Bayliss returns to duty to discover the bosses have renovated the squad room in an attempt to make everyone forget the tragedy of last May. Gharty and Ballard have also returned and Ballard debates about whether she should ask Falsone to the Lodge party. New detective, Rene Sheppard, tells her just to go for it. Seizing the opportunity, Lewis goes for it and asks Sheppard to the party; it seems that he and Barbara have separated and are on their way to divorce. Meanwhile, Falsone speculates if h
Sheppard and Lewis investigate the death of a man who has a twin brother. Gharty talks about wanting to live his life; he and Ballard go to the hospital to investigate the death of a teenager. Bayliss has interest in Sheppard; later he seeks advice from Stivers, who tells him to get in line behind Lewis and Falsone. Lewis and Sheppard interview the remaining twin and his mother; she confirms his story and they try to point to the dead twin's girlfriend. Meanwhile the friend of the teenage victim
MGee (Mike Giardello) and Ballard investigate a double shooting at the home of a prominent sports doctor and his wife, a dermatologist. The doctor (who was wounded) did not realize the deceased (thought to be a prowler) was his sister-in-law. Munch contends with the IRS; his Waterfront partners want him to make sure that his cousin, their accountant, has been paying their taxes. The Waterfront needs a loan to pay for some improvements. Gharty has taken the day off, to take care of personal matte
Days after the disappearance of a best-selling mystery writer, his wife arrives in the squadroom insisting that he has been murdered. With no body or direct evidence of a crime, Ballard and Gharty scramble to wade through the potential suspects - the writer's wife, his mistress, his agent, an ex-CIA operative - and Danvers has his hands full taking the case to trial. Munch's plans for a weekend getaway with Billie Lou are thrown into chaos when he and Bayliss investigate the death of an elderly
Ballard is annoyed when she finds out that the fact that she had a date with Falsone is around the squad room. Munch has a doctor's appointment and he's not talking about it. Dr. Griscom calls on the homicide unit when he sees a number of deaths that are related by a poison named phosphozine. The FBI steps in on the poisonings and they put MGee in charge of a task force; they consider it an act of domestic terrorism. One of the victims was a priest; two others were his parishioners. Gharty suspe
Bounty hunters shoot, killing the wrong man, as they enter a building where their fugitive---a man named Joe Errico---has shot at them (and subsequently gotten away). Gharty has vague memories of a drinking binge from the night before. Falsone and Stivers catch the bounty-hunter case. Sheppard, during her days with the fugitive squad, had dealings with the head bounty hunter. Gaffney stops Gee and MGee on their way in, Baltimore magazine wants to do a father and son piece, using the wine case as
Lewis is transported to the hospital, as is the passenger of the car that MGee hit. Gharty is worked up about women and finances, because he and Flora and their lawyers are going to be working out the financial details of their divorce. Gee & MGee are not interested in cooperating with the bounty hunters; however, Knoll is the only one who can get any information on the whereabouts of Errico from Errico's mother. She has promised to page Knoll when her son calls. (Joe Errico has gone south to Mi
Mike Kellerman's new vocation is private investigation, where the majority of the work involves catching cheating spouses. Falsone and Stivers catch a case where a newborn baby's body is found buried behind a motel. A young couple had checked into the room where the baby was delivered. The room was paid for using the girl's credit card. When they locate the girl (Debbie at home with her parents), she collapses and is brought to the hospital. The boy, Craig, is also located. Both say that the bab
Debbie Straub signs the plea agreement, pointing to Craig as the killer of the baby. Falsone wants more time to work on the case. Danvers reminds Kellerman there was a time when the truth mattered more than his paycheck. Gharty goes off when Sheppard and MGee ask to many questions about Kellerman's leaving of the homicide unit. Kellerman appears to begin doing the right thing, but doesn't pass anything on to anyone who might be able to do anything with it. Craig believes that Debbie isn't going
When a white bus driver runs into a pregnant woman in a black neighborhood, a riot breaks out that leaves both the driver and a West Indian passenger dead. The detectives question the witnesses and themselves about the effect that race may have played in this violence, and are surprised at the answers they find. Lewis' discovery of a police uniform button near the passenger's body leads the squad to an officer who had been questioned in the shooting death of a black man five years earlier. (See
Munch and Lewis investigate a set of female skeletal remains dug up at a construction site. Their investigation reveals that the woman was part of a gang of bank robbers active in the 1980s, and interviews with the two surviving members result in criminal charges against them both for her death. After Gee warns Falsone that he or Ballard will have to transfer to the other shift if their relationship is serious, they decide to keep seeing each other in secret. Sheppard returns to work but is put
Called to the scene of a hit-and-run fatality, Munch and Mike are hard put to decide if the death was accidental or deliberate. Gharty recognizes the victim's knife and tattoo as marks of military service in Vietnam, and Munch confirms this after a look at the man's service record. The death turns out to be an accident, caused by a teenager joyriding in a stolen car. Munch obtains Gharty's record as well, sparking curiosity about the "other than honorable" discharge he received. Gharty snaps and
The Internet is stage for a ritual murder, which was staged -- which was staged, or was it? The body is found the following morning and Sheppard takes the call, her first since the beating. Since Lewis can't be found, she partners with Bayliss. Second shift detectives Bonaventura and Austin catch word of the day shift's case. It seems the victim in Sheppard's case was a witness they had interviewed the day before about an online murder hoax. The detectives are informed about another murder that
Bayliss and Ballard take the case of a bride-to-be found dead at the bottom of a cliff. None of the evidence conclusively points to homicide, suicide, or an accidental fall, and even the capture of a mugger fails to resolve the case. Ballard admits to Falsone that it has touched a nerve for her because she ran out on her own wedding. Sheppard and Mike are called to a movie theater in which one of the customers is found dead in his seat. The man had a habit of yelling out endings to the films; fe
Detectives from Baltimore and New York continue investigating the deaths of both a government official and her killer. They eventually discover that the plot to commit the original murder started with allegations of sexual discrimination within the office of the White House Chief of Staff. However, an independent counsel looking into improper behavior in the White House takes over the case, frustrating Danvers and McCoy in their efforts to prosecute the murders. Meanwhile, Danvers comes up for a
A woman comes to Falsone and asks him to reopen the case of her younger brother's 1972 death – an accident she caused, according to her mother. The case stirs up painful memories for Gee, who had been its primary, and he, Falsone, and Stivers eventually learn the truth: the mother battered the boy to death and blamed her daughter. Bayliss faces widespread ridicule and criticism within the department after word spreads about his personal website, which includes his musings on sexual and spiritual
Lewis and Munch begin to investigate the death of a Buddhist monk beaten to death. Lewis isn't interested in working the case with Bayliss, whom he feels, may become too emotionally involved. Ballard and Falsone agree to call their relationship quits. Ballard and Gharty's case involves a man who was shot down in the street; the three witnesses that saw the shooter all have different recollections of his appearance. As a result, their prime suspect cannot be charged. Gee asks for Bayliss's assist
Falsone and Stivers take the case of a man shot to death in his own bed. His ex-wife, an assistant United States Attorney, admits to killing him but claims that she acted in self-defense due to battered woman syndrome. Mike gets involved in the case, over Gee's objections, and he and the detectives uncover evidence that suggests an intent to commit murder. Gee's chances for a promotion are jeopardized when he fails to persuade the presiding judge not to send the case to trial. Lewis reveals a bi
Falsone and Lewis investigate the murder of a man in his own backyard. The victim's nose was removed from his body. Ballard and Gharty investigate the murder of a bartender at a strip club. Canvassing the neighbors, Falsone feels that one of the neighbors isn't what she appears to be. Later when they interview her husband, he gets the same feeling. The MEs complete a record setting day of completing autopsies, but find themselves with one unidentified extra body. Munch and Bayliss get the call,
Ballard and Sheppard team up on the shooting death of a teenage girl outside a high school. The victim had been a member of a gang, introduced into it by her older sister, and had sex with a rival gang member before her death. Sheppard suspects his girlfriend, but the detectives find her dead before they can arrest her; they then take the older sister into custody, believing that she acted out of revenge. Billie Lou asks Munch to talk to her neighbor's abusive ex-boyfriend, who later storms into
Falsone and Lewis are called to the scene of a man shot to death in his backyard, his nose torn off and smoldering on his charcoal grill. Falsone suspects that one of the neighboring families is in witness protection, and Mike's inquiries reveal that the father is set to testify in a mob trial. However, those calls prompt the FBI to head off the detectives' efforts to prosecute him for the murder, and Mike resigns in disgust over being betrayed by his superiors. A marathon autopsy session turns
Luke Ryland ("Homicide.com") is set free on a technicality after several delays in his trial. Bayliss flies into a rage and shoves Danvers down the courthouse steps, but later apologizes at Gee's urging. Lewis and Falsone investigate a drug addict found stabbed to death in her home; afterward, they arrest her husband. Her sister—a Catholic nun—offers him her forgiveness. Gee's promotion comes through, but he turns it down because it will require him to transfer out of the homicide unit. Munch ma