Jessica's planned get-together with her niece Victoria and her husband Howard takes a back seat when the murder of Victoria's ex-boss, Larry Kinkaid, lands on the plate. Victoria had just quit her job after Kinkaid had tried to throw her femininity to a reluctant client as leverage. Combined with other suspicious factors, this makes Victoria the prime suspect.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Abilene Paradox: Howard and Victoria both secretly dislike her job with Mr. Kinkaid. However, neither has told the other, both because of a lack of personal time and because each thinks the other benefits somehow — Howard thinks his wife should get her shot at the big time, and Victoria wants to make enough money that her husband can continue his acting career. Jessica nudges them both towards confessing and they do eventually sort it out.
- Bridal Carry: Howard scoops Victoria into his arms when they're kissing towards the end.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Jessica and the officer on the case have the company's former security guard share a waiting room with a suspect for a long time, hoping that the guard will recognize him as the killer. He doesn't. However, Jessica nabs him anyway for referring to the man as a "guard". He wasn't in uniform in the waiting room, so how could the suspect have known? The killer laments having his perfect crime undone by such a simple mistake.Thornton: Is that what this is about? You drag me here to see if the guard recognizes me? Well, it didn't work! He didn't know me from Adam!Jessica: What makes you think that man was the security guard?
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Jessica suddenly has a breakthrough at the couple's home. While she needed to go investigate the theory anyway, Howard and Victoria's kissing made it a doubly good time to leave.
- Karmic Death: Invoked by Mr. Thornton. He removed his mask to show Kinkaid he was being killed by an employee he had wronged and used an award Kinkaid had won as a result of his employees' hard work as the murder weapon.
- Sex for Services: Mr. Barth makes several innuendoes about Victoria and says he'd like to have dinner with her. Thinking that this might cause him to renew his contract with the company, Mr. Kinkaid tries to push her into going through with it, implying that he'll fire her if she refuses. She quits instead.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: After Victoria and Howard finally come clean with each other on how they feel about the work situation, they start kissing like a couple of Make-Out Kids. Just around the time Jessica leaves, Howard scoops his wife into his arms, carries her into another room, and shuts the door with his foot.
- Trophy Violence: And the award for "Best 'Achievement in the Field of Advertising' Trophy Used to Bash In the Head of a Douchebag Adman" is... Larry Kinkaid's Trophy!
