Former model Christine Sandler is found dead by the neighbor hosting a birthday party for her. Despite her having epilepsy, her death was not due to a seizure. Blood at the scene is shown to belong to a blood relative of Christine, so Briscoe and Curtis look into her son Douglas Burke. When the detectives take a closer look at her finances to see if Douglas killed her for money, a canceled check leads them to discover Christine had another child: Sonja Harlann, a daughter she gave up for adoption but was now in contact with.
Security footage at Sonja's workplace shows that her "lunch break" coincided with the murder. Her lawyer and boyfriend, Grant Silverman, confesses he helped her dispose of bloody clothing. She is charged with murder, so she hires another lawyer, who gets Silverman's testimony excluded under attorney-client privilege. Briscoe and Curtis learn that Sonja believes she's the daughter of the late tycoon Harold Lancer, and is pursuing a claim to his estate. But his lawyers won't allow a DNA test without a signed affidavit from the biological mother.
McCoy has Silverman charged as an accessory to murder, which invalidates privilege. Silverman is willing to testify against Sonja, so she takes a plea. She says Christine refused to sign the affidavit because she didn't want the world to know Sonja was conceived through sex work; Christine used to be an escort, and Lancer was one of her clients. Sonja felt rejected because Douglas was Christine's favorite child, even though he didn't get along with her and chose to live with his father. Christine refused to invite Sonja to her birthday party, but Douglas was invited, so Sonja became enraged and pushed her.
Ross later announces that Sonja has made a successful claim to Lancer's estate and inherits $50 million, whlle Silverman will receive millions in legal fees. McCoy resolves to make sure the money goes to Douglas by helping him sue for the death of his mother.
Tropes present in this episode
- Adoption Angst: Sonja was given up for adoption by her mother, but when she was in foster care, prospective parents were afraid she had inherited her mother's epilepsy. Nobody wanted to adopt her.
- Artistic License – Law: Since Silverman helped Sonja dispose of her bloody blouse, he became an accessory after the fact and would not have been allowed to be her attorney.
- The Bad Guys Win: Sonja actually is Lancer's daughter, so she and Silverman get millions of dollars. McCoy's determined to help Douglas sue them for it.
- Death by Falling Over: How Christine was killed by Sonja.
- Died on Their Birthday: Christine was killed just before her birthday party.
- Loophole Abuse: Lancer's will states his children as his heirs but doesn't name them or say how many he had. Because it would be so easy to exploit this, his lawyers wouldn't allow any claim to his estate without an affidavit.
- Naturalized Name: Christine's family name was Sandinsky but she changed it to the more "American"-sounding Sandler.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Christine's mother outlives her.
- Really Gets Around: As well as being a one-time sex worker, Christine went through a lot of flings.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Christine's elderly mother has dementia and lives in a nursing home. When she mentions Christine recently visited her, the nurse assumes she's just confused - Christine hadn't been there in a long time. But the detectives are interested enough to check the visitors' log and discover it's Sonja who was there.
- Schiff One-Liner: After McCoy asks Ross to give Christine's son Douglas a transcript of Sonja's admission of killing their mother, so that he is able to sue Sonja and Silverman for wrongful death, Schiff just says wryly, "Lawyers."
- Straw Misogynist: Jimmy Burke's many demeaning comments about women, and his habit of trading in his girlfriends when they turn 40, are used to show that he's a deeply unpleasant person (although ultimately not a murderer.)
- The Unfavorite: Sonja's unfavorite status was confirmed when her mother wanted her to leave to go to the birthday party. Her son Douglas was invited, but Sonja was not included. "That's who she wanted, him, not me ... That bitch."
- Unusual Euphemism: How Briscoe describes Sonja's relationship with loan officer Grant Silverman: "The rumor around the coffee machine is, he's been stamping her bank book for the past few months."
