Two men walking by the river find Julie Eastman's body floating. She was supposed to have spent the weekend on famous quarterback Darryl Ridgeway's yacht; her boyfriend Adam Makris is Darryl's agent, so Darryl invited them. However, no one's heard from either Adam or Darryl since. The yacht is later found abandoned with blood stains that match the DNA of both men and Julie. Darryl's brother Sean was also on the boat with them, and when the police start looking into him, he disappears. Sean is a heroin addict with a history of violent offences. Briscoe and Green eventually find him and he is charged with murder. He accepts a plea deal and confesses to killing all three victims.
When it appears Darryl may have withdrawn money from an account and could still be alive, Sean's lawyer requests a new trial. Upon examination, Skoda concludes that Sean is acting out an established family dynamic in which he always takes the blame. Skoda thinks it is plausible Sean really isn't guilty, and confessed just to please his parents. The transfer turns out to be a hoax by Sean and Darryl's mother - wanting to make it look like Darryl is alive to protect Sean. McCoy calls Sean's parents for a meeting, but Sean refuses a deal and wants to take his chances at trial. He lashes out at his father for being abusive and his mother for failing to protect him.
At his new trial, Sean now claims that he got off the boat early and doesn't know what happened after that. He suggests Adam and Darryl had been fighting over Julie and one could have killed the other. McCoy highlights the fact that Sean has used similar stories in his defence before when charged with other crimes. Sean is found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, but Branch is not sure whether Sean really killed anyone. Southerlyn optimistically says they'll find out soon enough once the police recover the missing bodies from the water.
This episode contains examples of:
- 555: The traced IP address starts with 392. Any number above 255 is invalid as an IP address.
- Abusive Parents: Sean's father was emotionally abusive to him and even physically abused Darryl, the child he preferred.
- Cain and Abel: This trope is referenced by McCoy who calls it "the second-oldest story in The Bible"
- Calling the Old Man Out: Sean does this when McCoy summons his parents for a meeting.
- Driven to Suicide: Sean attempts this but the police find him in time.
- Granola Girl: One of Darryl's close friends comes across as this when the detectives interview her.
- Literal Metaphor: Briscoe says the inscription on the ring is "Greek to me". In fact, according to Green, it's 3 Greek letters.
- Never Found the Body: The bodies of Darryl and Adam haven't been found by the conclusion of the episode.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The parents of all 3 victims are still alive.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the disappearance of Bison Dele.
- The Unfavorite: Sean's father has always treated him this way.
