kind of success, you can have anything you want, huh?" "Or anyone." "Like, uh..." "Like Cassandra, maybe?" "Nah." "Me and her were strictly business." "But there were plenty who wanted to hit that." "Like Jay Nelson?" "Oh, no doubt." "Everybody knew my man Jay was carrying a torch for her since college." "Damn." "I can't believe she's gone." "Who would do that to Cassie?" "Sorry." "No, take your time." "It's just, Cassandra was the total package." "You know, she was beautiful, talented." "Girl had a head for business." "She was the business manager for the sirens." "She could do graphic design, marketing -- all that." "It was her idea to take the sirens to the next level by doing this show." "Oh, so you're gonna lose a lot of money unless you find a replacement for Cassandra?" "Like your old buddy Brooke, maybe?" "Drunky?" "Hell no." "She's a hot mess." "Girl causes nothing but damn trouble." "What kind of trouble?" "Last night, she drove off in Cassandra's car." "Everybody knew Cassandra's whole life was in that car." "She couldn't function without it." "So she took Cassandra's car just to get back at her?" "Left her sister stranded." "Jay gave Cassandra a ride home in his car." "So, Jay may have been the last person to see her alive." "Now, depending on what the European market is doing " "Hey!" "Mom, what are you doing?" "I don't know." "What do you want to do?" "Uh, I'm going to my room, so..." "Uh, well, wait." "Um, how was school?" "Fine." "How were your classes?" "They're good." "What's going on with your friends?" "Nothing." "Bored?" "Yeah, with the one-word sentences." "Wait, Jeff." "What?" "!" "Let me just enjoy spending some time with my son." "Without the eye-rolling, please." "It's a small sacrifice to make for your mom." "Fine." "Okay?" "Enjoy me." "Thank you." "And remember -- we're playing Yahtzee tonight." "Mom, you've got to get a " "No, don't say "Get a life," because I had a life -- a really good one -- and I will again." "Now...go to your room and finish your homework so we can start having fun." "Okay." "Oh, my God." "Detective, you have a minute?" "Not really." "Did you get Jay's records from Tampa tech?" "Not yet, but the school's sending over all his files." "I need what kind of car Jay drives, too." "Oh, and see whatever you can get me on Daryl McMillanâs finances." "What happened to the octopus?" "You had him less than a day, and he's already dead?" "H-he's at the marine life institute, being checked out." "So you found the teuthologist that tagged him?" "Yeah, and I also figured out where the killer dumped Cassandra's body from." "Okay, next time, lead with that." "It turns out that octopus is one of 13 juvenile octopuses living on the pylons at the 14th street causeway." "You checked the tides and currents from last night?" "Yeah, and I figured out that Cassandra's body had to be dropped into the bay in this area here, in order to pass by the octopus settlement on the causeway before the tides pulled the body out into the ocean." "A road runs right next to that part of the bay." "It's only a short drive from there to Daryl's house." "Well, that makes sense." "Cassandra's killer drowned her in Daryl's pool." "And put her in the mermaid's tail that was on display in Daryl's house to make it look like an accident." "Drove from Daryl's house, dumped her in the bay." "Daryl's house, Daryl's pool -- instead of a car, the body could have been dumped by Daryl's boat." "Detective Longworth had me confirm that Daryl's cruiser engine has been in dry dock." "What about the wet dock?" "Maybe Daryl just rolled the body right off his deck." "Ah, except instead of six hours, it would have taken a couple weeks for the tides and currents to carry Cassandra's body from the bay out into the ocean." "And Daryl doesn't have a motive." "He's the one person that needed Cassandra to stay alive." "Well, Daryl may not have a motive, but jilted Jay and jealous Brooke do." "But we still don't have enough evidence to bring either of them in." "But we do know where both of them will be tonight." "Hey." "Keep looking like that, we'll both go blind." "Huh?" "Oh." "Thanks." "Enjoying yourself?" "No." "This is torture." "And you dragged me here." "In case Marisol asks." "I didn't know the human body could even get in that position." "Yeah, and that's holding their breath." "What do you even call that?" "A wet dream." "W-- b-because they're in the water and they're..." "Dreamy?" "I wanted to say "athletes."" "I mean, a little respect." "These girls really know how to swim." "Yeah, and they can fight." "I talked to some of the employees from the catering company." "At the last party, Brooke and Cassandra had a fight." "Yeah." "Well, tonight, she's a lover, not a fighter." "Talk about taking one for the team." "Brooke working those investors." "Must have killed you to see Cassandra do that." "Is that why you wanted to drive her home the night she drowned?" "I didn't drive her home." "That's right." "You dumped her body in the ocean." "I didn't kill her, either." "Yeah, nice try." "Except you were the last one to see her alive." "You don't know that." "Who told you that?" "Not who -- what." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Your car, of course." "Or should I say "your car keys."" "Screw you." "I'm not giving you my keys." "Yeah." "You know, I kind of figured you'd say something like that, so I came prepared to make a trade." "Your car, my search warrant." "Thank you." "Come on, mermaid king." "What's going on?" "When can I get my car and get out of here?" "Uh, in about 25 to life." "We found scales from Cassandra's mermaid tail in your back seat." "So?" "I drove it from her apartment over to Daryl's house for the costume party." "Oh." "Cassandra's car always had so much crap in it." "She didn't have room to move anything that big." "Well, we also found this dried, foamy fluid on your back seat." "You know, it looks like the kind of foam that only comes out of a person's airway once they've drowned." "This is crazy." "I didn't kill Cassandra." "We were friends." "Yeah, but everyone knows you wanted something more, though, right?" "Come on -- you've been waiting for her to fall in love with you since college." "You know, I didn't understand how the captain of the water polo team would suddenly start managing the synchronized swim club." "Then I got your file from Tampa tech." "You found out about the accident." "And the criminal investigation." "I was acquitted at trial." "Yeah, but you were suspended from Tampa tech and thrown off the water polo team for a hit-and-run crash that totaled -- wow -- three cars." "Take it easy." "Nobody was hurt." "Wow." "Especially not Cassandra." "You made sure of that by taking the blame." "I was driving th-- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." "But you were driving Cassandra's old car." "You know, I think it was actually Cassandra who was behind the wheel." "She would have lost her synchronized swimming scholarship." "And you wanted to save her." "Yeah." "I did." "Is that so wrong?" "So, you sacrificed yourself for her back then, and you've been doing it ever since by managing the sirens, putting up with the drunk sister." "In fact, I think you'd do anything for her as long as you thought you still had a shot." "I'm just out here making a living, man." "Yeah, exactly." "And everything was good, right?" "Until this show came along -- the chance for the sirens to be something big." "And then suddenly," "Daryl -- not you -- is Cassandra's savior." "Daryl is just an overpriced suit with a one-hit wonder." "Cassandra didn't seem to think so." "That's why you didn't drive her home that night." "She wouldn't let you." "She went back to Daryl's, and that pissed you off." "You got out of your car, you followed her back to Daryl's house, and you drowned her in Daryl's pool." "That actually makes sense." "No, that's not what happened." "That's not " " I swear to you that's not what happened." "Hey!" "Are you listening to me?" "!" "The night Cassandra was killed, she left with Jay, but she came back here to be with you." "Come on, detective." "You done lost your damn mind." "I told you " "Yeah, I know, I know -- "strictly business."" "But I'm not buying it." "First of all, Cassandra wasn't even my type -- too much of a goody-goody." "And if she did come back, it was to swim in my pool, not to mess with me." "I told her she could practice here anytime." "So, Cassandra came back here to take a swim, but you didn't hear her?" "This house has 17 rooms." "My bedroom isn't even in this zip code." "Besides, you don't know if Cassandra was drowned in my pool." "I do know her body was dumped in the ocean." "But since you don't think she was drowned in your pool, you won't mind me having a look around outside?" "Go ahead." "Thanks." "And seeing as your house covers two zip codes," "I asked a few friends from the substation to give me a hand." "Hey!" "Oh, and you know that little skiff on the back of your dry-dock cruiser?" "Gonna take that down to the substation as evidence." "Yes, can I speak with Dr. Avery?" "H-he and I, uh, spoke a couple of weeks ago about a job in Atlanta." "Callie?" "Oh, yeah." "Cheese fries?" "Yeah." "Uh-huh." "Oh, thank you!" "I thought it might be that kind of a day." "Yeah." "Did you find the mermaid killer?" "Not yet." "Oh." "Narrowed down the suspects?" "Mm, not really." "Waiting on evidence as we speak." "There's only one thing I really can't figure out." "Besides who killed her?" "Okay, two things." "Why did the killer put the tail on her before dumping her in the ocean?" "Didn't you say that she just got the tail delivered the day she was killed?" "Yeah, and then it was on display that night at a costume party." "You should see this thing." "Oh, wait -- I have a photo." "Putting the tail on the victim exhibits latent anger." "Clearly, the killer wanted to demean and objectify the thing that Cassandra loved most -- being a mermaid." "Okay, now you're making fun." "Okay, maybe just a little." "No, it's like when you get a new pair of shoes delivered." "You don't just throw them in the closet." "You try them on first." "You do?" "Yeah." "Wow." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "Something this beautiful, how could she not try it on and go for a swim?" "So, Cassandra put on the tail herself before she was murdered." "That would certainly make things easier for my suspect." "And I think this little piece of evidence will be the nail in the coffin." "Carlos." "Wait." "What?" "The dried foam on the back seat of Jay's car wasn't aspirated after a drowning." "It was vomit." "Does the DNA match Cassandra's?" "No, but it's definitely from a close relative -- most likely Brooke, given her history of getting drunk and being rescued by Jay." "Any luck locating Cassandra's car?" "Not yet, but Daniel did retrieve Brooke's messages." "What messages?" "Oh, and, hey, so sorry about your car." "Didn't mean to leave without saying goodbye." "You think you fooled everyone, but you cannot fool me." ""Cassandra is such a good person, good daughter, good friend."" "Good liar!" "I know all about you and Daryl." "I am so angry right now, I could kill you!" "Brooke's five phone calls to Cassandra were actually five angry messages." "Brooke sounds like she's on the edge." "Sounds like she's already jumped." "And you know what they say -- when the going gets tough, the tough go swimming." "Hello?" "Brooke?" "It's okay." "I've got you." "Of course I'm okay!" "What are you doing?" "!" "I'm holding my breath." "I'm not drowning." "You're doing what?" "Practicing." "I have to stay under for 45 seconds." "I am the star of the show now." "I'm taking over for Cassandra." "The show must go on, right?" "That's what Cassandra would have wanted." "You know, the night Cassandra was killed, you sent her five very nasty messages." "Jay was going to make her a star, and you were jealous." "The sirens' show was my idea." "I brought that to Daryl months ago, but when he met Cassandra, he completely forgot that I existed." "Yeah, you were jealous." "You were angry." "No, I was resigned." "I'm used to being the bad sister." "Even my parents think so." "Jay said after college, Cassandra completely changed." "Some things stayed the same." "Cassandra always got everything that was good, from looks to talent -- especially men." "Like Jay." "Good guys like Jay never fall in love with me." "But I'm not bad." "No." "You just act that way." "What did you do with Cassandra's car?" "This again?" "I told you " "Well, now I forget." "Two can play at that game." "The only thing I remember after Daryl's was what I was drinking -- vodka mostly, but probably what did me in were the flaming shots of Tequila and rum." "Flaming shots?" "Mm-hmm." "Don't ask me where." "Well, can I ask somebody else?" "Sure." "Go ahead." "You see?" "I am not all bad." "Welcome to the firehouse, home of Florida's famous flaming shots." "And there's Cassandra's Taurus." "Packed to the gills." "Let's unpack." "Jay wasn't kidding." "Cassandra really did live out of the back of her car." "But it looks like she was planning to live someplace else." "Somewhere cold." "Wool sweaters and a winter coat?" "That's for relocation, not vacation." ""Atlantic Commerce Financial."" "I saw a statement from this bank at Daryl's place." "The account is for the sirens of the sea, but it was addressed to Daryl." "Yeah, so was the one I saw." "But that one was postmarked from palm glade, Florida." "But the bank statement in your hand is different." "That one was mailed from north Carolina." "Which is where Atlantic commerce financial is actually located." "But what was Cassandra doing with Daryl's bank statements?" "Not sure." "Daniel looked into everyone's personal finances." "Didn't find any impropriety." "But now I want to know what's going on with the corporate finances of the sirens." "Okay, detective, here's your new cellphone." "I downloaded some video footage of the sirens you might want to see." "It's from a DVD we found in Cassandra's car, some kind of promotional thing on the sirens." "Okay, let's have a look." "Hey." "Jay, what the hell are you doing?" "Investors don't want to see the chorus." "They want to see the star." "I'm over here, dumbass." "And that's the good sister?" "Hard to believe Jay was carrying a torch for her." "Maybe he'd finally had enough." "You want to bring Jay in?" "He should be at the rehearsal pool." "Should be." "I get the feeling that Jay stopped doing what he was supposed to a long time ago." "How'd you know I was here?" "The killer always returns to the scene of the crime." "I didn't kill her." "Right." "Oh, and if you're looking for the skiff off Daryl's boat, it's not there." "FDLE took it into evidence." "That's not what I'm doing." "We have a performance here later tonight." "Everyone thinks you were in love with Cassandra." "You spent a lot of time cleaning up her messes, including her sister." "In fact, you've been spending more time taking care of Brooke than anything else." "I got to get things ready back at the house." "Oh, we found Cassandra's car." "She had this DVD footage that you took at one of the sirens' practices." "Here -- take a look." "I've seen it." "I recorded it." "Oh, then you know all the footage is Brooke." "Yeah." "She's the star of the show." "Now." "Not four weeks ago, when you took this footage." "You weren't in love with Cassandra anymore." "You were in love with Brooke." "I'm late for practice." "Oh, I think you're also the kind of guy that would do anything for the woman he loves." "You want to protect Brooke." "You want to help her any you can." "You know what?" "Believe me " " I get that." "But this time, Jay, things have gone way too far." "I told Cassandra I didn't like the way she was treating Brooke." "She didn't agree." "We got into an argument." "That's why she got out of the car." "But that is it." "Then what were you doing snooping around here?" "You look guilty." "You think I'm guilty?" "Then go ahead -- arrest me." "Get it over with." "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" "Well, don't worry." "I'm still waiting on the evidence." "So I'm not really ready to arrest anybody." "Yet." "Oh, yeah." "And now for a special request." "Oh." "Oh, no." "Oh, yes." "No." "Oh, yes." ""Boom, Bam, Bounce." You don't like this song?" "I can't believe you requested this song." "Well, it got you off the dance floor." "Yeah, mission accomplished." "Well, I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself, even if it is at my expense." "Well, thank you for getting me out of the house." "I was going crazy just constantly thinking about things." "But all of that thinking led me to a couple of good thoughts." "Well, that's funny, because I had some thoughts, too." "Okay, well, you first." "But you first." "I want to co-sign the loan with you." "That way, you can go back to school." "I mean, I know how crazy you're going at home with nothing to do." "Jim, you don't have to do that now." "Thank you for the offer." "Sounds like you have a plan." "I've decided to switch fields." "Look, if I can't get a job as a nurse, then I'll do something else." "Like?" "Like working for a physical therapist -- at a yoga studio or even a spa." "Or I'll administer Botox injections." "Anything health-related, I'm open to." "Wow." "Sounds like you have a plan." "You said that already." "No, Cal." "No, that's great." "It is." "It's just..." "I want you to be happy." "So do I." "This is for us." "So, let's toast my new job -- whatever that may be." "Whatever that may be." "Sorry." "Mm-hmm." "Carlos?" "Are you listening to "Boom, Bam, Bounce"?" "Well, trying not to." "Did you finish processing Daryl's skiff?" "DNA test results match." "Cassandra's body was in the skiff." "Thank you." "Time to "Boom, Bam, Bounce"?" "Yeah." "Um...can I drop you home?" "I have to see a man about a mermaid." "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you -- and your checkbooks -- for coming out tonight." "And welcome to our final investor preview." "So, put your hands together for the sirens of the sea." "What are you doing here?" "I thought you said you weren't ready to arrest anyone yet." "I wasn't." "You said I was guilty." "You are." "Of protecting Brooke." "Hey!" "Show's over, sister!" "Cassandra stole $5 million from the investors, including $40,000 from her parents." "I don't understand." "Brooke does." "Don't you, Brooke?" "What's happening with your parents?" "They gave Cassandra money for the show." "I had my intern look into the corporate finances for the sirens of the sea." "He found out that Brooke's parents were investors." "That was their entire life savings." "They would do anything for her." "You were afraid Cassandra was gonna screw them over." "She screwed everybody over her entire life." "So you got into a fight." "Yes, but then I left." "In her car." "That's when you saw her suitcase -- winter clothes in the trunk." "You needed to confirm your suspicions, so you got on her laptop, you found out what we found out -- the truth." "Uh, including a one-way eTicket to Switzerland that was due to depart today." "A one-way ticket?" "What are you -- what are you talking about?" "She wasn't even gonna stick around for the show to open?" "No, the sirens of the sea act was never supposed to open." "It was about churning investors." "You really didn't know, did you?" "I just knew that if...the show failed, then my parents would lose everything." "And that alone was more than you could take, so you did the only thing you could to fix it." "You got hammered." "Wait." "You didn't kill Cassandra?" "No, but I know you thought she did." "That's why you were snooping around the skiff." "But no -- you didn't." "But thank you." "Now I know for sure who did." "Why would I kill Cassandra?" "She's the star of my show." "Well, you were churning investors together." "We found her laptop." "She was cooking the books." "I mean, $20,000 for a mermaid tail?" "The guy who made it said he only charged you $10,000." "I don't know anything about that." "Accounting was Cassandra's department." "I trusted her." "Well, especially since she seemed willing to take money from her own parents." "Of course, it was okay when you two were stealing from investors together -- just not when she was doing it on her own, right?" "Okay, so maybe the books were a little off." "I'm not gonna kill anybody over $10,000." "Well, what about $5 million?" "Cassandra created phony bank statements on her laptop, and she printed out these phony documents, snail-mailed them to you." "Oh, we found the real ones in her car." "That's why you didn't notice when she withdrew the 5 mil." "She put that money into a sirens account that only she had access to." "So, the bitch played me." "Yeah." "But like you said, I didn't notice." "Until the costume party." "You must have noticed something was a little off with Cassandra that night." "I never even check the sirens' bank account." "But you did that night." "In fact, the bank records show you tried three times to access it online, but you were denied." "Cassandra changed the password, huh?" "But Cassandra left with Jay." "Then they got into a fight." "So, she walked back to your place, blow off some steam." "That's when she saw the mermaid tail." "She couldn't resist taking that for a spin in your pool." "That's when you confronted her." "That's when you drowned her." "You can't prove that." "W-well, no." "I can't." "That's what the FDLE techs do." "That's why I got them to process your skiff." "With the cruiser out of commission, you had to use the skiff, which you can only take out as far as the bay, letting Cassandra's body float underneath the 14th street causeway as the tide went out," "throwing her body onto the beach when the tide came back in." "Damn tides." "Yeah, well, can't blame the tides for the scales from the mermaid tail we found in the skiff -- or the dried, aspirated foam." "Tested positive for Cassandra's DNA." "You boom, bam, killed her, Daryl." "Guess she wasn't too goody-goody for you after all." "All right, let's go." "How am I gonna explain this to my parents?" "They're never gonna believe that it wasn't my fault, either." "I just..." "I thought that if I could just be as good as Cassandra -- in the show, I mean -- that maybe I could help them get their money back." "Maybe people would look at me differently for once." "Well, Cassandra was ready to screw everyone over -- everyone except your parents." "When she transferred the money out of the sirens' account, she wired money back into your parents account -- with 20% interest." "Can she do that?" "Yeah." "It's already done." "It just cleared." "And because Cassandra took that money and put it into another corporate account for the sirens and not a personal one for herself, the courts probably won't freeze those assets as part of the criminal case against Daryl." "So, what does that mean?" "That means the show can still go on." "If you two are still interested in it." "Yeah." "Definitely." "Okay." "Well, I'm gonna need three front-row tickets for the opening." "Actually, make that nine." "Absolutely." "Anything you want." "Thank you, detective." "I don't know how you figured it all out." "Ah, solving the case was easy -- after I realized you two were in love with each other." "Now it's up to you guys to work that part out." "My work here is done." "Hi." "Hi." "Bye." "Whoa." "Hey." "Where are you going?" "Oh, I'm late." "I signed up for a course at a community college that's gonna help me get a job with an acupuncturist." "Cal, you don't have to do this." "No, actually, I can't do this " "No, no, no." "You're making all these sacrifices just so you can be with me." "Yeah." "It's called being in a committed relationship." "I know." "I also know that if you'd taken that job in Atlanta, you'd be the head nurse in a number-one trauma center..." "Why are you doing this?" "...You'd finish med school at a number-one teaching hospital in the country." "Jim." "Cal." "If the job in Atlanta's still available " "It is." "In between defrosting the fridge and watching a marathon of "Storage Wars," I checked." "Look, Cal, Atlanta is only a one-hour plane ride away." "And we've been through so much together." "We can do this." "You give so much to everyone else." "You sacrifice so much." "Maybe it's time one of us jackasses stepped up and did something for you." "Let me be that jackass." "♪ I don't wanna be the one to say goodbye ♪"