In a hotel room, Mike Webber is found shot dead; and the $50,000 he had brought with him is missing. Briscoe and Curtis soon discover that the victim was involved in many scams, and his ex-wife Arlene and her father Max Schaeffer are suspects. Webber and Arlene's son Billy has leukaemia, and she cannot afford his medical bills. She sued for unpaid alimony and child support but her lawyer couldn't trace Webber. Max has been left to support Arlene and Billy financially, but his own health is failing and he won't be able to continue much longer.
Max is arrested when it's discovered he has some of the missing money, and was working in Webber's hotel on the day of the murder. Subsequently, the detectives find the gun stashed in the hotel's kitchen. Max's lawyer claims it was self-defense. Max had been in contact with Webber about being tested as a potential bone marrow donor for Billy, since no one else in the family is compatible. Webber gave Max some money but then threatened him with a gun; they struggled, and Webber was accidentally shot. Sure enough, the gun is registered to Webber.
McCoy initially agrees to a manslaughter plea. But an obvious flaw in Max's testimony leads to the discovery that he arranged for Webber to be lured to New York by a business associate, and then shot him. Arlene had given Max an old gun of Webber's to make their cover story look convincing. Webber's fiancée confirms he'd agreed to be tested for a match to Billy, but Max says he and Arlene knew it was useless - they had seen Webber's medical records and knew he wasn't compatible. Ross questions this, since the records would only show his blood type.
She looks into Webber's medical history and discovers that he wasn't Billy's biological father. Billy doesn't have either Webber's or Arlene's blood type. If Webber were tested as a donor for Billy, he'd learn the truth, and Arlene would lose any claim to his money. With Max having already accepted a plea, McCoy and Ross agree that they'll wait until after Billy dies before pursuing a case against Arlene, so that he'll still have his mother with him at the end.
Tropes in this episode
- Bittersweet Ending: Billy will die soon, since there's no one who could donate bone marrow for him; and Max, who's elderly and in poor health, will almost certainly die in jail. But McCoy and Ross have allowed Arlene to continue her claim to unpaid child support from Webber's estate, and won't prosecute her until after Billy dies.
- Crusading Lawyer: Caroline Bennett, who has a very vested interest in cases involving child support.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Webber was engaged to Victoria after only knowing her for a very short time. This was deliberate on his part (since he intended to scam her out of money) but Victoria just saw it as a whirlwind romance.
- Jerkass: Michael Webber had been abusive to his wife Arlene and a deadbeat when it came to child support and alimony, which is why there was a warrant from family court out on him.
- Littlest Cancer Patient: Billy is an adorable young boy who is dying from leukaemia.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Arlene Webber's son has leukemia. If Michael had taken the test, it would have revealed not only that he would not be a compatible donor to his son, but that he was not the boy's real father.
