Gil Keen, a former cop, is murdered in his car in a red-light district. There are potentially several people with a motive to kill him; he had to leave the police after being caught for corruption, and in his current civilian job, he'd blackmailed a co-worker into sex. Keen appears to have made company card charges to Hillary Colson and Sondra Benton, two well-to-do soccer moms whose "interior design" business is a front for escorting. Hillary's expensive, niche lipstick brand is found to be a match to traces on Keen's body and she is arrested.
The DAs discover that Keen never paid for Hillary's services - it was his boss Mac Bernum. Bernum used to be a regular client of Hillary, but then he became obsessed with her and tried to pressure her into a relationship. She stopped taking his calls, so he asked Keen to track her down. Hillary's story is that Keen tried to blackmail her into sex, and raped her at gunpoint; she killed him in self-defense. She hires Lanie Stieglitz, who specializes in women's rights cases.
In court, Stieglitz calls witnesses to testify to Keen's history of sextortion. McCoy highlights inconsistencies in Hillary's story, including the fact that she'd dealt with violent clients before and carried pepper spray. He tells the jury that she was just greedy, and killed to protect her wealthy lifestyle. They convict, but Ross believes they are simply biased against Hillary because she's a sex worker.
Tropes in this episode.
- Asshole Victim: The victim was committing sextortion against women.
- Captain Obvious: An officer suggests the victim's discovery in a Red Light District might have something to do with his penis being out of his pants, prompting this response from Briscoe:Oh, thanks. I might not have put that together.
- Dirty Cop: The victim is said to have been one and is just as dirty as a private citizen.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Keen didn't kill sex workers but he certainly saw them as easy prey for sexual assault.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Part of McCoy's case is that while several sex workers had made complaints against Keen before, they all related to blackmail; none of these women ever said that he'd been violent or physically forced them into sex.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Hillary Colson's defense largely rests on this trope.
- Secret Sex Worker: The victim made company card charges to two well-to-do soccer moms whose "interior design" business is a front for escorting. One's expensive, niche lipstick brand is found to be a match to traces on his body, leading to her arrest. It is speculated that McCoy achieved her conviction by Slut-Shaming her for being a sex worker.
- Slut-Shaming: McCoy leans on this at trial (highlighting the fact that Hillary had dozens of clients and was cheating on her husband) and Ross thinks the jury chose to convict over their disgust at sex work.
- Soapbox Sadie: Lanie Stieglitz has a reputation as this.
- Stalker with a Crush: Bernum was so obsessed with Hillary that she changed her work number and business address just to get away from him. He then enlisted Keen (who, as an ex-cop, knew how to find someone) to track her down.
